Thursday, March 28, 2024

“House of the Dragon” Week 3 Dropped At Least 500K Viewers as Woke Prequel Lacks Sex, Fun, of “Game of Thrones”

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Week 3 of “House of the Dragon” — I really wish it were called “House of Dragons” — showed a ratings fall off for the HBO blockbuster.

Linear ratings on HBO Prime — the cable channel, not streaming or beaming in from other worlds — fell by at least 500,000 viewers to 1,750,000. That’s over two showings between 9 and 11 pm.

I think a lot of viewers, like me, are starting to tire of the “woke” talk, the utter lack of sex or a sense of humor. “HOD” is all plot, and a lot of violence. Blood is spurting everywhere. But none of the predecessors to the Game of Thrones gang is having any fun. What’s the point?

Fans of “GoT” will tell you that the initial seasons bordered on soft core porn. You can find the clips all over YouTube. The original Westerosians drank and screwed and were pretty hearty. Dragons were not their main concern. They also laughed a lot. Some of the episodes were so scandalous, when they were over, you were left agog. Did they really do that on a TV show?

“HOD” is very tame. It’s about royal succession, and only that as far I can tell. Epsiode 3 had a time jump so we missed the wedding of Viserys to his young bride and the birth of their first child. I thought I’d fallen asleep and missed an episode. Alicent Hightower was already pregnant with her second child! What? And they’ve written Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) as a cypher. She has no interest in the guys around her (or even the girls). It’s hard to root for her when she doesn’t seem to care one way or another about anything.

The saving grace of “HOD” is the production. It’s gorgeous to look at. The production design is subtle and stunning. So we keep watching, hoping something will happen soon.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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