# So why didn't they milk out Game of Thrones one more season? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [May 23, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404 "2019-05-23T13:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/1 "2019-05-23T13:26:40Z")
Was viewership dangerously down? Actors saying they wanted out. Not profitable enough? Would people still be complaining it was “rushed” if they did? ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/2 "2019-05-23T13:31:36Z")
HBO was ready to throw enough money for another 13 episodes. However Weiss and Benioff are off to their Star Wars project and seemingly are more interested in that. FTR, I would have like a more satisfying ending, but I was basically OK with it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/3 "2019-05-23T13:31:57Z")
No, no and no. The biggest reason was that the show-runners have been tapped to take over Star Wars, and they needed to get clear of GoT to keep **that** empire on schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/4 "2019-05-23T14:10:04Z")
Was there somewhere in their contract that nobody could take over for them? IIRC they changed showrunners on the Walking Dead, I think multiple times, so it is definitely a thing in the industry. Can’t say that improved the Walking Dead and I think think TWD should have wrapped up at least 2 seasons ago, but… ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/5 "2019-05-23T14:11:50Z")
I hear a lot of the main cast wanted to be done as they had other commitments as well. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/6 "2019-05-23T14:38:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > No, no and no. The biggest reason was that the show-runners have been tapped to take over Star Wars, and they needed to get clear of GoT to keep **that** empire on schedule. You know, everyone keeps mentioning this, but is there any evidence they were tapped before they announced there would only be two more seasons? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/7 "2019-05-23T14:42:45Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I hear a lot of the main cast wanted to be done as they had other commitments as well. I don’t know if this was an issue here, but sometimes the initial contract with the actors is for a set number of years, and when they’re still unknown, they’re relatively cheap. But once the show becomes a hit, renewing the contracts with the actors gets really expensive. So even if a show is a hit, the increase in payroll costs can make extending it unprofitable. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/8 "2019-05-23T14:58:04Z")
The plastic water jugs and Starbucks coffee cups were getting in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/9 "2019-05-23T15:09:34Z")
I think they’d all have to pay huge amounts more for new contracts for the actors. Plus some would still just not do it, leading to Jon Snow being done by a Jon Snow lookalike. Let’s face it some actors/actresses do better off of some series than others. Thus the fame of the likes of Ted from how I met your mother, Jack and Sawyer from Lost, most of the cast of The Wire, oh, I don’t know, countless other examples. Vampire Bill from True Blood? Often the good looking “stars” go nowhere (Adam and Jen from Rules of Engagement, but going somewhere is relative). Some, like Bradley Cooper in Alias go onto to become famous, yet Michael Vartan, the lead, will be yet another “I recognise him from somewhere” as a guest star in some other sitcom for an episode. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/10 "2019-05-23T15:20:40Z")
As GOT was a massive hit for HBO I’m left wondering if they profited from it in the best way. Seems like they were selling themselves short to make money off this thing. Viewership was huge but the revenue generated seems small. For season 8 which was over 7 hours of content they basically collected $15 for myself, my wife, and my friend to view it using their app. Have they calculated how many viewers they’ve had vs. how many $$ per person they’ve collected in HBO subscriptions? Seems like they could have made a ton of cash if they had made the final episode over 2 hours and released it in theaters. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/11 "2019-05-23T15:25:01Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > You know, everyone keeps mentioning this, but is there any evidence they were tapped before they announced there would only be two more seasons? Yeah, that really strikes me as nonsense. That announcement is relatively recent as such things go. It’s just one more thing people throw at the wall. Really, it’s more likely a combination of working without a guide in GRRM’s books, HBO wanting to move on to the planned spin-offs and likely just enough is enough for the actors. 10 years is a lot of time to work on one specific show. