(PhD Research) Think back to when the adaptation was announced

[Inevittable]

Thanks to those of you have participated in my other research threads. I am hoping that this one will be a popular one (tell your friends!).

In this thread I would like you to cast your minds back to the days when HBO first ordered the TV series, and while the first season was in production.

I would very much like to find out about the following:

• Had you read the books before you heard about the adaptation being made?
• What was your reaction to the news about an adaptation being in the works?
• What do you remember about the reaction of other people?
• How much did you think you would enjoy the adaptation (or not)?
• What else was happening at this time (for example in your home lives, in the news or other shows and films you were enjoying etc)

I am also keen to read some free discussion and reminiscing, so don’t feel constrained to the points above.



Some small print...
I am currently studying towards a PhD in Media, Culture and Communication at Keele University. My project title is ‘An online ethnography of the fan community of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels and the Game of Thrones television adaptation’ and my aim is to investigate the history and current practices of the fan community of A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones.
With the permission of the owners of this website I am initiating this thread to try and encourage discussion about the topic described above. This topic is just one part of a much larger research project, and you may notice other threads around the forum.
An information sheet is available here, which will hopefully address any questions you may have about the research. The information sheet contains information about the research process, and also information about how your posts to this thread will be used. You are under no obligation to take part, however your help in the project would be much appreciated.
By posting in this thread you are agreeing to the statements on the consent sheet which is part of the information sheet linked to above. By posting in the thread you are agreeing that you are over 18.
If you have any queries please let me know.
PS: There is a thread here which you are very welcome to join to discuss the research project or ask questions.

Many thanks,
Inevittable

[motherofkitties]

I had not read the books before the TV show came out; I thought the premise sounded interesting when HBO started advertising it but I wasn't very excited. I saw swords and Sean Bean looking exactly like he did in LotR and thought it would be the same thing. I started reading after season 1 ended because of all the buzz it generated. I started watching the show after that.

I had recently quit grad school and started a completely new career path. This was also about the time I started reading for fun again, since I had the time. I was not a fantasy reader before Asoiaf, but I did read a lot of horror and some sci- fi.

[lokisnow]

As I recall, Game of Thrones was announced as a pilot with a slate of half a dozen or more other HBO pilots being ordered. The big concern at the time was that Game of Thrones had the deck stacked against it being picked up for series because it didn't have HBO alumni producing it or major hollywood players like Martin Scorsese boosting the credentials.

[Sword of the Morgan]

I had never even heard of the books when I first watched the HBO series. In a futile effort to avoid what I thought at the time would be "ruining" the surprise factor, I held off on reading the books through the first three seasons. When I couldn't wait any longer, I read the books very quickly and have now read them twice. Now that I have read the books, I like the show a little less, and that distaste could grow if they continue to deviate from the books. Season 4 was my least favorite season and I thought it would be the best one, but I'm sure it has something to do with it being the first after I read the books.

[Inevittable]

Thanks to those of you who have answered so far.

I would really like to hear from those of you who read the books before the TV series started.

[oierem]

Thanks to those of you have participated in my other research threads. I am hoping that this one will be a popular one (tell your friends!).

In this thread I would like you to cast your minds back to the days when HBO first ordered the TV series, and while the first season was in production.

I would very much like to find out about the following:

• Had you read the books before you heard about the adaptation being made?
• What was your reaction to the news about an adaptation being in the works?
• What do you remember about the reaction of other people?
• How much did you think you would enjoy the adaptation (or not)?
• What else was happening at this time (for example in your home lives, in the news or other shows and films you were enjoying etc)

-Yes, I had read the books before the adaptation was made. I read the first book in September 2007 and proceeded reading the rest until I read the fourth one in 2009.

-I can't remember when I found out. The adaptation was in development for quite a long time I recall, so I knew they were making one, but I wasn't overly interested in it (wasn't sure if it was going to be made after all, wasn't sure if it would be good...). Just mild expectation, I'd say.

-I wasn't thinking much about the adaptation until trailers started to get out. The interest grew slowly as news started to emerge (I remember the casting news) and by the looks of the trailers, it seemed to be good.

-I was studying at the time. And at that time I found Lost, one of my favourite series of all time (actually, I watched the first season of Lost for the first time while I was reading Game of Thrones for the first time!).

[DanteGabriel]

Thanks to those of you have participated in my other research threads. I am hoping that this one will be a popular one (tell your friends!).

In this thread I would like you to cast your minds back to the days when HBO first ordered the TV series, and while the first season was in production.

I would very much like to find out about the following:

• Had you read the books before you heard about the adaptation being made?
• What was your reaction to the news about an adaptation being in the works?
• What do you remember about the reaction of other people?
• How much did you think you would enjoy the adaptation (or not)?
• What else was happening at this time (for example in your home lives, in the news or other shows and films you were enjoying etc)

I am also keen to read some free discussion and reminiscing, so don’t feel constrained to the points above.

I discovered the series in late 2004, so I guess a few years before the show was announced. I kind of patted myself on the back when HBO made the announcement, because there had been numerous threads here about the potential for some kind of TV or movie adaptation, and I'd been saying that the only way it could work would be an HBO series -- to handle the complexity, length, and brutality of the books.

I'd say my reaction was "cautiously optimistic." I thought some low-budget approach (like, say, that awful D&D movie from years ago with Jeremy Irons and a Wayans brother) would just be the worst think ever, so HBO's willingness to throw money at projects was comforting. I remember participating in some casting ideas threads here. I wanted Clive Owen for Ned and Diane Lane for Catelyn, making the same mistake most posters made -- picking among well-known movie actors instead of the tier of lesser-known actors who usually end up composing the vast majority of regular roles in TV series. I think I remember being kind of skeptical of Benioff's involvement, as his writing credits included the execrable Troy and Wolverine movies.

