HBO’s new programming president Casey Bloys attended his first Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour where he answered several questions pertaining to the gritty nature of their programs. He also confirmed a few details about the final two seasons of Game of Thrones.
When asked if premium cable depended too much on violence against women in their narratives:
I can tell you violence, it’s not just specific to women. It’s indiscriminate. Plenty of men are killed as well.
In the past, Game of Thrones has been criticized for its depictions of sexual violence against women and that frequency of such can lead to a normalization of the subject.
I think the criticism is valid. I think it’s something we take into account. It’s not something we want to highlight or are trying to highlight.
Bloys took a break from the gritty subjects to confirm a few details about the end of their biggest series: Game of Thrones.
Season 8 will be their last, though the amount of episodes for the final season are yet to be confirmed.
I would take 10 seasons but we want to take their lead with what they can do and what the best version of the show is.
Bloys also teases a Deadwood film, reveals the premiere date for their new sci-fi series Westworld, and more in the recap of the conference at Variety!
TV.com has confirmed from the TCA that the delayed production of Season 7 will remove Game of Thrones from Emmy contention for 2017. On the bright side, conversations of a spin-off have happened, says Bloys!
We’ve talked about it. I am certainly not opposed to it. There are no concrete plans for it at this point.
What are your thoughts on Game of Thrones confirmed home stretch? What would you like for a spin-off?
Satin!
HODOR
When it comes to a spin off, I would like anything but Robert’s Rebellion.
Good to have confirmation.
As for spin-off? We will never get Dance of Dragons, far, far to much CGI for something that will without doubt be less popular then GOT.
Same with Aegon’s conquest, not to mention there is no drama here, just Aegon rolling over everyone.
The one I am sure will happen is a 7-9 episodes mini-series of Dunk and Egg. Should be cheep to make and seems like a good thing to start with.
The real unknown is RB, I for one would love to see it.
the day i’ll cancel HBO sub.. sorry but after GoT ends you are not worth 10€/month to me
HBO has just answered a huge lingering question about Game of Thrones.
EW asked the network’s new programming president Casey Bloys if he plans to go along with showrunners’ David Benioff and Dan Weiss’ oft-stated desire to end their fantasy hit with season 8.
Bloys said yes, that is the current plan – the first time somebody at HBO has confirmed this.
“Yes, they have a very specific plan about the number of seasons they want to do,” Bloys said at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Beverly Hills on Saturday. “Believe me, as the new [programming executive] coming in, if I could get them to do more. I would take 10 more seasons. But we take their lead on what they think they can do the best version of the show.”
The showrunners have also planned for the eighth season to consist of merely six episodes. On that front, however, Bloys said the exact number of season eight episodes is not yet final.
We then asked if the team is considering a Thrones spin-off to continue the valuable franchise. Thrones is one of TV’s most watched shows with 25 million total viewers this year across all platforms.
“We’ve talked about it,” he said. “It’s something I’m not opposed to, but of course it has to make sense creatively. I’m not sure that [Benioff and Weiss] could really wrap their heads around it when they’re just about to start production [on season 7]. It’s a pretty intense production, they’re about to start production soon. I’m open to it. The guys weren’t opposed to it, but there’s no concrete plans for it at this point.”
Also, with the production delay of season seven – which will debut its seven episodes next summer – the executive confirmed the plan will take Thrones out of the running for the Emmys next year. Thrones received 23 prime-time 2016 Emmy nominations, more than any other show, but requires a heavy amount of winter location shooting for the next season (locations include a production unit filming in Iceland).
Still, Bloys pointed out, “Even if we took Thrones Emmys away this year, we’d still have more than anyone else.”
Robert Rebellion yay!
A spin-off set in the future, please! Or way back during the beginnings of the Valyrian Empire.
Kay,
I can’t imagine the show doing a spinoff set outside of Westeros.
There are any number of approaches that can be taken with a spinoff, but I expect that anything HBO does will be predicated on being able to make use of the major Houses, iconography, etc., in a somewhat similar (i.e., Medieval) setting.
If we get more flashbacks in Season 7, I don’t see any way in which Robert’s Rebellion can be adapted.
And I don’t think GRRM is going to give the Dunk and Egg television rights to anyone until he finishes writing all of the tales. Once bitten, twice shy.
Kay,
Valyria will not happen for budgetary reasons. If they want to make it profitable (and as it will not bring in quite as many subscribers – at least initially) they need to do something less expensive – so probably no dragons.
If they wanna play it safe and do something “familiar” (i.e. some of the story is already there) they can reasonably do anything that’s set between the last dragons and GoT, so Dunk and Egg, Robert’s Rebellion etc.
Otherwise, I’d think something in the future is their best bet. If they have to create new content anyway, It’d be easier not to limit it by setting it between known events. However, they would have to make sure that the dragons are either dead or don’t play that much of a role in that new show.
I just wonder what kind of story would be interesting enough to watch and close enough to GoT to bring in the same sort of crowd. The adventures of a greenseer? Some minor house? Arya as RobinHood? Or would they go to the offspring of our show characters and have them face some new, epic threat?
The only spin-off I’d support is one where GRRM is a fixed writer, as anything else would be fan fiction. Considering all he still has to do to finish the books, this seems impossible. (The D&E stories could be made into a 1-season special, but I don’t think the tone is right for HBO)
There´s enough other good SF/fantasy books around deserving to be filmed!
Sean C.,
I agree. They will have bouild on that for 8 years when the series is over, makes no sense to abandon it. – But I’m also not really sure what a spin-off could be about… RB or D&E could be it, but both have problems. RB is a story the viewers at least in part already know through GoT
Look, if HBO makes a proper The Witcher series after GoT, I will be in that fandom as well, you bet on it!
Robert’s rebellion and Aegon’s conquest are boring. We need drama and uncertainty. Almost any unknown story from the history of Westeros could be great if done properly. Maybe go as far back as to the first men?
I want a spin off of Dunk and Egg! A HBO adaptation is the only way to know how it ends…
The future for HBO looks a little bleak right now, IMO. If Westworld is not a hit, they will be facing a future with no Game of Thrones or Girls. Veep and Silicon Valley will surely be winding down. Vice Principals is nowhere near as good (or buzzworthy) as Eastbound and Down. Netflix has really rattled their cage. I would be shocked if they didn’t try to hang onto GoT for as long as they can in some form or another.
For me, the real question isn’t what kind of spin off, but will D&D return. My guess is that they won’t. What would be the incentive? If it were money, they’d just keep GoT rolling (estimates are that they are leaving millions on the table by ending at S8). Right now, assuming they stick the landing in the final episodes, GoT will go down as probably their crowning career achievement, and if they return to Westeros, it will inevitably be compared to it and likely come up short. Also it’d be more interesting to have something that makes a complete break from Thrones, and have a story that won’t constantly be compared.
