Game of Thrones

[AndrewCrossett]

I don't think there's ever been another show in history that was talked about in such depth by people who hated it.

[Hellion]

I don't think there's ever been another show in history that was talked about in such depth by people who hated it.

I don't hate the show, but that doesn't mean I'm not upset at how D&D dropped the ball when it came to the ending. And by all accounts, it seems likely they were just fed up with the job and desperate to move on. Game of Thrones is a great show, one of the best TV has ever given us...

But I stand reassured that the greatest show ever made continues to be The Wire. The show runners and writers of The Wire never once compromised the complexity of their narrative nor the characterizations of their characters, all of which rival Thrones. For that, they win first place. And the series finale of The Wire is the textbook definition of bittersweet.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I don't hate the show, but that doesn't mean I'm not upset at how D&D dropped the ball when it came to the ending. And by all accounts, it seems likely they were just fed up with the job and desperate to move on. Game of Thrones is a great show, one of the best TV has ever given us...

But I stand reassured that the greatest show ever made continues to be The Wire. The show runners and writers of The Wire never once compromised the complexity of their narrative nor the characterizations of their characters, all of which rival Thrones. For that, they win first place. And the series finale of The Wire is the textbook definition of bittersweet.

Those shows are far too different to compare

[Starter Set]

So there in lies the problem. People are split over the books like I expected.

Been re-reading dance with dragons some weeks ago and man, is that book fat or what?

It so needlesly long, you could easily remove one third of it without losing anything about the story. And for the most part, quite boring.

[Divine Spark]

Since this season had a billion viewers worldwide that means more people watched this than Endgame. Wow.

[SpiderClops]

Since this season had a billion viewers worldwide that means more people watched this than Endgame. Wow.

Total or average per episode?

[PwrdOn]

I don't think there's ever been another show in history that was talked about in such depth by people who hated it.

Well people only hated the show because they were so emotionally invested in it and the final season didn't meet their expectations. It's not like it was one of those shows that is so bad that people had no interest in watching, yet somehow they still spend all day talking about how much they don't care about it. But this kind of disappointment sort of comes with the territory of being a nerd, because this kind of diehard fandom requires you to get so deeply immersed in that universe and attached to the characters, that the minute something doesn't go the way you expect, it has serious consequences for your entire life. Game of Thrones sort of went beyond this though, because a lot of casual fans were also disappointed in the ending and there are definitely legitimate complaints about D&D mailing it in and just general sloppiness instead of bringing the show home for a nice smooth landing.

[Kirby101]

I didn't hate the last season, I was only greatly disappointed with the 5th episode. The mad turn of Dany seemed more like the writers deciding to have a big scene with KL burning than anything organic with the characters. That and Cerci's incredibly unsatisfying death. The resolution of the last episode was fine. I didn't hate it.
(though I kept thinking why Jon couldn't just come back in a couple of years and live quietly at Winterfeld, I mean, how would the Unsullied know?)

[Sparta]

I don't think there's ever been another show in history that was talked about in such depth by people who hated it.

I loved the show, especially seasons 1-4, and I even forgave the many faults in seasons 5-7. Despite being bitterly disappointed in the final season, I still think it's one of the greatest shows of all time.

[Coin Biter]

It's interesting reading the complaints about the ending because... well... as someone who was rather critical of many of the earlier elements within the seasons (particularly, from memory, the defanging of Tyrion, the Robb/Talisa romance, and the terrible reworked Qarth subplot), I've rather enjoyed it.

Perhaps because my expectations are not so high.

I think it's partly because, with the earlier developments, although I could see why they made changes, I thought they had often been poorly executed. Tyrion's sanitisation for example, and the change of the nature of his relationship with Shae.... I suppose it was understandable that they removed many of the darker elements within Tyrion's character, but regardless whether GRRM preferred nu-Shae or not, the scenes between the two of them were fairly awful. It was understandable also that they changed Robb/Jeyne, into the conventional, well, horribly cliched romance of Robb/Talisa - they wanted us to be emotionally invested in the relationship, even if the side effect was to make Robb appear much more selfish and foolish. And it was understandable that they changed the Qarth storyline, which was largely static in the books (albeit ending in an awesome setpiece) to a more dramatic storyline - I just wish it had been a lot better (see also Dorne).

