“Game of Thrones” is the best show on television. I’m sure you agree with me because if you don’t, well, let’s be honest, if you don’t agree with me you probably don’t watch “Game of Thrones”. By the way, if you don’t watch “Game of Thrones” I don’t want to be friends with you and your not allowed to read my article. So go and watch episode one don’t worry I won’t start without you I’ll be right here waiting. Good, now that those jerks are gone it’s time for us to enjoy ourselves. “Game of Thrones” is the best fantasy universe created in the past ten years for sure, the only downside of Game of Thrones is that you have to wait a week for each new episode. That is literally the only bad thing about “Game of Thrones.” Since it’s not Sunday, (unless you’re some sort of crazy time traveling wizard) we can’t watch a new episode so we are going to do the next best thing: talk about “Game of Thrones”… hell yeah.

Over the next hour I’m going to give you a few reasons why “Game of Thrones” is the best show on television.

1. The writing is incredible.

“Game of Thrones” is based off of the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George RR Martin. Martin, a television writer at the time, had always wanted to write something big, ironically, something he couldn’t write for television, so he decided to write a new novel. His inspiration for writing the first book in the series, “A Game of Thrones”, ranged from Tolkien to the War of the Roses.

One of the most unique things about Martin’s writing is his stance on fantasy. Martin tends to take a more realistic and bleak look at his universe. Martin wanted the universe of “A Song of Ice and Fire” to feel incredibly real and to do this he studied medieval europe furiously. The end result is a fantasy that removes clean elves running around saving the good king from the forces of evil, and inserts insestuis lords, power hungry princes, families who suffer for their honor, and no real good or evil characters. Its pretty much Machiavelli meats Tolkien and if that doesn’t sound awesome then your parents raised you wrong, that’s not a joke that’s a cruel fact of your sad, sad life.

2. Its HBO

You seriously cannot go wrong with HBO absolutely not. For those of you who haven’t heard of HBO (again why are you reading this?) Its a cable pay station so you can say and show more on HBO than you can on a station like NBC and because its a pay station, there are also no commercial interruptions. HBO is famous for its consistently good shows like “The Sopranos”, “John Adams”, “Boardwalk Empire”, and “Extras”.

HBO also treats its shows well and this is clear when viewing “Game of Thrones”. The show is filmed on location, the props are real, the actors are incredible, and the episodes are produced wonderfully. Also the disclaimer is just the best: adult content, adult language, violence, nudity. You know when those four things are together you are about to see something absolutely awesome.

Oh and HBO GO the mobile app and website from HBO allows you to view any show from HBO anytime anywhere. So now you can marathon “Game of Thrones” and you can even do it in places like school, and on a bus which I have only done like four times, which isn’t even that many.

3. The characters are awesome.

There is no other fantasy series I can think of where I get emotionally attached to every character. The great thing about the characters in “Game of Thrones” is that they are all incredibly strong, each of them has their own goals and each of them are well developed and relatable. You cheer for every one of them and then you remember that they are fighting each other.

The cast of characters in “Game of Thrones” is so unique and so refreshing for a television show. Everybody has their ups and downs and no one character seems to be favored above another. It is so easy to get attached, no tv show other than a sports game used to get me worked up, but now whenever I see Rob Stark charge into battle I can’t help but shout KING IN THE NORTH! at my tv screen, it is so gripping and so powerful, it is exactly how a television show needs to create its characters.

4. Its critically acclaimed

This whole time you thought I was just some fan boy shouting praise for his fantasy kick (unless you didn’t in which case you win this article and are an awesome person) but guess what? Critics really like “Game of Thrones” while of course there are some criticisms when it comes to the nudity in the show, it has been received very well overall.

“Game of Thrones” has also been nominated for many awards. In its first year, “Game of Thrones” was nominated for 13 emmys including outstanding drama and it won two, Peter Dinklage won best supporting actor, and the show also won outstanding main title design. Peter Dinklage has also won a Golden Globe for his performance as well as other smaller awards.

5. Its got Sean Bean

The show has Boromir playing Ned Stark.

Look at him LOOK AT HIM

 Winter is coming Ned. Winter is coming indeed.