Game of Thrones had a great first season, I just hope HBO lets it go for several years. I want to see the complete story put to film.

Thank god this is not ABC...

+1, very much so!

no way. The speed that Martin writes at they will have aired the first five books before he finishes the prologue for book 6.

I'd think having book fans waiting on you and having HBO waiting on you are two different things (harsh as that sounds). I don't think it'll another 6 year wait.

Is this series more along the lines of an 'adult' Excalibur movie -- sex and bloody swordplay; or does it have CGI elements like dragons and what not in it?

Thanks!

Eh, I just hope GRRM actually finishes it by the time the show catches up to it.

He needs to write 2 or 3 books in 5 years and history is not on his side.

These are my favorite books. I loved the series and didn't mind at all when it occasionally took liberties with the books for the sake of the show. ;)

It's far less "fantasy" and more "medieval" than most fantasy stuff is. It's extremely adult, there is extreme graphic violence, rape, murder, incest, treachery, all that good stuff.

There are fantasy elements and magical elements but the show is far more focused on the political chess game, and wars between people. I can't say much without giving things away, but suffice it to say there are fantastic elements, they just don't take the main stage whatsoever.

Thanks for the quick summary. The series does sound interesting -- just wanted to get my expectations inline so that I wouldn't be disappointed if I purchased it.

I recommend reading the books.

Not just to be an elitist, pushing my spectacles up on my nose, but because they are unbelievably entertaining, well-written books. He's been called "The American Tolkien" and I tend to agree. He has created a living, breathing world and the books are not dry at all. They force you to keep turning pages with twists and turns and cliffhangers. You just care about the characters. You love characters you used to hate, and vice versa. He has no problems turning the story on it's ear. It's the closest thing to an HBO series in book form, which is why HBO was a perfect match.

GRRMs biggest problem is reining his extravagant vision in to keep his books short enough to be digestible. A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons were actually meant to be one book, but it was approaching 2000 pages and would be unpublishable, so he divided it up into two... and he still hasn't released A Dance With Dragons (it comes out tomorrow :D).

Sounds a lot like the late Robert Jordan, and his Wheel of Time series! Oh man would I ever like to see Peter Jackson make this into a movie series...although after 13 books I don't hold out much hope! So I would settle for the original Shannara series! :D

I just started watching this and I'm hooked!

Although, honestly, I don't know if they should have done a second season. I'm afraid it'll be what usually happens and take a great show and ruin it by following the almighty dollar and turning out additional sub-par seasons. (ya Weeds I'm looking at you!)

I'm sure shows like: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Sopranos, just to name a few, disagree with you!

I don't believe that 'usually' means 'all inclusive'... ;)

"usually" is a pretty broad word...and since you didn't list any shows that "usually" suffer from the sophomore jinx, I just wanted to get a range of what shows "usually" do suffer from a 2nd season falloff.

Red Eagle Entertainment and Universal r trying to bring the first book, Eye of the World to the screen. The story is just so massive I dont believe it could ever be fully realized.

Well, that usually happens when u base the first season on original material and then have to create ur own material for subsequent season. In this case, the second season will be based on the second book, Clash of Kings and the third on book 3, Storm of Swords. Most people agree that these two books r even better than Game of Thrones so the show is only likely to improve.

Thank you so much for that bit of info! It might have made my year! Heck I'd be happy with a nicely produced animated version of the WoT series, as that might be a little easier to pull off. Oh well, wait & see I suppose.
Again thank you for the info.

I just finished watching the last episode.

I bawled... :cry:

How in the hell could you not like the first episode? I was hooked after the opening scene! :ohnoes:

Why should they not do a second season? Season 1 ends with everything up in the air. And the source material is great, there is nothing to worry about.

No slipcover... This NEEDS to be a steelbook!!!:rock:

Is there any word on when this is liable to get a release date? :)

The fact that HBO still hasn't announced Boardwalk Empire makes me very scared about this show's BD release. :(

HBO needs to be smart and release this for Christmas, so people get a chance to see it, and build up buzz for Season 2. I doubt that will happen though.

dont even say that

Glad there is a lot on interest in this. Im a crew member on it and its a great show to work on. In fact im literally just home from a long days filming on season 2.

in that case, it sucks.

Yes, the first season ends exactly where the book ends.

In all honesty, do you really think that would've been a better name for the show? I think they're doing just right with the name, given that the entire book series is . So perhaps you have it backwards.

So I guess that they're filming in Belfast, Northern Ireland? That's cool. If your crew ever needs a concept artist, please send me a pm... :pray:

Agreed. The phrase is used often throughout the book series, and is an excellent title for the TV show.

The second season of Game of Thrones doesn't premiere until sometime next year. This likely won't be out until next year as pretty much all shows get released right before the next season is going to begin. While I don't disagree with you, that just isn't how it works.

HBO possibly ignoring Boardwalk Empire is a surprise though.

But unlike weeds, this is a show based on an existing story. They did a great job with book one.

You wouldn't believe the amount of artists working on this. Its crazy!

So anyone you can ask about the Season 1 BD release? :D

As I've said time and time again, HBO is waiting for the Emmy craze to sweep in "all its glory" before releasing Boardwalk, to capitalize on all the positive interest it will get. It's a virtual shoe-in to win Best Series, and has just won a massive amount of technical Emmys, so they will want those people intrigued by this future coverage to pre-order the home media release. If not September or October, it should be released by the holiday season (my guess).

Since Game of Thrones is a spring show (ironic in a sense if you have read the books/are aware of the seasons in the show, but I'll get into that later), this will not likely have any effect on it. All the better I'd say.

Best series, or Best NEW series?
I think Mad Men & Breaking Bad may have something to say about winning Best series.

Breaking Bad is not in contention this year, as it did not air during the period at all. Based on the buzz, it seems that Boardwalk will win over Mad Men this year - and it actually did beat Mad Men at the Golden Globes and about every other awards show. There is no "Best New Series" Emmy...

Yeah I agree its either going to be Boardwalk or Thrones to take out the award, I would be happy with either but would prefer Thrones. Of course if Breaking Bad was in competition this year I would definitly be rooting for that.

Really, Boardwalk is still thought of in high regard? I know it had a lot of critic praise before it aired, but I dropped it after about 3 episodes, and most people I know dropped it around the same time, or shortly after because it was pretty dull.

I never quite got the complaints about Boardwalk being slow. I thought it was amazing all the way through. I'd give Best Drama to Game of Thrones first, but I'm not certain it has that great of a shot. I'm almost certain Boardwalk Empire will get it after its performance at the Creative Artists Emmy Awards. Though a Mad Men win would never be a shocker. :)

Mad men, boardwalk and game of thrones are the best tv has to offer and I would be happy if either one of those shows got the Emmy, but I'd prefer it be mad men.