Golden Globes snubbed Game of Thrones this year. Boo. The Newsroom somehow snatched one of the 5 best drama slots. To remind you, last year Dinklage was nominated for supporting actor and won it, and the show was nominated for best drama.
American Film Institute selected Game of Thrones as one of the 10 best TV programs of the year.
Over at IGN, they are selecting the best of 2012, and GoT has garnered 5 nominations: Best series overall, Best drama series, Best episode (Blackwater), Best villain (Joffrey), Best DVD or BluRay set (first season).
In other news, the GoT stunt ensemble was nominated for the 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will take place at the end of January. The Writers Guild Awards also honoured Thrones by nominating it for best drama series.
You should also head to TV.com and vote there (and often, too) for Game of Thrones. We list the 10 nominations here for your convenience:
- Best Overall Series
- Best Drama Series
- Best Dramatic Actress- Lena Headey
- Best Dramatic Actor- Peter Dinklage
- Best New Character- Stannis Baratheon
- Best Villain- King Joffrey
- Biggest Badass- Tywin Lannister
- Best Kid Character- Arya Stark
- Favorite TV Family- The Starks
- Most Tragic Death- Renly Baratheon
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137 Comments
Oh come on, season two wasn’t good enough.
The DudeQuote Reply
Geez, never thought that the emmy’s would be the award’s show that does the most honor to Game of Thrones.
I’m starting to get worried that HBO is going to cut the budget for season 4 if they aren’t seeing a lot of awards for this season. I know subscriptions are more important, but this is ridiculous.
sunspearQuote Reply
The Golden Globes are a massive joke on an epic scale. The HFPA voting body is made up of star-effers who couldn’t write an actual critique of any quality or legitimacy if the survival of the planet was at stake.
So NOT being nominated by that bag of clown shoes is an honor.
GeekFuriousQuote Reply
But that joke of a season of DOWNTON ABBEY, or THE NEWSROOM, was? Please. GOT ran circles around both.
GeekFuriousQuote Reply
Wow, snubbed. The Newsroom? Is that show even going to have a season 3?
dizzyQuote Reply
Golden Globe nomination criteria have always been a joke. The HFPA are a weird, sycophant group that is far more interested in packing their awards show with as many celebrities they can rub shoulders with than awarding the top television shows and movies.
They always make huge omissions and end up giving out awards to many, many undeserving recipients just so that they can be different. They are not a true barometer of quality in any way shape or form.
King TommenQuote Reply
hbo dont care abt awards…it cares abt money through subscriptn, dvd blueray sales, merchandise, broadcasting rights.
the waifQuote Reply
Man fuck the Golden Globes…
ATGQuote Reply
Freshman shows always have that “total newness” angle critics love. Many sophomore seasons get snubbed. I’m not too concerned, really.
I’d be surprised if this impacted budget so long as the numbers remain hot.
Jeff O’ConnorQuote Reply
Yeah, the Golden Globes always fawns over new shows. But the Newsroom became terrible quickly. Downton Abbey was so bad this year, I’m continually amazed at the award noms being thrown at it. I don’t think the voters actually watch it.
Awards won’t affect the budget- people subscribing and throwing money at HBO will keep the show on and budgeted.
Ours is the FuryQuote Reply
If the Game of Thrones snub isn’t an indication that the Golden Globes are insane, then surely not nominating Mad Men’s fifth season is. This is just a random group of entertainment journalists. Their nominations never make sense.
WatsonQuote Reply
Pretty obvious why the Newsroom was nominated. At least the Emmy’s have the decency to nominate the show and hopefully, will work their way up to a win.
You can’t deny this shows talent. Headey, Dinklage, Williams. The list goes on. Season 3 is shaping up to be one of the best seasons of television, and if it works out, they better not be denied.
Rooting for Boardwalk Empire.
Ryan GenualdiQuote Reply
The DVD + BD sales for season 1 have been somewhere in the $50 million range. So before you even count subscriptions, the show is nearly paying for itself in home video sales. That means HBO is swimming in an ocean full of cash.
Why would they cut the budget for season 4 just because some joke of an organization like the HFPA didn’t nominate them?
GeekFuriousQuote Reply
To point out a silver lineing despite the bad news:
GRRM wont have another award show to attend and can continue on TWOW :D
Hello and GoodbyeQuote Reply
Last time he sounded like he’d been having a good writing stint lately. Write like the wind, George :) at the pace you need, of course.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Ours is the Fury,
I like the newsroom, but I definitely don’t think it deserved to be on this list. It’s weird that the show got so heavily panned by critics that I thought weren’t deserved and now it’s getting award nominations I also don’t think it deserves.
If we somehow lose the stunts SAG award, it will be grounds to no longer consider the SAG’s a valid award show.
Side note, does anybody know what channel ‘Damages’ is on? I swear I haven’t seen an ad for that show in two years, but apparently it’s still on.
sunspearQuote Reply
Newsroom AND Downton Abbey? I actually can’t stop laughing.
Bless this thread.
MachaQuote Reply
I agree with all the nominations PAR Renlys… I liked the Renly character however even though I didn’t read the book until after the season… I didn’t as a viewer find the death as a TRAGIC… maybe I am the only one who thinks this… I would have put the Tragic death more onto Cassel as he was a loved ally to the Starks … or even Maester Luwin.
SamiQuote Reply
DAMAGES was cancelled by FX in 2010 and picked up by DirecTV. You can find it there on their “Audience Network”.
GeekFuriousQuote Reply
Geez, I’m kind of in shock. Soon as I saw the Newsroom there, I was like bah, they got our spot.
MetalgoddessAMBQuote Reply
yup, no surprises here
Mean25Quote Reply
I sort of disagree that season two wasn’t good enough, sure it might not have been good enough to earn a win, but I believe it was more deserving of a chance than the Newsroom and Downton Abbey.
RhysQuote Reply
Ser Roderick’s death was more tragic then Renly’s
Chris RennoldsQuote Reply
The Newsroom is a show with a lot of critics towards politicians and so forth. Plus, being also on HBO, maybe they thought two shows from the same network would be to much… of course why they chose newsroom and not thrones, only they know…
Personally I don’t understand something: this is Foreign Press, and GoT is hugely popular outside US and UK,…. it’s a puzzle… I think this snub will cause major backlash from many many people and actors, and the industry itself!