Laura,
Absolutly agree, Netflix is killing it right now. What they’re putting out on (good) content is just crazy. I mean look at that! – And they have already said, that they spending on content is only getting bigger next year (it’s about $6 billion this year).
Deadwood!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ravyn,
I didn’t think D&D returning was even really a question. They’ve been quite open that the series is exhausting them. I can’t imagine them wanting to sign up for more; maybe they’d take an executive producer credit and chip in some advice here and there, but any spinoff will be the main work of others.
Talking about Netflix, anyone with a pulse should watch Stranger Things, seriously amazing show. And if you don’t have a pulse, I don’t care, watch it anyway.
Anyway I wonder what the chances are someone will buy the GoT rights off HBO after (maybe Netflix..?) the main series ends and they have no plans for it afterwards.
On HBO, I watch GoT, Silicon Valley, The Leftovers, The Night Of, Vice Principals, True Detective, and I will be watching Westworld.
On Netflix, I watch House of Cards, Daredevil, Bloodline, Orange is the New Black, Marco Polo, Stranger Things, Jessica Jones, Sense8, Narcos, and Making A Murderer. I will be watching Iron Fist and The Defenders.
So yeah, Netflix I watch about double the programming compared to HBO.
Overall though, I enjoy HBO’s content more since GoT, The Wire, The Sopranos, Rome, and Deadwood are all in my top 10 favorite shows of all time and none of those Netflix shows are in my top 10.
I feel a spin off would work. I know some aren’t in favour of Robert’s Rebellion but most viewers haven’t read the books let alone the back story.
GRRM created a wealth of history and back story so any spin off has a real opportunity I feel, whatever the choice for a spin off.
Anyway, once GOT is done, are we really going to complain at the prospect of more of this fantasy world on screen? Nah.
*Drooling*
Looking forward to a lot of those – especially The Get Down and The Crown in the next couple months.
Try Master of None and Love. I really enjoyed those in the last year. Love can be kinda cringey – it’s reminiscent of “You’re the Worst” and “Girls” a bit. Oh and another streaming show I like is “Catastrophe” on Amazon. It is VERY relatable for anyone in a relationship.
Pretty much zero. I could be wrong here, but I don’t remember any case were HBO (or Time Warner in their name if we’re being correct) has sold original ip.
While I agree that these shows are great, it underlines perfectly what Laura has said. Safe GoT all of these shows have ended. HBO needs a new hit or they’re in trouble.
Why not do an extended final season and air it next Fall/Winter, instead of 2 short final seasons spread across 2 years?
Sean C.,
I seem to recall there was some chatter (mostly from HBO, admittedly) that they’d try to get them to be involved in a spinoff. But I also don’t see it, for all the reasons I listed. I don’t think they want to be the TV version of Peter Jackson and overstay their welcome.
This basically means that D&D are pushing for 6 episodes in season 8, and HBO is pushing for more. Final count would probably be 7 or 8, I guess?
I don’t expect HBO to officially renew the show for season 8 until the number of episodes is finalized…
As for a spin-off, I guess if Westworld tanks, HBO will begin to plan it even before GOT ends…my guess is that it’ll be Robert’s Rebellion, since it would feature characters that are already familiar to a large portion of the audience…
Jack Bauer 24,
Because the point of doing eight seasons is to maintain HBO’s subscriber base for as long as possible. Even if a single larger season was logistically possible, it doesn’t fulfill that criterion.
George,
I don’t think Robert’s Rebellion makes much sense as a spinoff. HBO would want to invest in a show that could go for several years, like GOT has. Robert’s Rebellion is a fairly short sequence of events, the outcome of which is already known, and the only GOT characters with important roles are Ned and Robert.
That series had stayed under my radar so far – thanks for mentioning it, sounds promising!
Greyjoy rebellion please
I don’t think HBO would think Robert’s Rebellion would be the best adaption, largely because the ending will be really really well known among their entire viewing audience by the end of GOT – we know who wins the war and how; R+L; tbat Jaime kills the king etc. From a fan perspective I’d love it, but I think HBO would want something fresh and fairly unknown outside the book fandom so they can hype the series with theories and mysteries so my money is on D&E – is when will Dunk realise who Egg is? Is Bloodraven good or bad? Lots of new Targs and lots of new intrigue. Jenny of Oldstones. And they can finish with Summerhall. I’d watch that! And lots of scope for D&D (or whoever) to add their own story to what George has written.
I have been saying from the moment they started with this 13 episodes things ….that having 7 episodes each season makes most sense…I hope they will give us one more episode there certainly is lot to explore if they the wanted to
About spin off . Dunk and egg is the only thing that makes sense ..
Often people say RR provides backstory to current event …but its not the case if you ask me..
All things go back to the event of summerhall …that’s where our story starts..
Sadly i domt think GRrm will be finishing the books …so someone should ask him about all the border strokes and how much book he has planned after she wolves of winter to the events of summerhall and let the show made and give us The story .
And I do believe HBO owns the right to it…as they have the rights of everything asoiaf related..
Tar Kidho,
Full disclosure: I have actually never read the books, I only know The Witcher from the games, but if the world and characters are anything like in the games (and from what I know they very much are) the books should be great. I love that the world is based on Eastern and Northern European folklore, not a very explored territory in mainstream fantasy at least not on an international level.
Tywin? The Mad King? Jaime? Selmy? Rhaegar? Lyanna?
I still think Robert’s Rebellion is the most likely from HBO’s perspective because of already familiar characters (compared to other possibilities); it has a clear beginning, middle and ending AND it has no Dragons (so major savings in budget issues).
As for length, well, they could start the story years before the actual rebellion? (i.e. when Robert met Lyanna for the first time…heck, they could start when Robert and Ned first met as boys!)…The series might not even be called Robert’s Rebellion necessarily…they might just call it “Westeros”… LOL.
And speaking about RR I always see people mention about all Roberts victory and jon’s birth ..
But the story does not end there at all. .
RR ends with birth of dany and she ,viserys and ser Willem leaving dragonstone. .
As for Dunk & Egg, I don’t think the tone is right for HBO?
The tone of those short stories is a lot more whimsical and child-like…
Unless they actually change a lot of it, I don’t see it as an HBO series…Plus, there’s actually not a lot of material there? Barely enough for a short miniseries…
Jack Bauer 24,
I’m keeping my HBO subscription (for now) so that I can watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver until the US presidential election on November 8th. This also will give me a chance to check out Westworld in October. If Westworld doesn’t catch my fancy, then it’s au revoir to HBO until the return of GoT.
I would like a spin-off where Yara, the Hound, Beric, Thoros and Bronn go on a pub crawl through Westeros. 😛
Or something focused on Jon if he ends up in a position of power at the end of this because reasons… 😛
Ok, ok… I know!! I’d like The Dance with Dragons or something related to the Blackfyre rebellions. And make Bloodraven the main POV or something. It can end with him going Beyond the Wall and becoming the 3ER.
