Personally, I don't want to see the Falcon in the series... there's no need for it in my opinion. The galaxy is so expansive that the odds of it ever appearing in a significant battle or whatever before ANH is too far fetched for me.
The whole idea of Chewbacca being in ROTS was ok, but I didn't need to see that either... and considering Chewbacca's seemingly calling Obi Wan and "old fossil" in ANH, given his obvious respect for Yoda in ROTS, is puzzling.
3PO and R2? Those were a must in my opinion. I think it works perfectly with those two. Though I think having 3PO being made by Anakin, and living on the Lars homestead for a while is a bit too convenient. I'd rather him have been Bail Organa's droid or something.