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The Theory of Thrones and other television milestones

Each year, you’ll typically see a prominent television series come to an end. Oh sure, there are the years when there will be more than one.

Each year, you’ll typically see a prominent television series come to an end.

Oh sure, there are the years when there will be more than one. Remember 2004, when both Friends and Frasier wrapped up after a decade of dominating Thursday nights? That was a tough spring for NBC.

Now let me preface this column by saying I’m not a big television guy. I don’t have the time to watch much TV. If my TV is on, it’s likely a sporting event or a political panel.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of sports for me to watch at this time of year, with the Stanley Cup playoffs, international hockey, the Memorial Cup and Major League Baseball. (If you’re going to point out that I forgot the NBA, I did not. I haven’t watched a full NBA game since the Grizzlies left Vancouver in 2001).

And since we’ve had three provincial elections in Canada this spring, and a federal election is coming, there has been plenty of politics to talk about this year.

If not for my sports and political needs, I’d likely join the roster of chord-cutters no longer living with cable.

But when I hear people talk about television, they talk about it being a new golden age for scripted programs. A couple of the top programs just came to an end.

May 16 brought about an end to the Big Bang Theory. It’s one of the more unlikely hits in recent memory, a show that CBCS seemingly didn’t believe in at first, but proved to be a big hit.

I’ll admit that I watched the show a fair amount, although usually reruns through syndication. The show was nowhere near as good as it was 10 years ago, but it still had its moments.

And it still would have been entertaining if it would have gone for a couple more years. It would have been past its best before date, but not well past its best before date like The Simpsons.

The series finale was fine. It wasn’t great. It wasn’t disappointing like the finale of The Sopranos or Seinfeld. But it was a good show that generated a few laughs.

Then you had the finale for Game of Thrones three nights later. I didn’t see it. I haven’t seen any of the episodes in full. I don’t have HBO, and I didn’t download the series on a streaming service. So I guess I’m hooped.

But I would be a fool to deny the impact or the excellence of the show. It’s going to go down as one of the greatest shows in television history. I think it holds the record for the most Emmy Awards ever. The sets, the scenery and the cinematography were incredible.

Even if the scripts sucked and the acting was terrible, it would have been worth watching because so many other elements were so brilliant.

But the writing was great, since it was based on the works of George R.R. Martin, and the acting was great, and so you have a television show that we’re going to be talking about for decades to come.

And since it’s been such a great show, and the fans are so devoted, you’ll get some who aren’t happy with this final season. There have been lots of complaints about it and the finale.

Then you get the pinnacle of absurd: an online to have the final season redone.

Some people have too much time and money on their hands.

But you can be sure they will watch all the spinoffs, prequels and other shows that will happen due to Game of Thrones.

It’s ironic that these two series ended within four days of each other, because they represent changing philosophies in TV. Big Bang Theory was the long-running sitcom that had more than 20 episodes a year and still used a laugh track.

This is the type of program we’re going to see less and less of in the coming years.

Game of Thrones, meanwhile, is the type of show you’re going to see more often. There were 73 episodes, spread out over eight seasons. That’s less than 10 episodes a season. Seventy-three episodes? The Big Bang Theory cleared that mark some time late in season four.

You’re going to see more series that won’t have a lot of episodes per season. It frees the talent up to pursue other opportunities. It keeps the writing fresh. It prevents series from growing stale.

It’s hard to keep a show fresh and sharp after 100 episodes or even 200 episodes. Just look at The Simpsons. None of the current episodes can hold a candle to Last Exit to Springfield from the early 1990s.

And if the talent has the time to pursue other options, such as on the big screen, it keeps them energized and eager for when they return to the show.

I don’t know much about television, but I do know it’s changing. The change is likely for the better.