I need my spectacle. Is there any TV show that comes close Game of Thrones in regards to production values?

Linus815 · May 21, 2019

Nothing comes to close to GoT's spectacle. Like, I'd say that cinematography and even production values are not the same thing as spectacle. Westworld has amazing production values, incredibly good looking sets, great cgi, just top quality all around, but does it have 1 hour long battle scenes? No. Does it have a dragon burning an entire city down? No.

I highly doubt that anything will even come close anytime soon.

Eidan · May 21, 2019

I enjoyed Rome, but to describe to it as "spectacle" would be a severe exaggeration. Pretty much every major battle is skipped entirely. You're usually lucky if you see some characters post battle with dirt and blood on their face. Think the Battle of the Whispering Woods in season 1 of Game of Thrones.

Razgriz-Specter · May 21, 2019

Marco Polo was along the lines of early to middle GoT.

Can't completely match pure spectacle but still had loads of it and equal production value

Solo · May 21, 2019

GoT might not be matched in spectacle for some time. But there's lots of shows with great production value

Steiner_Zi · May 21, 2019

Einherjar said:
Watch Vikings. Far better than Game of Thrones. The last couple of seasons have struggled a bit, but the first seasons are masterful.

I shrug at those who recommend Vikings as 'better than Game of Thrones'. Vikings was good until Season 3, though never reaching the heights or world-building of GoT.
Then, it fell off a cliff, the last 2 seasons especially are hot garbage both writing-wise but also just plain boring with paper-thin characters and repetitive plot points that go nowhere (that Iceland subplot..!). GoT never went as bad as this.

hobblygobbly · May 21, 2019

Peaky Blinders and Black Sails.

Sander VF · May 21, 2019

Solo said:
GoT might not be matched in spectacle for some time. But there's lots of shows with great production value

A LotR show with a massive budget is coming up.

random88 · May 21, 2019

Too many people sleep on Black Sails, it starts a little bit slow but it is a legit good show. Overall, it's better than GoT imo, and has a satisfying ending.

Fatoy · May 21, 2019

Black Sails is definitely the answer, but you need to ride out quite a slow (but still good) first season to get to the large-scale spectacle. Its two main characters are drawn in such detail by the end that everyone in GoT looks like a cardboard cutout.

Now, I consider Spartacus the best TV show ever made from a writing, plotting, and battle-staging point of view, and I think you'd like it. But fair waning: you also need to endure two average episodes and two frankly terrible ones before you get to the good stuff. You'll watch the first episode and think you're seeing The Asylum knocking off 300, but if you stick with it there's nothing else that can match it. Also it was made on a shoestring in comparison to GoT and Black Sails, so you're not getting anywhere near the CG and practical effects / sets you get in those shows.

Razgriz-Specter · May 21, 2019

zdravkelja said:
Too many people sleep on Black Sails, it starts a little bit slow but it is a legit good show. Overall, it's better than GoT imo, and has a satisfying ending.

Honestly before I would have said it was close but as time goes on regardless of GoT's recent quality I found myself appreciating it more and more to the point i'd trade all my GoT enjoyment for 1 more season of Black Sails or successor.

Sander VF · May 21, 2019

Laserdisk said:
E.R. was 13mil per episode

With how bizarrely slowly that helicopter was falling, dude legitimately had time to move.

Nooblet · May 21, 2019

If insane production values is what you want then you need to watch The Crown. It was just as expensive to make. Infact until season 8 GoT showed up The Crown was actually the most expensive TV show out there. It has CG but not as much, the cost is mostly put into location, the number of people and sets. It's basically an Epic on TV.

TAJ · May 21, 2019

vhoanox said:
He already won an Oscar.

He hadn't when that show was still running.

Scullibundo · May 21, 2019

Production values and cinematography?

Boardwalk Empire.

TheWraith · May 21, 2019

Scullibundo said:
Production values and cinematography?

