Game of Thrones Ratings Surge
Image via wordofthenerdonline.com
The season two premiere of Game of Thrones has aired and the numbers are in. Deadline is reporting that the first airing (9PM on Sunday) drew 3.9 million viewers. That number is up nearly a full million viewers from the previous series high of 3 million during the season one finale. The aggregate number of viewers over all airings on Sunday was a solid 6.3 million.
All of this strong ratings news comes at an opportune time, following a slew of backlash toward a New York Times review on the season premiere. The critic who wrote the Times piece is critical throughout the length of the article, which is fine and expected in a review as negative as the one in question. Where the writer loses me is when he asks if it will be able to break out from its “fan base [of] Dungeons & Dragons types” and then goes on to pose that it cannot and will not.
It is not my intention to conflate this into a defense of the show’s quality based on an increase in popularity, because that kind of argument is as juvenile and indefensible as the position that the New York Times piece holds. If it is that journalist’s opinion that Game of Thrones is a weak show that leans too heavily upon gore and nudity, then that is one that I can respect even if I do not at all agree with it. What drives me mad and causes me to stand on this soapbox is when self-righteous critics who are known to speak in hyperbole without much thought attempt to use cultural stereotypes to denigrate a fandom.
Game of Thrones is a popular show that has significantly more viewers than simply Dungeons and Dragons players. In fact, it has more viewers than many of the shows on television (and people have to pay for the privilege to view it). A reasoned argument is fine but it is time to leave the petty critiques and name calling at the door. More should be expected from people who claim to have a love of TV, especially those who are paid and given a prime location to express their opinions.
I do think the show has way to much nudity – it has shown that time and time again. Even Episode 1 of season 2 couldn’t finish without at least one set of boobs. However as much as that detracts from the show, the rest of the story more than makes up for it. Episode 1 of season 2 wasn’t even about gore or nudity, it was mostly people talking to each other. How can you say a dialogue heavy show such as Game of Thrones relies to much on gore and nudity? Why do we sit around watching everyone trade barbs all the time?
I would love if they lessened the sexplinations in this season, but HBO being HBO I dount it’ll happen. However the nudity and gore could be edited out and leave a perfectly fine piece of dramatic story-telling. It shows me the show is more than boobs and blood.
The books contain graphic sex and violence, so it seems natural for the cable show to reflect those aspects. That said, the “practice” scene in this season’s first episode was gratuitous and did nothing to move the story along or establish characters. But hey… GRATUITOUS SEX SCENE!!!
As to the critic’s D&D comment… what show is he watching? The fantasy elements are so subtle and understated (dragons aside..) that the show has more the feel of Spartacus drama than Lord of The Rings magical adventure(and we all know what an itty bitty fring audience ended up seeing THAT at the theaters). His comment is as dumb as saying nobody but hack/slasher film fans will ever watch the Walking Dead.