HBO is trying to act all casual about a GoT spin-off, but let’s be honest…they’re probably pretty desperate since Vinyl flopped and a lot of their good shows are ending. I watch pretty much everything Netflix puts out, but I only have HBO for GoT and the occasional episodes of Veep and John Oliver’s show.
George,
I agree. They’d probably have to pad it out with some political intrigue plots in KL and maybe something about the Targaryens trying to hatch dragons.
What if they do a spin off that consists of 1 episode short stories .. for example, 1st episode is about Arthur Dayne defeating the smiling knight .. we get to see a young Jaime too .. the story concludes in one episode .. ep02 is about the king who knelt .. how the stark king surrendered to Aegon to protect his people .. and the stories go on and on .. I’d be excited if something like that happen .. please let this happen
Sean C.,
To me RR would make sense because:
1. They can reuse A LOT of sets, props, and costumes.
2. No Wall, Direwolves, and Dragons, so they’d save more money or put it towards the battles.
3. Battle scenes (after the success they had with Battle of the Bastards, they could pull off some amazing stuff here without even needing dragons).
4. It stars characters we’re already familiar with: Ned, Robert, Tywin, Jaime etc. Jon’s birth isn’t the only important event in RR. They can start even before the Rebellion by focusing on Aerys and Tywin’s relationship, Ned and Robert’s friendship, whatever Rhaegar was up to, Jaime’s struggles, and so on. There’s also plenty of political intrigue going on in KL and with all those North-Vale-Riverlands marriages.
George,
I agree somewhat with the tone argument..
But I completely disagree with not enough material..
I can already see 6 sessons each having 8 episodes..
If you ask me I will go doing dunk and egg in Sherlock style…
Put me in the D&E camp. Perhaps a limited episode miniseries (3 eps?) per D&E story. Perhaps aired 6 months apart. I think GRRM said that he had already optioned D&E to HBO. D&D, however, will not be involved to the extent that they are now–executive producers at the most. They want to do other things, and now that they have this clout, they can do ANYTHING. And I don’t blame them for wanting to spread their wings. And it makes sense that the last two seasons will be fewer episodes since HBO has to use some of that capital to get some new properties off the ground.
I hope Westworld is good, as I was big fan of the movie when I saw it as a kid. HBO needs something. I’m not a fan of The Leftovers, The Affair, Veep or Silicon Valley, so GoT, VICE, and John Oliver are all I’ve been watching (other than movies) with them. There are just so many other choices now! My latest binge was Preacher on AMC. Equal measures wacky and violent. Fun summer entertainment. I fear nothing will ever obsess me like GoT has ever again. Sigh.
Anything involving a Dayne would be fine by me! 🙂
I’d watch that! 😀
Aerys, Rhaegar and Lyanna are not main characters in GOT. Tywin and Jaime were, but their roles in a RR series would be very limited. Tywin did nothing until the very end, Jaime just guarded Aerys and then killed him. Lyanna, likewise, just got pregnant, had a baby, and then died.
The basic setup of D&E would work for a series, though an HBO adaptation would probably have to go its own way and focus only on the early years; GRRM’s envisioned scope for the life history of Duncan the Tall covers about fifty years. Probably centre the ongoing plot around the gradual escalation of Blackfyre-related stuff, though the somewhat episodic nature would allow for seasonal stories based in somewhat familiar locations, e.g., Duncan’s eventual visit to Winterfell.
I used to think the same, now I’m not so sure anymore. So much great stuff is coming in the next couple of years. Not to wave the flag of Netflix too much, but they really have great stuff in store. The first half of “The Get Down” (a 120 milion dollar production), “The Crown” (a 100 milion pound first season), “Marvel’s Luke Cage” and much more are all coming this year and that’s not even counting stuff that is a little more in the future like the reboot of “Lost in Space”…
I also look forward to Starz’s “Amercan Gods” and yes, HBOs “Westworld”.
GoT will always have a very spacial place in my heart, but we really live in the golden age of TV.
It’s nothing to do with seasons or spin-offs, but there’s a nice new interview with Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont) here:
http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/title/game-of-thrones–bella-ramsey-/id/8482
Nothing strikingly new, but a good insight into her personality and a few production details about her performance.
Sean C.,
D&E would be a huge disappointment for 90% of GoT fans. It is too different in tone and scope.
And I don’t think that D&E are that good at all.
I think that at the end of day, every GoT spin-off show would get reactions like Star Wars PT and The Hobbit got.
Especially if D&D are not involved. That show would then have completely different style.
ASOIAF is the best story set in this world. Nothing else would come even close.
As others have said here, I think the Witcher would be perfect for HBO. It’s a dark medieval fantasy world so GoT fans will get a familiar vibe and there will be tons of sexposition that HBO loves with Geralt as lead.
If they did a spinoff I’d want something off the rails like a story set in Asshai that had nothing to do with GoT. It very likely won’t happen, but that’s what I’d want.
The thing that made me think of it is after watching all of the Marvel stuff that is coming out, the one show that I am most excited about is Legion. That has a chance to be the most interesting thing Marvel has done yet. Really looking forward to that one. Asshai could be in that same vein. Completely foreign to everyone. An unsullied crowd all the way across the board would be refreshing.
If there is a spin-off I wonder why he assumes D&B would be the ones heading it? Wasn’t the whole reason to push for the shortened seasons was because they were burnt out from the yearly grind of the series?
I suppose if they got a year off and only had to do like a single 10-15 episode mini series I could see that, but in that case I’d have rather them spent those 10-15 episodes on what story was left out of the show seeing as how much more I think it adds to the story. By this I mean the side plots that were entirely cut from the show could have been fully explored as well as upcoming ones to a much fuller extent, or at least to an extent where they weren’t entirely cut from the the universe.
Not to be negative about the show needlessly, as I still enjoy it and plan to watch, but as the book material has run out and the seasons grew from the initial 3 into 4, I just don’t enjoy their original writing and spin on the story. Would much prefer someone else with a bit more commitment to the novels be given a shot. Either that or at least have them work on an aspect of the universe George has already finished, when his actual books are not there for the screenwriters, it’s supremely noticeable.
As much as I’d appreciate a spin-off, I really wish that time and work was put into our current story if D&B truly were the ones in charge of doing it.
mau,
I wholeheartedly agree!
That shouldn’t have to be too much an issue to cover most of that. Lots of series cover decades in time lately (sometimes it gets a little silly that no one seems to really age). Vikings for example seems to have covered 20-30 years or something in 4 seasons. Downton Abbey covered like 10-15 years (??) Just cast someone suitably ambiguously aged for Dunk and recast Egg as an adult when needed.
Anyway I dunno if GRRM has signed away the rights to the unwritten D&E stories and I doubt he would make that mistake again…
Being a history buff I’d enjoy something recounting the origins of the great houses we’ve come to know.
