After the Thrones

Is this a parody? I'd rather place my genitals on hot coals than watch another episode. They try to make what sounds like fake fan-boy chatter with girlish giggles all the while not having ANY insight to the show, the characters or even just the episode they "just" watched. A show like this done right is "The Talking Dead". Are these guys supposed to be a parody? Are they doing this for free? Whatever portion of my cable bill/HBO Go account that goes to support this after show; can I please have it back? Watching GOT is a nicely chilled after dinner adult beverage then After The Thrones comes in like a shot of hot vomit. How in the hell is this still on? I can't say enough bad things about it. Mallory was palpable. Keep her and find some other knowledgeable or at least watchable talent. In one sentence: they are the cheese graters of my senses.

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.

I think it's safe to assume many people thought this show was going to be like "Talking Dead," and sure it's not AMC so it wouldn't be identical but the aftershow standard has been set with "Talking Dead/Bad/Saul" and hell even in "Bachelor Live/After Paradise" from what I've seen when my girlfriend watches them; "After the Thrones" is nothing like them. In fact, if I were to compare it to anything it would be a YouTube video podcast. This means no interviews, no guest stars, no special features, no extended previews-- just two people talking about the episode.

Now, two people talking about the episode could be fine (especially if you are used to their personalities like the Rooster Teeth guys or the lesser known Geekdom101 or Chris Stuckmann), but when you have no idea who they are and they don't act like human beings, it becomes difficult. Watching these two hosts is like watching HBO executives talk about "Game of Thrones," or basically if NPR hosts decided to try stand up comedy. I honestly don't know how to explain it, but they don't feel genuine. It feels oddly scripted because of their robotic feel. If you went to college and had a very upbeat, smiling RA who over accentuate their personality, that is exactly how these hosts are. Chris Hardwick on "Talking Dead" is a great example of how you can act like a human/fanboy and a host. Same with Sue Perkins on "Thronecast," which I'll get into at the end.

THE CONS: Uncomfortable Hosts (see above); long clips from the prior GoT episode (we literally just saw the episode, why do I need to see a clip reminding me what I know-- could also say that about the show but they do call it a "re-cap show"); they call a segment "Preview" when all it encompasses is questions the think about for the next episode (not a bad concept, but it's not a preview, so don't call it that); a weird reluctance to mention the novels (they almost seem to forget that it exists outside the show, the great thing about Hardwick on TD is that he will drop a comic/show comparison and acknowledge them; I guess their "Ask The Expert" segment is with someone who memorized all the books and teleplays, but they never really explained how she's an expert so idk); no studio audience (this may be nit-picky but it adds to the human feel of an aftershow); it airs the next day (already talked about the show with friends and family, why do I need to watch people talk about it? I hate to be repetitive but "The Walking Dead"/"Bachelor" aftershows air immediately after the show so it's fresh).

THE PROS: Their segment "Who The F!&K Is That?" is conceptually a great idea because it's easy to forget small or minor characters; and I guess the map that shows where all the characters are (however, "Thronecast" does the same exact thing").

HBO really missed their mark on this one. It's obvious they wanted to capitalize on an aftershow but it's even more obvious that they really didn't think it through. If they wanted to make a show like "Talking Dead" they should have just followed a similar formula. The five minute "Inside the Episode" show they broadcast after the show is more so worth your time.

This show is almost universally disliked and at this point, HBO has three options: 1) Listen to the fans and their criticisms on how to make the show better, 2) cancel the show, or 3) air "Thronecast" in it's place. The latter is a fan produced after show aired exclusively in the UK with a likable humorous host, celebrity guests (random, cast/former cast members, crew members), studio audience, cool and lively set, fan interaction via Twitter, informative and interesting clips about the lore and history as well as humorous countdown clips and such.... So basically everything "After the Thrones" should have been!

I gave this show four episodes to improve or grow on me and it's done neither. Probably dropping it and I suggest you don't make the same mistake I made.