I'd evangelized the books pretty seriously among my friends so I had a good number of people to talk to about it. I vividly remember one friend, who is also a film buff and writes movie reviews for an indie website (and in demeanor is a little like a self-aware version of the Simpsons comic book geek), getting very impressed when Peter Dinklage was cast as Tyrion -- he said something like, "Okay, this has a legitimate chance at being good now."

I was a little worried about how adaptation would go. Beloved literature tends to suffer in the adaptation, but maybe my enjoyment of Peter Jackson's LOTR movies blunted my fear a little (I have since downgraded my opinion of that series as the Hobbit trilogy is one long, expensive, CGI-fouled shark-jump, but that's not relevant here...). In the early going, I avoided seeking out news about the adaptation. I'd get all the updates on casting and stuff just from my Facebook wall, but I rarely sought out news on my own. By the time the series was set to premiere I'd gotten pretty swept up into the hype though. I remember just exhaustively watching all the trailers and bits of preview they put out, even sitting around the TV with a group of friends while I hooked my computer up to it so we could watch the previews on a big screen, and laughing at how many times we heard GRRM's basic descriptions of the Houses, because those got recycled a lot through the various trailers.

I'd also like to say the show blew me away from the opening credits. Fucking gave me chills.

[Myrddin]

• Had you read the books before you heard about the adaptation being made? :
  • ​Yes. I've been reading the series since 1997.

What was your reaction to the news about an adaptation being in the works?

• Guarded optimism. I was optimistic because HBO was doing it. Guarded because so many other adaptations have flopped (Golden Compass, Sword of Truth, etc)

What do you remember about the reaction of other people?

• Reactions ranged from ecstatic all the way to dismay (assuming it was going to bomb). People, especially here, also worried about the price show's popularity would cost the board. Thus the "flood of noobs" being shortened to "the floob."

How much did you think you would enjoy the adaptation (or not)?

• I'm pretty laid back about these things, so I figured I'd enjoy it, outside a complete disaster. I think I'm one of the few people who is actually enjoying the show a bit more than the books, because of the changes. It'll be even more apparent next season, but the show is trimming off a lot of the fat and presenting a more focused narrative. And it's a year between seasons, not years between books.

What else was happening at this time (for example in your home lives, in the news or other shows and films you were enjoying etc)

• If I remember right, the announcement came during the last seasons of Lost and Battlestar Galactica, which I was a big fan of both. So the announcement gave me another series to look forward to.

ETA: After reading Dante's post above, I wanted to add that I breathed a huge sigh of relief when they cast Dinklage. He was a favorite here to play Tyrion. Sean Bean was a bigger surprise for me, though. Even though I knew it was a "guest starring" role, lasting for only one season, I didn't expect to see a bigger name being cast.

[Inevittable]

Thanks everyone,

I had read up to AFFC, and was looking online for when the next novel would be published when I stumbled across the news that HBO were making an adaptation. That would have been early 2011, before I wrote the proposal for my thesis. I thought it was a pretty good coincidence that I'd found a new book series that I liked just as they were making an adaptation.

I remember trying to explain to people who hadn't read the books, before I joined this forum, how cool the TV show was going to be, but I don't think I did a very good job of that. Part of that comes down to the fact that most of the people I was telling were convinced that I only liked "sword and sorcery" types of books. At that point I think that I was reserving judgement about the show, because I'd seen some pretty terrible fantasy adaptations, but then had loved LOTR.

I can remember that it was early 2011 because at that time I was having one of those existential crises that meant I was deliberating leaving the job that I hated, with nothing else to go to, so that I would have "the fear" pushing me into finding a better job or starting the long-put-off PhD.

Thanks for all your input so far, please keep it coming.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

• Had you read the books before you heard about the adaptation being made?

I had read the books a year or two prior to the announcement of the adaptation. Needless to say, I was excited about the news. However, I recall being much more interested in the impending release of A Dance With Dragons (i.e., I checked GRRM's blog daily, starving for updates) whereas I didn't show much active interest in GoT until HBO greenlighted the series for its initial run.

• What was your reaction to the news about an adaptation being in the works?

As noted above - I was excited at the the prospect of the books coming to life on screen. As a fan of other HBO productions I was also happy to learn that HBO was the chosen medium, rather than a regular cable show or movie series.

• What do you remember about the reaction of other people?

I remember the reaction on GRRM's blog was mostly positive. I had little contact in real life or in other online outlets with other fans of the book series at the time.

• How much did you think you would enjoy the adaptation (or not)?

I figured that I would enjoy it; however, I was skeptical that the show could do the books justice.

• What else was happening at this time (for example in your home lives, in the news or other shows and films you were enjoying etc)

It was a very busy time in my life. I had just gotten married and within a year had moved and taken a new job. At the time the only shows I was watching regularly were Battlestar Galactica, House and The Sopranos.

[kn1tt3r]

• Had you read the books before you heard about the adaptation being made?

What was your reaction to the news about an adaptation being in the works?

What do you remember about the reaction of other people?

How much did you think you would enjoy the adaptation (or not)?

What else was happening at this time (for example in your home lives, in the news or other shows and films you were enjoying etc)

• No, the series brought me to the books

I didn't here about it; I first saw season 1 when it was released as DVD/Blue-ray

Friends told me about how well it has been adapted and that it's worth watching; later I went here and found out that not necessarily all people feel that way, especially if things from the books are changed for the show

I had no expectations, just gave it a try

In general I was just about to enjoy watching TV series (which, like 10 years ago was not worth wasting your time on); basically since The Sopranos TV series have been more and more like feature films, and it probably was part of the reason I gave GOT a try