Welcome to 2019 where nothing else matters except Game of Thrones.
Okay, that was dramatic. But, over 17.4 million people tuned into the premiere of season eight on April 14th so it does seem like that is all anyone is talking about.
This is frustrating for those who aren’t loyal watchers. If you scroll through twitter you will find a cult for the “1 percent” of people who haven’t watched a single episode. They love to remind those who have seen it that they don’t care and never will.
No matter the side you stand on I think it should go without saying that what we are experiencing is important.
We are in an era where we want things now. We want our TV shows from start to finish at our finger tips including no commercials.
It seems like the only people who want to pay for a cable subscription is sports fans.
So, the fact that millions of people are all physically sitting in front of their TV’s on Sunday nights to watch a TV show is pretty rare anymore.
Usually, we all just binge our way through the latest Netflix/Hulu series at our own pace. That is not the case with Game of Thrones.
No one knows more than the person next to them anymore. We’re all forced to sit together no matter where we sit in the world to experience this together. During what other events can we genuinely say that? Other than sports, I can’t think of a single thing that you’ll find anymore where people genuinely don’t know what is next.
We are a generation that thrives on social media. Although about “one percent” of twitter users seem annoyed that their feeds are flooded with GOT content I think it’s pretty remarkable.
When does this happen anymore?
IT DOESN’T.
Our TV experiences now revolve around when in our schedules it is most convenient to sit and binge watch the latest season of whatever show we’re watching. Your best friend could have already seen the whole thing by the time you get to episode number two.
Sure, it is annoying when you are out of the loop but I feel confident when I say that I really don’t think a TV show will ever be able to do this again.
We’ll never have a TV show that somehow makes us structure our schedules around it to make sure we’re all ready to hit play at 8 p.m. on Sunday nights.
Although we are lucky to have so much access to our favorite TV shows at our own paces I think there is something truly special about Game of Thrones. What TV shows can say they have successfully had their fans this committed to watching in real time?
There are still plenty of TV shows that are being put out in real time on TV that you have to wait to watch every week. I’m not saying those are extinct. I still watch those shows but never has my commitment been this faithful to a TV show and I just started watching Game of Thrones six weeks ago.
Your twitter feed might be annoying, but I think it is actually pretty cool to see everybody come together and bond over a TV show like Game of Thrones. People who don’t normally like this type of show have been sucked into it along for the ride. People of all different backgrounds are coming together to watch a TV show with knights, dead people, sword fights and dragons in 2019!!!!! WHAT Is THIS.
I can’t name a single movie/TV show that has brought so many people together that wasn’t a sporting event. (I’m sure some of you will @ me and let me know if I am wrong.)
According to research done by the Business Insider, the Rosanne reboot and The Big Bang Theory are the only two shows with higher viewers. Although numbers don’t lie, the social media phenomenon that is Game of Thrones, I don’t think anyone can compete. Especially since Rosanne was canceled for racist reasons and had to be renamed and restructured. The Big Bang Theory is good and has it’s own thing going on but I don’t see them causing a social media craze within 30 seconds of every episodes that ends.
The HuffPost put out a stat that over 2 million tweets alone were sent out about Arya following this Sunday’s episode.
So, everyone raise your red wine cups as we continue to ride the wave through Sunday nights, unbothered by the folks who like to scream at clouds about how much they don’t care about Game of Thrones. History is being made and we are one step closer to finding the true ruler of the seven kingdoms.