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/12 "2019-05-23T16:42:13Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Let’s face it some actors/actresses do better off of some series than others. Thus the fame of the likes of Ted from how I met your mother, Jack and Sawyer from Lost, most of the cast of The Wire, oh, I don’t know, countless other examples. Vampire Bill from True Blood? Often the good looking “stars” go nowhere (Adam and Jen from Rules of Engagement, but going somewhere is relative). Some, like Bradley Cooper in Alias go onto to become famous, yet Michael Vartan, the lead, will be yet another “I recognise him from somewhere” as a guest star in some other sitcom for an episode. Totally agreed with the idea you’re saying, but I’d quibble that Adam from Rules of Engagement did pretty well as the male lead in Splitting Up Together, which unfortunately was just cancelled after two seasons. But still. If I had to guess who would be the breakouts from Game of Thrones, I’d gamble on Melisandre, Gendry, and Oona Chapin. (Robb’s wife.) ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/13 "2019-05-23T16:49:41Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > You know, everyone keeps mentioning this, but is there any evidence they were tapped before they announced there would only be two more seasons? This, this a million times. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/14 "2019-05-23T16:52:10Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Really, it’s more likely a combination of working without a guide in GRRM’s books, HBO wanting to move on to the planned spin-offs and likely just enough is enough for the actors. 10 years is a lot of time to work on one specific show. I think that’s pretty much it. They knew the endpoint of the series from Martin. Another season would be padding filled in before they get to that point. Add to that The fact that a large portion of the main cast started that show when they were children and are now adults means they probably want to move on. There was a reason why there was so much time in between seasons at the end. Production and filming were taking a very long time. Each season was like filming five or six feature-length films. In the beginning of the series they were able to to a lot of the action off screen. That was no longer the case. Another full season would have meant keeping the full cast together for another several years of filming ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/15 "2019-05-23T16:52:29Z")
They _did_ milk it. They outran the books, delayed the start of the final season, etc. In fact, seasons 7 and 8 were shorter than the rest and so constitute together one slightly extended season airing almost two years apart. _That_ is milking it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/16 "2019-05-23T16:54:43Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > If I had to guess who would be the breakouts from Game of Thrones, I’d gamble on Melisandre, Gendry, and Oona Chapin. (Robb’s wife.) Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) has been getting a lot of hype, especially considering her lead role in the new X-Men movie. I like Oona Chaplin (granddaughter of Charley Chaplin and great-granddaughter of Eugene O’Neill), but if she’s going break out she’s taking her time about it. Her character was killed off six years ago but she still hasn’t had a role in a high-profile or hit movie. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/17 "2019-05-23T17:14:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I like Oona Chaplin (granddaughter of Charley Chaplin and great-granddaughter of Eugene O’Neill), but if she’s going break out she’s taking her time about it. Her character was killed off six years ago but she still hasn’t had a role in a high-profile or hit movie. She was very good as the lead in the WWI drama The Crimson Field (which came out in 2015), but unfortunately it was not renewed after its first season. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/18 "2019-05-23T17:19:32Z")
She was also in the TV show Taboo with Tom Hardy. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/19 "2019-05-23T17:22:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) has been getting a lot of hype, especially considering her lead role in the new X-Men movie. I would say the actual breakouts from Game of Thrones are Sophie Turner, Emilia Clarke, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404/20 "2019-05-23T17:33:38Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I would say the actual breakouts from Game of Thrones are Sophie Turner, Emilia Clarke, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Right now, agreed. I’m thinking in 10 years they will have faded while some other minor characters will have higher Q ratings. Obviously this is a total guess. I was less than impressed with Sophie Turner as Jean Grey in the newer X-Men movies, though I’ve read she took her role more seriously for the new one coming out. Emilia Clarke has already stumbled a bit with Terminator Genisys. She was pretty good in Voice from the Stone, but nothing I’d write home about. (I didn’t see the one where she takes care of the guy in the wheelchair.) Oona Chaplin appears to mainly be working on the Avatar movies, which I expect to crash and burn, so even I don’t totally buy into my predictions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-why-didnt-they-milk-out-game-of-thrones-one-more-season/834404.md?page=2)