I am a Huge GoT fan, same as you, but to be truly honest, S2 was weeker than S1. It was a far static season until Blackwater, and many stories with loved characters (Dany, Jon), lacked substance. S3 will take the Emmy and the GGlobe, I bet!
On the other hand, Peter Dinklage, was same as ever, meaning awesome! even a little bit more this season, cuz was focused more on him! why didn’t ge got nominated?? I think that’s the bigger problem…
AdrianAegonQuote Reply
How in seven hells is “Carl Grimes” above Arya in the best kid character category? That sniveling little shit let Dale die!
Arya is the best, no ifs, no buts.
Onwards, Winterfellas!
GrijnwaaldQuote Reply
The Newsroom got nominated?! What the hell! Is this some sort of messed up joke or is it just a conspiracy?
Aegon the ConquerorQuote Reply
The Newsroom being nominated over GoT is surprising enough to me that I’m almost picturing the Golden Globe nominations being decided by someone with a trollface.
It’s not really a big deal – ratings and reviews are still very strong, so whatever.
LordStarkingtonQuote Reply
Grijnwaald,
I expect it’s a knee jerk reaction to the fact that this is the first season where Carl is actually cool whereas season 1 and 2 you just wanted to throw the kid to some zombies. Arya has always had a degree of badassery.
Aegon the ConquerorQuote Reply
I agree season 2 was not the best but season 3 should be amazing !
Coltaine777Quote Reply
Aegon the Conqueror,
Yeah I guess so, Arya will only get more badass over time! ;)
GrijnwaaldQuote Reply
Not saying that Downton Abbey or The Newsroom was better. The latter series had decent drama excellent comedy and appalling everything else, but that doesn’t make GoT season two any better.
The Golden Globes is indeed shit, and they nominate the wrong shows, but just because Game of Thrones was better than The Newsroom (and it was), it does not mean that there weren’t better shows still. There were, there are, and they get overlooked. Always.
The DudeQuote Reply
Coltaine777,
Seasons 3 and 4 are their chances to shine. I loved season 2 but it wasn’t worthy of awards – it was mostly functional with some standout moments, and I think far too busy / rushed / confused for the non-book readers to get their teeth into.
For Season 3 (and 4) they should be able to calm the pace down a little, and of course they have some iconic moments to come. I expect seasons 3 and 4 to be the standout, award-winning seasons in this series, simply because they are based on the best source material.
RossQuote Reply
*dumbstruck* :(
mags giantsbabeQuote Reply
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/12/13/golden-globes-nominations-snubs/
James Hibberd was quick to name it a snub!
MetalgoddessAMBQuote Reply
The other day it struck me that we’re 18 months past DwD, meaning that if he somehow manages the pace of his earlier books we might be nearly halfway through the wait. I’m still hopeful that the book will be out in time for the holidays of 2014.
I don’t think there’s anything but the smallest chance he takes 5 years to put out each remaining book.
ZackQuote Reply
I actually thought that, on balance, season 2 was better than season 1 – at least, better written, acted and directed. It just didn’t have enough plot, and the directors insisted on breaking any tension there might be by flitting between ten different plots every episode, so it started well but then kind of got bogged down in the second half.
Easy to see why no acting nominations, though. Several actors had good scenes, but just not enough of them. [Do the globes make you submit one episode, like the emmys? That particularly must be a blow to actors in a show like GOT.] I liked Dinklage’s performance, but if you compare him to Patinkin in Homeland (the only one of the nominated supporting actor performances I’ve seen – i’m in the UK), it just doesn’t compare. Saul gets more screen-time in one episode than Tyrion gets all season. [Plus I think the acting's better - but that's more because Patinkin is brilliant than any slight on Dinklage - especially since Saul's the sort of quiet supporting character that always gets overlooked, even though he's the soul of the show.]
WastrelQuote Reply
While I agree that season 2 of the show was not as good as season 1, you cannot make me believe that The Newsroom was all over better show then Game of Thrones this season. I enjoyed Newsroom but I think it’s nod is due to the fact that awards shows usually love Aaron Sorkin (just like the Emmys love David E Kelley shows). Newsroom showed some signs of being a potentially really good show but the 1st season had to work out several problems.
Oh well, as long as the fans like Game of Thrones and watch the show and enjoy it, who cares about awards? I just like seeing the cast at awards shows.
NancyQuote Reply
Why? Season 2 had:
Less ridiculous sexposition.
Better material for Peter Dinklage.
Less perceived racism (not that I think the Dothraki were racist before, but a lot of people were complaining about them)
More action
More and Better CGI effects
+1 million viewers.
What is the rational behind ‘season 2 wasn’t as good as season 1′??
There are two HBO shows in the category, Newsroom and Boardwalk Empire.
sunspearQuote Reply
If season 3 is even half of what Storm of Swords was, GOT will win best drama at every awards next year, hands down
jaredQuote Reply
Grijnwaald,
Can you please not spoil other shows? Some of us haven’t been able to catch up yet.
ThanatosAngelQuote Reply
This is probably the worst snub I’ve ever seen.
I mean I can understand the The Wire never getting a nomination, because it took awhile for its cult status to be achieved. But in this case, everybody knew how well-made Game of Thrones was and how well it is doing, both critically and commercially. It’s completely from left field that it wasn’t nominated and really seems more like an indication of bias on the HFPA than a real assessment of the show’s quality.
Season 2 was great, perhaps even greater for the non-readers (I’m betting most of us readers have that habit of cringing at every deviation from the page).
Shawn Edward CantuQuote Reply
Personally I enjoy Newsroom, Downton Abbey AND Game of Thrones. Forget the awards and enjoy what you enjoy!
puzzlnutQuote Reply
Game of Thrones was snubbed because the Golden Globes needed to nominate both The Newsroom (Aaron Sorkin, Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, etc.), and Boardwalk Empire (Steve Buscemi, Martin Scorsese, Mark Whalberg, etc.), and they couldn’t nominate three programs on HBO out of five spots. The Golden Globes love when film actors work on television (hence The Newsroom being nominated), but I would expect to see Game of Thrones back in the running next season.
