Ugh! Here we go again.

Dude: it's just a TV show. So lighten up, Francis. ;-)

Game of Thrones is bad — and bad for you

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Sure, he could lighten up, but he's not wrong.

People tune in to see who will fuck, who will get killed in the most gruesome way, who will betray whom,...

It's not exactly high entertainment. It's pulp for the masses.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

It's "popular culture," for sure. And popular culture has always appealed to the lowest-common denominator. But what's so bad about that?

Like most normals, I suspect, we all like raucous, escapist, thoroughly forgettable diversions from time to time. But I also think most of us have the intellectual capacity to discern between reality and entertainment. That seems a bridge too far for the article's writer, it seems to me.

At any rate, it's always good to start off a new season of GoT with a massacre, wot? ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Popular culture doesn't always appeal to the lowest common denominator. It frequently does. I find it pretty hard to believe you don't have any idea why catering to the lowest common denominator might not be a good thing.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

I watched it once for about 15 minutes. Got bored and changed the channel. Right now I am interested in beautiful things.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

You make some good points.

I guess I'm not so worried about popular culture because I believe most normal people -- having agency as a natural right -- can distinguish between reality and entertainment. I'm not so sure about the intelligentsia, however, if the writer's unctuousness is any indication.

Also, the popular culture horse has already left the barn and there's no way to get it back in short of a Cultural Revolution along the lines of what Mao and his henchmen tried to pull off.

Eh, I recall some pretty graphic depictions of "life" on various villa walls in ancient Pompeii and, earlier, on Greek amphora jars. Depictions that would fit in quite well with what the average teen can find on PornHub, from what I hear. Not that I would have any experience with that sort of stuff, of course.

Heck, it may even have been that both ancient Roman and Greek civilization died out because of the rot that their popular culture is said to have caused within their organizing foundations. Or it may have been something more prosaic, such as overextension of empire or even lead in Roman aqueducts. Who knows? But I'm comforted by the fact that we can still make educated guesses and pronouncements (I'm a fan of Gibbon, as far as the Roman empire goes), for certain.

Reality versus entertainment. It's been something we appear to have thought about for a few years, that much I can say for sure. ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Thoughts on the season premiere? (spoilers below for those who haven't watched yet)

Last night was definitely the table setter for the season although where they are doing fewer episodes seems that they have to rush things a bit rather than let them play out. Case in point -no sooner does Jon mention needing to find dragonglass do they cut to Sam reading about it at the Citadel and saying he needs to send word to Jon right away.

The cold open was good but as soon as they showed Walder Frey, my wife and I both said "That's Arya". I loved the dig that Euron got in at Jaime during his marriage proposal to Cersei where he mentioned "having two good hands" in addition to a fleet of ships.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Love how Arya is developing, can't wait to see if she gets Cersei, who knew the Hound had feelings...lol Good set up for the rest of the season so to quote Deanerys. Shall we begin?!!!

Does anyone else want to see Lady Mormont be queen of the seven Kingdoms?

Yes.

I expected something to happen in that Ayra scene with the Lannister soldiers, but I guess all they wanted there was a scene with Ed Sheeran. There's only 6 eps left and 12 total, so this one felt like a bit of a waste of time.

I thought it was good. They tried to get a lot of different story lines in but I kind of expected that out of the first episode of this season.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

I think several of the episodes are supposed to run longer than the 55-57 minute average (as a couple did last season as well). I thought they also did nicely in examining the major and subsidiary storylines they have going (Jon and the Night King; Cersei and Jaime Lannister and King's Landing; Arya's quest and journey to King's Landing to kill Cersei, the Hound and his "journey"; Dany and Tyrion and their cohort and their arrival at Dragonstone; Samwell and his own quest and journey, Bran and Meera's arrival at the Wall and Castle Black, etc. etc.)

It was interesting to see where Jorah Mormont ended up for the time being. Didn't see that one coming. The spousal unit and I immediately got the whole Walder Frey thing (and a nice massacre it was ;-). No major surprises, but no major letdowns, either. As some of you have said; this episode seemed more like a set-up to the major set pieces to come. That's fine.

