DIREWOLF PUPPIES FOR EVERYONE! After just one episode, “Game of Thrones” has already been renewed for a second season. The quick turnaround is the same model HBO employed when it though “Thrones” had a markedly smaller debut audience (about 4 million total viewers compared to “Boardwalk’s” 7 million). Alan Sepinwall writes:
The early spin I’ve seen is that “Boardwalk” was promoted all summer during HBO’s biggest hit, “True Blood,” where “Game of Thrones” was immediately preceded by the low-rated “Mildred Pierce,” and before that by the limping final season of “Big Love.” And also that “True Blood” started even smaller, with 1.4 million viewers, before growing into the channel’s biggest hit, and that perhaps “Thrones” can similarly grow.
Of course, this whole disappointing-compared-to-“Boardwalk-Empire” reasoning falls apart when you consider that “Treme” — which pulled less than half the audience of “Thrones” — was also renewed after one episode. So let’s do away with the super-boring discussion of numbers, and focus on what really matters: another season of wolves, tits, and disemboweling. HOORAY!
(If you’re one of the people who prefers breasts to puppies, you can see Emilia Clarke topless here — NSFW, obvs.)