I’m hoping they do 8 episodes in season 8, it would follow the 7 ep season 7 nicely. As far the spin off, I really don’t see Benioff and Weiss assuming the role they currently have in GoT. I believe they are completely burnt out on the genre and the ASOIAF world and who can blame them? They want to do other projects, likely shorter, less demanding ones that won’t completely consume their lives and thoughts the way GoT seems to.
The only way I could see them being on board with a spin off is if the production for it started several years after GoT’s completion, after 2020. I don’t see HBO waiting that long to continue milking the ASOIAF cash cow, the spin off will likely be out the year after the final episode airs, if not during the same year.
I agree that they would not invest money in something like a series about Aegons Conquest or old Valyeria. But those would make great movies! Seeing more than one Targareyn would be awesome. Also, maybe the first battle against the white walkers? The land of always winter and the first men wouldn’t that be amazing? Watch how the Men of the Nights Watch started, everyone take their vows for the first time, more than 100 of them, building the wall! That would be epic!
Of course all of this is just wishful thinking 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 I will happily take anything game of thrones related they have to offer 😉
For new shows, I’d go far to the east of Essos with YiTi and Asshai. Maybe show it thru the eyes of a Westerosi so there’s a touch of the familiar.
Is anyone else blown away by the hysteria with the violence against women in GoT? I still can’t believe people are asking about it. I mean the world is brutal all around regardless of sex as its in a medieval setting. It’s not like Theon enjoyed his stay at the Dread fort. What I especially don’t get is that GoT has so many strong female characters: Brienne, Arya, Daenerys, Cersei, Melisandre, Catelyn, Sand Snakes, Asha, etc.
I think you are missing the point, RR is the endgame, last season material – the series/story is all the actions, personalities, and intrigues that lead to RR. I think audiences can handle a few new lead characters that are not in GOT. There are many characters and story lines to explore. Rhaegar’s obsessions (distractions) on the prophecy, his core relationships (Elia, Authur, KG, Aerys, Viserys, Cottington, Barristan, etc) Aerys decent to madness (and his advisors who might have influenced his paranoia). Tywin conflict with Aerys, and ambitions for the Twins – more so on Jamie and his legacy. Who was Robert Arryn really, how did his influence convince more than half of westeros to openly rebel against the Targs. Ned returning home getting to know his siblings better, especially Brandon and Lyanna – looking to find a place in this world and in the North (second son, just finished training with Arryn) and learning what future plans their father has in store for them all (marriages to Baratheon, Tully) building alliances… was there more behind it all? Maybe cameos of Catelyn, Lysa, Littlefinger, Stannis, Oberyn, and wouldn’t it be cute to see a young Tyrion reading stories on dragons (a la Shireen).
I’m sure there is even more material and characters that could be cultivated, but over all I’m not sure you could get more than 3, maybe 4 seasons and it would be missing all of the ‘fun’ stuff – dragons, direwolves (again), and magic – no otherworldly threat or smoke babies.
All that being said, I still think the best option would be to go in a entirely new direction. There is a lot of very good material out there to adapt or create a series about without having to return to westeros. If they do, I agree with others here that creating 3-6 episode stand alone mini series or several of them would be the way to go… a way to capitalize on the brand, without having to have a broad or complex story line – yet still be solid and good. ASOIAF has it all – that is why it is novelized and the rest are short stories or novellas for a reason.
two more seasons sounds perfect, not to short or to long.
I really love game of thrones for only doing 10 episodes a season, and the shortened season should be really good, really looking forward to watching the final two seasons, can’t wait ^^
Also Fire and Blood the complete history of the Targaryen family would be Bloody Epic
Aegon The conquer and his sister wives, Maegor the Cruel, The Dance of Dragons, The Black Fyre Rebellion, The war of the nine penny kings, Dunk and Egg, and Aemon the Dragon knight, Blood raven, Dragons, Battles, Betrayals, The Targaryen Valyrian Steel swords, and Daeron I Targaryen and his conquest of Dorne. The World of ice and fire is so rich with backstory and lore/History. i’m down with a prequel series 🙂 just thinking about it gets me beyond excited 😀
I agree. I cannot see D&E being successful. A lot of people will probably be disappointed with the reduced scope.
I feel if they are set on a spin-off, RR is the best option.
Also the The 32nd Annual TCA Awards is on August 6th next Saturday
Game of Thrones has two nominations
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
•The Americans, FX
•Better Call Saul, AMC
•Game of Thrones, HBO
•The Leftovers, HBO
•Mr. Robot, USA
•UnREAL, Lifetime
Program of the Year
•The Americans, FX
•Fargo, FX
•Game of Thrones, HBO
•Making a Murderer, Netflix
•Mr. Robot, USA
•The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, FX
•UnREAL, Lifetime
Wish game of Thrones luck next Saturday, the competition is Fierce!!!
Any GoT spin-off would be well received, unless it is totally horrible.
In the business sense of creating a show with very little risk of losing money a spin-off is a no brainer.
At this point I wouldn’t care what the spin-off would be about. Just as long as they give us a great epic fantasy production on par with GoT.
The only hard thing about making a spin-off is keeping the fantasy elements involved, small details that are the biting spice of the GoT dish. Robert’s Rebellion would have zero supernatural aspects involved unless they create a storyline beyond The Wall.
A beyond The Wall storyline can bring us Dire Wolves, Wargs and even The Others and a cool PoV aspect from the wildlings side.
IDK, I would gladly tune in every Sunday night for whatever the folks at HBO bring us.
I just hope they follow the same GoT formula. Bring us a medieval drama with interesting fleshed out characters that all are shaded grey with a small amount of fantasy elements sprinkled in here and there.
The problem would be (as it always is with a prequel) trying to find to create a story for it. After all, the plot line was devised to setup a different story, not to guide it’s own story. Audiences are not interested in faux history: they want stories.
My suspicion is that any spinoff, even one using an original plot devised for telling a new story, would meet the same fate as, say, Crusade. That was the sequel to the Babylon 5 series, and although the B5 fans were all excited to get it, the B5 audience ignored it. After all, none of the main characters returned (save for the pilot), and it was those characters that carried the story, just as in Thrones.
“I think the criticism is valid. I think it’s something we take into account. It’s not something we want to highlight or are trying to highlight.” – What a pussy.
I think that no matter the prequel it still won’t be better than the show because honestly asoiaf is the best story set in this world but on the other hand I don’t see HBO not wanting to milk their cash cow.But I don’t think David and Dan will be making it it.At most they will get a producer credit.As far as stories go I would like a series based on the targeryen dynasty with each season spanning a different period but realistically it’s not possible.The most interesting material to me would be The dance of dragons.Honestly a lot happens there lots of interesting characters and twists and turns and George has only given a dry outline so they could expand on it however they liked but really it won’t be happening becaus Dragons lol.I don’t know about dunk and egg.First there is only material for a short miniseries and second is so tonally different from Game of thrones the viewers would be disappointed.RR is tricky because yes we already know the ending in detail and even have some of it in the form of flashbacks in the current show I would say but in the other hand the sets are there the names are recognizable no dragons or magic it is similar in tone to game of thrones and if they could focus in some chore characters it could be interesting.And I really want to see it lol
WallyFrench,
Hah!
