'Game of Thrones' renewed for two more seasons

Published April 9, 2014
Actors Sophie Turner, left, Maisie Williams and Natalie Dormer attend Game Of Thrones: The Exhibition opening on March 27, 2013 in New York City. — Photo by AFP
Actors Sophie Turner, left, Maisie Williams and Natalie Dormer attend Game Of Thrones: The Exhibition opening on March 27, 2013 in New York City. — Photo by AFP

LOS ANGELES: Hit HBO television show “Games of Thrones” was renewed for two more seasons Tuesday, two days after its latest series opened with a bang that crashed the broadcaster's online app.

Sunday's fourth season debut drew 6.6 million viewers, the most for the pay-channel since the finale of HBO cult hit “The Sopranos” was watched by 11.9 million people in 2007, the broadcaster said.

“'Game of Thrones' is a phenomenon like no other,” said HBO Programming boss Michael Lombardo, announcing that HBO had renewed it for a fifth and sixth season.

Its creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss “along with their talented collaborators, continue to surpass themselves, and we look forward to more of their dazzling storytelling,” he said.

HBO Go, an online app that allows viewers to watch shows any time, crashed Sunday as tens of thousands tried to log on to watch the show, which provides a jaw-dropping mix of sex, violence and vengeance.

Since its debut in 2011, the HBO drama based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling novels about a struggle for power between feuding clans in seven mythical kingdoms has won a devoted global fan base -- President Barack Obama reportedly among them -- to establish itself as the star of the US cable channel's stable.

The series has wowed critics with its densely-layered plot, lavish production values and a readiness to kill off, invariably in gruesome fashion, protagonists who had hitherto seemed integral to the show.

Four words -- “No one is safe” -- have become the unofficial catchphrase for devotees of the series. Guessing which character may soon meet his or her maker is all part of the fun.

An infamously bloody episode in Season 3, involving a massacre at a wedding party, was one of the most talked about and tweeted television events of 2013.

YouTube videos capturing the shock of unsuspecting viewers watching as the on-screen slaughter unfolded rapidly went viral.

All the signs are that fans of the show will not be disappointed by the 10-episode Season 4, which debuted in the US on Sunday before being screened in different markets worldwide over the following days and weeks.

Opinion

Editorial

Counterterrorism ops
Updated 01 Feb, 2025

Counterterrorism ops

It must also maintain diplomatic pressure on the Afghan Taliban to ensure their soil is not used by anti-Pakistan actors.
Peca protests
01 Feb, 2025

Peca protests

DESPITE the immense pressures they routinely face, Pakistani journalists have always cherished and jealously...
Additional spectrum
01 Feb, 2025

Additional spectrum

PAKISTAN’S mobile operators need more spectrum, the radio waves that carry voice calls and wireless data, as their...
Cost of control
Updated 31 Jan, 2025

Cost of control

Islamabad cannot expect to get away with violating the commitments it has made to foreign partners.
Deep shock
31 Jan, 2025

Deep shock

THE AI wars have begun. For years, America sought to hold China back when it hindered access to its semiconductors,...
Provincial AIT laws
31 Jan, 2025

Provincial AIT laws

HARMONISING the provincial agriculture income tax regimes with federal personal and corporate income tax rates is ...