405 replies to this topic

[tom_saxon]

aFeastForDragons, on 04 November 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

I can't see them continuing on after Storm of Swords. The finale if they they stick to the final chapters of the book will be the best television episode/moment ever made if they pull it off right.

From AFFC and ADWD on the plot just gets to big. Characters disappear or are rumored dead for long periods of times. Several new main and side characters start appearing rapidly. More locations and cities are added. On there limited budget its going to be hard to pull off.

I still agree with this.  Martin has to crank out some books fairly quickly or the series is going to catch up to the books too fast.  There is no way all of affc or dwd is going into television.  There is already a consolodation of characters going on in the first two seasons (no Bolton?).  Apparently after asos the action cools down dramatically and we are treated to an entirely brand new story with entirely brand new characters.  I don't see television readers being as forgiving of such excess as book-readers.  The whole iron-islands/dorn thing seems to me to be more like a spin-off series than anything nescessary to the main story its self.  Like, ya its important to the plot of the Cunningham family that we know all about Joanies marriage and her baby, but really we don't screw up Happy Days by making an entire three seasons JUST ABOUT THAT, instead we have a spin-off series so the main story can continue on, flow uninterupted.

[seppuku]

CoolOff, on 30 November 2012 - 05:08 PM, said:

But was Rome ever close to the phenomenon that GoT has become?

Rome was absolutely amazing just absurdly expensive. In fact, more expensive than GOT.  

But HBO already admitted that cancelling Rome was a mistake.

Edited by seppuku, 08 December 2012 - 06:22 AM.

[protar]

tom_saxon, on 07 December 2012 - 09:23 PM, said:

I still agree with this.  Martin has to crank out some books fairly quickly or the series is going to catch up to the books too fast.  There is no way all of affc or dwd is going into television.  There is already a consolodation of characters going on in the first two seasons (no Bolton?).  Apparently after asos the action cools down dramatically and we are treated to an entirely brand new story with entirely brand new characters.  I don't see television readers being as forgiving of such excess as book-readers.  The whole iron-islands/dorn thing seems to me to be more like a spin-off series than anything nescessary to the main story its self.  Like, ya its important to the plot of the Cunningham family that we know all about Joanies marriage and her baby, but really we don't screw up Happy Days by making an entire three seasons JUST ABOUT THAT, instead we have a spin-off series so the main story can continue on, flow uninterupted.

I think that with some compressing and truncating, a S5 which combines AFFC and ADWD, with the battles of ice and/or fire at the end could result in an even more exciting season than seasons 3 and 4. There's plenty of exciting events, they're just spread out a lot.

[tom_saxon]

protar, on 08 December 2012 - 10:40 AM, said:

I think that with some compressing and truncating, a S5 which combines AFFC and ADWD, with the battles of ice and/or fire at the end could result in an even more exciting season than seasons 3 and 4. There's plenty of exciting events, they're just spread out a lot.

That sounds like a great idea for television and is most like what they will do.  But we are on season 3 already and if affc and adwd is compressed into a single season 5, that leaves GRRM only two seasons of agot to crank out book 6 and only one or two seasons to crank out book 7.  That assuming a seven season series overall, which I really think is the maximum agot can go.  

Between HBOs history with epic shows and GRRMs taking forever to put out these books, the whole thing just seems shakey to me.  I know HBO said that canceling Rome and Deadwood was a mistake but I feel kind of like  the battered veiwer with HBO- I keep getting abused but I come back anyways.  In either case, I will read and watch and watch and read as much content as they produce.

This is awesome stuff no matter how it goes down in the end!

[Aerys Blackfyre]

2 for ASOS
3/4 for AFFC+ADWD (this 2 are going to be mixed up)
then, if TWOW is out by 2015 as they said, it will be 2 seasons
then, waiting for the last book, they could shoot some prequel seasons (like they did in Spartacus), at least that's what I hope, even if I know it won't happen

[Khal-a-bunga]

AFfC & ADwD will almost certainly be one season (as some material from those books will be in season four), so the hope then is that TWoW is a book more akin to ASoS, and that two seasons can be made out of it. I can see GoT airing in a different time slot after season four, as True Blood will have ended and GoT could fit nicely into that slot during the summer. That would also allow D&D the time to film a twelve episode season, and gives George just a bit of extra time to release TWoW, as the production schedule for the sixth season would then also be moved back (and go back to a ten episode format). Either way, it's gonna' be cutting it close, unless D&D can figure out a way to make two seasons out of AFfC/ADwD, although I find that unlikely (adding in the battles of Ice & Fire might help in that regard, though...).

