Game of thrones

[Iliad]

I was wondering if anyone's here watching the HBO show.

Also how well known and read the series is here.

Personally I think HBO is doing a fucking kickass job.

[thegreekdog]

I've read the series twice... I'll likely read it again before reading GRRM's next book (coming out in June).

We don't have HBO (trying to save money), but I've watched the first 15 minutes and HBO has done an excellent job. I'll likely purchase the DVDs in a year or so.

If you like GRRM, try Glenn Cook and Joe Abercrombie.

[The Bison King]

Huge fan here. I've watched the first 2 epidodes (illegally downloaded) and in the books I'm currently half way through a Clash of Kings. Yeah I think HBO is doing a supremely bad ass job. The casting has been perfect and the opening sequence gives me a tremendous nerd boner given my obvious affinity for maps.

I was kind of bummed out that they cut Renly Baratheon out of the last episode but that's a small thing. I just wonder when they are going to introduce him? One thing I'm surprised about is how they really focused on the sexual aspects of Daenerys character. I really expected them to gloss over rather than add in pseudo lesbian sex scenes. I'm not complaining though. Actually I think it shows a real commitment to the story, and it's a big middle finger to soccer moms everywhere and I appreciate that.

The guy who plays Tyrion is doing a fucking amazing job. He's perfect! The guy who plays Jon comes off as... a little dense. I feel like in the books Jon is a bit clever but he's coming off a little slow in the show. Oh and King Robert Baratheon has totally been my favorite character in the show version so far! He's like a drunk Santa Claus!

[Nendreel]

I've read the books, and I'll probably have to go through them all again when the next book comes out.

Haven't seen the show yet, I'll just wait until it comes out on DVD.

[jonesthecurl]

Excellent books. Brilliant adaptation. And, yeah, perfect casting. Especially the kids.
They're doing some clever stuff with accents which I like too.

[spurgistan]

Never read the books, watched the 1st episode at a buddy's behest. It was good, but really hard to follow, I could imagine it being a lot better once I figure everything out. It also seemed like a lot of nudity just for nudity's sake. Not that that's a bad thing.

[The Bison King]

Good news apparently the second season has already been confirmed!!

http://www.deadline.com/2011/04/hbo-ren ... re-airing/

[Symmetry]

Huge fan here. I've watched the first 2 epidodes (illegally downloaded) and in the books I'm currently half way through a Clash of Kings. Yeah I think HBO is doing a supremely bad ass job. The casting has been perfect and the opening sequence gives me a tremendous nerd boner given my obvious affinity for maps.

I was kind of bummed out that they cut Renly Baratheon out of the last episode but that's a small thing. I just wonder when they are going to introduce him? One thing I'm surprised about is how they really focused on the sexual aspects of Daenerys character. I really expected them to gloss over rather than add in pseudo lesbian sex scenes. I'm not complaining though. Actually I think it shows a real commitment to the story, and it's a big middle finger to soccer moms everywhere and I appreciate that.

The guy who plays Tyrion is doing a fucking amazing job. He's perfect! The guy who plays Jon comes off as... a little dense. I feel like in the books Jon is a bit clever but he's coming off a little slow in the show. Oh and King Robert Baratheon has totally been my favorite character in the show version so far! He's like a drunk Santa Claus!

Just wanted to echo the respect for Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. Check out The Station Agent if you haven't seen it. This guy is really superb.

[jonesthecurl]

Yes.
Sean Bean as ned Stark is also =superb - though I KNEW from the moment I heard he qwas in it which character he'd play.
My favourite character in the books is Arya. She has been superbly cast.

[Iliad]

Ned Stark, Arya, Tyrion, Catelyn and Cersei have been absolutely amazing casts.

The second season being greenlit isn't surprising as it's been generating both good buzz and getting fairly good ratings and the first season was a fairly big investment for HBO.