BTW: I think the actress that plays Yara Greyjoy also teased a major development recently, when she discussed the travail her character experiences vis a vis her loving uncle Euron -- who's really an arrogant bugger LOL! -- and the Iron Fleet he had built. Cersei kind of surprised with her strategy as regards Euron and that fleet of ships. Certainly, Jaime didn't consider such a possibility.

On a positive note, talk is that Theon Greyjoy returns to his pre-Ramsay Bolton days and becomes a much more vigorous supporter of his sister's expedition and alliance with Dany. That's good, because his constant brooding over loss of his um, um...you-know-what is becoming annoying. ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

When it first arose that Sam was going to become a Maester and go to the Citadel, my reaction was that he would find a cure for grayscale and he would run into Jorah.

One would think that they'd already have found it if it existed, though. On the third hand, the maesters don't seem as interested in solving real world problems as they are in "research."

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"Go yell at an M&M"

It was good to see that Jim Broadbent (the archmaester) finally made it onto GoT. But his whole jag about how they've survived all the other upheavals in the past -- and that their quest for knowledge is more important than anything -- and that the Wall has always stood doesn't bode well. ;-)

As far as Jorah Mormont and his grayscale, I think I recall that the princess Shireen's grayscale was halted through the efforts of several maesters that her father Stannis had gathered together, so maybe there's hope for Mormont after all. Certainly, he deserves to catch a break after all he's gone through.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I kept expecting a reference to the holy shopping list of Leibowitz

I actually liked that scene. It shows, at least for a moment, that she still has some humanity left and isn't just a killing machine. She could have easily killed all the soldiers and been on her way. But then she realizes they are just people trying to get by and not really her enemy so they can live.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Yeah, that was a good scene. She really is walking death if she wants to be, but like you say; she still retains enough of her old persona that she doesn't just kill without provocation.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Is Wun Wun a Whitewalker? He died south of The Wall, it is thought that he was the last of the Giants.

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

No.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I thought at first it was Wun Wun, but he died at Winterfell so they would likely have burned his body afterwards (would have been quite the pyre!). I know the other giant died inside the tunnel of the Wall, so he likely would have gotten the same. It could have just been a random giant from before that previously hadn't been on the show - I also noticed as they did the closeup on him that there was yet another one behind him off to the right in the distance.

I was expecting to see Hodor among them.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

There are [at least] three of them

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Did anyone else read the interview with Martin talking about Beric Dondarrion? Martin essentially said that he is a Walker, one made of fire and not ice like the White Walkers. Interesting stuff.

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~Brad

What?! No discussion of The Hound still alive and calling everyone cunts still? He seems to be falling in league with the Lord fo Light. Is he now unkillable?

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

He had a good one at Thoros - "You're not foolin' anyone with that topknot, you know"

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I caught Rory McCann's name in the opening credits. Good to see The Hound back. Can't wait to see what happens if/when he and Brienne meet up again.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

"You killed your own brother"
"You should try it sometime"

“Your own men died!”
"It was wonderful to watch. Besides, it was getting a bit crowded"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Was wondering if the same guy brought the Hound back. Or if he never died.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Euron was great because he isn't dead boring like 90% of the characters.

Fatty Book Learner is great. I love his chub.

Little Assassin Girl is just the best. Again, not super boring like everyone else.

Gotta give lots of love to the Ice Zombie Raiser King guy.


A whole mountain of Dragon Glass? Go fuck yourself.

Dragon Queen takes over an abandoned castle. A castle that over looks a deep and large harbor that allows an entire army to easily land. What? No one stationed soldiers and ships at the perfect place to land an invading army. Go fuck yourself Game Of Thrones. Are these the same people who write The Walking Dead?

While I am blathering any other men here not get all excited about all the boobies in this show? It's like Dragon chick has a problem so she lights a fire and shows her boobs and BOOOM!! she has yet more people. We are a nation of 12 year olds.

