Posted on 04/15/2019 6:12:15 AM PDT by C19fan
One billion tuned in as the highly anticipated Game of Thrones kicked off its eighth and final season on HBO Sunday night with the season premiere, the first of a six-episode final season.
The excitement about the premiere reached fever pitch online and at viewing parties set up in LA, New York and Utah as fans watched the long-awaited episode.
Fans around the world set up viewing parties with some die-hard followers at Professor Thom's bar in New York City dressed as characters from the show based on the fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin.
In the Los Angeles area, Brennan's Irish pub in Marina Del Rey and Busby's East in the Mid-Wilshire area were hosting viewing parties for fans.
The final season will span six episodes, the first two of which will run roughly the normal episode length at 54 minutes and 58 minutes.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“I find that number difficult to believe, given things like the number of HBO subscribers”
Most people don’t subscribe to HBO. They stream it through other platforms for cheap, like HBO Now or HBO Go, then cancel after the season is over. That’s what I do.
Episode was okay. Better not waste another minute setting up the real action.
I thought each episode was going to be 75-80 minutes. Last night was only 55. What gives?
I only turn on the HBO subscription on my DirecTV during GOT seasons.
“...I only turn on the HBO subscription on my DirecTV during GOT seasons. ...”
Same here!
Otherwise HBO offers me very little of interest.
I think the "problem" with GOT is the opposite of what you suggest. The show started out with story lines that took several seasons to develop. I think it took 5 seasons to get Arya Stark back to Winterfell after she started in episode 1 of Season 2. Now that they have run out of George R R Martin books and have only his outline to go on, it seems that are telescoping events at too rapid a rate. Deneirys' rescue of Jon and his followers at the end of Season 6 is an example of something that was done in minutes whereas in the past, it took half a season or more to cover large areas of Westeros. I think the overly sped-up style started last season.
Last night's episode was IMO typical of first season episodes of this show. They are almost always kind of slow, with reminders of what happened last season and setting the stage for the new one. I expect the remaining ones will be almost too action-packed. Like you, I do not find the show as compelling as I once did, but I am in for the long haul.
Ditto here. Subscribed for two months and will cancel when GOT is over. Aside from GOT, I hate HBO programming and HBO has gotten way too big for its britches. I wonder how many will cancel their subscriptions after the last episode of GOT.
Tyrion Lannister to Lord Varys...at least you won’t freeze your balls off.....LOL....
This, that a billion watch this drivel, explains the mess we are in.
It’s worse than drivel, too.
How much gore and rape and incest scenes were there?
I have read descriptions of the show and decided to pass.
Calm before the storm... they had to set the stage so to speak. It was boring for sure.
I believe you are confusing GoT with the Bill Maher show.
Too much fiction for my taste. I like to live in the real world, stuff like this makes me feel claustrophobic.
Yep, a billion dollars for HBO to funnel right to the DNC and leftest groups to use against you and your children.
Buy hey, it's a small price to pay just to be entertained for a hour on Sunday and to keep up with the 'in-crowd' a work.
There are currently 100 thousand people minimum currently torrenting it alone.
Billion seems like a stretch, but it is certainly a bunch that watched it.
“Leftist HBO must be very pleased that so many can be fooled by a little (OK, a lot of) blood and titties.”
LOL! History is full of the same.
me too! I cannot believe people watch this as a “family show”.
Jon Snow’s first Dragon ride | Game of Thrones S08E01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3TeU8mlJns
Game of Thrones 8x01 - Theon rescues Yara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgX9fmPy7g8
Episode 1: This was, first and foremost, a gathering of the heroes. Most of them are now neatly concentrated in a trap, about to be overwhelmned by White Walkers. If the initial battle goes badly, as it almost certainly will, there will be a heckuva lot of character and plot simplification, all dependent on a pretty arbitrary choice of who to kill.
In other important narrative business, Yara has been rescued, Theon is a big step down the redemption trail, Jon now knows his true parentage, and Dany is left as the last one in the dark. Her reaction could be pivotal, or not, depending on the whim of GRRM and the screenwriters. The premise for a potential break between Jon and Dany has been established. And Jamie is due for a come-to-Jesus confrontation with Bran. This will lead to a dramatic scene in episode 2, but the decision will be to allow Jamie to fight for the living. Bronn is now officially a wildcard, though he will come down on the right side again, as he always does. Bronn is like the Hound with a sense of humor and without the scars: a tough hombre with a hidden sense of decency. And speaking of the Hound: the initial meeting with Arya did not go well, which is almost certainly the screenwriters' way of enhancing the drama of their reconciliation before one or both of them die.
Where is Brienne? Did I miss her somewhere in a crowd scene, or did she somehow miss this happy reunion?
Introducing the Golden Company opens a lot of doors. Euron sailed off to hire mercenaries. There are plenty of mercenaries in Essos to be hired. But the Golden Company, in the books, has an elaborate backstory and an important plotline of its own. None of this has been developed in the show, and it is late in the game to bring it in, but the Golden Company has a LOT of baggage, if the screenwriters have a mind to unpack it. It could be interesting to have a formidable army of Blackfyre loyalists taking Cersei's coin. The Blackfyre rebellions seem to have played out by the time of Game of Thrones, and in the books, the Golden Company contains Young Griff, who is perhaps another hidden Targaryen. Blackfyre loyalities are complicated when it comes to House Targaryen. But always remember: the Golden Company is the honorable, well disciplined, almost-legitimate mercenary company; in their own minds, they are a loyalist force in exile. They bear watching.
I am a political creature.
I ran for Student Council. I went to Boys’ State. I majored in Political Science. I was an aide to a Federal Congresscritter. I current hold elective office.
GOT is first and foremost a political show. I see parallels between the Lannisters and the Democrats. Both are “the ends justify the means” people and resort to slander and half-truths to get their way.
Yeah, there is occasional nudity. Yes, there is often gratuitous violence. If you are of a pearl clutching nature, it is not the show for you.
But if you are looking for intrigue, deep characters, excellent acting and multiple engaging plot lines, you should check it out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.