Charles Dance (Tywin) believes Game of Thrones would’ve failed if not for HBO

Game of Thrones was a memorable experience for both the fans and the show’s crew. However, before it grew up to be the pop-culture icon it is today, the series had a rocky start. It was on the verge of being canceled, and according to the show’s star Charles Dance, who played the stern, stoic, and cunning Lord Tywin Lannister, the show wouldn’t have taken flight if it was on any other network than HBO.

Why Game of Thrones won’t have been successful on another network?

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Dance said, “I had no idea where it was going to go. None of us had any idea that it was going to be the most successful television series ever made. Especially as the pilot wasn’t great. If it had been made by the BBC, they would have pulled the plug. But Sky and HBO nursed it, and we began to be aware that we were dealing with a pretty class act. I still had no idea that it would become this charming monster.”

Are there more Game of Thrones spinoffs at work?

There have been several big changes at HBO and WB quite recently, following which a number of supposed spinoffs in the works were shelved. In a recent interview with Variety, Bloys put down what it will take for the rest of the spinoffs to move forward, or if there’s more Game of Thrones stuff in their plans.

“Remember to get ‘House of the Dragon’ following up from ‘Game of Thrones,’ we developed a lot of shows, shot a pilot, developed a bunch of scripts and we got ‘House of the Dragon. To do that again is going to take the same amount of effort. You have to develop a lot of things, try things. You never know what’s going to work. So we’re currently doing that. I’m not opposed to any number of shows. There’s probably a natural limit to how many fans want, but I’m open to any as long as we feel really good about the scripts and the prospects for a series.”

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