Boardwalk Empire.

Came in to say the same! Easily one of the best TV series ever. The production values are so good you felt transported back to the 1920's watching it!

mere_immortal · May 21, 2019

Peaky Blinders is a good shout, smaller scale but they nail the art direction and the use of music is really good.

I've also heard good things about The Knick but don't think it's streaming anywhere.

Nooblet · May 21, 2019

TheXbox said:
Battlestar Galactica has the scale, if not the budget. The space combat holds up well and some of the set pieces are truly spectacular in the vein of Thrones (eg the exodus from New Caprica).

Star Trek Discovery is currently the best looking show I've ever seen outside of Thrones.

Imo The Expanse actually looks better than Discovery, and with Amazon money this season it has even higher potential.

Also in terms of pure cinematography and "look" I don't think anything beats The Crown.

Razgriz-Specter · May 21, 2019

Neoweee said:
Each episode of Game of Thrones cost around a hundred millions dollars to place, putting each episode at around 10 million dollars. There's nothing even remotely close among multi-season TV shows, and especially not any that lasted 8 seasons.

Marco Polo cost 8 or 9 million per episode and had 10 episode seasons so close but not completely.

Dan Thunder · May 21, 2019

Band of Brothers and The Pacific are pretty much movie quality productions but on the small screen.

If memory serves The Pacific cost around $200m for 10 episodes back in 2010. In terms of cost per episode even GoT doesn't come close to that.

Metalix · May 21, 2019

In terms of "wow look at all that money up there on the screen", then I think the first few times that happened for me would be watching Rome & the Pacific.

LabRat · May 21, 2019

LOTR is probably going to be amazing but they need to hire sapochnik to film the big battle scenes

rafiki · May 21, 2019

Hopefully LotR lives up to the expectations but thats your best next bet.

Deleted member 4262 · May 21, 2019

Rome and BSG are incredible. I just rewatched Rome and it holds up very well

Siggy-P · May 21, 2019

Nooblet said:
Imo The Expanse actually looks better than Discovery, and with Amazon money this season it has even higher potential.

Also in terms of pure cinematography and "look" I don't think anything beats The Crown.

Actually the Crown might be the most expensive. Up to $13 million per episode in season 2. $157 million per season. Game of thrones was only $6 by season 2 and had an increase for the final episode of the battle of blackwater bay.

Deleted member 33412 · May 21, 2019

Planet Earth 2/ Blue Planet 2.

StevieP · May 21, 2019

Star trek discovery, with all its issues, has episodes that look higher budget than some movies I've seen recently

Nooblet · May 21, 2019

Siggy-P said:
Actually the Crown might be the most expensive. Up to $13 million per episode in season 2. $157 million per season. Game of thrones was only $6 by season 2 and had an increase for the final episode of the battle of blackwater bay.

GoT got up to $15 mil an episode this season. But it's all CG, Crown looks more expensive because it has grand af sets and tons of location shoots with some CG.

I have no doubt they'll spend even more for season 3 of The Crown.

XR. · May 21, 2019

Lost, perhaps?

Vincent Grayson · May 21, 2019

Fingers crossed that Wheel of Time looks good. If they do it right, there will be plenty of scenes that make GoT look like a joke.

Deleted member 18514 · May 21, 2019

darkwing said:
Black Sails, has a satisfying ending too

One of my fondest hopes in life is that the crew of Black Sails gets back together in 15 years to do a full blown Treasure Island movie with all the relevant cast from BS in recurring roles.

Though it would be interesting to see them either gritty up what is essentially a kids book or tone down the BS level sex and violence.

ConanEd · May 21, 2019

No, because some of the late GOT production value S6-8 battles are actually better than movies. So they didn't exist in television BGT (Before Game of Thrones).

Br3wnor · May 21, 2019

Vulcano's Assistant said:
Some miniseries maybe?