For non-readers, such as spurg, the huge range of characters is a lot to take in at first. The show has done a fairly good job at showing the relationships iwth the families, the Stark faily particularly feels quite real. The HBO webiste has some non-spoilery charts on the characters and how they're related.

[spurgistan]

Ned Stark, Arya, Tyrion, Catelyn and Cersei have been absolutely amazing casts.

The second season being greenlit isn't surprising as it's been generating both good buzz and getting fairly good ratings and the first season was a fairly big investment for HBO.

For non-readers, such as spurg, the huge range of characters is a lot to take in at first. The show has done a fairly good job at showing the relationships iwth the families, the Stark faily particularly feels quite real. The HBO webiste has some non-spoilery charts on the characters and how they're related.

Yeah, by "behest" I mean my friend wants somebody to watch it with. He's letting me in smooth, although he did let something slip from the second book, or something.

[Lord and Master]

After watching first 2 episodes will definitely be investing in the books. Wondering why I'd never heard of them before as really like this genre, anyway, yeah dead good so far, and as we all know the book is always better than the film/adaptation so the tv show's high calibre is the finest recommendation the books could receive.

[Iliad]

Huge fan here. I've watched the first 2 epidodes (illegally downloaded) and in the books I'm currently half way through a Clash of Kings. Yeah I think HBO is doing a supremely bad ass job. The casting has been perfect and the opening sequence gives me a tremendous nerd boner given my obvious affinity for maps.

I was kind of bummed out that they cut Renly Baratheon out of the last episode but that's a small thing. I just wonder when they are going to introduce him? One thing I'm surprised about is how they really focused on the sexual aspects of Daenerys character. I really expected them to gloss over rather than add in pseudo lesbian sex scenes. I'm not complaining though. Actually I think it shows a real commitment to the story, and it's a big middle finger to soccer moms everywhere and I appreciate that.

The guy who plays Tyrion is doing a fucking amazing job. He's perfect! The guy who plays Jon comes off as... a little dense. I feel like in the books Jon is a bit clever but he's coming off a little slow in the show. Oh and King Robert Baratheon has totally been my favorite character in the show version so far! He's like a drunk Santa Claus!

Renly would've been skipped over.

Semi agree on Snow, they've conveyed his inner turmoil fairly well. Probably should've had Jon saying something like
"At least I intend on keeping my oath, Kingslayer"
That would've also ramped up the Stark-Lannister tension that's been building.

[Symmetry]

Ned Stark, Arya, Tyrion, Catelyn and Cersei have been absolutely amazing casts.

The second season being greenlit isn't surprising as it's been generating both good buzz and getting fairly good ratings and the first season was a fairly big investment for HBO.

For non-readers, such as spurg, the huge range of characters is a lot to take in at first. The show has done a fairly good job at showing the relationships iwth the families, the Stark faily particularly feels quite real. The HBO webiste has some non-spoilery charts on the characters and how they're related.

I kind of wonder about it now. Everyone I know who read the books thought it was great. Almost everyone I know who didn't read the books thought it was confusing and didn't know what was going on. My friends and me aren't exactly the perfect representatives here, just wondering if others were seeing a similar reaction.

[Lord and Master]

Ned Stark, Arya, Tyrion, Catelyn and Cersei have been absolutely amazing casts.

The second season being greenlit isn't surprising as it's been generating both good buzz and getting fairly good ratings and the first season was a fairly big investment for HBO.

For non-readers, such as spurg, the huge range of characters is a lot to take in at first. The show has done a fairly good job at showing the relationships iwth the families, the Stark faily particularly feels quite real. The HBO webiste has some non-spoilery charts on the characters and how they're related.

I kind of wonder about it now. Everyone I know who read the books thought it was great. Almost everyone I know who didn't read the books thought it was confusing and didn't know what was going on. My friends and me aren't exactly the perfect representatives here, just wondering if others were seeing a similar reaction.

Never read the books but don't find it confusing, you can see there's several plot-lines going on and will blend together nicely in the fullness of time. Hopefully.

