The original post: /r/television by /u/Boss452 on 2026-04-17 06:36:57+00:00.
One of the most legendary shows ever put to the small screen turns 15 today. A lot has and continues to be said about it, especially how it ended. But since it aired, and left, imho no show has been able to reach up to its greatness. Game of Thrones debuted at a time when the likes of Mad Men and Breaking Bad were ruling TV. Lost had just ended a year before. And between all this, a mature fantasy show with dragons came and made its name and captured a massive audience worldwide as well as won a plethora of awards. In later era Thrones, each new episode used to light up social media discussion like a major sports event does.
It became a show which had the respect of the casuals and more critical watchers alike. It married grand, spectacle based storytelling with complicated plotlines and complex character development of a prestige show. The credit for all of that of course goes to the genius of George RR Martin, whose books boast an even better version of the story. But to bring the books to life, with a budget and resources which were middling at the start compared to where it went, was an incredible feat. The first 4 seasons are arguably the best TV you can find, and seasons 5 and 6 have greatness too. Has there been a greater back to back on TV since “Battle of the Bastards” and “Winds of Winter”? Even the highly controversial S8 had the “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” episode which had great dialogue writing and my hot TV take is that episode 5 of S8 “The Bells” has astonishingly good direction from Miguel Sapochnik, but that’s a discussion for another day.
And GOT changed TV too. GoT showed that TV could be a place to tell “cinematic” or spectacle based stories based on IP. Would we get a LOTR show, a HP show, a Last of Us show or a Star Wars show if GOT wasn’t the success it became? Eventually it would have been the case as streaming became so popular, but GOT speedtracked the whole thing. How many times have we heard “let HBO handle such and such IP for a TV show”?
And from what I have noticed, new viewers are much more accepting of the ending, since they did not have years of expectations or assumptions about the ending. But that’s a whole different topic.