As a Valentine’s Day gift to fans, last Sunday HBO released the teaser trailer for the upcoming sixth season of the international blockbuster series “Game of Thrones.”
However, the initial lackluster reaction from fans worldwide has left executives at the U.S. pay channel worried.
“We usually break the internet with anything we release regarding the show,” said head of programming James Suffolk. “But this trailer ended up being a dud with our lowest ever ‘likes’ on social media.”
The television series, based on the series of books “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin, follows warring clans in their pursuit to rule the mythical land known as Westeros. There are five books so far in the series and HBO has produced five series of the show, with each season generally following the narrative of a book.
The sixth book in the series has yet to be completed by George R.R. Martin so this will be the first season of the show where it is not working from the text of a book. And that, many believe, may be the cause for the lowered excitement of the upcoming season.
“What’s the point of reading some dense book if your can’t lord your superiority over your friends who haven’t read them?” said Crispin Hoover, a fan who has read all of the books so far in the series.
“If I can’t spoil episodes for my friends or complain about how the producers of the show are screwing everything up, why bother?” he said. “I mean, where the hell is Lady Stoneheart, dammit?”