When I awoke Tuesday morning, I, like millions of my counterparts around the world, was unaware that today would mark the beginning of the end.
There’d been signs indicating it was coming. Brief glimpses here and there. But no one knew when the countdown would officially commence.
Here we are, 40 days away from the premiere of the eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones,” and just 75 days until the end of modern television as we know it.
Tuesday morning, HBO surprise-released the first trailer for the final season, just a day after Entertainment Weekly published its massive 78-page Thrones special. Between those pages and the glorious 113 seconds of never-before-seen footage, the anticipation for the series’ grand finale has never been greater.
The premiere on April 14 will come and go, along with the brief six-episode season, and it’s certain that death will come for many, if not most, of the show’s beloved, central characters. But the most significant casualty to come from the epic fantasy’s finale will not be Daenerys Targaryen or Jon Snow, nor will it be the broken hearts of superfans everywhere – it will be the death of television’s last piece of monoculture.
As the entertainment world continues to be overrun by streaming sites, and more and more people are deciding to cut the cord and move away from traditional cable services, the way people consume television is undergoing a revolution.
Long gone are the days of families gathering around the TV each night to watch their favorite shows. You no longer have to wait a whole week to watch a new episode – now you can binge through the whole season in an afternoon. And if it is a show airing live? Most people opt to record it and watch it later, or just wait until it’s all on Netflix.
With the exception of massive sporting events like the Super Bowl or the World Cup, from now on, it’ll take a miracle to get people around the world to all simultaneously tune in to the same thing.
I absolutely love television, and I’m still adamant about sitting down and watching each of my favorite shows as they air live. Whether it’s being able to follow along with social media live as things go down on the screen, or just being able to discuss the latest Tribal Council from “Survivor” the morning after it airs, there’s just something about consuming a show in the moment.
