Last year, HBO debuted the new after-show entitledAfter the Thrones, which was available on HBO Go, HBO Now and HBO On Demand after each new episode ofGame of Thrones. WithGame of Thrones Season 7rapidly approaching, debuting on Sunday, July 16 at 9 PM ET on HBO, the after-show is being re-branded asTalk the Thrones, which will debut as a live stream on both Twitter and Periscope after each episode.After the Throneshosts Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan from Bill Simmons' The Ringer Podcast Network will remain on board as hosts of the new show. Here’s what The Ringer’s Bill Simmons had to say in a statement about the newGame of Thronesafter-show.
“We loveGame of Thronesand we love the way Twitter is thinking about content right now, so we jumped at the chance to blow out our Thrones show into an interactive multimedia experience, something that reacts immediately to what just happened, almost like a postgame show in sports. Nobody is equipped to do that better than Twitter. It’s the natural evolution of what we had already established with Chris, Andy, Mallory and Jason.”
The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news about the after-show today, which makes sense since, last year,Game of ThroneswasTwitter’s top trending TV show, while also landing on the top 10 Twitter hashtags for 2016. The Ringer will also be coveringGame of Thronesin many other ways, withThe Watch, Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan’s podcast where they break down the show twice a week, along withMaester Livewhere The Ringer’s Jason Concepcion hosts a Facebook Live chat about the show, along with weeklyGame of ThronesSeason 7 recaps on The Ringer’s official website. Here’s what Twitter’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer Anthony Noto had to say in his statement.
“Talk the Thronesbrings the witty banter and real-time analysis you find on Twitter to a live show with hosts that keep it engaging well after the TV show ends. The Ringer continues to produce unique live shows about some of the most-discussed entertainment and sports topics on Twitter.”
AsGame of Throneswinds down with the final two seasons, the show is moving beyond the pop culture landscape and into academia. We reported a few weeks ago that a newGame of Thrones classwill be taught at Harvard University this fall, which will explore the parallels within the show to the medieval world of Eurasia through the show’s “archetypal characters” that are mirrored within this historical time period. The show has also become a phenomenon in another way, as the most pirated TV series of 2016, a “title” which it has held for the last five years in a row. The series also set another record this coming season, forsetting people on fire
Game of ThronesSeason 7 will only span seven episodes, which will kick off The Great War between essentially everyone left standing in Westeros. Daenerys Targryen (Emilia Clarke) was last seen in the Season 6 finale setting sail for Westeros, and she will return to her ancestral homeland of Dragonstone as she begins her quest for the Iron Throne. There may also be a Stark family reunion this season, with Arya (Maisie Williams) returning from Braavos, where she spent the past two seasons training to be “no one,” with Bran being lead to The Wall by Benjen Stark, before seeing a vision that proves Jon Snow (Kit Harington), the new King in the North, actually has a strong claim to the Iron Throne, since he is actually the son of Lyanna Stark, Ned Stark’s sister, and Rhaegar Targaryen, instead of Ned Stark’s bastard, which he and everyone else in Westeros, believes him to be. If that wasn’t enough, the Brotherhood Without Banners will be coming to the North to help fight off the White Walkers, before they breach the Wall and terrorize all of Westeros. Hopefully we’ll have more on thisTalk the Thronesafter-show as we get closer toGame of ThronesSeason 7 premiere on Sunday, July 16 at 9 PM ET on HBO.