Season two, in my eyes, was better in some respects and not as strong in others, when compared to the first season. They were roughly equal in terms of quality (Purist complaints aside, which… Who really gives a shit?), overall. Still, the snub hurts a bit. My line-up would have looked like this:
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Game of Thrones
Treme
The second season of Homeland hasn’t been as good as the first, which I also didn’t think was the best program of last year, so it’d be dropped. Justified is fantastic, and the third season was probably better than the fifth season of Breaking Bad, but since BB has been consistently shut out I left it in. The Newsroom was enjoyable enough, but not good enough for a nomination (other than Jeff Daniels’ acting nod), and Downtown Abbey was laughably bad this past season. Treme might be the most underrated and under appreciated show on television (at least until people start talking about it a few years after it wraps up next season), and this third season was the best yet, so it gets a well-deserved nomination. Still three HBO shows, though, which may be excessive. The other two taken by AMC…
Maybe it’s time to start separating broadcast and cable into their own categories, and increasing the number of nominees to six.
Khal-A-BungaQuote Reply
puzzlnut,
Me too. Plus you gotta wonder what episodes they submitted. In some ways it’s an episode vs episode battle rather than a show battle. If another show put together a better package or stand alone episodes that are easier jump into well… Same goes for actors.
hercircumstanceQuote Reply
Oh come on, calm down. Some worse snubs, just looking at the Oscars:
- Gene Hackman wasn’t nominated for The Conversation
- Jack Lemmon wasn’t nominated for Glengarry Glen Ross
- Bernard Hermann wasn’t nominated for the iconic score for Psycho
- Steven Spielberg wasn’t nominated for directed Jaws
- Airplane! wasn’t nominated for best screenplay
- John Williams wasn’t nominated for the score for Jurassic Park
- Citizen Kane was nominated for best picture – but lost to ‘how green is my valley’.
WastrelQuote Reply
I meant specific to the Globes and in particular to television. Of course when we talk film and Oscars there are some legendary snubs.
Shawn Edward CantuQuote Reply
I don’t understand why people are saying Season 2 wasn’t good enough. I’d seen season 1 and thought ‘well that was cool’ but once 2 started I became well and truly hooked. There were so many impressive and emotionally gut punching moments. Maybe it’s because I’m not a book fan first. I read the book after each season to get the details that were missed (though I have been spoiled to all hell about season 3).
SDGMQuote Reply
‘Game of Thrones’ season 2 was nominated for an Emmy, as was Peter Dinklage. That is all you need to know. The Golden Globes are the bastard of award shows. Do they really expect people to believe that there are 5 better drama shows than ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Game of Thrones’? I’m not surprised to see the usual suspects use this as evidence that S2 sucked and that it is all D&D’s fault(That last part wasn’t mentioned but you know they’re thinking it).
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
anything that nominates ‘Taylor Swift’ for best soundtrack in a movie is something that shouldn’t be taken seriously
Matt DaviesQuote Reply
Hi, this is my first post :)
Downton Abbey.
I mean, freaking Downton Abbey. Look, I’ve been watching DA faithfully since the very first day, and I must say this last season has been the biggest piece of sh*t ever made for TV. I was expecting ITV to axe the show as they gave everyone a happy ending… and they not only get anoher season, but they’re nominee for the GG. Unbelievable.
Listen, I know some people think S2 hasn’t been that good (I don’t agree at all), but believe me: not even changing Qarth for NYC, dressing the cast as if they were in John Carter’s Mars and/or giving Tyrion flying magical powers would this season have blown more than DA. But they’re nominee, and GoT isn’t.
I really don’t understand critics anymore.
BigBadWolfQuote Reply
BigBadWolf,
Hahahah… I came here to write something along these lines but you put it better than I could, thank you!
The only good thing about Downton Abbey S2 was the turn by Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary – she managed to do well, I think, despite all. Everything else sucked balls. The writing, the acting, and especially the APPALLING plot. Yickkk…
queenofthornsQuote Reply
I’ve only seen up to Season 2 of Downton Abbey and enjoyed it well enough. Season 3 gets THAT bad? That’s really unfortunate
SDGMQuote Reply
As for the TV.com awards listed, I think Ser Rodrik’s death was much more tragic than Renly’s, and Brienne was a better new character than Stannis, though maybe they gave it to him since he had more air time.
Ye Olde WolfeQuote Reply
A pity but I do feel season 2 wasn’t as strong as season 1. Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad and Mad Men were all outstanding this year.
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
Season 2 pulled me in more than Season 1 managed to. So…yeah, I’d say it definitely was ‘good enough’.
JakeQuote Reply
The Newsroom????? No Game of Thrones, no Justified or Walking Dead? Sons of Anarchy? No Dinklage, Olyphant, Aaron Paul…
fontdeboufQuote Reply
Al Swearengen,
Not really. But that is only my opinion. Mad Men and Breaking Bad are always great, but neither season was near their best. And my opinion on Boardwalk Empire is in stark contrast to some who post on this site. I like the show, but it has never been great, and this season was no exception. The fact that there has not been an outstanding season for any of the shows nominated makes the GOT and Mad Men snubs even more egregious. Keep in mind that this is the first time the GG have nominated Breaking Bad. It is no surprise that they do this after Bryan Cranston appears in ‘Argo’ and other big time movies.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
Tyrion Pimpslap,
IMO Breaking Bad has been getting better with each season, s5 part 1 blew my socks off.
Season 3 of Boardwalk really has been spectacular, I was on the fence about the show being great but it lived up to the potential this year.
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
Simmer down !!
Game Of Thrones does not need awards to survive it generates enough excitement and brings in enough revenue for HBO to continue at least until they’ve covered all the available books. Anyways True Blood isn’t exactly winning alot of awards and yet that’s on to it’s sixth season.