Hound didn't die, to my knowledge, anyway

Brienne beat the shit out of him. He begged Arya to kill him, because Brienne fucked him up so bad, but Arya just took what money The Hound had and left him to die, before she headed to Braavos

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Did you also notice in the close-up that the giant's right eye was white.....Didn't he die when Ramsey put an arrow in his right eye? So maybe it really is him?

Did you notice during Ramsey's big battle scene he sent his cavalry up against a solid line of soldiers then ordered his archers to fire on his own men? How writes this show?

Yeah.....Ramsey was a real sweetheart......loved it when he got eaten by his dogs...."just desserts"? <groan>

I loved the puppies! People got mad at me because everytime his dogs were on screen I would bounce up and down and say, "I love you guys! Cutie fart heads!" I just love dogs. Those dogs wouldn't have eaten me. We would have been best friends.

<<Dragon Queen takes over an abandoned castle. A castle that over looks a deep and large harbor that allows an entire army to easily land. What? No one stationed soldiers and ships at the perfect place to land an invading army. Go fuck yourself Game Of Thrones. >>

Who do you think should have taken it over? Dragonstone was Stannis Baratheon's. He and his army got nuked. House Stark and the rest of the North are trying to regroup and get ready for the White Walkers, plus they don't have ships anyway. The southern houses of Martell and Tyrell are allied with Daenerys. Lannisters are closest to Dragonstone and have most to fear, but they don't have ships, hence the deal that is developing with Euron. All that's left is Dorne, and the Dornishmen are way the hell south and sort of biding their time.

As I recall, that is what Ramsey said too.....my dogs would never hurt me????

https://moviepilot.com/...-easter-eggs/4322348

I did not catch the Voldermort Easter Egg

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

But he is an asshole. My guys would never have been trained to kill. They would be trained to take adorable naps and do fun tricks.

How can I train my dog to nap?

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“Read the transcript.”

I saw it differently in that she was trying to pick a fight with them since they were Lannister soldiers. They reacted by laughing at her "kill the Queen" comment instead of getting fired up. So she decided they were alright and let them be.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Good point. I'm re-watching it right now on HBO Now. I need to look at what she did in light of your take on it. Thanks!

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

That wasn't exactly the killing shot, but it was the last one

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

And so, we get FrankenVader

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Yeah. What could go wrong with that? ;-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

What breed?

Australian cattle dog.

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“Read the transcript.”

Hooray! Great dogs. The only way to calm a sheppard is to double their work. Gotta find away to exhaust that energy. A side question. Does your pup herd kids? I have seen so many herd dogs around kids try to move them into a group. It's hysterical.

I have an Aussie Cattle Dog/Aussie Shepherd mix that herds people, tennis balls, rocks, dog toys, etc. It's funny. He even barks at the rocks and toys while he moves them into their piles.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Dogs are magical. Your dog barking at rocks as he herds them has made my day.

He will herd the rocks to one place. Then he will fling them around all over the yard (while barking at them), and herd them again into another pile (while barking at them). He would do this for hours if we let him. My brother filmed it and put it on Facebook a couple of years ago.

When I come home from work each night he will bite hold my pant leg and herd me into the house.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Give him a huge kiss from Uncle Tibbsy

She's been trained as an assassin, not some kick ass tank like the Hound. Jees, even he nearly got his ass handed to him in a fight against four Lannisters in an Inn (and her original sword tutor was killed off screen by a couple of Kings guards also)

She might be joking with them, but she was never going to a) take them on b) if she did take them on, win a stand up fight.

Maybe she doesn't want to kill without provocation, but I think it's more of case of only wanting to kill those on her kill list (which is remarkably short after four seasons of carnage since she put it together).

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.

Yet another good perspective on Miss Arya. Thanks! :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Never. Watched. A. Single. Episode.

#notimpressed #nodesire

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Gnothi Seauton.

That's cool with me. :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Just a general comment. Not directed to you specifically. I've not even seen an intro into a single episdoe. I've only ever seen commercials. I think I understand the draw, but as a show drawn out over seasons? No. I like LOR movies, but I'm not into it. I know it's different strokes, different folks, but it seems that I'm a part of the 0.01% that's never seen it.

