Hey All, I've got relatively eclectic tastes I guess when it comes to TV, but among my favourites through the last 15 years or so have been Rome, Sopranos, Band of Brothers, most sci fi and of course most recently Game of Thrones. Is there anything else out there that I may have missed that has the same quality and vibe?
The only show that comes to mind is Rome, which you've said you already seen. Maybe "The Tudors"? I've never seen it but it gets high marks.
If you mean, you like shows of high quality regardless of genre: BSG remake The Walking Dead Breaking Bad Sons of Anarchy Prison Break (S1, then it starts to wobble) Big Love (S1-3) Falling Skies looks good so far...maybe not quite in the same league as the others.
I know you're asking about TV here, but the genre books I've read that has been most similar to GoT are the Dune novels and Raymond E. Feist's "Empire" trilogy (Daughter/Servant/Mistress of the Empire) which both involve feuding great houses. [EDIT]Oh, and if you want to watch King's Landing-like zaniness, definitely watch the miniseries I, Claudius
I had just recently finished Pillars of the Earth prior to starting Game of Thrones. Very enjoyable, and also in the vein of what you're looking for IMO. Mark
Can't think of any medieval type fantasy series. Try Oz and Six Feet Under if you haven't already. They're entertaining though really not the same vibe as GOT. Ever tried animes? Some are really quite epic and others are creative.
Well, Game of Thrones has been airing for UK audiences on Sky Atlantic, Mondays. And what's going to take its 9 p.m. slot now? Carnivale. Surprisingly apt pick, that. Another HBO fantasy series with an incredible performance by a dwarf actor. And even if you're not a UK viewer that'll definitely be worth watching. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io3qEXfuc2s[/yt] Also, I noticed you like Sopranos and Rome... and in that vein, The Wire and Deadwood are two fantastic, very solid HBO dramas. The Wire is novelistic and densely arced and a gripping crime drama, and Deadwood is a great period piece - a Western, granted - which is down in the muck and grime like Game of Thrones has been. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfMSxf6P_AM[/yt] [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srIYAbjqT-g[/yt] In fact The Wire has a pretty great preformance by Aiden Gillen, who played Littlefinger on Game of Thrones.
I don't know what the general opinion of it is here, but I would put the contemporary British spy drama know as MI-5 in the US and Spooks in the UK up there with the shows being mention. Just because when you read the Wiki entry, it does have a fair amount of spoilers.
100% agreed. While neither show has the precise "vibe" of Game of Thrones, they are both brilliant programs, two of my favourites. The dialogue is also endlessly quotable, a testament to the calibre of the writing staff of both programs.
Some good advice here, glad to see there's some like minded readers on the board. I hadnt thought about the Tudors so I might have to give that a go. By far the best suggestion here seems to be The Wire so I've decided to download the 1st season and give it a go. Six Feet Under started off superbly and ended almost as well. A quality series. BSG was good but faded out. Same for Prison Break. West Wing was good too. Walking Dead continues to impress me. Oh and thanks for the book suggestions. I've never been a massive fantasy reader, havent followed Eddings etc but I'll give those suggestions a go on the kindle later Cheers All - good bunch!!
I'll join in recommending Deadwood, Sons Of Anarchy, The Tudors and I, Claudius miniseries. I, Claudius' shenanigans make whatever happens in King's Landing look like child's play.
Another vote for Pillars of the Earth, I watched it recently and enjoyed it quite a bit. Tudors is also very solid.
A disclaimer though that if you do ever plan to read Feist's Empire trilogy, his original, more traditional fantasy, Riftwar Saga (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon) should probably be read first. The Empire trilogy actually takes place at the same time as the Riftwar books, and while largely an independent tale, certain characters and events from the Riftwar books appear or are mentioned at times, and as such you'll have a better context and appreciation for them if you read the Riftwar books first. Kind of like TNG/DS9 or Buffy/Angel
Yeah, Pillars is really good. I picked up the novel part way through the mini, but I still haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I don't know if they will do an adaptation of it, but there was a sequel to the novel, World Without End, which takes place in the same town, a century or two later.
I actually much preferred the Pillars of the Earth Mini-series to Game of Thrones, and I'm reading the novel at the moment. As for World Without End, it's said on Ken Follett's site that they're working on an adaptation for it, as well as he's working on a 3rd novel.
I thought that Pillars Of The Earth was a good miniseries (excellent actors, great production values) but a very poor adaptation. The novel is MUCH better. I've read the book after I've seen the miniseries, and then I rewatched it. I liked it much less on the second viewing. World Without End has more or less the same plot as Pillars Of The Earth, but set 200 years later.
Yeah it's a pretty terrible adaptation--the casting was awful (I LOVE Ian McShane, but he was one of the last people I would have envisioned to play Waleran) and for some reason the writers decided to insert some odd sub plots that had absolutely no origins in the book, while excising others that I felt were fairly important. Great book, weak adaptation.
Regardless of the problems though, I did still like it better than Game of Thrones. I liked the atmosphere, characters and actors better.