The Witcher would be a great fantasy series.
Is anyone here into anime? Not fan service girls with big boob anime, I mean real adult anime (drama series Japanese style).
There is the series I watch every few years called ‘Ergo Proxy’, a quick summary is as follows:
Hundreds of years in the future climate change destroys the world, because war happens between all countries for the little resources left to feed its populations. The planet is destroyed, humanity eventually decides to work together and create several domed cities to shelter and keep the human species alive. In each domed city they leave a super intelligent superpower cyborg in charge of all decisions along with elected counsel members to advise it.
Also, the upper class (the 1%) have a huge ship created and plot a course to orbit the Sun and arrive back to Earth a few hundred years later, giving it time to become inhabitable.
The series starts at this ships arrival, I don’t want to give to much away because the amazing fun of watching this show is figuring out what is going on. But as the ship gets closer to Earth it sends out a signal to all the cyborgs controlling the domed cities and this signal is called “The Awakening”.
Here is the only part I will give away. The 1% on this mothership have planed to come back and take over these domes for themselves, so all the inhabitants in it are to be exterminated. They were just basically keeping the seats warm for societies upper class. And it is the Proxy’s job to kill them, but then there is Ergo Proxy.
This is a show that is so hard to figure out and it is so thick in philosophy. The soundtrack and artwork is beautiful. I HIGHLY recommend this show, if you are intelligent enough to understand layered GoT plots and open-minded enough to not be turned off by Dragons I KNOW you will love this show if you give it a chance.
Here is another plot summary with more spoilers.
The plot is simple: Runaway greenhouse effect kills Earth and a small sliver of the population escapes to space. Everyone else dies. Humans leave god-like robots on the planet to rebuild and populate domes with clones of humans for reasons which aren’t really explained. Perhaps it was a backup plan to insure the human species survived if the spaceship failed. This is more or less where the plot breaks down. If you can ignore that, then the central conflict becomes the god-like robots aren’t really god-like after all, and the humans in space left them with an ingrained flaw—they die on contact with sunlight. With the Earth’s permanent cloud-cover beginning to vanish after centuries, the proxies (god robots) have an existential crisis knowing they’re going to die, and either kill each other or blow up their domes in acts of insanity. But one of the proxies created it’s own clone and programmed it to kill the (returning) humans out of a desire for revenge. This clone is also immune to sunlight. That’s the hero. He kind of rebels and ends the scheme, destroying the last bit of civilization on the planet in the process, but the conclusion is left ambiguous as to whether or not he kills the returning humans who are seen landing on Earth again in the last few minutes of the series. It’s assumed he doesn’t since he’s learned to accept what he is, and the fact that he’s a clone of another proxy means he’s a blank slate and his own person. He doesn’t HAVE to follow the path someone else laid out for him, regardless of it being his purpose. He was made to kill humans and end all life on Earth forever, but he doesn’t need to, and he probably doesn’t.
Anyway, end rant… Here is a link, give it a shot.
WallyFrench,
I would love a Witcher show. Someone needs to wisen up and do it.
Would love to see the life of the Targaryens before and after The Doom. It’d be cool to see both Valyria and early life at Dragonstone.
Hot Pie – The Joy of Baking
ETA: Sophie Turner would have to guest star in the Lemon Cake episode. Maisie Williams could bake a, well, different sort of pie…
Good to have that confirmation. 🙂
A spin off? I would like to see the events that led to Long Night and Battle for the Dawn in the past, how the Wall was built and etc. I ‘d like to see where everything started 🙂 I understand though that would demand a considerable budget! On the other hand, if there’s going to be a spin off that inspires people to watch, it has to be something that resembles GoT’s budget and quality: Do it properly or not do it at all! 🙂
Wimsey,
That is exactly why I said it is a ”unknown”. I agree with everything you said there.
You could have quite some personal drama, if you combine some events that happened before the Rebellion.
Jaime’s conflict about what to do with Aerys, do the right thing or keep his vows. Ned and his relation with his sister.
And even add some action were there is none. For example, a thing that I just thought of in 5 minutes: When Brandon goes to KL to find Lyanna he is arrested, before he gets arrested have him fight with Jaime….etc.
I agree though, that it won’t be as popular as GOT, and that it might feel like ”plot for the sake of plot” but if they want to do a spin-off, to me this is the best choice.
The other options would be far, far worse.
On a different note, good to see you again Wimsey! 🙂
Hahahahaha! She’s amazing 🙂
How did you prepare for the role? Did you start bossing your parents about?
After the audition, we were at the dinner table and I kept being Lyanna. My mum got really scared of me because I wouldn’t stop. If anyone started laughing at the table I just said, “Don’t laugh in my house. You don’t laugh at me. Pass me the salt.”
It wouldn’t be fan fiction if Martin gives his consent.
viki,
Exactly. Everyone assumes a RR series would start with the Tourney at Harrenhall and end with Jon and Dany’s births, but there are so many events to cover before the conflict actually starts.
They can also expand Cersei’s role (introduce Tywin’s ambitions to marry her off to Rhaegar, Cersei’s feelings towards young Robert, Cersei + Jaime). Varys/Pycelle/Tywin would provide some political intrigue in KL, while Hoster/Jon Arryn/Rickard Stark can plot in the North/Riverlands/Vale. The Tywin/Aerys relationship is also fascinating, as well as Aerys’ descent into madness.
I’m not too worried about the lack of dragons. Battle of the Bastards didn’t have any dragons and it was still very spectacular. It also helped that characters we cared about were involved in it. A RR series would have events such as the Defiance of Duskendale (a good 1st season climax or episode 9 tbh), the Battle of the Trident, the Siege of Storm’s End, and the Sack of King’s Landing.
They’ll have to come up with a better title than RR though lol.
I wouldn’t hold my breath on any spinoffs. George wouldn’t allow any of them that weren’t adaptations of his previous works. That leaves out almost all of the options, particularly those set in the future of these characters. We’ve never gotten the whole story of Aegon’s conquest or Robert’s Rebellion, so I’m not sure he’d allow those. The Dance of the Dragons could be possible, since we got most of the details in George’s novellas in his anthologies. But it would be far more expensive than HBO would likely be willing to spend.
That pretty much leaves Dunk and Egg as the only reasonable choice. Frankly, I don’t see George giving anyone the rights to anything other than the previously published D&E stories. Not after having much of the rest of A Song of Ice and Fire spoiled by the show. I’m not sure HBO would want such a limitation. Maybe a one season mini-series adaptation of those three stories?
