Having read the books and knowing what HBO is capable of, I kind of hate Game of Thrones as a TV show. I would not class it with The Wire at all, and find it's use of the female body over the top to the point of being somewhat insulting.
I also think the show feels needlessly rushed compared to The Wire. My feeling after seeing the first book compressed into a single season was that they cut/compressed too much material from the books, probably to give it a wider audience than The Wire. HBO and GRR Martin might feel this way now too, as there is more than a bit of concern that the story will catch up with the books before the final books are complete.
Finally, having read the books I sometimes wonder if the HBO writers are not making some of the changes they make just to enrage hardcore fans of the books? Perhaps to get buzz on the internet? For instance, the character of the Three Eyed Crow always had a possible double meaning in the books, but was changed to the Three Eyed Raven in the show. The only possible reason I can see for doing this is to piss off the fans, as is a purely cosmetic change that removes depth for no good reason...
I made it to the end of Season Two and don't know if I will keep watching. At first I was interested in the adaptation process...less so as things go forward.
As for Breaking Bad being about character development, I agree, until the final half of the final season...at which point the shows seemed a bit indulgent, but still one of the best things ever put on TV. Thank God they didn't run it into the ground like the Sopranos.
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One Time @ Bland Camp...