As you're probably aware, many Game of Thrones fans were upset about how the show ended.
After nearly a decade on television — and following seven largely fantastic seasons
— the acclaimed fantasy-drama delivered a controversial swan song: a season that many
viewers thought was rushed, unsatisfying, and really something of a mess.
Contention over the final season came to a head when one upset fan wrote a petition demanding
that HBO remake all six episodes with brand-new writers.
For some fans, It's hard not to roll your eyes.
The petition reads in part:
"David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers."
More than 1.7 million disgruntled Game of Thrones fans signed the petition, but those
efforts were reportedly made in vain.
Basically, if you think the network is planning to remake the season, we've got news for you.
According to Entertainment Weekly, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys addressed the online
petition during the Television Critics Association's summer press tour:
"There are very few downsides to having a hugely popular show.
One I can think of, when you try to end it, many people have opinions on how to end it.
I think that comes with the territory.
The petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show, but it wasn't something
we seriously considered.
I can't imagine another network would."
Bloys also mentioned that HBO really doesn't have too much creative control when it comes
to a hit show like Game of Thrones.
In regards to the final season, he said,
"There is a rhythm between showrunners and network, a minimal back-and-forth here and
there.
That’s not just GoT.
Silicon Valley is doing their final season, they have a really good handle on what the
show is and what the end will look like.
It’s not like we are all over them.”
As for Game of Thrones, it sounds like Bloys wasn't terribly surprised by the negative
reaction.
After the final episode aired back in May, he told Variety:
"I think to a certain extent it was expected that for a show this big, there's no way you're
going to please everybody.
[…] I think [Benioff and Weiss] landed a massive plane and did a great job doing it.
But you're never going to make everybody happy, nor should that be the goal."
Meanwhile, some former Game of Thrones cast members were evidently quite displeased about
the petition.
Sophie Turner, the actress who played Sansa Stark, found it particularly upsetting, telling
The New York Times:
"People always have an idea in their heads of how they want a show to finish, and so
when it doesn't go to their liking, they start to speak up about it and rebel.
[...] All of these petitions and things like that — I think it's disrespectful to the
crew, and the writers, and the filmmakers who have worked tirelessly over 10 years,
and for 11 months shooting the last season."
Isaac Hempstead Wright, who portrayed Bran Stark, told The Hollywood Reporter:
"I saw today there's a petition to redo the ending.
[...] It's just absurd.
I can't even fathom it.
It's just ridiculous.
It's ridiculous that people think they can just demand a different ending because they
don't like it."
Jon Snow actor Kit Harington didn't mince words when asked about the petition, telling
Esquire:
"I don't mean to sound mean about critics here — but whatever critic spends half an
hour writing about this season and makes their [negative] judgement on it, in my head they
can go f--- themselves.
[...] In the end, no one's bigger fans of the show than we are, and we're kind of doing
it for ourselves.
That's all we could do, really.
And I was just happy we got to the end."
Clearly the folks at HBO realize that no matter what you put out there, there's just no pleasing
everyone.
At the end of the day, some audience members will always react with shock and dismay.
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