How did non fantasy fans you knew reacted when "Game of Thrones" started to become mainstream?

[Darryk]

My dad who hates fantasy and loves Westerns watched the first season, mainly for the nudity, but he did get really into the story, However he lost interest around the beginning of season 2.  He finds it hard to get into TV series in general cause he wants stories resolved quickly.

He was really affected by Ned's death though.

One of my dad's friends who owned a chain of video stores (when such things still existed) got really into it and watched till the end. He said it reminded him of Excalibur. He didn't like all the White Walker stuff though.

No one I know liked the last few episodes of season 8.

[lacuna]

They levitated a meter above the bed, their head spun around backwards, vomited a stream of green goo at me for 10 seconds straight, and made several uncouth remarks impugning my mother's honor. Zero stars.

[Argonath Diver]

When I was bartending in Manhattan, I had a Monday day shift at a spot for years. My favorite regulars were a group of electricians who'd come in for lunch and slam a few drinks. Great guys - salt of the earth, union, macho types, with varying levels of heavy New York accents. This was during seasons 2 and 3 of GoT, when it was full steam ahead getting mainstream popular. They were totally into it, and every Monday I was like an encyclopedia and discussion leader as they ranted about characters they hated, who was going to die, and how rockin' the nudity was. 

I never spoiled a thing, only explained little things to help them 'get' the complex plot. It was tons of fun to witness five or six guys come up with all their theories. The Monday before the Red Wedding episode, I told them, "Guys, no spoilers, I aint saying if someone dies, if its the best orgy yet, if you see the snow zombies, all I'm saying is please make sure you don't miss this episode. It's going to be pivotal." 

The Monday after. Whoooo boy. It was delightful. The grief and rage on the faces of these macho, Bro's bros type dudes was so much fun. One of them was actively mad at me for not warning him - he really had taken an emotional hit watching it. Keeping that quiet for so long, then the payoff of their visceral reactions will always be one of my favorite parts of that show to me.

I left that bar at some point after that - I wonder if all those fellas kept at it with the show. Some of them were mostly there for the T and A, so they may have become bored once the show finally moved past constant flesh on screen.