Game of Thrones

"The best thing on television" is not an oxymoron. Despite the vast wasteland of the glass teat, I do believe there is gold in them thar flat screens. Furthermore, I have no issue with your personal selection being Downton Abbey or Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo. To each her or his own, however watching certain shows will severely limit your chances of receiving a highly sought after invite to my dinner parties. But all of that aside, I declare Game of Thrones to be the current ultimate prize of the visual airways.

I have just completed a most enjoyable reviewing of the thirty episodes of the first three years of GoT, as I prepare for a deliciously indulgent weekend of the first several segments of year four. What I most look forward to is not more naked sex or creatures from beyond 'The Wall.' Although those are titillating and cringe-worthy, I hold my breath in scrumptious an-ti-ci (say it! say it!) -pation of three grown dragons.

Kudos all around to the author of the original books, George R.R. Martin and several if not many of the actors, including high on most viewers lists: Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen). Five stars all around.

But what high praise and fawning appreciation would be complete without a singular criticism. In my case that falls to the producers/writers/directors who participate in the Inside the Episode pieces attached to the DVR offerings. There exists a golden rule of writing - 'Show Don't Tell' which strongly and rightly suggests you allow your reader/viewer to dwell in the story and create their own context. Yet in the post-production pieces the men behind the scenes direct the viewer as to how they should see, think and feel about the story and the characters. Bad form gentleman, fiction shall remain fiction; your invasive gleeful posturing is unnecessary and even detrimental to the engaging, creative world of Game of Thrones.