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
A woman thinks that the Golden Globes are highly overrated. It seems that the Foreign Press people may nominate people they want to hang out with or get interviews with rather than looking at the actual quality of the shows. How else to explain the GoT snub? Piffle. One less awards show to suffer through this year, as this woman could care less about any of the other shows. So there. Meh.
Mrs. H’gharQuote Reply
Al Swearengen,
I thought Breaking Bad’s season 4 was better than the first half of s5. But like I said, s5 was still great, just not BB’s best.
The thing about my opinion of BE s3 is that I hated Gyp and thought he was a cartoonish character. I never could take him seriously and couldn’t understand how any of his men or Masseria would either. And the whole Margaret/women’s health storyline was such boring filler. I liked the first two seasons better, though I will admit the final 3 episodes of s3 were really strong.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
People need to stop being so bitter and sore about it, it’s really not a big deal.
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
Tyrion Pimpslap,
At the end of the day it’s all subjective :-)
I am just happy that we’ve got such an excellent period of television to watch, these days I get more excited about a new cable series than I do with a new movie.
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
If you go to the comments section of any article reporting the noms you will find fans of every show complaining that their favorite wasn’t nominated. Except it’s funnier when they are arguing that ‘Revenge’ or ‘Once Upon a Time’ should have been nominated.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
A bit off topic, and perhaps this has been brought up on WiC before, but has anyone seen that new HBO X-Mass commercial? The one that takes place in an office and one guy gives another guy the GoT S1 DVD then says something along the lines of “I thought you would like all the backstabbing.”
I was laughing my ass off. And my family rolled their eyes. Brilliant! Please tell me Im not the only dork who loved this.
NerdQuote Reply
Sami,
Your not slone, Cassel had the best (most tragic) death of the season. That scene really hit me.
Wrath of the GodsQuote Reply
Some of the best pieces of media in life never get nominated for anything. Let me know when Sigur Ros or Archive or Godspeed YBE gets a Grammy.
Lin BeifunkQuote Reply
While I do think Season 2 was a step backwards in a lot of ways (and a step forward in others), I do not think that is the reason why Game of Thrones was not nominated.
I think Game of Thrones suffers from being too epic in nature. The cast is jsust brilliant, but there are so many good performances and so many roles it is much harder for any individual roles to stand out enough to get nominations I think.
Plus, I think that Thrones is often overlooked or not comprehended because of the aforementioned epic scale of the production. I think it may be easier for people (and nominating commitees) to wrap their heads around and appreciate a more narrow focused series that concentrates on a single person or concept, maybe a few lead actors with more streamlined and linear story arcs.
Obviously though I think any “Ensmeble” category should include Thrones, as well as many of the artisan categories too. I just can understand why the writing and acting categories do not get the nomination love.
DarquemodeQuote Reply
Lin Beifunk,
Didn’t The Wire get snubbed by virtually everyone ?
Al SwearengenQuote Reply
GoT should pay the iron price for a golden globe
The mighty hodorQuote Reply
I 100% agree with you ..
Coltaine777Quote Reply
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I liked Gyp’s volatility and unoredictability, but I thought they wrote him too over-the-top too. l aso hated Margaret’s arc. Honestly I think Margaret has been one of the low points of the last two seasons and Iloved her in Season 1.
DarquemodeQuote Reply
the only ones that I think Game of Thrones actually deserves to win here are:
Best New Character (I don’t care for Michonne) and Favourite TV Family. For Best Dramatic Actor I think it is a toss-up with Sherlock, and for Best Villain and Best Kid Actor a toss-up with The Walking Dead.
as for the others:
Best Overall Series – The Walking Dead (it has been brilliant this year. GoT not so much)
Best Drama Series – Sherlock (again, GoT season 2 just wasn’t as good)
Best Dramatic Actress – I don’t know, but I’m sure there is someone there who deserves it more than Lena
Biggest Badass – definitely not Tywin, he isn’t even the biggest badass in GoT. my vote went to Rick Grimes
Most Tragic Death – Renly’s death was hardly tragic. In fact I believe it was the second most underwhelming and disappointing scenes in the season (behind the House of the Undying). I thought that the filming, writing and acting in that scene was rather sub-par. My vote went to T-Dog. I do expect GoT to win this next year with Robb, though.
Ser TahuQuote Reply
I agree in total. Game of Thrones, in spite of global popularity, is a television rendition
of an epic story that could not be satisfied in a formulaic style. ASOIAF contains
many non linear achievements in concept and motivations . Whatever the perceptions
argued, changing protagonist and philosophies make are difficult to portray onscreen
or plot a future course that completely satisfies even devoted fans. This is why in part
GoT will continue to be measured in success, but not misunderstood as an
excellent narrative. In all fairness, this series begs recognition by the extraordinary
effort to elevate the bar of cable Tv today, primarily because of the direction and
author involvement. The premise is still under construction for GoT ‘s production
for future seasons, yet viewers have thus far received a very good watch so far.
Arguably, the best is yet to come, detractors and failed production attempts will
continue to propel in the best course it needs to take. Devoted fans and increasing
intelligent viewership is also an contributing factor to the forward motion of the
project. While budget and acting talent impose challenges, GoT is a proposition
that cable Tv will not easily abandon. I look forward to the upcoming seasons
for the story and ongoing improvements in it’s production.
I am disappointed that the Guild and others have not awarded GoT this time,
however the contenders were many and an election year ( notably in the US )
possibly contributed towards the timeliness of the nominated series ( IMO ).
Better prospects next time. Cheer up fans, Winter is Coming :D
WildSeedQuote Reply
Ser Tahu,
I agree, whole heartedly about Renley’s death, major fail. Shadow Baby however,
was brilliantly conceived and rendered via Melisandre.
The Walking Dead is deserving of a few kudos this year.
WildSeedQuote Reply
Just so.
WildSeedQuote Reply
Just a rant: Newsroom. What a fucking waste of Emily Mortimer. Sorkin’s females are terribly conceived.
Joshua TaylorQuote Reply
I don’t have a problem with Game of Thrones being left out. I don’t know that it was as top-notch as a few other shows in the past year, even though I enjoyed it very much (particularly as a GRRM fan).
