Game of Thrones and True Blood Compared

[Westeros]

Alyssa Rosenberg strikes again—first writing for Think Progress, this time writing in The Atlantic regarding the success of Game of Thrones in comparison to HBO’s big summer show, True Blood. The focus of the article is very much on how the two series have approached the process of adaptation and the impact their choices have had on the more fantastic aspects of the series, and why Rosenberg thinks that Game of Thrones is the better of the two shows because of the choices the executive producers made.

It’s true, as commentators warn (and Rosenberg acknowledges),that the real test for Game of Thrones will be how it adapts the second novel to the second season—True Blood was relatively close to the first Sookie Stackhouse novel, apparently, in its first season as well.

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[Saturn Girl]

I don't think the problem with True Blood is that it isn't a close adaptation of the source material, like Game of Thrones has been. I have read all of the Charlaine Harris novels, and in many ways the television series is superior. For example, Jessica does not appear in the novels at all and she's one of the most interesting characters in the show. And the novels are told solely from Sookie's POV, which means there is a lot of exposition going on in the books that can be tedious.

Where True Blood has faltered recently is where Game of Thrones has succeeded: the motivations and actions of the characters make sense. Even if you don't agree with the choices the GOT characters make, you get why they do the things they do.

But True Blood's characters the past two seasons have done increasingly stupid things that often feel right out of left field. (Spoilers for True Blood)

Jason is completely unphased when he's sexually assaulted by all the women in Hotshot? Tara starts ultimate chick fighting and joins a coven? Maxine invites Tommy, a complete stranger, to live with her and become a surrogate son? There are a lot of contrived WTF situations going on this season. And as much as I love the idea of Sookie and Eric hooking up, watching those characters do nothing but boink for four episodes in a row got pretty ridiculous.

Both shows incorporate elements of fantasy, but somewhere along the lines True Blood become more fixated on the fantasy itself than creating realistic depictions of how people would actually live in that world. They kept layering on more and more witches and werewolves and shifters and faeries seemingly just for the heck of it...which is where the Harris novels started to get too goofy, too.

The first season of TB was terrific when the depiction of vampires "coming out of the coffin" was a thinly veiled metaphor for the resentment and intolerance experienced by the LGBT community. But now True Blood is more slapstick supernatural melodrama than social satire. I almost feel like the writers are sitting in a room right now saying "you know what this show could really use? MUMMIES!"

When the fantasy elements take precedence over story and character, that's when you've lost the meat of the show.

[Spearwife262]

I agree with Saturn Girl. HBO adaptation of GOT was awesome, as well as season 1 of TB. The thing is that at some point they wanted to attract even wider audience by adding more stuff and characters that never appeared in the books. In my opinion, this is where the show got really confusing. To be honest, I've watched all episodes of season 4 only because I wanted to see how will they get out of the mess they've made; turns out they were just buying more time untill the season 5. C'mon, there were some pretty wtf moments:

---SPOILER ALERT---

Sookie's been away for a year, Tara is now a boxer and has a GF, Lafayette is now a brujo and in the end, Sookie turns down BOTH Eric and Bill? The only sane thing any character has said in this whole season was Pam: -Enough with the stupid fairy c***!!! :devil:

And somehow, with this whole all-vampires-in-ten-miles-radius-want-to-hump-Sookie thing TB started reminding me of the Vampire Diaries... :ack:

I just hope the HBO won't do the same with second GRRM book.

[Lord Barristan]

the Sookie Stackhouse series (I read the first two and then got fed up and couldn't finish the third) is poorly written and lack depth compared to ASOIF I don't even think they can be compared...

This past season of True Blood was just terrible. Every episode ended on a cliffhanger and nothing ever happened. No one ever died. They just try and make you think that something will happen to Eric or Bill, but it was so obvious nothing would happen

[scotcat]

The main difference between the two series is in the adaptation of the books they come from.

I would say GoT was a faithful adaptation of the source material - as was the first season of TB. However, as time has gone on subsequent seasons of true blood have had less and less in common with the books they are based on. Loose adaptaion is putting it mildly!

It certainly seems, to me at any rate, that where TB has failed GoT thrives. So long as the second season continues it trend I'll be a happy bunny.

[mr. peasant]

That being said, up until now, television series based on a book series have ALL been loosely adapted. To my knowledge, GoT is the only one that is aiming to remain faithful past its first season.

[SnowStorm]

the Sookie Stackhouse series (I read the first two and then got fed up and couldn't finish the third) is poorly written and lack depth compared to ASOIF I don't even think they can be compared...

This past season of True Blood was just terrible. Every episode ended on a cliffhanger and nothing ever happened. No one ever died. They just try and make you think that something will happen to Eric or Bill, but it was so obvious nothing would happen

Did you watch the finale?

