Game of Thrones

[Steve B]

Anyone watch?  Anyone else here read the books?

I LOVED it.  The casting was dead on perfect.  Everyone and everything could have been ripped from my imagination while reading the books (I guess that's a testament to Martin's writing). 

My only complain would be the imp (Tyrion).  While Dinklage is the only one that anyone thought of when hearing the books were going to be a series, Tyrion is supposed to be hideous, hard to look at.  I wonder why they didn't go that route?  Did Dinkage refuse and they gave in because they needed him?  Did the producers say "we've got Dinklage, why cover him up with make-up"?

Otherwise, perfect.  I would love to know what people who've never read it thought about it.

[sean]

I thought the story was a little too decompressed for my taste, where you feel like they're setting up all the pieces for a five-year plan at the expense of making the episode itself great as a stand-alone thing, but I'm intrigued by it so far.

[Steve B]

I thought the story was a little too decompressed for my taste, where you feel like they're setting up all the pieces for a five-year plan at the expense of making the episode itself great as a stand-alone thing, but I'm intrigued by it so far.

I can definitely see that and I was thinking that while watching.  It really came off to me like it was "far the fans" and I hope that doesn't chase away everyone else.  My wife, who's never read it, seemed to really like it but ask me a lot of questions to clarify what she just saw.

[Dobbin]

Tim Van Patton certainly has his finger in every HBO pie, huh?

[ExpendablesFan]

I wish they started the episode with the last minute.

[Dobbin]

I never read any of the books. Whenever they switched to a new place, I was wondering, "Is this a flashback?" I mean, eventually it made sense, but there were a lot of fantasy-frilly names to keep up with.

[sean]

but there were a lot of fantasy-frilly names to keep up with.

I thought they did okay with it; that was what I expected my big hang-up to be, but it was never an issue for me, except for the moment when I said, "Oh, that name they've been using for the last half hour, they mean the queen and her brother."

[Steve B]

I knew all their names and roles and I was thinking "they need to establish who everyone is a little better".

[Tarrik Dane]

I've never read the books, or heard of them even, I enjoyed it and had no trouble keeping up with the plot.

[sean]

I knew all their names and roles and I was thinking "they need to establish who everyone is a little better".

I kind of thought the only thing the show did for an hour was Establish.

[Steve B]

Game of Thrones has officially been renewed for a second season on HBO. Thanks for all of your support.

Very glad to hear this but I don't get HBO?  Because people were curious to see a new show it warrants a second season?  Shouldn't you at least wait to see the 2nd or 3rd week drop off?  They do this all the time.  Is it just to get a little press so the people who haven't seen it to check out the replays?

[Tarrik Dane]

Very glad to hear this but I don't get HBO?  Because people were curious to see a new show it warrants a second season?  Shouldn't you at least wait to see the 2nd or 3rd week drop off?  They do this all the time.  Is it just to get a little press so the people who haven't seen it to check out the replays?

Thank god that they do this, otherwise we would never have had 5 seasons of The Wire

[Donnacha]

Very glad to hear this but I don't get HBO?  Because people were curious to see a new show it warrants a second season?  Shouldn't you at least wait to see the 2nd or 3rd week drop off?  They do this all the time.  Is it just to get a little press so the people who haven't seen it to check out the replays?

The effect is twofold. It gives potential viewers the impression that it's a good show - why else would it have already been greenlit for a second season, they'll say - and any potential viewers who don't want to jump into something that they don't feel will be resolved have their trepidation allayed.

[katy]

Weekly ratings fluctuations aren't as important to HBO because they're not driven by revenue from commercials.  Obviously, they're still important and have a long-term effect on subscription numbers, but it's not like their ad rate is going to drop wildly if their ratings do from week to week.  I'm sure they have a formula wherein if X million people watch the premiere, even if 50% of them drop off, it's still profitable enough to commit to a 2nd season.

They did the same thing for BOARDWALK EMPIRE.  Actually it's kind of rare for them to cancel something before a 2nd season b/c of poor ratings...JOHN FROM CINCINNATI is the only one I can think of.  (I can't cite ROME b/c that was affected by its enormous expense.)

THE WIRE is different, it never had great ratings but was so critically acclaimed and got so much press they kept it on.  Also, was relatively cheap to produce.

[Dobbin]

Weekly ratings fluctuations aren't as important to HBO because they're not driven by revenue from commercials.  Obviously, they're still important and have a long-term effect on subscription numbers, but it's not like their ad rate is going to drop wildly if their ratings do from week to week.  I'm sure they have a formula wherein if X million people watch the premiere, even if 50% of them drop off, it's still profitable enough to commit to a 2nd season.

They did the same thing for BOARDWALK EMPIRE.  Actually it's kind of rare for them to cancel something before a 2nd season b/c of poor ratings...JOHN FROM CINCINNATI is the only one I can think of.  (I can't cite ROME b/c that was affected by its enormous expense.)

THE WIRE is different, it never had great ratings but was so critically acclaimed and got so much press they kept it on.  Also, was relatively cheap to produce.

ROME got 2 seasons.