6 TV shows to fill that Game of Thrones void
Credit: HBO
OK, so it’s been over for quite a few weeks now but Game of Thrones fans need not despair because there’s plenty of alternatives to sink your teeth into.
Rome
This show came years before and is the programme many say was the Game of Thrones before Game of Thrones came along, if that makes sense? Gritty and just as ultra violent, probably more sweary, and with more sexy scenes than Littlefinger could shake a… well, you get the picture, It sadly only made it to two seasons but had the added factor that it was semi-historically accurate.
Credit: HBO
Deadwood
HBO’s super authentic wild west-set drama is a sort of GoT set in the Frontier. Whore houses, c-bombs, gruesome and unrelenting violence, as well as drawn-out strategical standoffs make for a very worthy alternative to GoT’s political, power struggle of a chess game its characters play. Deadwood drips with atmosphere and unbearable tension between its memorable characters too.
Credit: HBO
Vikings
It looks and feels a lot like GoT in many ways but this also has its own distinctness about it. That said, it’s got wars, armies, sexy times, really bloody fighting, strong, powerful women, and boats. A helluva lot of boats. Daenerys had better watch out.
Credit: World 2000 Entertainment
The Shield
Something slightly different to a period-set show, but Shawn Ryan’s long-lasting The Shield is packed with backstabbing, double crossing, swindles, and WTF moments in every single episode and also moved at a hundred miles an hour. Season finales will destroy you (not literally, you understand) and the twists and turns throughout eight seasons are certainly enough to rival anything Cersei can throw at us.
Credit: Fox
Sons of Anarchy
Think of this as a modern styling of a Game of Thrones world where we substitute swords and battle axes for guns, lots of ‘em. And instead of horses, we’ve got Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman riding bad ass motorbikes. Like GoT, it starts fairly small scale and grows into an enormous, expansive, uncontrollable beast. There’s no dragons, unless you class Jax’s (Hunnam) mother, Gemma (Katey Sagal).
Credit: SutterInk
The Jinx
Right, I hear you - this is not an actual like-for-like GoT substitution, but if you’re looking for a documentary series that’s intriguing and full of mystery and suspense, then this is the one for you. To be fair it does have GoT-sized twists - for a doc that’s impressive, right? - that will leave you utterly devastated and speechless, much like when our beloved Prince Oberyn snuffed it in season four.
Credit: HBO
Have you seen all of these shows? Which others would you add to the mix?
Mike P Williams is a freelance TV, film, music and entertainment writer, with an obsession for all things Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park and Pixar. Over the years he’s written for MTV, Total Film, BuzzFeed, Loaded, and currently scribbles for Yahoo Movies and BBC Radio 1.