I honestly don't know how much you can you improve the production design of Band of Brothers other than making 6 Saving Private Ryan films.

Yeah my first thought was Rome but then I thought about Band of Brothers which is just an incredible spectacle. Only the one 'season' but was really incredible.

You'll love Rome though, as a lot of people mentioned the only disappointing aspect is how short it is.

I gotta check out Black Sails.

Deleted member 4090 · May 21, 2019

Razgriz-Specter said:
Marco Polo cost 8 or 9 million per episode and had 10 episode seasons so close but not completely.

And then it got cancelled early for being too expensive.

Big budget shows are playing with fire and prone to cancellation, unfortunately. Rome, Marco Polo are good examples. Game of Thrones is unusual with how long it lasted.

Siggy-P said:
Actually the Crown might be the most expensive. Up to $13 million per episode in season 2. $157 million per season. Game of thrones was only $6 by season 2 and had an increase for the final episode of the battle of blackwater bay.

I know it will never get released, but it would be interesting to see a full plot of GoT budget vs season/episode, and the split between actor costs and production costs. Actors started getting paid more in the later seasons I believe, but production costs likely remained stagnant.

KiKaL · May 21, 2019

Wow, I am amazed at people saying Black Sails. My wife and I tried to get into a few weeks ago but couldn't get past 4-5 episodes. We literally said it felt like the poorman's GoT. Dialogue was cheezy, poor acting, forgettable sets and incredibly slow. So do things get a lot better?

edit - Just saw what Fatoy said above: "Black Sails is definitely the answer, but you need to ride out quite a slow (but still good) first season". We will have to keep powering through. We really wanted to like it.

Manmademan · May 21, 2019

TheYanger said:
I mean. Star trek shows don't have the budget but their effects and battles got pretty fuckin grand for TV when they went to CG (and before htey went to CG they're weren't as 'huge' but the models were always fucking amazing).

Discovery was EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE here. Way past voyager/ds9/etc

RDreamer · May 21, 2019

KiKaL said:
Wow, I am amazed at people saying Black Sails. My wife and I tried to get into a few weeks ago but couldn't get past 4-5 episodes. We literally said it felt like the poorman's GoT. Dialogue was cheezy, poor acting, forgettable sets and incredibly slow. So do things get a lot better?

edit - Just saw what Fatoy said above: "Black Sails is definitely the answer, but you need to ride out quite a slow (but still good) first season". We will have to keep powering through. We really wanted to like it.

I'll never understand the criticism of Season 1, but I do agree it's worth it to try and stick it out. Season 2 is one of the best seasons of television out there.

Breqesk · May 21, 2019

Nooblet said:
Imo The Expanse actually looks better than Discovery, and with Amazon money this season it has even higher potential.

Also in terms of pure cinematography and "look" I don't think anything beats The Crown.

I prefer the way the space battles in The Expanse are, like, plotted out - it's much easier to follow what's happening; the battle at the spin station is particularly good - but The Expanse wishes it had Star Trek: Discovery's effects and set budget. Like, that final battle in season 2 had movie-level effects:

(The fidelity of the clip really doesn't do it justice, for anyone who hasn't seen the show.)

Nooblet · May 21, 2019

Breqesk said:
I prefer the way the space battles in The Expanse are, like, plotted out - it's much easier to follow what's happening; the battle at the spin station is particularly good - but The Expanse wishes it had Star Trek: Discovery's effects and set budget. Like, that final battle in season 2 had movie-level effects:

(The fidelity of the clip really doesn't do it justice, for anyone who hasn't seen the show.)