With that said, I do have a problem with the fact that the Newsroom was nominated for best drama. Newsroom? If Game of Thrones missed the cut and landed at 7 or 8 for the year, Newsroom should have been outside the top 20. It started well, and then slowly spiraled into this self-indulgent, soap-box laden mess with cliche storylines and a love story that played out worse than something on a bad sitcom. Don’t even get me started on the shrill, obnoxious female characters.
Brandon StarkQuote Reply
Ser Tahu,
The Walking Dead is your best overall season of television for 2012 (despite being only half over)…
http://i.imgur.com/SlJRa.gif
But yeah, opinions and what not.
Khal-A-BungaQuote Reply
There are like 2 people saying that and if you follow along with their general posting trends, I don’t know why anyone would give much weight to their opinions.
GeekFuriousQuote Reply
Grijnwaald,
Right on!
Arya, hands down, the best!
AryannetsQuote Reply
puzzlnut,
I enjoy all 3 shows too but, as to direction of shows, Newsroom and DA are more like glorified soaps… GoT is the only one with real originality!
Patchy FaceQuote Reply
Season 2 was awesome. The only people who say it’s bad are book purists.
It wasn’t nominated because of politics. The Hollywood liberals wanted The Newsroom to be nominated for obvious reasons and that left no room for GOT. A shame. But I don’t think it matters for HBO.
My #1 show this year has been Breaking Bad. GOT is #2. BB should win best drama.
johnQuote Reply
Joshua Taylor,
I have mixed feelings. I like the show, especially the premise or subject matter
for various episodes. I may have been affected by the US political campaigns
as well. Generally I found the episodes and characters very entertaining to
watch………until you pointed out the flaws. As I’m not familiar with Sorkin’s
other TV products, I was quite ignorant of patterns in place for female cast
members. Apparently you are not alone in observing this as an incongruous
feature in his works, as a few notables have commented. Emily Mortimer
and Allison Pill are accomplished actresses and I applaud their skill, even
on this show. I had ignored the hysterical female bits in order to remain
focused on the other aspects of the show. I’m no longer in denial of that, yet
I find the remainder thoughtful and entertaining. It beats watching TrueBlood.
WildSeedQuote Reply
Tywin the biggest badass? He didn’t do anything badass. Should’ve been The Hound.
DogmayorQuote Reply
Sorry, but who gives a f*ck about the golden globes? Season 2 was amazing and I don’t need a bunch of snobby celebrities and rich people to validate that.
StarfishQuote Reply
Season 2 wasn’t very good. Just because it has all of your favorite characters on the screen, doesn’t mean it’s amazing.
The books are awesome for a reason, try being a little more faithful and capturing the stuff that made it cool next season.
SirGaryColemanQuote Reply
I’m glad they were snubbed.The constant praise from fanboys only makes them feel like they can get away with crap that was season 2. Be honest, and maybe they’ll improve
SirGaryColemanQuote Reply
It did and barely squeaked home with a shortened final season…
boyoQuote Reply
Khal-A-Bunga,
we also had the second half of season 2. also, I never said it was the best show of the year, just that it was the best of those nominated for show of the year. If Sherlock was nominated for best overall series it would have gotten my vote.
out of Sherlock, Game of Thrones and The Walking dead, which are the three shows there that I actually watch, the one I enjoyed the most was Game of Thrones, but that was only because I am a fanboy of it, and have been for quite a long time, while I only started watching Sherlock and TWD a few weeks ago. Objectively speaking, though, GoT was the weakest of the three this year and least deserving of an award. The writing, and at times the acting, let it down.
Ser TahuQuote Reply
Hah, GoT will go beyond a third season even if it doesn’t win awards. Has True Blood won any Golden Globes lately, if at all? No, don’t think so. And yet they are getting a sixth season. Again, all that matters is DVD sales and ratings, which GoT gets a lot of.
MedievalFantasyQuote Reply
OT –
Last night episode of Elementary featured a bank vault company called – “Casterly Rock” lol
JohnQuote Reply
I am soo glad I stopped watching award ceremonies years ago. I am glad for the actors and all other people involved when they win, because their bread and butter is that industry and awards are some kind of validation, but on the whole the Emmys, Golden Globes, Oscars, Grammys are slowly but surely fading in relevance and any kind of fairness and balance or originality. They used to be worth more because in the past these were it, there were no other awards to acknowledge music, movies, TV series etc. But nowadays it seems like there is an award of some sorts every week. There is an award as far as you can throw a rock.
I thought that awards used to be deemed as markers of recognition for the best of something. But that is no longer true, in a society where loosing is not an option, hell we invent awards just so that nobody feels left out…
Nevermind of the stuff that these nominations encompass…I’d have a few choice words to say about many of today’s shows but I’d rather not…and if by some chance HBO adversely affects “Game Of Thrones” because of lack of awards well that will speak more of them than anything else. I hope that doesn’t happen, because its simple: “Game Of Thrones” gets cancelled, I won’t ever renew my subscription and pretty much be done with HBO in every way possible.
Otherwise I’ll do what I’ve done for years now, ignore another set of rapidly fading awards with the added bonus that next year Season Three is comming!
loco73Quote Reply
This is what happens when you throw a doggy style scene in front of a brothel fuck fest jizz on face making out scene.
As soon as I saw that, the FIRST thing I thought was, ‘There goes any awards for this season’
Keep it classy D&D
(Oh and big ups on that Joffrey sex/beating scene. GOOD DECISION THERE)
The DarkStarQuote Reply
Darquemode,
No.
This squarely falls on D&D and HBO. Not Martin and the epic story.
They coulda done it if they wanted to do it right. Both fucked it up.
THIS IS THE MOST EPIC STORY EVER HBO.
Don’t demand it be ten episodes, when it requires 14…or 16.
Homeland is a great example.
Not a lot of action goes on at all, but the pacing is superb and they give you just enough intrigue to keep on watching while letting the characters and the story breathe.
THERE IS PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR TITTIES D&D
Don’t add your own perverse sex scenes, or whore main characters.
Look, Spartacus may be my favorite show ever, but they OWN their over the top sex/violence there.
