‘The Witcher’ Proves Efforts to Replicate ‘Game of Thrones’ Success Are Doomed
Showrunners, stop trying to make the next Game of Thrones happen. It won’t work.
While it's great that we've seen a surge of fantasy shows since the huge success of Game of Thrones, it's getting tiring when every other promising series is being immediately compared to our “one and only”.
The sad thing: after the inevitable comparison, the show usually flops or ends up being nothing like what we expected.
Why Everybody Loves ‘Game of Thrones’
Important detail: when we talk about wanting to replicate Game of Thrones' success, we're referring to the earlier seasons.
‘Game of Thrones' secret: the show didn't spoon-feed us information. It presented things for us to interpret.
‘The Witcher’: When “The Next ‘Game of Thrones’” Becomes a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Even before The Witcher came out, the headlines were already crowning the show as GoT's successor.
“It also, more importantly, has a cast full of beautiful people, grandiose sets, and lots of violence and boning—all the things that made Game of Thrones appealing to viewers who didn't care about swords or sorcery. HBO famously spent a lot of money on Game of Thrones, and now Netflix seems willing to do the same,” Angela Watercutter (WIRED) wrote.
What went wrong: the writing felt forced; the source material was completely neglected.
‘The Witcher’ Creator Speaks on ‘Game of Thrones’ Comparisons
According to Variety, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich openly acknowledged the influence, learning from Game of Thrones’ fan reactions. However, she believes that there’s one thing that separates The Witcher from GoT.
What the creator says:
“The comedy is what separates Witcher from a lot of other fantasy material like Game of Thrones.”
But: Game of Thrones had plenty of humor. The Witcher's comedy, on the other hand, felt forced, especially beyond Season 1. The humor in GoT came naturally from character interactions, rather than feeling like it was just checking boxes.
‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Faced the Curse of ‘Game of Thrones’ Comparison
Yet the industry hasn't learned. Even The Last of Us, a promising show in its own right, couldn't escape the comparison.
“The Last of Us is giving Game of Thrones a run for its money. It follows the Game of Thrones model of putting different groups of characters in impossible situations.” Jackson Hayes (ComicBook) said.
The result: The second season strayed too far from the source material, trying to reinvent relationships and plotlines that didn't need a makeover.
How to Break Free From the ‘Game of Thrones’ Shadow?
The answer: create a show that can stand on its own without needing to be the next Game of Thrones. Shows that try to live up to this impossible standard risk losing their uniqueness.
Although it's natural for audiences and the media to draw comparisons between popular shows, showrunners should resist the urge to capitalize on these similarities.
The next breakthrough series won't come from being praised as “the next Game of Thrones”. It will come from someone brave enough to tell their story their own way. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that it would be the opposite of what GoT gave us.