[protar]

Another thing to keep in mind is that they could possibly expand the season length to 12 episodes, either as a permanent thing, or just for S5.

[AdrianAegon]

The way I see it:
2011 - S1 - AGoT
2012 - S2 - ACoK

2013 - S3 - half of ASoS
2014 - S4 - the other half of ASoS, with the finale (that would be ep 40: Valar Dohaeris {mirror of Valar Morghulis}),  moving characters towards the second arc, the first one consisting if the first 3 books. They might actually put in this season elements from AFfC\ADwD, like the Iron Islands plot, or the Dorne plot. (most likely the first since is mentioned in ASoS the events that are happening there)
   ASoS is a magnificent book, rich in material, and I think the only one who will probably be split!

2015 & 2016 - S5 & S6 - the merger of AFfC\ADwD - the most difficult seasons to make I believe. D&D must intervowen the threads, and some of them have not much of a substance. 2 seasons for this 2 books will be enough, I guess, because, altough ADwD is as long as ASoS, it lacks the substance of it. There are to many POVs, who move very slowly the action, and mostly don't do pretty much, but they explain a lot, and in details. Plus many things in ADwD can be trimmed, wich is not the case of ASoS! *here, if they decide the story is a little bigger, can make this 2 seasons 12 ep each, but I doubt that.

Beyond 2016: Things from here get complicated... we now have 25+ POVs who follow at least 10+ threads. TWoW will get it's full season (because I believe by then it will be published) or, half of it will be kept and the first half of ADoS will form it's own season, with the 9th season being the last one. So 8 or 9 seasons! 8 minimum perfect, 9 maximum perfect, 10 overstretching...

That would mean 2017, 2018, 2019. Will HBO keep GoT until the end? that's up for debate. I believe they will. They have very good ratings that will continue to grow until S5, and with it, it will stabilize; also strong sales of both DVD, Blu-ray, toys, tie-in books, etc, etc. I guess it's up to us, fans, to make HBO know we will watch, we will buy....and we will end up doing horrible things if they cancel Game of Thrones!!!

Edited by AdrianAegon, 08 December 2012 - 02:40 PM.

[Wolfs Bite]

Here's my argument for why I think they can make it to the end. At this point I have no doubt they will easily get to five seasons. Once they've gotten that far into the story there is a major upside to finishing it out.

1.) Enormous sunk costs on sets, promotion and building the brand that they will lose if they cancel.

2.) Think of future sales of the series and all the notoriety that will go with it if they finish it out. Which do you think will sell better 5, 10, 20 years from now a half complete GOT that just drops off in the middle or a completed series? HBO is on the record as saying although they lost money on The Pacific upfront they didn't mind because the DVD box set is something that will sell successfully for years. There is just so much you can do with a fully finished GOT series in the future to continue to generate cash. re-releases, upgrades, new merchandise, syndication to other foreign stations, etc.

3.) 8 or 10 year show aren't a precedent but we are living in the golden age of television and audiences have more of an expectation that stories be wrapped up correctly. Hell just 10 years ago a serialized drama that told a congruent story wasn't the norm and 90% of television shows were the same cast of characters but random stories every week that weren't tied together.

[tom_saxon]

AdrianAegon, on 08 December 2012 - 02:36 PM, said:

Beyond 2016: Things from here get complicated... we now have 25+ POVs who follow at least 10+ threads. TWoW will get it's full season (because I believe by then it will be published) or, half of it will be kept and the first half of ADoS will form it's own season, with the 9th season being the last one. So 8 or 9 seasons! 8 minimum perfect, 9 maximum perfect, 10 overstretching...

The cool thing about tv is that they seem to be mixing up the pov's from the book.   No meera (or her brother) as of yet, and no real Boltons appearances, yet Jamie seems to have his own pov in scenes out of acok.  I don't see there being 25 different pov characters, but rather a more concise switch up of povs to tell the same story but in less "time".

[The Snowman]

Wolfs Bite, on 12 December 2012 - 06:50 PM, said:

Here's my argument for why I think they can make it to the end. At this point I have no doubt they will easily get to five seasons. Once they've gotten that far into the story there is a major upside to finishing it out.

1.) Enormous sunk costs on sets, promotion and building the brand that they will lose if they cancel.

2.) Think of future sales of the series and all the notoriety that will go with it if they finish it out. Which do you think will sell better 5, 10, 20 years from now a half complete GOT that just drops off in the middle or a completed series? HBO is on the record as saying although they lost money on The Pacific upfront they didn't mind because the DVD box set is something that will sell successfully for years. There is just so much you can do with a fully finished GOT series in the future to continue to generate cash. re-releases, upgrades, new merchandise, syndication to other foreign stations, etc.

