George R.R. Martin’s Nightflyers coming to the small screen, and other celebrity news

Game of Thrones season 7 is over, but the cast and crew members aren’t slowing down. Let’s check in with them, starting with series creator George R.R. Martin, whose work is in more demand than ever these days.

Although Martin won’t be personally involved with it due to his exclusive deal with HBO, The Hollywood Reporter has it that Nightflyers, a novella Martin wrote back in 1980, is close to being picked up to series by Syfy. The network had previously committed to making a pilot, so it looks like the Nightflyers show is being fast-tracked.

Nightflyers is about a group of explorers who are traveling around outer space in an attempt to find a way to save a dying Earth. Their spaceship, the Nightflyer, has an artificial intelligence that may not have the best interests of the crew members at heart. The novella was actually adapted as a movie in 1987, and I never get tired of posting the trailer because it is very weird and very ’80s:

In other Martin news, the author is tickled by something happening in Melbourne, Australia: according to Mashable, Melbourne’s railway authority — Melbourne Metro — invited the public to suggest names for five new railway stations, and place names from Game of Thrones have proved very popular. Winterfell is the most popular of the suggestions, although Highgarden, King’s Landing, the Eyrie and Dorne have all shown up.

What makes it even better is that the Australians suggesting this stuff are keeping mindful of Westerosi geography, being sure not to submit Winterfell as the name for the southernmost railway station, because that would be ridiculous. Instead, Dorne and King’s Landing are popular suggestions for that one. Writing on his Not a Blog, Martin says he’s “bemused and rather flattered” by the episode, although he admits that “winter never really does come down there.”

Pivoting to actors, TV Line reports that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) will make an appearance on the upcoming season premiere for The Simpsons, where his character will develop “a weird, surprising connection to Marge.” Apparently it’ll be part of a Game of Thrones homage, so maybe he’ll play Marge’s long-lost twin brother and things will get weird?

Looking back into the past, Eugene Simon (Lancel Lannister) appeared on Mothership — a live variety show from Nerdist — and revealed some painful secrets from the Game of Thrones set.

So he broke his nails for his art. That’s commitment.

Finally, we have to mention that Hillary Clinton name-checked Game of Thrones in her new book about What Happened (cause that’s the name of the book) during her 2016 presidential run against Donald Trump. Specifically, she referred to Cersei Lannister’s infamous walk in the season 5 finale. “Crowds at Trump rallies called for my imprisonment more times than I can count,” she writes, according to The Independent. “They shouted, ‘Guilty! Guilty!’ like the religious zealots in Game of Thrones chanting ‘Shame! Shame!’ while Cersei Lannister walked back to the Red Keep.”

Geez, everyone watches this show, although we suppose it makes sense that politicians would be particular fans — back when he was president, Barack Obama even requested to see episodes of season 6 early…and he got to, because are you going to say no to the president?

One last thing: Here’s Richard Madden (Robb Stark) being too adorable for words with his niece.

Let that carry you through the day.

Next: Season 8: Game of Thrones will film multiple endings to avoid leaks

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