In 2015, HBO’s Game of Thrones became the first fantasy series to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series (unless you count the sci-fi leaning Lost, but come on, we’re talking swords and sorcery here). This proved that shows about dragons and magic could be taken seriously if approached seriously … and provided a huge production budget.
Before Game of Thrones debuted in 2011, fantasy television was synonymous with cheap, often cheesy, syndicated fare that aired on Saturday afternoons — stuff like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Highlander: The Series. But after the rise of Game of Thrones, the traditionally devoted fans of fantasy have been spoiled as to what to expect from a television series in the genre. Game of Thrones delivered on the promise set forth by George R.R. Martin’s complex and imaginative source novels, and the HBO series raised the bar for production values.
For example, Amazon Studios, in seeking a Thrones of its own, allocated more than $500 million to a Lord of the Rings series, according to Entertainment Weekly. Comparatively small shows like Hercules and Xena would be laughed off of TV today, if they even made it to television. Such shows were produced for a TV model that no longer exists in big numbers — local stations programmed with hours of syndicated dramas each weekend in the ’90s. Once upon a time, Hercules, Xena, and Highlander had room to find an audience, as did Baywatch and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Weekend schedules are now filled with reruns and infomercials.