Game of Thrones had the opportunity at critical success, and instead because of the awkwardly inserted sex scenes and sexposition and rushed screen time it will reside in the likes of firefly/BSG/Spartacus, as cult sci-fi/fantasy hits that don’t have critical success.
The DarkStarQuote Reply
Homeland sucks… thats all I had to say.
DominickQuote Reply
The Golden Globes are the Golden Globes. They have integrity.
When you present to them a show that displays cock sucking whores with cum on their face making out with other men, you ain’t going to win golden globes.
No matter how good your show is.
(See Spartacus)
The DarkStarQuote Reply
Dominick,
Couldn’t agree with you more.
The pacing is the only thing they had going for it.
They made a WHOLE lot with very little.
I won’t spoil anything but all the characters suck
(except for Saul)
The DarkStarQuote Reply
The DarkStar,
BSG didn’t have Critical success??? hahahahhahah
Awards no. But it’s critically acclaimed.
Newsflash if GoT is to survive on television, it will have to make changes and cater to the lowest common denominator. It could have never been The Wire of fantasy. The Wire barely concluded itself because it refused to compromise and even though it was cheap to make it wasnt making HBO any money. What chance does a Purist adaptation of GoT stand when you require a big budget and an audience to survive? None. You want GoT on TV? It’s overall quality will be compromised. There will be moments of greatness and not so great moments. I’ve come to accept that as the price for an ASOIAF adaptation.
Just to play on your side of the fence a bit…D and D seem like literate, intelligent individuals are they not aware how hated their use of nudity and sexuality is on the show? Do they get the main actors cheap because they refuse to do nudity and therefore delegate the HBO nudity quota to Esme and co? Is that the situation? Because it seems like they would have stopped given the reaction. Is the Spartacus tits and guts demographic so crucial to their metrics of success?
Someone mentioning about the Wire getting snubbed. A predominantly African-American cast in a drama that skewers the American social construct? Surprise!!!!
Joshua TaylorQuote Reply
LOL. I predicted the book nazis would use this as evidence that D&D “fucked things up”. I’d like them to explain the Emmy nominations for season 2, including 6 wins. Are you guys going to claim that the Golden Globes are a more respected/prestigious award show than the Emmy’s? Thanks for reminding me how much I loathe you aptly named book ‘purists’.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
Joshua Taylor,
I meant awards when I said critical success.
That most certainly is not synonymous but it’s how I meant it.
The DarkStarQuote Reply
The DarkStar,
The Golden Globes have integrity? This is the same awards show that nominated Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie for their work in ‘The Tourist’. The same awards show that failed to recognize Breaking Bad until this year, and only because Bryan Cranston was in ‘Argo’ and a few other Hollywood films. The Golden Globe voters are star fuckers. The Emmy’s, on the other hand, almost always get the drama category correct.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I ain’t no book purist.
LOVED what D&D did with a lot of the stuff.
Understood what they did with some of the other things.
Can’t wrap my head around that brothel jizz face scene if you want to win best drama is all.
The DarkStarQuote Reply
dude, look.
maybe you’re right.
fuck the golden globes.
I’m just saying, you put a dudes jizz on a whores face while having her kiss somebody else, within the span of a minute of 3 other sex acts (NONE OF WHICH WAS IN THE BOOKS) and that ain’t gonna be a recipe for AWARD WINNING tv.
Like, I don’t care if the show is the most amazing thing ever, once you do that, you are clearly going for the lowest common denominator and forfeiting any awards.
The DarkStarQuote Reply
The DarkStar,
Cool. I just wanted to clarify that BSG was quite acclaimed. As was The Wire. The fact that the Wire never got an Emmy is a telling point.
Surprised you skipped my question regarding whether D and D are aware of the scorn let loose from fans about their deployment of nudity. If you look at HBO series in the past. most of the main characters did nudity.
Sopranos: Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco
Deadwood: Paula Malcolmson, Molly Parker, Robin Weigert
Rome: Polly Walker, Kerry Condon, Lindsay Duncan, Zuleikha Robinson, Lyndsey Marshall, Alice Henley
Game of Thrones: Natalie Tena, Emilia Clarke, Roxanne McKee, Natalie Dormer, Oona Chaplin, Carice Van Houten. Sibell Kelkili, Alfie Allen, Jason Momoa…
Okay so GoT does have some central character nudity, but how about more character nudity than random prostitute nudity?
Joshua TaylorQuote Reply
I’ve just racked up a bunch of mileage voting for Stannis for Best New Character. We need bodies and dedication! Still 4400 votes behind!
Vote for Stannis 2012!
Cary StormQuote Reply
Joshua Taylor,
I see where you are coming from, and thats a good point about The Wire not winning awards.
I think D&D have done a lot of good things, (A lot of my favorite scenes have been ones not in the books, even ones involving nudity, ( I thought the Viseyrs bathtub scene from S1 was great sexpostion))
But, they make mistakes too, and a few of the sex scenes in S2 were big whiffs, big in the sense of disqualifications of critical acclaim.
The DarkStarQuote Reply
The DarkStar,
At least you are reasonable. I saw your posts just a few down from SirGaryColemon. When I hear criticisms just because it wasn’t close enough to the source material I see red. Sorry you were caught in my crossfire.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
I can’t post links to interviews here, because I’m on my phone, but with regards to main actors doing nudity, isn’t there a chance that we will be seeing NCW and KH in the nud next year? Kit said somewhere recently that he would do nudity ‘if it served the script’ if I remember correctly. And if there are more emotional depth to their stories next season, it could make the nude scenes quite powerful instead of just gratuitous.
mags giantsbabeQuote Reply
I just love how so many are ready to bash golden globes just because GoT didn’t get nominations. So are you saying that awarding Dinklage last year was basically worthless?
ghisnstrQuote Reply
Season 2 was very good but not great. It suffered mainly from fitting too much in a small timeframe and a lack of a central focus point, which made following a compelling central thread of a story too difficult. In Season 1 the ‘viewer’ was predominantly following Ned, who gave the entire season a central focus point to build around, and gave the Season its emotional core. That is what Season 2 misses and it is inherently less compelling because of it. It felt very ‘bits and pieces’ – admittedly bits and pieces of exciting television brilliantly acted, but bits and pieces nonetheless. On the other hand Blackwater, succeeded on every level, and the season finale was fantastic too. I always thought Awards were largely based on submission of single episodes, so if that is the case, I am actually surprised GoT hasn’t been nominated based on Blackwater.
