GoT v Castle v Marco and Dresden

I have in recent month become a big fan of Game of Thrones on HBO.  We got a try subscription of HBO on Demand in December for 90days and I am trying to get through the entire series before our time is up (although we have watched quite a few things on there so we will see.)

The way HBO has adapted the books to the screen has almost created its own genre of tv seriel.  One only must look at the other subscription only offerings to see shows that clearly took their stylistic ques from GOT.  On Netflix, you have Marco Polo which was watchable for the two seasons it lasted.  It was so clearly “influenced” by GOT that you could not help but compare the two and in that like MP did not do well.  It chose that same edgy approach to sex and violence that GOT did (which is to include as much of it as one can get away with.)  In MP, however the gore and nudity were at such levels that they were a distraction.  Unfortunately, the story was to as well told as GOT and often I was left wondering which version of the character we were going to see as their attitudes, temperament and views seemed to change from episode to episode.  I was one of the oddest bits of writing inconsistencies I have ever seen.  The characters themselves were interesting enough, especially that if Ghingas Kahn, with the exception of Marco Polo himself who was just not very interesting.

Amazon has its own, albeit different, GOT competitor in Man in the High Castle.  Although it must be view in the same class, it is a very different type of story and production.  MinHS is much more of a cerebral story.  Although dark and tense throughout it does so in a clam quiet manner.  Where the other two beat you over the head with the R+ material, Castle is much more PG with occasional scenes that jump up the ratings meter.  The effect of those scene is much more dramatic than in the other because it lulls the viewer into thinking the is a safe “regular tv” show before it hammers you with 10-15 seconds that are clearly not.  It is not every episode either which adds to the tension.

I got thinking about what other books I would love see get the GoT treatment.  I have seen a bit of West World as well and it seems incredible smart.  I would love to see one of them take on Dune in the same long form format.  The book series is almost tailor made for it.  Foundation would also play well over the course of several seasons (although the lack of visual drama may make it tough.)  The David Brown books would have likely done much better in this format that the box office approach which has gone well unless you just count the ticket receipts.  My top wish list would be however the Jim Butcher “Dresden Files.”  While Sci-Fi tried to make a screen version a few years back it only had limited success in HBO’s hands however it could be rather amazing.