Ep. 22: Has 'Game of Thrones' Transcended Television?

This Sunday, Lords and Ladies of the realm will be gathering around their televisions, raising a goblet, and whispering in unison, “ Valar Morghulis.”. Game of Thrones mania is at an all-time high, and it has Rob and Geoff wondering,: by reaching such an unprecedented level of fandom, has the series transcended its medium and become more than just another TV show? To get the answer they sit down with New York Magazine’s renowned film critic, Matt Zoller Seitz. Matt talks about how Game of Thrones became the “Star Wars of cable” (5:05), how the show has reached extraordinary success despite its limited (legal) availability (9:10), and why calling the show a “melodrama” shouldn’t be interpreted as an insult (12:25). He also explains why he doesn’t care about reading the books (17:20), why the show won’t fall victim to the later series pitfalls of other great television (21:05), and why he thinks we shouldn’t hold our breath for a happy ending (22:20).