RossQuote Reply
Has anyone really considered maybe the fact season 2 — if you believe it’s boring or bad at all, which I don’t — was a little off because ACoK is, for a lot of people, the least interesting of the first four books? (I think ADwD knocks it out if included, but let’s pretend it isn’t.)
Not too many huge-ass Holy Shit Everyone The Fucking Main Character Died moments in ACoK, not like ASoS.
Still, though, I thought S2 was wonderful. I can understand where people come from if they don’t, though. Doesn’t matter to me. The show goes on.
Lin BeifunkQuote Reply
Lin Beifunk,
as for how I would rank each book, it would be something like this:
ASoS
ADwD
ACoK (plot wise not necessarily as interesting as AGoT, but it introduced some really interesting characters, and for the most part the epic moments were more epic than those in AGoT)
AGoT
AFfC
‘Oh God they just killed a main character’ moments aren’t the only great moments. as far as great moments are concerned, here are the ones from the books that I would consider great.
AGoT – Viserys getting crowned, the beheading, and the birth of the dragons
ACoK – Renly’s death, Arya’s escape from Harrenhal, Blackwater, the pursuit of Jon and Quorin, Tyrion acting as hand, and the House of the Undying. aside from the Beheading, i think all of these are better than any moments in AGot.
ASoS – The siege of the fist, the mutiny at Craster’s Keep, Jon seeing the devastation at the fist, the scaling of the wall, Queenscrown, the battle of Castle Black, the seige of the wall + Stannis, Jon’s election, The Red Wedding, Joffrey’s Wedding, Tyrion’s Trial, Oberyn vs The Mountain, the sack of Astapor, Lysa’s fall, Jaime’s maiming, leeches, Beric vs the Hound, the fight at the Inn, Shitting Gold.
AFfC – The Kingsmoot, The Queenmaker and the fall of Cersei. two of them (the more interesting two) happen with storylines that are entirely new, and Cersei’s self-induced downfall in no way made up for her and Brienne’s horribly boring chapters.
ADwD – Aegon in general (fake or not he is the first major gamechanger since the Red Wedding), the stonemen, the Dragontamer, Aegon’s landing, Hardhome, Jon’s storyline (it doesn’t have many epic moments, but it is consistantly brilliant), every Theon chapter, Daggers in the dark, Daenerys’ last two chapters, the storm that Tyrion is caught in, the battle at Deepwood Motte.
long story short: although it didn’t have any major deaths (I don’t count Renly as major), Season 2 should have been better than Season 1 based on the source material, but they failed to do it justice. luckily AFfC, which is easily the weakest book as far as i am concerned, happens at the same time as ADwD, so it has some more interesting stuff to lean upon.
Ser TahuQuote Reply
I think Mad Men not being nominated is the bigger snub. Season 5 was spectacular.
Still Mad Men and Thrones should have been nominated instead of Abbey and Newsroom.
GezQuote Reply
Can’t blame them. Season 2 sucked
TomQuote Reply
Dominick,
I feel bad for you
TomQuote Reply
Peter Dinklage was nominated and won last year, if you don’t suffer from short term memory loss.
TomQuote Reply
I agree with you on the most part. Season 1 is better than 2, as some parts of S2 were weaker and could have benefited if D&D were more faithful (like with Jon as they didn’t really do a good job with Halfhand and Arya’s storyline after she got captured) like they were in Season 1. I’m not a purist, as I found many of the additions they made in Season 1 like King Robert & Cersei scene were great, but not so much for S2. But I wish D&D and co will look back to what made S1 a success and apply that to S3.
Even with my complaints with S2 of GOT, I still rate it above Downtown Abbey, Newsroom and even Homeland. Season 1 of Homeland was great, but I didn’t have that same reaction for S2. This season stretched the believability and it’s reaching into 24 territory, imo.
I always thought that the majority thinks the AFfC is the weakest out of the first four books. It doesn’t help that some fan favorite characters were missing until a ADwD came out.
JimQuote Reply
Dominick,
Agreed. Homeland is arguably the most overrated show of 2011 and 2012 to me.
Homeland startd off amazing, but quickly deteriorated into 24 with better actors going from tightly written scripts telling believable stories to implausible events inserted into a story to deliver drama that’s bigger than life. It still has some great performances by the 3 lead actors, but otherwise I think it is overrated.
DarquemodeQuote Reply
Homeland has been worse than the Newsroom these past couple of episodes, it has become Downton Abbey actually. Though the first 4 episodes might just give them this award, there’s a lot of bad buzz going around now that will probably make voters think twice before giving this show their automatic vote. How the hell did Mad Men get snubbed by the way? Did they forget to send their giftbaskets to the jury? These awardshows need more Justified and Treme tbh.
KnurkQuote Reply
I love the books, I loved season 1, but season 2 had a lot of changes, it was mediocre. Period.
El BetoQuote Reply
Pretty outrageous that Mad Men wasn’t nominated. It may have been the best season yet. GoT Season 2 probably suffered from the “didn’t meet expectations” blues.
GovnorQuote Reply
Uh oh, Walking dead finale airs on March 31st 2013 at 9:00!!
Same time as GoT premiere! :(
Nick_ScryerQuote Reply
Nick_Scryer,
If only there were some way to view either episode after it premiers…
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/awards?mode=desktop
Now, you were saying…?
Khal-A-BungaQuote Reply
People calling season 2 of ‘Game of Thrones’ mediocre, are you comparing it to season 1,the books, or other TV shows? I can understand saying that it wasn’t as good as season 1, I don’t believe it was. And of course the books are better. But judging it against the rest of TV, there is no way you can call it mediocre or just plain bad. I don’t think there were 5 better drama’s on TV this year. Most of the top 10 lists I’m seeing for 2012 agree with me.