The thing is Star Trek does not have to bother with G forces and stuff when showing insides. And it doesn't really do a good job of making its battles readable nor does it make it look sensible (like enemies surrounding from 360 degrees but on only two axis...top and bottom is totally open)

The other thing being Expanse's story so far did not have anything that needed it to be as grand. Between all three factions they have a handful of ships and the most impressive looking ship dwarfs any other by a sizeable margin. But it will have a lot when it comes to grand things from next season onwards...and guess what you said Expanse wishes it had Star Trek's budget. Well it now has more....it has amazing budget :p

Breqesk · May 21, 2019

Nooblet said:
The thing is Star Trek does not have to bother with G forces and stuff when showing insides. And it doesn't really do a good job of making its battles readable nor does it make it look sensible (like enemies surrounding from 360 degrees but on only two axis...top and bottom is totally open)

The other thing being Expanse's story so far did not have anything that needed it to be as grand. But it will from next season onwards...and guess what you said Expanse wishes it had Star Trek's budget. Well it now has more....it has amazing budget :p

Right, but that's nothing to do with the production values--one's simply harder sci-fi than the other. (Well, sometimes; The Expanse has inertial dampeners and FTL too; humans just don't know how to make 'em yet.)

Also, I'd actually argue that Star Trek has historically had some of the most readable space battles--Discovery and the Kelvin Timeline movies are an exception to the rule. (And even then, Discovery has a fair few that are much more readable than the one in the clip.)

scitek · May 21, 2019

Laserdisk said:
E.R. was 13mil per episode

Is that the toxic waste dude from RoboCop?

EDIT: Can't you watch Marco Polo in Dolby Vision? I'd check that out for the HDR alone.

Parch · May 21, 2019

Westworld is good in different ways, but I wouldn't put it in the "spectacle" class. A lot of people bailed on that show for being too slow paced and trippy. It's not for everyone.

Deleted member 17092 · May 21, 2019

Yeah Black sails is pretty legit. It's not quite GOT level but it's very good.

Razgriz-Specter · May 21, 2019

KiKaL said:
Wow, I am amazed at people saying Black Sails. My wife and I tried to get into a few weeks ago but couldn't get past 4-5 episodes. We literally said it felt like the poorman's GoT. Dialogue was cheezy, poor acting, forgettable sets and incredibly slow. So do things get a lot better?

edit - Just saw what Fatoy said above: "Black Sails is definitely the answer, but you need to ride out quite a slow (but still good) first season". We will have to keep powering through. We really wanted to like it.

It gets much better,

Deleted member 10060 · May 21, 2019

Steiner_Zi said:
I shrug at those who recommend Vikings as 'better than Game of Thrones'. Vikings was good until Season 3, though never reaching the heights or world-building of GoT.
Then, it fell off a cliff, the last 2 seasons especially are hot garbage both writing-wise but also just plain boring with paper-thin characters and repetitive plot points that go nowhere (that Iceland subplot..!). GoT never went as bad as this.

And... I said the first seasons are masterful, and last couple not ao much. What's your point?

I've been very bored through most of GoT. It's been 1-2 great episodes per season, and 8 boring slogs. I don't give a shit about world building if I'm not entertained.

henlo_birb · May 21, 2019

I haven't watched it myself, but from what I understand, Xavier: Renegade Angel is breathtakingly gorgeous.

Transistor · May 21, 2019

Deadwood had ridiculously high production values. They nailed the authentically filthy look of the old west

Legacy · May 21, 2019

Westworld is the only other show I can think of with high production value

Doctor Robofinger · May 21, 2019

Sense8 had an insane per-episode budget, and that money was spent mostly on extensive location shooting all over the world. No other show has done anything like it, and I doubt anyone else will try for a long time.

Yung Kyubii · May 21, 2019

Dan Thunder · May 21, 2019

scitek said:
Is that the toxic waste dude from RoboCop?

It is indeed.

Or Montgomery from Fame if you're old enough!

I need my spectacle. Is there any TV show that comes close Game of Thrones in regards to production values?

Alt account

User requested account closure

User requested account closure

Alt account

Election Thread Watcher

User requested account closure

User requested account closure

Vodka martini, dirty, with Tito's please

One Winged Slayer