The Mandalorian looks good & I want to see it. But how am I expected to get emotionally involved in the welfare of a green plastic puppet?

Grogu, the "baby yoda" character is really a supporting character.  It's really Mando's show.  The issue there is that the Mandalorians aren't supposed to take off their helmets in front of other people.  So we only see Pedro Pascal's face once in the first season.  But he's surprisingly emotive with just his voice and his gestures. 

With all that said, if you're looking for a deeply emotional show, this probably isn't it.  Especially early on, it has some fantastic action sequences, but the drama is a bit thin. 

It is a good series though. It's as easy to get involved as it was with Yoda.

Um...so in Empire Strikes Back, you hated Yoda?

Mandalorian is very good.  It's basically a spaghetti western in the Star Wars setting.  Baby Yoda is just a macguffin that the protagonist has to protect and carry about.  He moves the plot forward.  But he's a very CUTE macguffin.

That show is for nerds anyway