You are hard-pressed to find praiseworthy words that haven’t been used to describe ‘Game Of Thrones.’ A political saga of warring families fighting for the Seven Kingdoms, the lines from the show are now part of our everyday vocabulary. Only a few believe there will be a show that will come anywhere near the level of ‘Game Of Thrones.’
‘Game Of Thrones‘ emerged as a mix of action and storytelling no one had witnessed for years. Its unmatched ambition with extraordinary multi-narrative made it a staple television diet even after its end. But it was impossible since HBO decided to scarp the show based on its first pilot.
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George R.R. Martin Gave David Benioff And D.B Weiss His Blessing
The race to adapt George R.R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels started in 2009. After reading a few pages of the novels, David Benioff asked D.B Weiss to go through the books. Both pitched an adaptation to Martin. The writer asked them who they thought was Jon Snow’s mother. Their answer impressed Martin, and he gave them his blessings to adapt his books.
It was mutually decided between the three of them that due to the gory and sexual content of the books, the series has to develop at HBO. After the development began in 2007, the pilot was shot in 2009. And it was awful. The private screening went so poorly that the pilot never made it to air, with 90% of the episode having to be reshot.
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Why Did HBO Cancel The ‘Game Of Thrones’ Pilot
David Benioff and D.B.Weiss showed an early cut of the pilot to their friend and fellow screenwriter Craig Mazin. Instead of a bundle of notes, he showed them his notepad with MASSIVE PROBLEM spelled in capital letters. Benioff and Weiss’ lack of experience with visual media showed in the poorly conceived pilot episode. Most people at the screenings failed to understand the established relationships between the characters.
HBO still believed in the show. They decided to reshoot the pilot with a different cast and crew in an uncharacteristic move. The biggest recast was Tamzin Merchant, who Emilia Clarke replaced to play Daenerys Targaryen. Similarly, Michelle Fairley replaced Jennifer Ehle for the role of Catelyn Stark when she refused to move to Ireland for the show.
The show brought Tim Van Patten to direct, who finally captured the novel’s scope and set the tone for filming the series it was meant to be. With much tighter storylines for the established relationships and getting rid of confusing flashbacks, the new pilot made its debut on April 17, 2011. Although it didn’t attract many viewers in the beginning, it went on to become one of the greatest television shows ever.
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