Tyrion PimpslapQuote Reply
I still haven’t seen anyone explain very well why they thought season 1 was better than season 2. We’ve just had one book purist rant and one sexposition rant (and it’s very hard to argue the sex in season 2 was worse than season 1).
Actually, the Golden Globes not nominating the person who won last year in a season where he had better material makes this year’s snub worse.
sunspearQuote Reply
Arya Stark is literally running neck in neck with Carl Grimes on the TV.com poll. It’s crazy. Out of 62,000 votes cast, they are literally within a dozen votes of eaach other at any given time.
Please keep her strong! Vote early and often!!!
http://www.tv.com/features/best-of-2012/vote/poll/SpecialFeatures:list:best-kid-character
David ThomasQuote Reply
The DarkStar,
You seem to be curiously concerned with that dude’s jizz on Sahara Knight’s face…if that is all you took from Season Two well…that is your problem mate…
loco73Quote Reply
On Homeland: it’s brilliant, brilliant acting. And that brilliant, brilliant acting enables us to have really interesting (though, yes, not particularly likeable, with the exception of Saul) characters, who even get some interesting (though overwrought) character development. And I didn’t think the directing was bad, either. And the pacing has been great at times, and they’ve been really brave in going unexpected routes at unexpected times and challenging themselves to get out of the corners they’ve written themselves into. That’s why people should watch it.
Unfortunately, the plot is shit, and the writing is, well, variable (really, really great scenes, then rubbish scene, rubbish, oh great scene again). But mostly the problem is that the plotting is shit, on all levels from the top to the bottom. Then again, it’s not any worse than a whole host of other shows. Most of the frustration, I think, is that the show could have been so, so, so, so, so much better if they’d really tried.
Once you come to terms with the fact that it’s NOT the incredible work of genius that it almost could have been, and treat it as a so-so melodramatic thriller with a fast pace, that also happens to have the best acting on television, I think you can start to enjoy it again.
Plus it had F Murray Abraham. And he’s Cool.
WastrelQuote Reply
While I enjoyed Season 2, I think it’s not as good as season 1, imo. The scenes that weren’t in the book in season 1 were done better than season 2. In season 1, scenes like Cersei & Robert, Ned seeing Arya in Baelor and Varys & Littlefinger scene were amazing, so book purist, I’m not. But a lot of season 2′s scene were baffling like their decision not to let Cat know that Bran and Rickon had “died”, Jaime killing his cousin, Arya’s escape at Harrenhal was anti-climatic compared in book, whole Jon and Halfhand wasn’t done very well and including Rob & Talisa’s romance felt fall and other minor stuff.
I felt in season 2 too much jumping from one story to another trying to get everybody on one episode, especially with the earlier episodes. I think it’s best if it focus more on one or two areas like they did with episode 5 to 7 in season 1. Some characters’ story lines weren’t as strong as in season 1 like with Dany just shouting “my dragons!” and “fire and blood!”, basically acting like Viserys, isn’t as compelling to watch as in season 1 when she became Khaleesi, losing Drogo & baby and birthing dragons. Though, the blame lies mostly on the books with that one. Same could be said for Jon’s story for season 2, especially as they didn’t do a good job of Halfhand, as I already mentioned. The only characters that appeared in season 1 to have as good, if not better story in season 2, were Tyrion and Theon. If it weren’t for the Blackwater, I would find season 2 to be disappointing as that episode was as good as any episode on season 1.
Well, I hope I explain my reasons pretty well. Nobody has to agree with it, but you can’t say that aren’t any good reasons as to why people didn’t like season 2 as much as the first one.
DaveQuote Reply
The DarkStar,
Totally agreed! Lately I have been wondering why I am no longer excited about GoT news even though I am still very much a ASoFaI fan. Even though two seasons are allocated to tell the stories of ASoS, I no longer have enough faith in D&D’s sensibility to believe that they can navigate successfully the adaption to make season 3 Great.
GoT is very good indeed but imho, not great. I hope they will prove me wrong. This season’s award snubs serve as a wakeup call that Homeland and other shows are stealing GoT’s thunder. Hopefully D&D can do enough in post production for season 3 to stem the tide. The rest of ASoS after RW has lots of amazing scenes and stories (imho, better than RW). They still have enough time to make season 4 great and do ASoS justice. Peace.
SugarVampireQuote Reply
Game of Thrones Season 2 was not ‘best drama’ or ‘best actor’ material. It was quite sub-par to Season 1.
Homeland, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Treme and even Boardwalk Empire beat the crap of of GoT this year as far as quality goes.z
Sure, Blackwater was a very good episode (not perfect, but George wrote a good script). But that’s about it really.
Jordan HealeyQuote Reply
All those other shows are overrated. GOT is way better, whether it’s season 1 or 2, than any of those shows, especially Treme or anything Dan Simon ever made. ‘Nuff Said!
epic manQuote Reply
epic man,
Epic is that you? The David Simon hatred gives it away if it is.
Joshua TaylorQuote Reply
season 2 was largely a disappointment for this book reader who wants the best *series* possible. many of the changes to the story made no sense whatsoever *within the context of the tv show.* the ones that did, e.g., the show runners valiant effort to make something out of dany’s non-story in book two, ended up in cringeworthy “where are my baaabiiiies” cheesefests. Same with with jeyne westerling — a tedious assemblage of “oh she openly defies me, i love her” cliches.
to say nothing of the gross misuse of cgi in two of the most critical scenes, the assassination of renly, and sam’s encounter with the white walkers. both scenes would have hugely benefited from far less ruinous cgi details and far more impressionistic staging.
blackwater was a good episode, but not enough to redeem the season.
qwertyQuote Reply
Agree…I liked it, but almost all my non-reader friends wer pretty disapointed with season 2, and I run out of arguments to explain why. Now I just say thats is because book 2 was longer and they only had the same 10 episodes, so all felt pretty cramped and rushed.
I finish saying that next season will be better because they will split book 3 in more or less 2 years…I hope is just not wishful thinking
Pau SorianoQuote Reply