Game of Thrones has long been a beloved show around the world. That’s why this recent report fro the independent Levada Center polling agency comes as no surprise. According to The Moscow Times, Levada says that 27% of Russians name Game of Thrones as their favorite foreign show.
Behind Game of Thrones were Sherlock and House, with 25% and 24% respectively. Sharing the fourth spot are Lost and Chernobyl with 22%. Chernobyl is especially interesting to see ranked so highly among Russians, since the Russian government is reportedly not pleased with how the show depicts that chapter in Russian and may even be readying its own series that takes a — ahem — different perspective on those events.
But everyone can agree on Game of Thrones, even if not everyone gets to watch it through official means. While Russians got to see how the show ended, the Chinese government leaned on broadcaster Tencent to prevent the series finale from airing in that country, purportedly because of the ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, at least so far as an HBO representative was concerned.
According to Levada’s report, more and more Russians are watching TV in their free time and consider it to be “a growing source of their happiness,” to use The Moscow Times’ verbiage. Watching Game of Thrones was a uniquely global experience whether fans knew it or not — it’s cool to think that we people were having the same experience thousands of miles apart…and yes, Russians viewers got in on the backlash to the final season, too.
Where did so many Unsullied and Dothraki come from? There were only a few hundred left after the battle versus the Night King? Did they sprout like mushrooms?
Will there be another show that can unite people around the world like Game of Thrones did? We’ll be watching.
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h/t Russia Beyond