IMHO, any prequel or sequel of GOT will turn into a major disappointment, because there is no way anyone could make a compelling story out of that. What makes GOT so compelling is the very structure of the story it tells: there is a major external threat, a bunch or internal feuds, several compelling but not flawless protagonists and here you are. But you don’t need a fantasy for that kind of a story – one can find plenty of them in the real history. For instance, the story of John I of Portugal also known as John the Bastard, the Good or the Great who served as an inspiration for Jon’s Snow character, as I suspect, could make a great television – at least for me, though I am from CEE (and CEE could offer a bunch of compelling stories too, not to speak of the rest of the world). To sum up, if HBO or Netflix or some other company wants to expand beyond the US (which they seem to be doing), they have to start thinking outside the box of the Anglo-Saxon history/mythology and stop milking the Tudors.
David H,
Besides Dunk and Egg I am sure HBO already has the rights to pretty much everything else.
Thank you for that !
I love this little girl to pieces, I wish her a great future as an actress & in her life in general.
I didn’t know she auditioned for BFG, I saw the movie a week ago and thought she’d do good as the heroin.
I hope we see her again in seasons 7 and 8 of GoT, she really rocks !
Arthur,
Come and Saaaaaave meeeeeeee~ .. I Remember watching ergo proxy a long time ago .. although at the time I understood nothing .. I found it beautiful .. something about it is just .. I don’t know .. Nostalgic? .. I still come back to the final moment in the series .. when the ships descend on earth .. and his creepy glowing eyes looking directly at your soul …. cuts to black .. paranoid Android starts playing .. I need watch this again with an open mind ..
jentario,
I just can’t believe someone hasn’t snatched up the rights after the massive success of GoT on HBO. The Witcher has plenty of political intrigue, violence, magic, sex, a fantastic central character, a diverse world to explore. I’m shocked someone hasn’t wanted to use it to make truckloads of cash.
WallyFrench,
The rights could not be that easy to get. There was a Polish TV series (2002) and movie (2001) made. If the rights extend to other markets negotiations would be tuff. Everybody knows what kind of a gold mine The Witcher ip could be if someone would handle it right.
Arya and The Hounds excellent West of Westeros adventures!
The talk of spin offs is interesting however, this is assuming that the cast will be as amazing as this one is. GOT lucked out big time in getting such an amazing group of actors (esp the kids) from the get go, and kept most of them through the years. Not saying that it won’t happen again, but you need some pretty incredible actors to pull it off so its believable to the fans to make any spin off work (that being said, the actors for the various Star Trek spin offs were pretty amazing for the most part)
I would love to see a spin off! Ideas I have been brainstorming….
After the ‘War for the Dawn Pt2’, if they don’t kill off Sam… maybe they can make a show that centers on Sam, when he takes over running the Citadel. Each season could be a quest to seek out and explain certain mysteries of lore and magic. Like blood magic, the origin of the dragons and a search for dragon eggs, the cause of the great doom of Valyria, Origin of the Many-faced God, Valerian Steel and a search for the many famous named swords spread about the lands and they could go to places we have not seen, like the Summer Isles, Lys, and the Shadow Lands. Our favorite survivors could make an occasional cameo.
Or maybe they can expand on Lyanna Mormont and the Bear Island scenario. More along the lines of an enhanced soap opera that includes magic and locations we are already familiar with.
What I don’t want to see is a series based on the PAST, before the current series. It would be GREAT if it takes place AFTER the current series, and allows for new creative twists. What the HECK is wrong with fan-based art or writing based on the original materials boundaries.
At first I thought Dunk and Egg would be cool, but we already know how they DIE, and there are no dragons in that era and that is NO FUN!
But what I really want to see is a series based on the Wild Card book series. Who could play Dr Tachyon? Now that could be fun! SO MUCH material!!!
Except someone did. There’s a Witcher movie in the works.
Maybe it’ll get stuck in development hell or something, but there it is:
http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/629945-the-witcher-movie-in-development-for-2017-release
Morgoth,
Interesting… Didn’t know that was happening. Lets hope it is a success and will develop into a great franchise!
I would just like to stress that this is NOT an invitation to start a massive argument about when/if further books in the series will be published, but I’m always reassured to see anything that confirms we will actually be getting an ending to the story! For show watchers like me, around 2.5-3 years for the whole thing to wrap up, albeit a streamlined version with differences in how the endgame is reached 🙂 Sad to see it end but at least I won’t be left hanging with lots of major questions left unanswered. For book readers, no such certainty, must be horrendous for those who got into it when the first book came out 🙁
I thought George had already given away the rights to anything related to Westeros to HBO already?
George,
From what I understand, they have the general rights to the setting, but they need GRRM’s approval to actually do anything else in the universe (in particular, they don’t have the rights to the other stuff GRRM has written in that universe, e.g., D&E or the various histories, so anything based on those would require his assent). So GRRM can’t take Westeros elsewhere, but they can’t just do whatever they want either.
Reading through the thread I think some of you are way overstating the impact the impending end of GoT will have on HBO currently and in the future. I just don’t think the situation is as grim as some seem to believe. Sure, Netflix has been killing it with original content lately and HBO has had some misses, but that doesn’t mean HBO is on the verge of financial collapse. Despite some hits to their reputation they are still a stable company with exclusive rights to a ton of content.
That’s not to say HBO hasn’t made mistakes. The failures of Vinyl and the second season of True Detective hurt them. And, as a sports fan, it’s a mystery to me why they gave that arrogant jerk Bill Simmons a show. But it hasn’t all been bad news with ‘The Night Of’ being very well received.
As for Netflix, yes they’ve been on a roll but no guarantee that will last. All it would take is a couple of duds and they would lose all the buzz they currently have. Plus, they have announced they are increasing spending next year on new content from 4BN to 5BN and have already increased rates to help compensate for that. You start increasing rates you better not let your quality slip.
George,
That’s what I took from it. That would also explain why D&D never really give a complete answer regarding season 8. And as we all know, there is plenty of story for more episodes.
Lord of Coffee,
Nobody here is saying that HBO will role over and die if they don’t get a hit show. They’re backed up by Time Warner, HBO is here to stay. However they’re in trouble of losing their spot as the TV critics darling they had for many years. Just take a look at this years Emmys. Sure HBO is still in the lead when it comes to nominations (94), but given that Netflix isn’t in the game for so long their 54 nominations are huge.
And Netflix is already spending 6BN on content this year and they will be spending more next year. They have over 83MN sub already pretty much all over the world and while sub growth is slowing down it’s still going up and will most likely jump once they get a better standing in new markets (the “world wide” launch was only in the beginnig of this year).
There is no denying that HBO is facing serious competition from Netflix.
mau,
While I agree with the Star Wars Prequels – the Hobbit series had massive problems bts. Peter Jackson apparently had to step in at the last minute after the original director left and was not allowed to have any time at all to prep it. The making of on the hobbit DVD’s sums it up with this quote from Jackson “I didn’t have any idea as to what the hell I was doing.” He may be lying but I honestly don’t believe he was.
Abyss,
Nobody here is saying that HBO will role over and die if they don’t get a hit show. They’re backed up by Time Warner, HBO is here to stay.
