After The Thrones: Andy Greenwald>Chris Hardwick

[AimingforYoko]

Andy Greenwald, formerly of Bill Simmons' shuttered website Grantland is hosting an aftershow premiering every Monday following GoT on HBO Go. Chris Ryan is his co-host, as they discuss, summarize and snark on the previous day's episode. It comes from a fan, while not being fanboyish. I don't think there's any plans to have actors from the show or celebrity guests, but if you like intelligent discussions of the episodes, with a healthy dose of snark, I highly recommend it.

 

Note: When he reviewed eps on Grantland, Greenwald made sure to note that he has never read the books and has no plans to do so. This is strictly about the show. Although they do have Jason Concepcion ("The Maester") to give context and background.

[scrb]

Was good and I enjoyed the podcasts last season when all 4 of them did them.

 

34 minutes and though they smirk and snark throughout, it's all about the show, no adulation of cast member guests like Talking Dead.

 

Well maybe they'll have cast member guests too eventually.

[CofCinci]

I couldn't make it past minute four. They are no Chris Hardwick.

[Last Time Lord]

Is this on TV, or just on the HBO app?

[AimingforYoko]

Strictly HBO Go and HBO Now.

[scrb]

I watched it on Xfinity on Demand.

[BlackberryJam]

This is terrible. And dumb. I made it ten minutes in.

[Constantinople]

Gave up after the proverbial 5 minutes

[Maximum Taco]

Yeah, I gave up.

I thought maybe it was just Talking Dead I found stupid, no I just find shows about other shows stupid. I want to talk about the shows I like, I don't want to sit and listen to other people talk about them. Especially when I know as much or more about GoT and ASOIAF as them.

[BlackberryJam]

It seems odd that HBO would have greenlit this after show in an already saturated market. At this point, anyone who wants a recap, podcast, etc, knows where to find one. We are into the sixth season now. And they put it on the app, not airing right after the episode. So anyone who wants to watch it has to put in actual effort. People willing to put in effort, again, already have their go-to places.

On top of that, this show has no "hook" to draw you in. No celebrity guests, no "minute with George," nothing. It's just two regular guys, chatting about the show. Nothing to set it apart from any other podcast out there.

Just bad decisionmaking.

[33kaitykaity]

I love every second of this.  It totally helps decode a lot in the episode that went totally over my head.  Big fan here of two regular dudes.  Of course, as a girl, love their raven-haired expert guest.

[Eyes High]

I would watch this if it aired right after, but as it is I just don't have the interest. Obviously, they're not going to air this right after GOT (need to have the lesser-rated shows piggyback off GOT), but one of the reasons I watch Talking Dead is the opportunity to debrief and whatnot right after I've seen the corresponding Walking Dead episode, in real time along with everyone else. Talking Dead works, to me, anyway, not so much because of the guest actors/celebrities but because it offers the feeling of a collective rehashing of everything that happened right after everyone has experienced it. It gives fans the opportunity not only to play games, answer polls and ask questions to the guests, but more importantly, to geek out, get hype, gnash their teeth, whatever, together, right when all those emotions are still fresh. It kind of feels a bit like a mini-Comicon panel every week; despite the guests and pre-prepared segments, there's a loose, organic feeling to it. When you have a similar show air later, it loses a lot of that (especially if there isn't the same level of interactive participation as there is in Talking Dead). Speaking just for myself, I don't want to talk about this shit or see other people talk about it several hours after I've seen it! I want to geek out immediately.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Eyes High

[paramitch]

I was really disappointed and dislike the format, and don't love the two hosts, either, bless their hearts.

The combination "sports recap/weather forecast" format just feels off to me. The show is insular and airless and the lack of fan feedback or humor accentuates that. ("Talking Dead" does these things far better, and I'm not even a huge WD fan.)

I know it's probably not deliberate, but here, they consistently come across to me as trying too hard for the "two bros" vibe, and it's so forced that it actually edges on misogyny for me. (The tired constant jokes about the women in the show -- a ton for instance about Dany's imprisonment in the convent/commune for former Khaleesis, etc. -- as well as about Sansa, the Red Witch, etc., lost me very very quickly.)

I really think the show badly needed a female co-host, and my 2 cents is that Chris Ryan should have been replaced by a pop-savvy GoT female commentator (not whoever they brought in for Ep1 -- the girl was trying so hard to be one of the guys she actually made more than one freaking baseball joke, and she then actually talked about one of Sansa's "lessons" from Cersei that a woman's most powerful weapon was "between her legs" -- ugh, ugh, ugh)

The lack of a live audience or outside audience feedback is a real detriment to the show, as well, as I think the two guys are just echoing each other and feeding into two similar viewpoints in a way that quickly becomes repetitive.

I'll keep checking this out periodically (I watched the first two), so it may get better, but I found it pretty underwhelming.

Edited May 9, 2016 by paramitch
Ep 1 not S1! oops

[celis96]

2 hours ago, paramitch said:

 

-- the girl was trying so hard to be one of the guys she actually made more than one freaking baseball joke, and she then actually talked about one of Sansa's "lessons" from Cersei that a woman's most powerful weapon was "between her legs" -- ugh, ugh, ugh)

 

She's not trying to be one of the guys by talking baseball. She's a sports writer.  I could tell that from the way she talked. I looked her up to confirm. 

[mojoween]

I enjoy this show, I set the DVR and watch whenever I get the time.  I like how they talk about book stuff without spoiling book stuff if it's something you hadn't already heard.

I wish The Maester was on more frequently than Mallory though.  I really miss his column on Grantland.

[mojoween]

Apparently HBO has cancelled this show and it's going to be streamed on Periscope/Twitter.  That ends my viewing of it; I'm a dinosaur who still has not embraced watching TV on my phone or tablet.

[scrb]

Why don't they at least put it on Youtube?

Then you can view Youtube on a lot of set top boxes connected to TVs, like Apple TV, Roku, etc.

[BlackberryJam]

It was terrible.