This series looks good. I read the first 3 in the series, not even sure how many books there are now. Pretty high quality writing for fantasy, and HBO show looks solid.

The problem with this is that HBO won't keep it beyond two or three seasons; production costs will be too high.  Just look back at Carnivale and Rome and Deadwood.


Phil

I didn't get to see those, maybe an episode of Rome. The last 10 years I was home at night very seldom. If they were drawing well, why would they go off the air? You are right, no doubt, that production costs are high, so ratings must have to stay at a certain level.

The shows I mentioned (and GoT) are all period pieces.  Elaborate costumes and sets and stuff cost money.


Phil

I know, but if it's profitable to run for 3 seasons, why would that change? The ratings must drop.

Deadwood and Carnivale were both well-rated shows that earned awards.  They just weren't profitable enough for HBO.


Phil

I saw the first ep the other night. It was mostly setup, but for the most part, I didn't care two winks for it. I'll watch the next ep maybe, but I got the feeling if I missed it I wouldn't miss anything. Still, HBO has confidence in it- they renewed it for at least another 'season'.

I actually only saw the last 15 min, hoping to catch up this week if they play again. It seemed to me that they are going to confuse people that didn't read the book. There's too much detail in the dialogue. I read the book a long time ago so I know what's going on, but I think they're gonna lose people.

I agree. The first episode was just really, really boring. Benioff is, for the most part at least, a talented writer. But it didn't actually seem like he or Weiss were even trying. It was just lazily cobbled together without any imagination. I think what pissed me off the most about it was how cool that pre-credits teaser was with the weird corpses and then the beheading. That was gruesome and wicked cool, and then everything just flatlined. None of the actors did anything with their dialogue, none of the characters were remotely interesting and I'm pretty sure Lena Headey is in the cast just to show her arse.

I'll watch episode two, and maybe episode three but things had better pick up quickly. The creators described it as The Sopranos meets Lord of the Rings. Only problem is that both of those things were so much better than this.

I watched the pilot, I'll continue, but I wasn't dazzled by the writing.
The production is sumptuous, but most cast members look a tad sleepy.
Seems as though the Deadwood director replaced his favorite curse word with boobs.
I haven't read the books, but women get the short stick in the series.
Van Patten is a career HBO director, I'd like to see another hand at the helm.
Right now it feels like the Sopranos with swords, I'll give it some time.

E.D.

I have still yet to see the beginning, but a couple of interesting things that relate to scripts. The first is the Dune problem. Like many people, I had read the book before the movie. It had a huge cult following. I saw the movie in the theater and it was packed.

This was a big budget movie at the time, highly anticipated. And it was considered a failure. But what happened was they chose to keep the script very close to the book. I actually think they did a good job with it too. And if they didn't do that, there would have been enormous criticism from the legion of Dune fans.

But the book did not translate to the screen well. The characters were dry. To those not familiar with the script, it was hard to follow the plot. To be honest, I don't think Dune ever should have been made a film. It just doesn't translate well.

I think that's the first problem with Game. The book is rich in detail, and that doesn't translate well to film. It's confusing, and dulls any emotional impact.

The second problem I'll call the George Martin problem. In many ways, this fantasy series is lacking in the ingredients for success. It only works because of the brilliant writing of the author. I read the first three books when they came out then lost track of the series, which showed no sign of ending.

At the beginning, you have these strange ice creatures beyond the wall. You never see them again in book one, and no explanation about them is given. They aren't a factor again. They show up a little in later books.

As the story proceeds, you realize Martin has no interest in things typical of fantasy, such as magic or the supernatural. At some point he creates the side story of the princess with the dragons, but this remains completely periphery to the main story at least through the first 3 books. He obviously just developed it because someone told him he needed something more typical fantasy.

The next problem you run into in this series: SPOILER...

is that pretty much everyone dies. I mean everyone, certainly everyone you have any sympathy for. Maybe they will change that, but it doesn't look like it. and that's going to really piss off audiences.

Eventually, the women actually become the main characters, the men being dead.

The trailer looked so good, I hope this doesn't bomb.

I'll never forgive HBO for cancelling Deadwood without wrapping it up. Grrrrr.

But it was costing millions per episode. As Phil said, it's so expensive to shoot period pieces, even if the ratings are high, it's all about the bottom line.

I've read the Game of Thrones books. The latest comes out this summer, I believe.

Looking forward to watching the show.

The first show was this past Sun Mac. There are replays during the week.

I never saw any of Deadwood. All I was saying is that the ratings must have dropped. The rating threshold will be higher for a more expensive show, obviously. But it's not like the show gets more expensive as time goes by. It gets a little cheaper as the sets have already been created.

These things are going to get even rarer too, as DVD sells and syndication rights trail off with the rise of youtube.

Quoted from MacDuff I'll never forgive HBO for cancelling Deadwood without wrapping it up. Grrrrr. But it was costing millions per episode. As Phil said, it's so expensive to shoot period pieces, even if the ratings are high, it's all about the bottom line.

Ironically, one of Deadwood's biggest directors, took the helm for this show.
It is an expensive show, $60 million budget for ten episodes.
Then again, The Pacific cost $150 for the same number of episodes, so who knows.

E.D.

Just watched episode 2. I'm enjoying the series, and I think they're doing a great job with it. Probably too tough for a general audience to follow though.