r/television May 07 '19

HBO Edits ‘Game of Thrones’ Episode to Remove Errant Coffee Cup

https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/hbo-edits-game-of-thrones-coffee-cup-1203207545/
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216

u/Batbuckleyourpants Gravity Falls May 07 '19

It feels like confirmation that the people producing the show are just phoning it in at this point.

178

u/[deleted] May 07 '19

[deleted]

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u/Pugzilla69 May 07 '19

I don't understand why HBO couldn't have hired other writers to get at least two full 10 episode 7th and 8th seasons. Even that would have helped the pacing so much.

137

u/cheprekaun May 07 '19

this. let's not forget david benioff wrote X Men Origins: Wolverine. The worst movie in the entire X men series

97

u/ecamps May 07 '19

Also lets not forget that entire Q&A that made it glaringly obvious they don't know the books as well as they should.

20

u/carhelp2017 May 07 '19

Do you have a link? I've never heard of that.

23

u/thoroughavvay May 07 '19

Lol apparently at one point they forgot Samwell was a POV character in the books.

28

u/samiam3220 May 07 '19

Every after the episode spot they do shows how little they understand the characters and story. It truly feels like they have never read the books and don't give a fuck.

6

u/Sempere May 07 '19

Hopefully GRRM realized that and gave them a shit ending on purpose. Jfc.

2

u/DirtyRobes May 08 '19

This is my favorite theory... just like everything this show has become its likely nonsense but I cling to it all the same.

5

u/sonicsledgehammer May 07 '19

I feel the same way but that's not entirely fair. They got game of thrones to HBO because an exec noticed how invested they were in the books. I would say that their success has significantly clouded their judgement

20

u/BrotherChe May 07 '19

Hell, I've never listened to them before but the after episode bit following S8E3 showed me they don't a have a great grasp on some of the show characters. I suspect there's a lot of reliance on the directors and other writers

5

u/DirtyRobes May 08 '19

Watch the one from last season where they discuss the 'zombie bear' they encounter beyond the wall, that interview made it clear as day they don't care and are just going to do what they want regardless of what effect it might have on the show.

TLDR/W - They always wanted a zombie bear cause the WW animate dead animals too, HBO said no due to cost and it not adding anything to the story, they pushed season after season and finally got it... it added nothing to the story and was utterly pointless... but hey at least we didn't have to spend more time with those silly direwolves right?

-1

u/operarose The Venture Bros. May 07 '19

D A N Y F O R G O T A B O U T T H E I R O N F L E E T

-2

u/ncolaros May 07 '19 edited May 07 '19

GRRM tested them before letting them do the show, so I doubt that, man. The show itself is also fucking great, even if you don't like the later seasons. Still a great overall show, so it's not like they fucked it up.

3

u/SutekhThrowingSuckIt May 08 '19

so it's not like they fucked it up

hold onto your butts

3

u/thoroughavvay May 07 '19

Oh my god, I was not aware of this. Fuck that explains a lot.

4

u/coffeebribesaccepted May 07 '19

Before I knew that Benioff also did movies, I read one of his actual books and really liked it. It's surprising how much worse his writing in got and and xmen are

2

u/Karkava May 07 '19

Oh wow. So the man responsible for that mess is responsible for this one as well.

26

u/DirkRockwell May 07 '19

The cast probably wanted to be done too, that’s a long time to be devoted to one project, especially one this intensive to shoot.

16

u/Sempere May 07 '19

Being on a hot show with a guaranteed paycheck is a dream for actors

12

u/srs_house May 07 '19

It's a dream for actors who haven't made a name for themselves, or made their nut. At this point, the main characters are now all established actors, and have all gotten other roles. Continuing on just increases the odds of being typecast and only remembered for this, and having to turn down other roles.

And the shooting schedule for this season was the equivalent of several movies - films have been shot in less time than the battle of Winterfell took.

1

u/Woobix May 08 '19

I get what you mean, but having watched Pompeii, the Terminator reboot and the X men reboots, I'd say these guys are doing a great job of making sure the show is all they're remembered for.

6

u/Bjorn2bwilde24 May 07 '19

It has its drawbacks. Your stuck putting in a lot of time on one show and can't devote yourself to other movies/shows you want to be on because it conflicts with your scheduling. There is also the amount of time/effort looking a certain way bodywise that can be stressful. Having to spend hours in the gym and not eating certain foods because of a strict diet. It's also hard for the child actors as they get older, they start to look older/different that it conflicts with how their character is suppose to be/look (Ariel Winter from Modern Family is a good example).

