That might be (and the names seem pretty clear), but I was referring to the intense treachery and vindictiveness, which i hadn’t heard associated with the WotR. Martin, as I say, explicitly acknowledges the influence of the French succession in general and of Druon’s books (and the TV series – more than one – that appeared on French TV) in particular as influences on GoT
I hadn’t before, but now I will. 
Which is how?
I completely disagre. It’s one of those rare cases where the show is better than the original material. I’d encourage watchers not to read the book beforehand and not to be spoiled. You can read them after having watched the corresponding season, I guess, in order more in-depth information.
You’re highly likely to spoil yourself if you read the wiki.
I think by pronouncing the RR part like a seal’s bark: “Arrh! Arrh!”
I don’t know… knowing some of the back story let me ground a lot of what was going on in seasons 2 and 3 in those backstories. I think my tv-watching experience would have been much poorer without knowing what was going on behind the scenes.
For example, Ser Loras Tyrell isn’t just this gay knight; he’s considered the most handsome and is also considered to be a martial bad-ass in the same league as Jaime Lannister. They don’t go into that either; he’s considered to be, if not the most fearsome fighter in the 7 kingdoms, one of the top 2-3. The TV show doesn’t really show that- he’s just this asshole Kingsguard guy who’s Cersei’s brother.
There’s a lot of that kind of thing that’s vitally important in understanding why the characters do what they do; none of them are as black or white as in the TV show, and that’s part of the magic of the story in the book. The TV show either glosses over it or uses really ham-handed ways to try and show the viewer in 15 seconds what GRRM might have hinted at in bits and pieces over the course of 300 0 pages.
About Loras; it seems, at least in the first two seasons, every time we see Loras he’s getting beaten on instead of showing off his awesome skills. First the Mountain nearly kills him, then Brienne bests him.
We don’t see Ser Loras fight much, but the show has two or three scenes where people talk about his skill at arms. And remember, Loras wins the joust with the Mountain. He is then in trouble for a moment only because the Mountain attacks him, illegally, when he is unprepared. Brienne does beat him, but everyone is surprised at this, which is telling (for both of them).
Likewise there are some references to his beauty.
I really don’t think that the books are necessary background at all for these characterizations–if viewers are willing to watch very closely.
And there are many references to Jaime’s prowess. Early on there is the exchange between him and Ned about tournaments, when it is clear that both are significant fighters whose measure against one another may be deadly earnest. (Ned’s own skill is elsewhere noted by Ser Barristan.) How about Jaime against Ned’s man Jory? What about the (offscreen, but strongly attested) fight where he is captured by Stark bannermen, at great cost? Against Brienne (who we know is superb), Jaime is fighting at immense disadvantage, but still has a trick or two.