3.) 8 or 10 year show aren't a precedent but we are living in the golden age of television and audiences have more of an expectation that stories be wrapped up correctly. Hell just 10 years ago a serialized drama that told a congruent story wasn't the norm and 90% of television shows were the same cast of characters but random stories every week that weren't tied together.

I think this is a very good point overall.
If HBO finished Game of Thrones in say 8-10 seasons then it would truly be worth.
Seasons 3 & 4 are going to happen without a doubt.
The big moment comes in season 5 where the majority of AFFC and ADWD takes place. If D & D can pull this season off with the plot actually moving forward then I can certainly see HBO seeing the series through as they will be over half way done and the light at the end of the tunnel will be evident.

Thats just my take on it.
Also I'm an optimist and I would really like to see this show go all the way as it will be truly something special when fully complete.

Just something else, I have seen quite a few people in this thread saying that a prequel season would never work...well if Spartacus was able to do it then I'm sure Game of Thrones is quite capable.
I wouldn't mind seeing an adaptation of ASOIAF's prequel material.
- Robert's Rebellion obviously is a prime candidate but I would rather see that done as a couple of movies or a fully backed mini-series as it would need a pretty sizable budget.
- Dunk & Egg would be cool but I don't think it would really be worth it unless it continued into The Blackfyre Rebellions would would of course finish with a known character in Ser Barristan the Bold, which then ties itself with the main series.
- My favourite would be Aegon's Conquest as a filler or spin off prequel season or as a movie(s). I think it would be very cool for the viewers to watch the 7 Kingdoms as they were, perhaps from the main viewpoint of the King in the North or the Dornish who resisted the Targaryens.

[Dawn Age]

Davos is going to be the sole surviving character in the series.

[Waylin Stark]

For 7 books, 8 - 10 seasons will be perfect. That's what I want. It could happen, because of the ever increasing fanbase and followers. Only problem is that the child actors will grow too much.

[Theda Baratheon]

If they were going to do all of the books then it's likely we'd have around 10 series (I hope this happens) and not just 5.

[Theda Baratheon]

Waylin Stark, on 20 January 2013 - 02:34 PM, said:

For 7 books, 8 - 10 seasons will be perfect. That's what I want. It could happen, because of the ever increasing fanbase and followers. Only problem is that the child actors will grow too much.

Yeah, this is my one big worry too.

[StannisEndGame]

~Mya Bara Stone~, on 27 January 2013 - 12:12 PM, said:

If they were going to do all of the books then it's likely we'd have around 10 series (I hope this happens) and not just 5.

It would be so awesome if they could tell the whole story! I hope they do

[DaveSumm]

~Mya Bara Stone~, on 27 January 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

Yeah, this is my one big worry too.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any reason why the series can't simply cover a longer time period than the books. The same as all other shows, we assume more time has passed between episodes, and the characters simply age along with the actors. I don't think there's anything inherent to the plot that ties it in to the time period it covers; in fact working out how long the books do cover is a pretty tricky and inaccurate thing itself.

[StannisEndGame]

DaveSumm, on 27 January 2013 - 01:02 PM, said:

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any reason why the series can't simply cover a longer time period than the books. The same as all other shows, we assume more time has passed between episodes, and the characters simply age along with the actors. I don't think there's anything inherent to the plot that ties it in to the time period it covers; in fact working out how long the books do cover is a pretty tricky and inaccurate thing itself.

I agree, besides I like to see people grow up. As long as they start to treat them as youngadults and not as kids I don't consider this a problem either

[Theda Baratheon]

DaveSumm, on 27 January 2013 - 01:02 PM, said:

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any reason why the series can't simply cover a longer time period than the books. The same as all other shows, we assume more time has passed between episodes, and the characters simply age along with the actors. I don't think there's anything inherent to the plot that ties it in to the time period it covers; in fact working out how long the books do cover is a pretty tricky and inaccurate thing itself.

Fair enough.

[The Dragon has three heads]

~Mya Bara Stone~, on 27 January 2013 - 02:04 PM, said:

Fair enough.

Joffreys birthday happens, Sansa too is it by AFFC? And Danny has an early bday, can't recall a second one though?  And Marj and Joff marry on the first day of thw new year, 300 AL i think? It would be easy enough to work out with good references...
We should ask the maesters, they would never inaccurately record history, that would be wrong.