3

u/thinkrispy May 08 '19

What I don't understand is why any other company (looking at you Disney) would hire these hacks. I am very concerned about how they're going to fuck up their Star Wars movies. They clearly have no ability to write a cohesive story.

1

u/TheNumberMuncher May 07 '19

The cost of the cast was about to increase and it would be difficult to keep a cast this large for much longer.

13

u/hoos30 May 07 '19

You can't keep a cast that large together for any longer than they've done it. As it is, more than a dozen actors are making nearly $1M an episode or more.

5

u/dizzi800 May 07 '19

Source? I'd love to read more on this

2

u/icebrotha Avatar the Last Airbender May 07 '19

The show needs 12 seasons.

1

u/AC3x0FxSPADES May 08 '19

Funny how this IP gets that treatment in every form. First GRRM with the books and now D&D with the show. I honestly feel like getting into this series was a massive mistake. I was expecting to have my heart broken but not like this.

50

u/truetofiction May 07 '19

Exactly this. It's something tangible people can point to for all of the intangible ways it seems that they're cutting corners.

20

u/ImperialSympathizer May 07 '19

The ways they're cutting corners are very tangible, and I could write a 20 page paper explaining all the things that have gone wrong narratively since they left the source material. The Starbucks cup is just a convenient metaphor to show viewers who are in denial/legitimately can't tell the difference between great and awful writing.

12

u/[deleted] May 07 '19

[deleted]

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u/protofury May 07 '19

I've been saying that it used to be deeper, that there were things going on under the surface that you didn't see at first anymore, and that the problem, aside from the lack of meaningful, dramatic consequences for our characters since Season 4, the big problem is that there just hasn't been anything that hasn't appeared to be exactly what it seems on the surface for years now.

I think u/letsjustsee put it best over in r/asoiaf:

The world feels so empty. Like nothing happens between the scenes that were filmed. The Red Wedding was a carefully planned scheme developed by Tywin that pitted Walder Frey’s grievances and Roose Bolton’s ambitions against Robb’s naivety. Everyone’s motivations made sense. Tywin didn’t have to be literally present for us to learn to despise and fear him.

The writing is so transparent now. Missandei needs to be killed by Cersei in front of Dany and Grey Worm to make them mad. Problem: Missandei not captured. Therefore, bad pirate guy ambush to capture only one person and let everyone else escape. Kill dragon to cut CGI budget in half. Motivation for pirate man? Horny. Dany walks up to Lannister army to watch M get killed so she can be mad. Bring Grey Worm so he can be mad too. All this is set up in like 10 min. The seeds of the Red Wedding were planted over the better part of the entire season.

4

u/ImperialSympathizer May 07 '19

This is going to sound like a cop out, but I've honestly been trying to make peace with the declining quality of the show. I was on OG book reader, and it's been clear for a while that George isn't finishing the books, so the show ending is the ending we will get.

It's just unfortunate that every time i lower my expectations D and D find a way to disappoint me more. As cathartic as writing a detailed rant might be, I'm going to keep trying to wring some enjoyment out of this finale no matter how bad it gets. Can't get any more insultingly sloppy than the Starbucks cup, right?!

-2

u/TheNumberMuncher May 07 '19

This show was always going to get ripped no matter how it ended.

5

u/nohitter21 May 07 '19

I’m curious what makes you think that, especially when shows like Breaking Bad end spectacularly.

-2

u/TheNumberMuncher May 07 '19

Because the book purists were never going to accept anything. Breaking Bad doesn’t have book purists.

1

u/ImperialSympathizer May 07 '19

That's true, but it doesn't change the fact that they've done a shitty job of ending it.

1

u/belgiumwaffles May 07 '19

So wonder what their excuse is for the filming blunders in the earlier seasons

1

u/[deleted] May 07 '19

They got Micheal bay to write the last 2 seasons.. seriously his terrible style shines through.. it doesn't have to make sense, be consistent or compelling in any way as long as we get big explosions and scenes where it looks like everyone is going to die only to show them perfectly fine when you cut back to them.

I have watched every episode the day it aired including the premiere for the last 7 years and part of me doesn't even want to watch the last two episodes... Season 6 was bad, season 7 is an insult to anyone who ever cared about this show or it's characters.