I agree, True Blood is just getting worse, I watch it more for the comedy than anything else. I think the show's main problem is that they ruined the characters. They are all so uninteresting now, I couldn't care less about them. I really hope GoT stays true to the characters as they're written in the books.

[DebMc]

I don't think the problem with True Blood is that it isn't a close adaptation of the source material, like Game of Thrones has been. I have read all of the Charlaine Harris novels, and in many ways the television series is superior. For example, Jessica does not appear in the novels at all and she's one of the most interesting characters in the show. And the novels are told solely from Sookie's POV, which means there is a lot of exposition going on in the books that can be tedious.

Where True Blood has faltered recently is where Game of Thrones has succeeded: the motivations and actions of the characters make sense. Even if you don't agree with the choices the GOT characters make, you get why they do the things they do.

You expressed my feelings about True Blood better than I could have said myself - The TB writers seem to have mistaken sex for love/affection - after waiting 3 seasons to see Sookie and Eric get together - what was finally portrayed was quite disappointing. Of course we've only seen 1 season of Game of Thrones - here's hoping the excellent writing and acting holds up.

But True Blood's characters the past two seasons have done increasingly stupid things that often feel right out of left field. (Spoilers for True Blood)

Jason is completely unphased when he's sexually assaulted by all the women in Hotshot? Tara starts ultimate chick fighting and joins a coven? Maxine invites Tommy, a complete stranger, to live with her and become a surrogate son? There are a lot of contrived WTF situations going on this season. And as much as I love the idea of Sookie and Eric hooking up, watching those characters do nothing but boink for four episodes in a row got pretty ridiculous.

Both shows incorporate elements of fantasy, but somewhere along the lines True Blood become more fixated on the fantasy itself than creating realistic depictions of how people would actually live in that world. They kept layering on more and more witches and werewolves and shifters and faeries seemingly just for the heck of it...which is where the Harris novels started to get too goofy, too.

The first season of TB was terrific when the depiction of vampires "coming out of the coffin" was a thinly veiled metaphor for the resentment and intolerance experienced by the LGBT community. But now True Blood is more slapstick supernatural melodrama than social satire. I almost feel like the writers are sitting in a room right now saying "you know what this show could really use? MUMMIES!"

When the fantasy elements take precedence over story and character, that's when you've lost the meat of the show.

[DebMc]

You expressed my feelings about True Blood better than I could have said myself - The TB writers seem to have mistaken sex for love/affection - after waiting 3 seasons to see Sookie and Eric get together - what was finally portrayed was quite disappointing. Of course we've only seen 1 season of Game of Thrones - here's hoping the excellent writing and acting holds up.

[Cora Stark]

I think one major thing both of these shows have in common is that after about the first season which in True bloods case the second. They barely apply whats in the books. But hopefully Game of thrones doesn't have a couple of seasons that are pure garbage like True blood seasons (3 and 4)

[Cora Stark]

I think one major thing both of these shows have in common is that after about the first season which in True bloods case the second. They barely apply whats in the books, I hope that they keep most of the key points and hopefully Game of thrones doesn't have a couple of seasons that are pure garbage like True blood seasons (3 and 4)

[oakenhelm]

Did you watch the finale?

I agree, True Blood is just getting worse, I watch it more for the comedy than anything else. I think the show's main problem is that they ruined the characters. They are all so uninteresting now, I couldn't care less about them. I really hope GoT stays true to the characters as they're written in the books.

I hated TB until I figured out that it is supposed to be dark comedy. Well, at least I hope it is, lol. If it is supposed to be a straight drama, then it might be one of the worst show I have ever seen.

[smallfolktypeperson]

I liked TB the first two seasons or so, but I've pretty much lost interets. I like GoT much, much better. I just hope that GoT doesn't go completely off the rails in the way that TB has.

[eRome]

True Blood is all camp....At least it has been for the last few seasons. When we just had vampires, in the first season, the show was as much about them as it was a social commentary on everything from radical religion to prejudice. There's no coincidence it's set in the American South.

Then we got fairies, Maenads, werewolves, shape-shifters, witches, Mexican witches, ghosts, Iraqi smoke monsters and, my favorite, werepanthers (wtf...)

It's not the show that's bad (well it is....) it's the material. Game of Thrones is successful because, aside from the production values which are phenomenal, the story and the writing is so damn good...

[camradio]

ASOIAF- Good writing so they stay true to the story

Sookie Stackhouse Books- Bad writing so they can do whatever they want (I have read all the books and enjoyed them enough but it is not good writing...which is also why she churns out a book in like 11 months instead of 5 years)

This last season of TB was the first season to have nothing to do with the books at all. At least the others had one or two common themes. Also were panther rape, that doesnt even turn Jason.... sigh.

[Jak Snow]

This last season of TB was the first season to have nothing to do with the books at all. At least the others had one or two common themes. Also were panther rape, that doesnt even turn Jason.... sigh.

Thats not strictly true, the main plot of the book was about someone killing shifters, which was dealt with in the show as a sub-plot. They even used the same killer.

