The programming president of HBO has just publicly defended the controversial final season of Game of Thrones. Almost everyone has been talking about the series finale, which aired Sunday, and the response has been overwhelmingly negative.
Many fans were disappointed in the six-episode final season, even before the final episode aired. The dissatisfaction ran so deep for some, that fans actually launched a petition to urge HBO to remake the entire final season. Despite this, some cast members expressed their contentment with the way their characters ended up, and others simply bid the show farewell by expressing the impact the show has had on their lives. But it wasn’t just fans and cast members weighing in on the final season, even NFL star Aaron Rodgers gave his two cents, and Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander gave the show advice on dealing with fan dissatisfaction. The internet has been buzzing lately with mixed responses about the final season of the racy HBO show.
Variety reports that Casey Bloys, the programming president of HBO, has also weighed in on the final season of Game of Thrones, and he’s standing by series creators David Benioff’s and D.B. Weiss’ vision for the finale. He said in a new interview, “I think the guys did a great job. It’s always sad when a show departs, but that’s part of the TV life cycle, and life moves on. But obviously we’re really proud of the show.” In other words, disappointment is to be expected when a show as beloved as Game of Thrones comes to an end. He also spoke on some of the criticism the final season received, saying, “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.” According to Bloys, however, the response has been “roughly split with some people loving it and some people disliking it. That’s about what you’d expect[…]But you’re never going to make everybody happy, nor should that be the goal.”
The final season may have had mixed responses, but that didn’t stop 19.3 million viewers from tuning in on Sunday for the final episode. When asked about the rather small number of episodes in the season, Bloys defended that decision, adding, “The guys have had a very, very specific plan in their head for a long time. This was not something that was kind of slapdash, where at the end of last season we said, ‘Eh, we only feel like doing six.’ They were very, very deliberate. This was well thought out.” Despite fan petitions, celebrity opinions, and the like being thrown their way, HBO is standing by their decisions for season 8.
One of HBO’s most successful and revered shows has now come to an end, and it’s normal for some people to be unsatisfied with the way it ended. And while Game of Thrones may be over, HBO has some exciting projects coming out soon that fans can look forward to, such as Big Little Lies, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Westworld, and Watchmen. Of course, there’s also a Game of Thrones prequel series in development too.
More: What To Expect From The Game of Thrones Prequel TV Show
Source: Variety
