How do you think GoT will compare to other HBO shows?

[Talleyrand]

As the title says. How to you think a Game of Thrones will compare to other HBO shows?

Personally, as much as i love ASOIAF i don't think it will match up to the Wire IMHO.

[theMaC]

The competition is certainly stiff. HBO has had a lot of brilliant drama, The Wire and Deadwood. Treme and Boardwalk Empire even more recently. There's a lot of great casting, Aiden Gillen as Littlefinger is amazing. I loved him in The Wire and think he could make an excellent Littlefinger. I like Sean Bean as Ned also. I dunno about the showrunners. Treme has a lot of The Wire alumni both in cast and crew. Boardwalk Empire has the involvement of Martin Scorecese and Steve Buscemi acting his heart out. For David Benioff, I am mostly in the dark. I enjoyed the movie 25th Hour, but other then that have had no other exposure to his writing except Wolverine Origins... I do like Jane Espensen's work and she wrote an episode.

Though I have to say I think the source material in these books, well executed could easily match any of the best HBO shows. I suspect we'll need a couple of episodes to get a complete feel. I am trying to keep my expectations in check, but really getting an HBO series is what fan of any book or graphic novel would want to see done to their favorite work. So the potential is really there do great stuff,

[Heal]

Clearly, it will be the best show HBO has ever had, and will reach critical acclaim across North America and Europe, and will be syndicated for ages after that.

[Bronn is God]

It is not realistic: 0/10

Bad asses dont have shotguns, aren't gay and dont rob drug dealers: 0/10

There is no analysis of anything using only the word "fuck": 0/10

Catchphrase is not "Game is the game yo": 0/10

Not enough -1 dimensional characters that can be passed off as genius: 0/10

Not enough drunk conversations about nothing: 0/10

No epic poverty: 0/10

No war on drugs: 0/10

[sxeraserhead]

I expect it to be critically acclaimed as pure entertainment, but it likely won't be given the same accolades as shows like Sopranos, The Wire or Deadwood, which critics appreciate for their thematic density.

[BigFatCoward]

Catchphrase is not "Game is the game yo": 0/10

neither is the wire's!

if you haven't watched it you probably shouldn't comment.

[Bronn is God]

neither is the wire's!

if you haven't watched it you probably shouldn't comment.

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit.

[Maegor The Cool]

Deadwood for me is the best television ever invented. Characters, plot, and above all DIALOGUE are sans flaws. Truly a book come to vivid, dusty life. The greyness of it all really appealed to me and is a main factor of my obsession with ASoIaF. There were no swords, no armour and no magic, though. Which is why it shall be trumped come April 17.

[Ran]

I'm rewatching Deadwood and yeah, it's my favorite of HBO's shows. I'm tempted to say that no matter how perfect Game of Thrones is, my great familiarity with its source will mean that it won't ever be able to really surprise or delight me quite the way Deadwood did... but I'm willing to be wrong.

[Axon]

It won't have the popular appeal of the Sopranos, but I think we'll get at least another season of it. Certain shows, like Deadwood, are just too complex and subtle to appeal to your average beer belly American. Deadwood was amazing and absolutely brutal. Imagine living somewhere like that - it's not really the U.S., there's no true law except who has the most guns/political power - it's just a kill or be killed place. And there's no happy ending for anyone.

[TheMountainThatAbides]

Personally shows like The Sopranos and The Wire are as good as it gets on TV for me.

These two would be my top two, can't really decide which one is my favorite.

If I were to make a top 25, HBO would provide the bulk of the shows in it.

I really enjoyed, Six Feet Under, Big Love, Hung, Eastbound & Down, Entourage, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, True Blood, Treme and How to Make it in America. Also their mini-series have been great.

Still I don't expect Thrones to be up there with the very best of HBO. Even though I think the books are insanely brilliant, the fact that the series will be an adaptation of them will be a bit of an obstacle somehow. At least that's what I think. I enjoy watching True Blood but the show will probably not be in my top ten HBO shows. I think this might be because the show is also based on books, even though I read that the books are not followed particularly closely. It's kind of contradicting the source material is probably the best one could have for a show but it was not written for television originally.

It's hard to explain why my expectations aren't too high but this has probably something to do with it. Still I trust HBO and I know they will do the books right. Also I don't think we are the best people to judge the show and compare it to previous HBO shows as we are simply too biased. I'm very curious what people who have seen the top HBO shows but have not read ASOIAF will think of the show. Now that I think of it, if HBO delivers they could be in for a pretty epic experience.