The unique thing that made Game of Thrones so awesome wasn’t the intrigue though (though that was GREAT), it was the fact that the main character of the story wasn’t a person, it was the throne, or the world (particularly Westeros). Everyone else in the story was a sub-character, and so nobody was safe because nobody was the critical main character. The plot was nearly unpredictable because nobody had “Plot Armor” and you could always get surprised. There are few to no other stories like that.
Some time ago I sat and watched some channel like Hallmark with some friends and I proved to them that I could pretty much predict the entire plot of every “movie” that came up all day even though I’d never seen any of them before. We sat and watched a bunch and I accurately predicted every single plot and could often say what dialogue and quotes were about to be said with extreme accuracy. It was predictable and boring and everyone there was shocked and thought I was a genius. Bleh, too many stories are predictable. Game of Thrones was AMAZING not because of the excessive sensuality, or the crazy intrigue (which I still loved), but because it was not following convention. The problem with subsequent attempts at producing “The Next Game Of Thrones Successor” show is that HBO or other networks are just trying to find a new book to “adapt” to TV, and while they can add sensuality or violence, or political intrigue for a throne, etc, it can’t live up to G.O.T. because they’re still limited by the main plotline of the book/script they choose. They will be able to make a GOT successor if they abandon convention and get rid of predictable plot armor and traditional scripting. Make the “main character” something other than the traditional “Main Character” and then you will actually surprise people again like GOT was continually surprising people. Until they come to terms with this, they will never have a GOT successor.
That’s not to say that I am not enjoying Dune Prophecy. I would actually love to read the entire Dune series one day. I ready the original Dune book back in college, and I own the entire series, but I haven’t read any of the others yet. Now that it’s getting really popular, I may have to move it up on my list of things to read though.
This is key. I understand that people like Hallmark Channel movies (I might be related to some of those people), and I imagine a lot of that has to do with comfort in familiarity. That’s not my thing, though: I want to be challenged and—one of the best things—genuinely surprised by what I’m watching. When something unexpected happens, that’s what gets my attention and keeps me engaged.
That’s one of the things that made Get Shorty (the TV series, which didn’t last nearly as long as I think it should have) so great. Things happened that truly caught me off guard, and that really made me want to find out what was going to happen next in the story.
That’s not a sci-fi show, though. Sci-fi (or at least sci-fi-adjacent) shows that have surprised me in pleasantly unexpected ways: The Last Man on Earth (which, unfortunately, was cancelled way too soon despite being much better than I anticipated and absolutely hilarious), Resident Alien, and The Man in the High Castle (which is based on sci-fi author Philip K. Dick’s novel/novella but expands the basic story and takes it in different directions).
Even the alleged “unexpected plot twists” on that channel are super predictable and totally expected. I’m not saying they don’t have some nice feel goods or whatever else people may enjoy, but the writing quality is basically a bunch of derivative copy and paste from some screenplay 101 basics class.
I was actually not exactly “choosing” to watch it…I was playing games (I can’t remember what games offhand, but it was something physical like cards or board games, not a video game) with friends in a room while others decided to watch it all day and I was proving to them why I didn’t like it and why I thought it was intellectually boring to me. Someone bet me money I couldn’t call out the plot before it happened, so I proceeded to do so, and they were dumbstruck because the show had never been aired before. They thought I got lucky, so then I did the same thing for the rest of the day, calling out even the crazy “Plot twists” and several sub-plots on others before they happened. I proved an epic point that day. I turned down their money though. It was basically a rigged contest from my perspective.
Ditto. I rarely watch things more than once for similar reasons. The main exceptions to this are when I’ve already read a book the film is adapted from (that’s still okay), or if I really want to share it with someone who hasn’t seen it yet --then, I’m there more for THEIR sake, than for my own, which I still enjoy…though I guess the closeness of now being able to relate to it is still kind of and investment for my sake too. Otherwise I kind of get disappointed when it’s too easy to guess everything up front, though there are some exceptions to that too.
Fantasy and Sci-Fi tend to generally outperform their fictional colleagues in these areas, so I mostly gravitate that direction for most of my fictional tastes. Though I absolutely detest fantasy that has no structured rules and the main character always gets magically saved by something new and unexpected and unpredictable at the last moment. That’s just lazy and dumb. Hence why I love Brandon Sanderson in that area since his has rules and structure that can carry a logical flow and be ingenious/clever instead of just anything surprise. So there does need to be some balance and organized structure or the whole thing is also dumb on the opposite side of things.
I’m not saying that I always want to be surprised. Familiarity has its place, too, like if I’m physically ill and just want to veg and watch TV, then Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope is like a comforting blanket that helps me relax and sleep. I could rattle off several non-sci-fi movies that I have watched (and/or will watch) repeatedly because of their cultural significance, fun stories, outstanding performances, experience of a shared memory, or other reasons.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging or condemning the ones who like that kind of entertainment, it’s just not for me. One exception would be Dexter, I enjoyed it even though every kill was predictable but the main plots throughout the seasons kept me watching it. Hated the ending, but it wasn’t just me
If I have to choose what would be my three favourite shows I would have to go with G.O.T., Breaking Bad and the Expanse, with Breaking Bad having the best ending of them all. Also, I don’t like shows that have one plot per episode, like Ransom, Elementary and Blacklist even though I like James Spader. This does not apply to Star Trek iterations though
I don’t mind watching anything more than once, it helps me get better picture in case I’ve missed something the first time.
“What you are about to see is a matter of human record. Explain it: we cannot. Disprove it: we cannot. We simply invite you to explore with us the amazing world of the Unknown … to take that One Step … Beyond.”
The predecessor to Reality TV, which both were not.
Skeleton Crew was better than I expected (note I’m a huge star wars fan…I watch EVERYTHING they put out and own every “Legends” book, and most of the newer “Cannon” books).
Dune was good
I can’t wait to watch Silo and Severance season 2 (is the whole season completely released yet?). Just wish it was on something besides Apple TV.
Squid game was interesting, though it’s kind of annoying they didn’t just make it one season and release the entire thing together
I didn’t realize What If and Umbrella Academy had a new season! I’ll have to look into it.
I don’t think I’ve even heard of “The Boys”…it seems it must be good if you listed it and it’s on season 4. I’ll have to look into it.
UPLOAD 3 is out?!?! I love VR shows so much!
I’m glad you let me know about some of those. I didn’t realize some of them had new seasons out.
I would actually love to read the entire Dune series one day. I ready the original Dune book back in college, and I own the entire series, but I haven’t read any of the others yet. Now that it’s getting really popular, I may have to move it up on my list of things to read though.
I turned down their money though. It was basically a rigged contest from my perspective.
Otherwise I kind of get disappointed when it’s too easy to guess everything up front, though there are some exceptions to that too.
That’s just lazy and dumb. Hence why I love Brandon Sanderson in that area since his has rules and structure that can carry a logical flow and be ingenious/clever instead of just anything surprise. So there does need to be some balance and organized structure or the whole thing is also dumb on the opposite side of things.