I completely agree that HBO is here to stay. But there are some people in this thread who seem to be implying that they are in trouble which just isn’t true. Here’s a couple sample comments:
* The future for HBO looks a little bleak right now, IMO
* HBO needs a new hit or they’re in trouble.
Netflix themselves have stated they expect to spend 5BN this year ‘on a P&L basis’ and over 6BN ‘on a cash basis’ so both numbers can be correct but I’ve seen media reports use the 5BN P&L number more often. And they also claim to be spending over 1BN just in marketing this year. They are clearly going all out to expand in a hurry and throwing out a ton of money to do it. But people are fickle. Netflix is the cool kid right now and HBO is the aging hipster. But if the Netflix content starts to slip and their subscriber base stops growing then this huge spending could come back to bite them. HBO has been facing serious competition from other networks for years (Showtime, AMC, FX) and they have not only survived, they have thrived.
Sidenote – autocorrect tried to change basis to Nazis! WTF autocorrect??
Abyss,
And not just Netflix, but also FX. FX has been killing it with Fargo, The Americans, American Horror Story and American Crime Story (especially now at the Emmys they got so many nominations and American Crime Story will probably sweep).
Bufferzone,
Thanks for that! She seems like quite an amazing girl, especially this comment:
What would you do if you weren’t an actress?
I want to work with special needs children, doing theatre with them. Dancing, singing and acting – to make a safe space for them to come and just be who they are.
And lol at this:
It’s very violent. Did you see anyone in any special effects makeup?
I saw The Mountain, who had these incredible prosthetics on. It was really weird because we were getting introduced, and he couldn’t really speak because of all his prosthetics. He was just staring at me. I didn’t know how to speak to him.
Lord of Coffee,
I agee with both points you cited (obviously with the last one since it’s from me).
As you said youself, Netflix (and streaming in general) is the “new” hot stuff. It should be, because while you are correct that
Netflix is a different story. Its the first subscription only VOD service that is (almost) global, with originals that can reach viewers all over the world. And not only that, they have content coming out of Germany, Spain, India, England and more countries. It truely is a global operation and while HBO films were ever they see fit and casts globally that isn’t even in the same league of what Netflix is trying to do in terms of globality. This is where the main danger for HBO comes comes. Netflix just is doing so much right now all over world. HBO has a couples of horses it can bet on, Netflix has a Dothraki herd.
Morgoth,
OH wow thanks for the info and the link! 🙂
Abyss,
Yeah, I think we agree on the main points – Netflix is on the rise and HBO is still solid despite some recent slips. But I am just not as sold on Netflix’s long-term success as you are. Anytime a company goes through a period of rapid growth like Netflix has over the last year they are in danger of an equally rapid decline. It happens all the time and I find Netflix’s huge expenditure of cash to be worrisome. It can be said they are smart to strike while the iron is hot. Go big or go home right? But it can also be argued that they are being a little reckless in what can be a pretty fickle market.
In the end we are the winners as all these providers fight it out to bring more and more quality programming to our doorsteps. This really is a golden age of TV.
Mihnea,
Ah, I’ve been quite busy, and hanging out in time zones where conversations means replying 12 hours after everyone else!
As you summarize RR, it could be possible to create a story if Jaime was the primary protagonist. Robert’s Rebellion then would be a backdrop for how how Jaime Lannister comes to be the sort of person who kills his king. To make multiple characters work, then they would have to go through similar arcs. And there, of course, is the big problem: none of the major plotlines culminate on some similar decision by a major character.
The other problem, of course, is that it’s tough to do a story centered around Jaime going from a callow youth to someone who can make a big damned-if-you-do-or-don’t choice without making at least some of the audience wonder: “wait: how/why did Jaime go back to being such a callow individual 15 years later?”
My thought is that they should look to other series for character-driven fantasy stories. The Thomas Covenant series comes to mind: although they might feel the need to “lighten up” a bit on that one, as SoI&F is bright and cheery next to that one! That written, the pickings are kind of slim: the stories in most fantasy series of which I can think are too plot-driven to appeal to HBO audiences.
Is there any empirical support for this? At any rate, it seems that NetFlix has hit upon a model that is very appealing to modern TV viewers: and particularly for people who enjoy series such as Thrones in which the entire season tells a single story rather than there being a story per episode a la traditional TV.
Wimsey,
While Lord of Coffee is right in that it does happen (not exactly all the time, but still), no, there is no solid empirical support for it. Yes, online businesses that have seen rapid growth have crashed (it’s the online business were new models and competition pop up a lot), but you can also point to great success stories like Google which got big very fast and have since expanded there business into a lot of things (under the umbrella of Alphabet) and therefore in all likelihood are set for a long time.
Styr me a nice juicy slice of ginger minge please,
I have watched the series at least 6 times. I binge watch it at night and it just puts you in this mode trance that is unbelievable and every 3 episode just when you think it can’t get any deeper it adds another layer.
It is truly the most beautiful mindfuck anime of all time.
I hope someday before I die it gets adapted by people like D&D for a TV miniseries. All it takes is discovery, like when D&D discovered GRRM’s books.
Fingers crossed!
P.S. Anime and Manga are a huge goldmine that needs to be explored by the west. I think Cameron is going to do ‘Battle Angel Alita’ once he finishes Avatar. Hopefully others will follow his lead because if you dismiss the fan service anime and look into the adult themed anime, there are tons of fresh ideas. So instead of Hollywood constantly remaking stuff they could actually bring to the west some cool stories we have never seen before.
Sean C.,
I can´t imagine HBO doing a spinoff ,period…They say they might think about but that´s just small talk… GOT will be finished and they will move on to another viable project
Oh yeah!
They are doing a major Hollywood adaptation of Ghost in the Shell!
This Manga/Anime is amazing. Scarlett Johansson is starring in it and imagine if they do the opening credits scene the same as the opening Manga/Movie where we see The Major get her new Cyborg body…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsiepGvjjTM
Or when she has to put on her thermoptics invisible camo suit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2mXrndt1ZI
Hope it’s rated R!
Abyss,
Yeah, you answered perfectly. I didn’t mean to imply that all businesses that go through rapid, aggressive growth are going to suffer an equal dropoff. But it does happen. However, Netflix is not an upstart company so they have that in their favor.
Arthur,
Loved the Anime as a kid and hope more good anime get made into movies or TV.
I just wish that they wouldn’t whitewash so much.
An anthology series: ‘Game of Thrones: The Age of Heroes’.
It wouldn’t necessarily have to be set solely in The Age of Heroes, as it could feature stories of legendary characters from throughout Westeros’ past; The Age of Heroes, The Andal Invasions, the pre-Targaryen era, post-Dance of The Dragons Targaryen era, and, for special episodes (once the show has the budget to do so), throw in a few stories here and there set during the post-Conquest, pre-Dance period.