But in the later seasons, free from the moorings of the books, while they've often given us fairly sterile chitchat between fan favourite characters, they have also given us spectacle. Hardhome was a great episode, and even the lesser episodes of the last season or two were still impressive visual feasts. Given, really, the results of their previous deviations from the storyline

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Been re-reading dance with dragons some weeks ago and man, is that book fat or what?

It so needlesly long, you could easily remove one third of it without losing anything about the story. And for the most part, quite boring.

Both that and Feast were needlessly long and had very little plot progression.

-Mereen gets screwed in a civil war and Dany leaves on Drogon before anything is resolved
-Tyrion travels Essos in self loathing fashion and before he meets Dany she leaves.
-Cersei fucks with the Tyrell’s and Sparrows before they turn on her and she does her walk
-Jon is LC of the NW and is trying to manage things and work with wildlings and then gets stabbed after trying to go fight Ramsay
-Ramsay holds Winterfell and Stannis is descending on him. We don’t see what happens and if you believe the Pink Letter it happened off page.
-Sansa does things in the Vale
-Arya trains in Essos
-Bran trains with Bloodraven.

Honestly you begin to understand why GRRM wanted a five year time skip. All the characters were in positions where they were better off developing off page. Jon is more credible being LC for a few years, Arya and Bran can emerge from their trainings as more competent, Dany can rule Slavers Bay for five years before facing major resistance, Tommen can be King for a few years before the Sparrows immediately pop up, Tyrion can feel bad for himself for a few years..

The big issues were keeping Stannis at the Wall for so long and probably Cersei just being stagnant in KL and not knowing how they bounced back from Tywin’s Death.

[XPac]

I didn't hate the last season, I was only greatly disappointed with the 5th episode. The mad turn of Dany seemed more like the writers deciding to have a big scene with KL burning than anything organic with the characters. That and Cerci's incredibly unsatisfying death. The resolution of the last episode was fine. I didn't hate it.
(though I kept thinking why Jon couldn't just come back in a couple of years and live quietly at Winterfeld, I mean, how would the Unsullied know?)

Jon's sense of honor would probably prevent him from returning to Winderfell unless he absolutely needed to for some reason.

Plus, I honestly think he's happy in the North anyways. Aside form visiting Sansa what would he even do in Winterfell? I honestly think he'd get bored.

[Hellion]

Those shows are far too different to compare

They really aren't.

They're different in terms of genre, but not much else. They were both long-running shows (The Wire's 60 episodes vs. Thrones's 73). They both had a sprawling cast of characters (I believe The Wire had more). Both shows expanded their respective worlds throughout their runs. They are even similar thematically, dealing with corrupt institutions and showing us the world and human nature as it is: unjust, opportunistic, violent, and one where the good guys seldom win and characters rarely get the endings they deserve.

[Divine Spark]

Total or average per episode?

Total I believe.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

They really aren't.

They're different in terms of genre, but not much else. They were both long-running shows (The Wire's 60 episodes vs. Thrones's 73). They both had a sprawling cast of characters (I believe The Wire had more). Both shows expanded their respective worlds throughout their runs. They are even similar thematically, dealing with corrupt institutions and showing us the world and human nature as it is: unjust, opportunistic, violent, and one where the good guys seldom win and characters rarely get the endings they deserve.

Having a big cast and being long running don’t make them the same. Game of Thrones was a fantasy epic with traditional fantasy elements that were deconstructed mixed with a lens on the pursuit of power that combined an in universe history, action, adventure and comedy. The Wire was a really well done crime drama set in the real world.

The Wire wasn’t being as ambitious as showing multiple wars across several made up continents with fantasy characters and attributes like dragons and made up institutions that informed character actions etc.

They were both critically acclaimed HBO shows. That’s about it.

The Wire is more comparable to the Sopranos, which is probably an overall better show