After the Thrones

I like the way that the show seems detached from GoT even though it has the network's imprimatur. Thankfully, there are no actors or directors as guests, which would turn the discussion into a mere celebration of the show. In fact, "After the Thrones" avoids evaluating the show at all. At its best, the show offers a helpful focus on themes and "big ideas." (In this respect, it's better than the weekly discussions of GoT on TYT's "What the Flick," for example.)

The two hosts are amateurs who are unlikely ever to get another show, and this makes them likable. Their willingness to be corrected by GoT expert Mallory made them sympathetic at first, but after a few episodes this repeated format gets annoying. Other aspects of the format that seem forced are the "Who Won the Week?" discussion, as though they were forgetting that the show is fiction and not a sports contest.

The two hosts and two guest experts are likable, although they try too hard to steer a middle ground between being too geeky on the one hand, and too cool on the other; their references to "bros" and sports figures feel like forced attempts at sophistication. There's an annoying tendency to play everything for laughs.

The best parts of the discussion are when the hosts play their roles as really smart English majors and take a stab at synthesizing the big ideas. Hearing that kind of discussion is thought-provoking. It's harder to come up with an argument than with a ton of sophisticated pop-culture references. Stick with the big ideas rather than the fireworks.

First of all I'm a big fan of Game of Thrones, and relish the drama and great acting, despite the convoluted plot lines (as I did Lost). This after-show is extremely obscure, much worse than True Detective season 2. As GoT is itself quite complicated with over 200 characters, I was hoping to get some insight to help me better appreciate it. Instead I get minutia and frustrating references to names I don't know (please lose the gotcha bell). I strongly suspect that many of the names and facts were only mentioned in the novels from which the show was adapted. The hosts need to stop trying to show how smart they are and remember that that this is just a TV show that we viewers like to relax and enjoy *after* a hard day's work. The point is to reach the audience and make *us* smarter. As TED advises its speakers, pick a smaller number of points you want to make and explain them in more detail. As a former nerd, this show makes me see the other side. GoT is a show that millions of people watch, and as such represents an opportunity to bring people together. Don't squander that!

Nice to see a Grantland-esque studio set up and running again. They provide play by play recaps of the episodes and pepper in analysis and background info on characters. They show where scenes are happening on the world map, this actually helps a lot.

But the overall feel is weird.

This might be mean but I feel Greenwald and Chris Ryan have zero pull when it comes to being on screen outside of podcast recordings on Youtube. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of them as people, I read their recaps on Grantland all season last year and they were the best. Everyone from the Ringer/Grantland including Simmons himself is far better in print.

I eagerly awaited this show, and was incredibly disappointed to find it is so bad that it is just not watchable. The hosts are so bad it is almost funny; seriously, they were just god awful. It feels like they probably had no more experience than a Youtube channel; I am shocked that HBO let these clowns run such an important show.

If you want to see the right way to do this type of show, watch Chris Hardwick on The Talking Dead. These hosts seemed to not really know the content, and did not have a clue about their audience.

In summary, this show is a complete waste of time, even for die-hard fans.

I've watched every episode of After the Thrones and multiple times during each episode I wonder if these guys have even watched the show. They question details from past seasons that every mild fan would remember. Also put down the stupid bells . I do appreciate the lore but everything else (predictions, character's motives, GoT tradition) is all kinds of screwed up so sorry guys but 1/10 in my book. This show could be saved though. Keep the studio and the people in the control booth, they seem to be doing their job perfectly fine, but ditch these awful hosts. When people watch shows about a show it's like watching something in the extras menu on a DVD, we want something extra not just half attempts to recap the episode.