Game of Thrones was a shocker for me. It was very tastefully done. I didn't realize the series came from 5 books. I am tempted to read them, but I think I'll just wait to see what happens in the series. My hubby has started on book one last week.

Not thrilled that I have to wait until Spring for season 2.

Has anyone else been watching it or are reading the books?

Have not, but AM a Sean Bean fan. I'm debating about reading the books first or what. I dunno…I've been hearing really good things about it from a couple of different places. I'm trying to get caught up on my Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt adventures. Guess it's wait and see on any thing new.

Cheers!

as a fan of HBO series, all i can tell you is be prepared to wait. Between the Sopranos and True Blood they always dragged their feet when it comes to getting the next season up and running. Also take into account that you always manage to get the contract disputes etc…which help to drag out production time as well. Personally, I feel the "Hollywood" process needs to be streamlined and cut some of that waste away and you'd get product to the people a LOT faster.

Well, it's not just the actors I'm referring to, although they're no help at times either. A classic example of the "Hollywood" system imploding on itself because of politics etc can be seen most recently in the LOTR and the Hobbit. Almost no one in Hollywood wanted anything to do with it, because they couldn't wrap their head around what was going on or what NEEDED to happen. But once Peter Jackson got a hold of it he sort of dumbed it down enough for the Hollywood types to sort of understand. But almost everything was done OUTSIDE the "System" except for the $$$. And when the movies went on to be such a huge box office bonanza and a trail blazer in many ways they had no choice but to accept it. But they dug their claws in deep on the Hobbit and have really made it tough for Jackson to move forward with that one. That should be made into a movie itself. LOTR worked so well because ALL the participants (for the most part) were huge fans of the books and most of the crew and cast multi tasked whenever the need arose. There were actors carrying equipment to remote sites, people in one department, pitching in on other aspects of the film where needed, it was a complete collaboration by all involved. One of the two main designers (John Howe) was also a middle ages military re-enactor and had an armory he brought along to NZ to help the prop team and stunt crews understand how armor and such functioned. They had the makeup artists going in to work with the computer animators to show them how to layer certain makeups to get certain skin tones on CGI characters. Hollywood types spend too much time dragging their feet and congratulating each other on how wonderful they are then actually doing the work. I won't even mention all the union nonsense. But the Kiwis have a very CAN DO mentality and it just WORKS.

Hard to disagree. Fred Norris on the Stern show has this funny move he does when actors/actresses start going on and on about how wonderful their costars were etc and it's a sound drop of guy going "blah blah blah blah" really fast. Sometimes combo'd up with a snoring effect. Oh well, it makes me laugh but I think it sums up the "System" for me. It just seems when there are shows out there (and I'm including TV into the mix here) that requires the slightest bit of thought, stick a fork in it. That's part of the reason why Fringe has been on the edge of cancellation for a few seasons. People like the creepy gross out factor, but forget about it if you try to set up anything beyond the current show. And I'll NEVER understand why the studios take something from a time slot it OWNS over the other networks and put it in the Friday night death slot. I'm speaking specifically about Fringe, but there are others too. Not to be political, but I guess they've been dumbing down our "culture" for some time now, but I REALLY started to notice it during the Clinton Administration and it became blatantly obvious during the writer's strike when the networks all went to reality TV. I'm just as guilty watching some of this stuff as the next person, but even I have limits. Remember when MTV used to play music videos? I think with the advent of music downloading and what appears to be the death knell of the record companies, there's no cash to spare on videos or to PAY MTV for running their commercials and let's not fool ourselves folks that's EXACTLY what MTV was essentially 24hour ads hawking the record labels' artists. Kate plus 8 and the Duggars, are you kidding me, why the hell is that on TLC (aka the learning channel)? I want to learn how to ruin my life? Or worse yet inspire other nitwits (Octomom) to behave just as irresponsibly. 16 and pregnant, jersey shore on MTV? What's that got to do with Music? Cake Boss, why hasn't that moved to the Food Network? Now that ACe of Cakes is gone? I don't know it's just so dang disheartening. But the thing that absolutely makes me mental is the repetition of the various networks. One network tries a concept then you get drowned by every network having a similarly themed program. I like to call it the creative incest of hollywood, no one has the temerity to stand up and try to make anything new or refreshing and once it does….and it hits….LOOK OUT because now "theme" pool is about to get thinned out by over use. It's depressing frankly. Why can't we have shows on the Learning Channel more about teaching us stuff…like say "Mythbusters"? There's something that is in the right place there. While I don't want to see a million clones of the show are you honestly trying to tell me that you can't come up with similar programming? There used to be these two guys that were on PBS locally out of the Philly area called "The Furniture Guys" and then became "Furniture on the Mend". For those of you not in the know, they were a couple of local craftsmen who had a half hour (hour?) show where they'd perform all kinds of furniture repair, reupholstering, finishing, chemical treatments etc. Pretty boring right? WRONG! These guys were a scream and while their humor might not be everyone's cup of tea, it was funny, fast paced and informative. As huge old film fanatics they'd have thematic shows, the one that really stands out is "Manchurian Can of Paint" and they'd shoot an intro in black n white with them hamming it up. But it was entertaining, even if you didn't care about the "how to" aspect of the program. Their humor was corny at times but still witty. I hope i got this link to work right…

http://www.furnitureguys.com/

But this is what I'm talking about, there are people out there that can take a concept, put a different spin on it and make it work. It's creative,funny, informative and….currently not on the air…but please, by all means, keep bringing us shows featuring these socially inept, morally bankrupt and educationally bereft embarrassing examples of American life to drool over. Nothing like having any last remnant of intellectual stimulation pulverised out of our collective conscience.

Frank Zappa has a really funny qoute about "new good music" which I think we can apply to this theme we're discussing here…

" All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff".

I guess he's right. Everything is just a variation on a theme we've already seen countless times before. It is decidedly sad that there is nothing incredibly new going on out there, just variations on themes that've already been pounded into the ground numerous times before. Different faces portraying the action, different writers placing their spin on the same plot lines.

Season 2 of Games of Thrones set for a April of this year and it seems to have only 10 episodes.

2 weeks and 3 days before all war breaks loose…..

Anyone? Anyone? You…you in the back? Have you been watching? How about you?

I don't have HBO anymore, in an effort to get on a budget that had to go by the way side…although when True Blood comes back, I may have to sign up.

Knock on wood, I've been blessed my TV has lasted quite some time and it's not one of these flat screen deals. I LOVE the picture on mine and will be heart broken when I have to replace it. It's a Phillips/Magnavox that I bought when I first moved to California at Sears on sale. I just not a fan of these new flat screens.