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Gnothi Seauton.

Er, OK. I'm not sure why you felt the need to share that on a thread talking about the new series, but hey, I'm sure you have your reasons.

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.

LOL. I never quite got the psychology behind folks that respond to a thread like this just to say they never watched it. Like you say though there must be reasons.

Not a fan of the Ed Sheeran role as I thought it a bit clunky but heard a podcast that Masie Williams has a huge crush so the producers set it up.

It's the same psychology that makes someone jump into a TV thread to say they never watch TV. Makes them feel superior.

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Proud member of the MSF (Maple Syrup Mafia)

Well, that or,....there's another thread about TV series evangelism and people who never get into some of those popular series, and Kahuna included an article about how GoT is harmful, and just maybe this thread is not solely about just what you guys have been talking about for the past 10 posts or so.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

I've been following the last third of this thread and I'm reminded of something, especially with the observation by one of the posters that he's never seen an episode of GoT: the TV/cable universe is a very diverse and very fragmented environment nowadays.

While it's true that this first episode of Thrones saw 16.1 million viewers (a 50% increase over the season 6 premiere), terrestrial television shows of the past used to regularly draw in far more viewers, both on a relative as well at total numbers basis. The final episode of "Seinfeld," for instance, drew anywhere from 76.3 million to 108 million viewers, depending on the source cited. There are also many past series that used to consistently draw in more viewers. (The same still holds true for broadcast network news shows versus individual news shows on cable, by the way, though the number difference is getting smaller by the year.)

I think I read somewhere that "The Cosby Show," at the height of its popularity, typically garnered a 34-plus Nielsen ratings share, meaning more than a third of all televisions in the U.S. were tuned in to Bill Cosby's comedy show on the night it would air. I'm not sure any of today's TV shows, including "The Walking Dead" and "The Big Bang Theory" (they finished #1 and #2 in 2016) even come close to matching "Cosby" or "Roseanne" or "Seinfeld" or any of the earlier big-time TV shows of most decades past.

TWD, for instance, finished 2016 with an 8.8 rating (or 11.27 million viewers) in the key 18-49 age demographic. That was still far more than Thrones in that demographic, which finished that same year in third place (tied with "Empire") with an 18-49 age demographic rating of 5.3, or 6.73 million viewers. Of course, total viewership numbers across all ages would be higher for these shows, but still much less than back in TV's heyday, I would aver.

So, in the end, it wouldn't be surprising that more people have probably never seen an episode of GoT (or TWD or Big Bang, etc.) than have actually seen one.

Maybe we're all just niche or boutique viewers of television (whatever its form, including cable, broadcast, streaming and whatnot) these days, rather than the old-time viewers many of us once were?

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Oh no one watches TV. We think everyone likes what we like because we live in little bubbles. For some reason I can not explain I end up in nerd bubbles and nerds make me angry, sad and uncomfortable. So the faces of nerds when you say, "I don't really like comic books." or "I don't understand why superheroes are so popular." or worst of all, "I like Star Trek and Star Wars. They are both fun. No, I really don't know a lot about either I just enjoy watching them."

Good points.

Sometimes art is just meant to be pretty or just be purely entertaining. No need for deeper subtext, or all the textual analysis that ends up making much of "art" such a grind these days. :-)

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

For the folks who seemingly forgot that this is the LR ... ^^^^^^^ ... bingo!

Just some simple commentary, which I thought might bring out the, "Man! You've gotta see it; it's great. Better than HoC or BB!"

I don't recall other commentaries for previous threads about Breaking Bad, The Wire, House of Cards, Dexter, etc. having claims of superiority. Didn't know that was "a thing." I guess, sorry to those who have felt inferior!

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Gnothi Seauton.

Worst GoT thread ever. What a shit show.

Someone start a new one for this season and have a do-over.

.

From my experience, most threads in the LR eventually veer off into tangential -- though often interesting and enlightening -- directions. It's what makes the room fun, I think. :-)

But yes: someone needs to start another GoT thread, because this one is now irredeemable. Or is that deplorable? LOL!

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."