The final season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was a ratings juggernaut that helped the network receive a record-setting number of Emmy nominations. It was also poorly reviewed by viewers and critics, particularly with regards to the series finale.
Still, HBO doesn’t seem to be discouraged by the reaction. “There are very few downsides to having a hugely popular show and one I can think of is that many people have big opinions on how it should end and how they should see any characters’ stories come through,” HBO head of programming Casey Bloys told journalists during a press conference at the network’s Television Critics Association summer press day on Wednesday. He said that, despite online petitions suggesting so, HBO has no plans to re-shoot the finale and, frankly he “can’t imagine any other network would” either. Bloys also denied that network executives had meddled with the series through copious notes to creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. “When a show is sixth, seventh season of a highly successful run by that point, there’s usually a rhythm with the showrunners and network … so there’s no more back and forth,” Bloys said. In response to whether the criticism has changed how HBO will approach its planned prequel to the medieval-style fantasy series, Bloys said, “It has not at all.” Shooting recently wrapped on the first episode of that project, which is created by Jane Goldman.
Source: edition.cnn.com