There’s endless potential for stories given the tasty bits GRRM has written about so many figures from Westeros’ past; Theon Stark ‘The Hungry Wolf’, (Would make a sweet three part episode; Part One: The events leading up to The Battle of The Weeping Water, Part Two: The Battle of The Weeping Water, Part Three: Theon’s rampage through Andalos after The Battle of The Weeping Water), tales of any of the known Swords of The Morning (to include Arthur Dayne), Lann The Clever ( a character that lends itself to plenty of cerebral stories, as a change up from the more hack-and-slash type stories), Florys The Fox (a legendary female figure, known for being Garth Greenhand’s most clever child), Storm Kings, Salt Kings, Dunk and Egg, there’s just so much potential for a series that could easily retain most of GoT audience, while possibly attracting new (a more) viewers.
That’s the route they should go- if they can.
That’s the only type of spin-off I could see being successful and fulfilling HBO’s ‘Gotta Get Subscribers’ requirement.
It’s got a couple of things going for it in that, they’d never want for writers, and, it would never want for talent- both on-screen and behind the camera.
OK guys this post is way off topic to the thread but I’m back to theories already, nowhere else to post it, and I’m really curious about this. It’s probably been talked about much already but if so I don’t remember much of the conversation in regards to their actual dreams. Anyways I just read on-line a couple of dreams that 2 of the main characters have in the books and they make me wonder if it foreshadows anything about what’s going to be the end game.
This could refer to the battle on the wall with Wildlings but then why is he described as wearing- and holding-?
If this vision is about fighting the WW army then why is it referred to as a “usurper’s” host and likens it to Rhaegar fighting his foe Robert at the trident?
ygritte,
About Jon’s dream. I actually think the armor he has on
But anyway, the most likely scenario imo is that
Flayed Potatoes,
So does that give away what the WW goals are? Describing the Night king as a “usurper” and comparing her eventual war against them to Rhaegar fighting Baratheon seems to mean the Night King wants the Westerosi throne? But there is a weird theory floating around that Jon ends up making some kind of truce/pact with the other side and become the new NK and then when he can’t bring Dany to heel they would go against each other. This only makes sense to me if what we are seeing play out is deities (LoL and great Other) at a power struggle and then war with each other through Jon and Dany. And again, the show wouldn’t have time to do this I’m guessing but maybe in the books.
ygritte,
Flayed Potatoes,
One interesting point is that
. Is it significant in any way?
I like the
Styr me a nice juicy slice of ginger minge please,
So far this is the best idea ive seen an anthology series kind of like the history and lore from blu rays. One episode young tywin, one episode arthur dayne, one episode tourney at harrenhal, etc. Especially after the series to see our favorite characters alive and young would be great and be great companion series. Each episode focused on one location only.
ghost of winterfell,
Yep this is the parallel I was thinking about.
But tbh I really can’t see George choosing one over the other though…he’s invested too much in each one to play them against each other and choose a favorite like that. If an initial conflict does come to pass however maybe Bran plays a role in peacemaking.
I’m going to have to look it up tomorrow.
I do not think that any spin off would have the success that GoT’s has enjoyed.
Why do we think that GRRM is the only fantasy writer of really great novels out there? I can think of a dozen that I would love see come to screen. Ones that are sweeping, expansive, dynamic, world building and violent.
I just read that someone has bought the rights to the Amber Chronicles or Nine Princes in Amber. I believe they are shopping around at the moment for a place to call home. Should HBO/Time Warner want to pick that up, it would be a thrilling new series for them.
There WAS a life in fantasy prior to GRRM. While I love ASoIaF, it is in my top 10 fantasy book series (I can’t move it up until I have read the whole series). I have been reading fantasy from the late 60’s. I had heard of GRRM and this series but not read them until after the show started and that is true for millions and millions of fans. Yes, there WAS a life in fantasy prior to GRRM and there still is. When I am hungry for my fantasy fix, I dive right back to my old familiar favorites.
Check out the websites for writers like McCaffrey or Guy Kay or Williams or Zelazny and so many others. Those who came to fantasy because of GoT’s have no idea what is out there that could be the next “big thing” in a fantasy series. What GoT’s did was to prove that, if it is made right, it can and will be hugely successful.
I wouldn’t be watching a spinoff series. But I’m happy at the confirmation that in just two seasons, I’ll know the ending to this story.
JCDavis,
agreed and I would personally love to see the original dune series adapted by HBO
ghost of winterfell,
The armor is described as dark (I think it was “dark smoke” in Damphair’s TWOW chapter).
When the WW hit, they will surely kill a lot of people in the north, including soldiers (who are armored). Jon would be fighting with these people (leading them most likely), so he would have similar armor. I also expect the WW to revive dead soldiers from previous battles. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jon spends a lot of time fighting and retreating south with the survivors. Dany would come into the picture then, since she’ll most likely have the south by then, and Jon might retreat south with the WW hot on his tails (hence the confusing Usurper imagery).
ygritte,
The thing is that they’ve built up this conflict with the WW so much (especially on the show), that they have to have some confrontations. Otherwise it ends up being a disappointment (see: Breaking Dawn finale).
I really don’t know what the WW’s goal is. In the show, for now, it seems like an Ultron situation (weapon gone rogue).
A ‘problem’ most people have is disappointment when a beloved book, movie or tv series ends. Even if the ending is perfect and satisfying we always wonder what happens next for the characters. That’s A reason why so many plead for reunion shows, sequels and spinoffs. The “happily ever after” finish just doesn’t work for a lot.
There’s no doubt that I’d love for there to be another well done tv series or movie(s) based on a piece of history in Westeros. Whatever it would be they should try to get it in the works no later than soon after GoT’s series finale so interest of the less fanatical doesn’t die out entirely. I think it would be cool to have movies that are essentially stand-alone pieces that each covers events surrounding one major piece in history leading up to GoT. If they were filmed in the same fashion and able to use the same music themes and style it could tie in nicely with GoT.
Personally I believe I might enjoy post-GoT stories the most. I would get the ‘what happened next’ element I’ll crave and there’s a possibility of having some current cast members who’s characters live as guests or even star. Sure, it would probably be fanfic, but if it’s done well so what? If George ever finishes the seventh book I find it unlikely that he’ll ever write more to the story, thus ending our time in that world “officially.”
Dunk and Egg on their own are kind of boring to me. What makes them interesting is the Blackfyres and BloodRaven. And the most interesting Blackfyre rebellion is the first one. So if there’s to be spin off my first vote is for the Blackfyre rebellion. My second would be for Roberts rebellion. Any other spin off I don’t think would generate an audience.
Robert’s Rebellion would make sense since it the audience is (vaguely) familiar with its story. You dnt need suspense. You need rich storytelling. Another possibility is to follow a character or two after the great war. Or maybe jump a few decades into the future, after King Snow has ruled for a bit 🙂 They have plenty of great choices for a spin off. The universe of GOT is quite vast.
No spin off.
Let it go. Enjoy it now for what it is. Don’t dilute it and weaken it.