Game of Thrones lands 2 WGA nominations and is among the best of 2014

Lion and the Rose

The 2015 Writers Guild Awards nominees have been announced and season 4 of Game of Thrones has been recognized by the guild in two categories.

The show is up for an award in the Drama Series category with show writers David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, George R.R. Martin, and D.B. Weiss sharing the nomination. GoT will face tough competition from the writing teams of The Good WifeHouse of Cards, Mad Men and True Detective.

Additionally, the season 4 episode “The Lion and The Rose,” written by George R.R. Martin, is up for the Episodic Drama award. Episodes from Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Rectify, and The Good Wife round out the category.

It’s near the end of the year, when Game of Thrones usually pops up on Best-of lists…and it’s begun.

Time magazine also recognized “The Lion and the Rose,” ranking the Purple Wedding episode at number 5 in their Top 10 TV Episodes of 2014 list. James Poniewozik comments:

It’s tempting to think of Game of Thrones in terms of events rather than episodes: The One Where That Guy Gets His Head Smashed, The One With the Red Wedding, and so on. But this–The One Where Joffrey Dies–was great less for the shocker ending than for how, during one of the most awkward royal wedding receptions ever, it laid out the alliances and subterfuges among the attending guests and suggested the horrors of an ascendant Lannister family, all before poor Joff had one cup of wine too many and the game, as well as the throne, changed once again.

And one last bit of acclaim for Game of Thrones today: Paste Magazine has included the show in their piece on the 20 Best TV Shows of 2014.

Ranking at number 6 on the list, the show is described as “a cast of fatherless heroes and anti-heroes that Shakespeare himself would have cherished. There has never been a series quite like Game of Thrones, and its ending is, marvelously, a long way off.”

Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

27 Comments

  1. The show has ruined tv & film with its high production value, intriguing scripts & talented actors. *glares at Immortals*

  2. We’re not competing against Breaking Bad this time. Interesting. The results might be telling as to how GoT will fare in next year’s Emmys.

  3. outdoorcats:
    We’re not competing against Breaking Bad this time. Interesting. The results might be telling as to how GoT will fare in next year’s Emmys.

    we’re?

  4. This morning’s Denver Post TV critic named GoT second best show for 2014 (after The Good Wife, hmmmm).

  5. Patchy Face:
    This morning’s Denver Post TV critic named GoT second best show for 2014 (after The Good Wife, hmmmm).

    Huh? No offense to fans of said show, but I can’t even begin to comprehend how you could put The Good Wife in anywhere near the same class as Game of Thrones, let alone “above” it. I’d say because it’s more “wholesome” (read – false) and “American”… but in terms of themes, archetypes, holding a mirror up to “civilisation”, GoT basically shits on anything being broadcast right now. The only shows I can think of that come close are True Detective, possibly The Wire too (though I personally found it waaaay too talk-y). Ridiculous. Most likely a populist vote.

  6. I’ve been cold turkey without any casting or plot speculation for nearly a month now! Damn that tightened up security!

  7. TheTouchOfFrost,

    Yeah…I feel like we’ve been granted a fair amount of “leaked” info regarding Nutter’s season-ending episodes but hardly any info regarding the other directors’ episodes, except minor Dorne/Jaime/SS stuff. I don’t mind the tight security though. I would rather be “pleasantly” surprised.

  8. Greenjones,

    Hah! So the SS’s nippled armor was an actual sanding mistake that they went ahead with? I honestly thought, as the writer implies, that the nippled armor was an intentional inside joke by the showrunners regarding GRRM’s famous “useless as nipples on a breastplate” comment.

  9. Hodor’s Bastard,

    It’s possibly both- while the reason for the nipples was a mistake, that inside joke could be a reason why it was kept.

    Reading the article, I’m worried by the implication that those outfits are what the Sand Snakes will wear all the time as opposed to just when training.

  10. Jordan,

    I guess we’ll see how much of a distraction their breastplates will be. I’m hoping their introduction will be interesting and relevant to the Dorne/RV cause, not used simply as a titillating vengeance metaphor.

  11. Jordan,

    I didn’t really get that implication from it. I think she’s just saying that their normal attire will have elements from Oberyn and will include the snakeskin motif, but we’ve already seen with Ellaria how they can incorporate the snakeskin in normal attire

  12. afeastfordances,

    I was getting it from this:

    “In addition to the are-they-or-aren’t-they nipples, the Sand Snakes will share elements of Oberyn’s beaten-leather look in their clothes and jewelry, “so they have a sense of family,” Clapton said, but each will also have an individual look and their own weapon of choice. Clapton compared them to a “little pack of animals” or a gang, and while snakeskin will be incorporated into their outfits, it won’t be too literal.”

    It is mentioned that their look will be based on Oberyn’s beaten-leather look, which he only wore in the duel with Gregor and which seems to be the source for the breastplates. Also, the whole pack/gang thing along with the rest seems to imply they will wear the same “uniform” albeit with some minor differences.

  13. Jordan,

    She mentions jewellery though, which I didn’t notice any of them having on in the set photos. I’m pretty sure they’ll have at least a few costumes, though I do think they’ll be armoured when we first meet them.

    That is, presuming that the Obara audition scene which we now know to be in ep. 504, is their first scene on the show. I guess they could show up earlier too, of course.
  14. Hodor’s Bastard,

    To be honest, I’d rather they include the more fleshed out characters instead of expanding on the shallow ones in the books. We shall see though. I can only see them as support charaters so as long as they don’t detract from the main characters then I will tolerate them!

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