I am getting a bit concerned about HBO adaptations

[Masha]

I am basing in on Rome and more recent series True Blood.
It seemed that HBO is hell-bent that ALL new dramatic series have a mob angle - ala Sopranos.

First season of Rome was awesome - very realistic, uncensored but not too gory and not too much sex - just right in the middle. Then we got to the 2nd season, and guess what - we're having a side-story of Lucious and Titus being new Mob bosses ala Sopranos Ancient Rome style.
Next True Blood - adaption of novels by the way. HBO took out ALL comedic/sarcastic stuff out of books making it hard-core porn/bloody vampire tale. Mind you, the book have their fair share of sex and bloody violence but HBO took it to entirely new level with no little self-depreciating sarcasm to lighten it a bit. Its like Sex from books x2 and bloody violence from books x5. And next we're having a little mob scenes too this time ala modern vampire style.

I DO NOT want SoIaF become yet another HBO mob series only in fantastic/history setting. And frankly speaking there are a LOT of potential mob material in the books for HBO scribes/producers grab hold of - with all Houses fighting and all.

Sorry for venting, but I just watched 2 recent episodes of True Blood and was like where did they managed to find Mob material in the books... Just because Sopranos was HBO's first true hit doesn't mean that every other series has to have mob angle....

[VorianGR]

What do you mean with mob series?

[Ran]

[i]True Blood[/i] has a lot of humor.

That said, remember what GRRM said: the pilot script is very faithful, in his estimation, to the part of the series that it covers, and he trusts Benioff and Weiss.

(I guess it won't help if I mention that Benioff has pitched the show as a medieval Sopranos, eh? ;)

[Brandon Stark]

[quote]First season of Rome was awesome - very realistic, uncensored but not too gory and not too much sex - just right in the middle. Then we got to the 2nd season, and guess what - we're having a side-story of Lucious and Titus being new Mob bosses ala Sopranos Ancient Rome style.[/quote]

I thought the collegia aspect of Roman culture has always been ignored, and really enjoyed getting a look at it in the second season.

I also have to disagree on True Blood; I think the show's full of black humor and balanced nicely.

[Ser Dingus]

You cant really say anything about the second season for Rome. They knew it was going to be the last season because of its high budget. That being said, they had to make a different story line possibly alternating the original, if it were to be longer. But I guess you're right, they could have changed the story differently but I still enjoyed it all the same. Rome is still one of the best series ever to be on HBO in my opinion.

[direwolf]

the mob angle in Rome was great IMHO. as long long as the ASOIAF series is true to the books then if it comes across "mob-like" then im sure we'll all love it!

[The WaterDancer Knight]

Lords with their knights as a private army ruling common people isn't that different from the mob. So pitching it as a medieval Sopranos sound pretty accurate.

[Papirolle]

The mob (collegia) angle in Rome was also very historically accurate. The "colleagues" were important power factions in Rome before Augustus finally took all the power himself.
They were used by senators and consuls to fight each other.

[chessRuffian]

Sorry, but Rome freakin owned. Id be curious to hear what you'd consider to be good television these days, because Rome was the last good show I've seen on TV.

I believe "concerned" is the wrong reaction for any GRRM fan to be having right now lol. we just got a huge present, cheer up.

[phoenix_rising]

Dosen't organized crime of some sort belong to every generation/time period , at least in human history? Hell, i bet Neandertals(sp) even had some...

[pablonohablo]

I wouldn't get too worried about it. I haven't had HBO for years and I've never seen Rome or TrueBlood (although I did watch The Sopranos), so I can't speak to the story lines in those shows. I don't know if another network has the potential to do justice to GRRM's stories, though. I hear Showtime's getting better (although I haven't had Showtime even longer than I've been without HBO), but even still -- HBO has the proven track record. Plus, they're desperate for a big hit since The Sopranos and Sex and the City ended. If the folks working on AGoT do things right, this series might have the potential to be that big hit. I know I'm planning on getting HBO if/when this comes out, for no other reason than to watch AGoT, and I'm sure there are plenty of others like me. I wouldn't worry so much about the adaptations at this stage. I'd just be pleased that it's moved along this far and hope that it continues to keep moving along.

[palaeologos]

[quote name='Papirolle' post='1588094' date='Nov 13 2008, 13.25']The mob (collegia) angle in Rome was also very historically accurate. The "colleagues" were important power factions in Rome before Augustus finally took all the power himself.
They were used by senators and consuls to fight each other.[/quote]

Thanks for mentioning this. It's important to realize that the Mafia isn't a new thing; it's merely the transplantation to North America of the Way Things Are Done in southern Italy. And of course, its antecedents lie all the way back in the Roman Empire's patron-client system.