The problem with True Blood is it isn't very deep, plot-wise. It's told from Sookie's perspective throughout so we never see events beyond what she witnesses or reads via telepathy. That means each season could potentially be told in three episodes max, with little input from the supporting cast. All HBO do is expand on the original material to provide 12 episodes worth of seasons.

Having said that, HBO have horribly altered some characters/plots in ways that I hope Game of Thrones never goes through. What they did to Queen Sophie Anne will affect a lot of future stories. I would put this down to Alan Ball, though, and he's quit True Blood this season. HBO have now said next season will follow closer to the books.

D&D actually like ASOIAF... their problem is it's TOO deep with too many characters and sub-plots, so any alterations made are in reverse to True Blood.

[ArianneOfSunspear]

I enjoy reading both Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampires & ASOIAF and in both cases it was the TV shows that got me onto the books, though with GoT I got the first book just as I started watching S1 so I overtook the TV show eventually.

What I find (and it has been mentioned above) is that Charlaine's books are focused on a central character and everything is how she perceives her world. Thus to adapt that to TV they obviously have to give more depth to the other characters as we really don't need an episode of Sookie on her day off doing her laundry, buying groceries and getting new books from the library. That said I don't like the way a lot of characters are portrayed, eg Sam comes across as a frikkin arse sometimes. Jessica annoyed me when she first appeared, though thankfully she has improved, but she is not in the books at all.

In ASOIAF however we aren't just presented with Ned Stark and what happens in his world we get this POV of so many different characters that you don't need to invent backstories for because they are there in the books when we get inside their heads. I read somewhere that the (writers or producers, don't know the correct term here) had to make decisions about which characters to include in the first season as it would overwhelm people who hadn't read the books if they were introduced to so many charcters eg Brynden the blackfish was in GoT but we won't see him in the TV series till season 3. So there are little tweaks here and there in S1 and S2 but nothing to the extent of how different True Blood is to the books.

For me True Blood as a TV show has deteriorated. I am not even that into S5 I've watched maybe 3 episodes but I'm not hanging out every week desparate to know what happens next. I will continue to watch it just to see (as someone else said) how are they going to get out of this bloody mess? And I have also found with the most recent books that I am less into them than I was a few years ago. I feel like the most recent books have dragged out the fate of Sookie & Eric for quite a while and we still don't have an outcome. Though I was also sure from the start of True Blood that they wouldn't try and make 13 seasons!!

So here's hoping GoT as a TV show is able to maintain closer ties to the SOIAF story plot and after seeing the cast announcements for season 3 I have high hopes. I'm also anticipating the next book and I'm sure GRRM won't disappoint!

[Lord Liam DarkStark]

I don't think the problem with True Blood is that it isn't a close adaptation of the source material, like Game of Thrones has been. I have read all of the Charlaine Harris novels, and in many ways the television series is superior. For example, Jessica does not appear in the novels at all and she's one of the most interesting characters in the show. And the novels are told solely from Sookie's POV, which means there is a lot of exposition going on in the books that can be tedious.

Where True Blood has faltered recently is where Game of Thrones has succeeded: the motivations and actions of the characters make sense. Even if you don't agree with the choices the GOT characters make, you get why they do the things they do.

But True Blood's characters the past two seasons have done increasingly stupid things that often feel right out of left field. (Spoilers for True Blood)

Jason is completely unphased when he's sexually assaulted by all the women in Hotshot? Tara starts ultimate chick fighting and joins a coven? Maxine invites Tommy, a complete stranger, to live with her and become a surrogate son? There are a lot of contrived WTF situations going on this season. And as much as I love the idea of Sookie and Eric hooking up, watching those characters do nothing but boink for four episodes in a row got pretty ridiculous.

Both shows incorporate elements of fantasy, but somewhere along the lines True Blood become more fixated on the fantasy itself than creating realistic depictions of how people would actually live in that world. They kept layering on more and more witches and werewolves and shifters and faeries seemingly just for the heck of it...which is where the Harris novels started to get too goofy, too.

The first season of TB was terrific when the depiction of vampires "coming out of the coffin" was a thinly veiled metaphor for the resentment and intolerance experienced by the LGBT community. But now True Blood is more slapstick supernatural melodrama than social satire. I almost feel like the writers are sitting in a room right now saying "you know what this show could really use? MUMMIES!"

When the fantasy elements take precedence over story and character, that's when you've lost the meat of the show.

True blood used to make changes that benefitted the show. Now its just gotten out of hand and ridiculous. They just need to cancel all ready.

[Tellus Explorer]

Aye, there I am lol damn.... Does anyone know how to disable an inactive account?

[Hodor H'ghar]

Well, the COTF's fireballs, or whatever they are, were VERY similar to the fairies lightning bolts, or whatever on True Blood. I made that observation as soon as it happened Sunday night.