I suppose my point is that these are pretty much universal failings of TV shows. The pandering to trends and fads, even when inappropriate in the name of accessibility, the gratuitous sexuality, the unimaginative humor. All that sort of thing I find to be pretty typical of television. With GoT, you have the luxury of seeing exactly what the story is capable of being, and suddenly, you understand why Shakespeare wished so hard for that muse of fire to transcend the limitations of the dramatic medium. I guess there also is some interest in seeing the story played out with a budget and actors, but NOT like LotR. Tolkien wrote only the bare bones of the story, the legend, if you will. His books were more comparable to Martin's recent short story, "The Princess and the Queen." With the LotR movies, you got to see a version of that story fleshed out. As I may have alluded in my post, what is played out on the screen with GoT is shabbier and inferior to the visualization inspired by Martin's writing.

Also, to be honest, I guess this is more about dumping on GoT, and the "good by TV standards", while true, is more of a disclaimer to avoid being a troll or hater. And I also wanted to vent this before the show starts up again, so I am not constantly hashing it out in the discussions, as I have had a tendency to do in the past.