[Symmetry]

Ned Stark, Arya, Tyrion, Catelyn and Cersei have been absolutely amazing casts.

The second season being greenlit isn't surprising as it's been generating both good buzz and getting fairly good ratings and the first season was a fairly big investment for HBO.

For non-readers, such as spurg, the huge range of characters is a lot to take in at first. The show has done a fairly good job at showing the relationships iwth the families, the Stark faily particularly feels quite real. The HBO webiste has some non-spoilery charts on the characters and how they're related.

I kind of wonder about it now. Everyone I know who read the books thought it was great. Almost everyone I know who didn't read the books thought it was confusing and didn't know what was going on. My friends and me aren't exactly the perfect representatives here, just wondering if others were seeing a similar reaction.

Never read the books but don't find it confusing, you can see there's several plot-lines going on and will blend together nicely in the fullness of time. Hopefully.

That's good to hear. The books have gotten increasingly complicated with a huge cast of characters. I hope they can keep up the quality in the series, both Martin in the books and the people making the tv adaptation.

[pimpdave]

Can't wait for episode three! And Tremé afterwards.

I'm thinking about watching the Mets play the Phillies tonight though, and just catching the HBO Sunday night line up On Demand tomorrow.

For anyone who's missing out, you should just sign up for Comcast, they'll give you a year of HBO for free. If you already have Comcast, cancel it, wait two weeks, and sign up with FiOS, I think they're also doing the free HBO for a year deal. Best part is, you'll be able to catch up on any Game of Thrones or Tremé you've missed, thanks to On Demand.

I'm so glad I finally bought an HDtv last year. It makes such a huge difference, especially with the production values of the current Sunday night lineup.

My take on it is that Game of Thrones is like going to an amusement park. It's exciting and full of spectacle. Tremé is more like your neighborhood park. It's slow but full of great people-watching.

[Symmetry]

What did you guys think of episode three?

[Lord and Master]

Thought it was good, especially liked Stark's clumsy committee skills! Also where what's-his-face got dumped on his arse by his sisters loyal horse nomads... The dwarf was excellent as usual and Snow realising what he'd got himself into was a nice touch. That little prince is a wanker though, hope he gets another beating soon!

[Iliad]

A good episode. Less action, however there's some good exposition, character development creating the Stark Lannister enmity and some very good foreshadowing that there's a conflict drawing near.

Gotta say the show's creators are doing a great job of translating the book into a different medium and the show seems very well set up.

[pimpdave]

Glad to see some more familiar faces in the cast, with Aidan Gillen playing Baelish. He previous appeared as Tommy Carcetti in The Wire.

I always think it's funny how in HBO shows, the first couple episodes throw in a bunch of gore and nudity, but then after they feel they've grabbed you, only include it occasionally.

[Lord and Master]

I always think it's funny how in HBO shows, the first couple episodes always manage to throw in some gore and nudity, but then after they feel they've grabbed you, only include it occasionally.

Personally I'm relieved there was less nudity as the wife was moaning at me about the 1st 2 episodes but she's relenting now

[The Bison King]

I liiked some of the scenes they added. Like King Robert and the Kingsgaurd talking about their first kills. I think this episode was full of exposition, which they did we, but I'm really looking forward to next weeks episode. It's going to be a lot more eventful, & will get the ball rolling on a lot of the more impactful decisions that characters start making.

[jonesthecurl]

I loved the atmosphere both at the Wall and Kings Landing. You could immediately see the northerners were too hot, and you could feel the vague uneasiness that comes with court intruige going on all about you.
I did think they should have made more about how far it is from Winterfell, you could have got the impression that Catelyn rode down there in on afternoon, had a cup of tea and turned around. We should have more sense of the length and difficulty of the journey, and the peoples along the way. But I guess that'll become obvious later in the saga.
Does anyone know how many episodes there are?

[pimpdave]

HBO seasons are usually 10-13 episodes.