Prppfpfpffff... what did you say? ;) oh, dear... :P Now I know why you disliked The Sopranos ;)
Well, the book was also full of non necessary sex scenes, but I got your point. Current "premium" tv tries to drag viewers with everything they got, and public tv doesn't. With sex and violence, of course!

Well, I liked the remake of Battlestar Galactica, and it wasn't shy of such content, except that it was done tactfully and was part of the plot, not just "fan service". In fact, BSG is probably the only TV series in recent years I have liked and watched all the way through. Before that..... Farscape probably

I know who to blame for watching True Blood. I'm getting distracted there too as I try to play Diablo 2 at the same time while watching them.

I can't say I dislike Sopranos, I've seen so little about it. I guess I should start seeing it from season 1 episode 1, watching an episode here and there didn't really do anything to me.

Then again, I wonder if it was related to that I'm not that interested into the whole "Italian mafia in US" setting, not in movies, not in TV series, not even in PC/video games. I've seen Godfather movies already, jaded. I skipped the Mafia series on PC too, just like I skipped many Star Trek, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings games (not knowing that there were some gems there too, especially on the strategy gaming side).

It was on the back burner... a show that I decided I'd watch when it got cheap, because many people talked about it.

However, my gf got enthusiastic about the show and got it when it came out.

She liked the show, but I loved it so I'll be the one purchasing the next season when it comes out... in a year :P.

Hopefully, I won't get impatient and watch the synopsis on Wikipedia before actually watching season 2.

I do that sometimes...

I know it's not for everyone and I guess why people look at HBO shows like it's all fan service with nudity/violence/foul language, but it's not.
All these are everyday occurrences, especially with themes tackled here. The problem is that organizations like MPAA have made TV a gray and sterile place with only Cable networks able to do anything different.

Comparisons with LOTR are unavoidable today because 90% of people didn't actually read or watch anything fantasy other than it.
Love and sex themes are a big difference here, because they were written real sterile in LOTR. Even the greatest romances in the LOTR universe are written without any real emotion.

As for BSG that show is badly written, illogical, annoying characters and more plot holes than a Swiss cheese. Only thing it's got going for it is that it is very dynamic, but even that falls flat trying to emphasize the drama with swearing while being unable to utter a simple 4 letter word.
Frak that show.

What is the target group? As said, I don't watch it either, just like I don't watch most TV-series that has been trumpeted so much before their release, but then get cancelled halfway through their first season.

Heroes... I was somewhat interested in that during the first season, but then I heard the subsequent seasons are crap, and after seeing the MadTV skit on Heroes, I couldn't take it seriously anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVV2ft4-2xk

(I really love the "Yatta!" music video reference)

The problem I have with most new TV-series is that they wander aimlessly, it is so obvious that the story makers are making it up as they go, trying to figure out how long they can stretch the setting, and when to end the series. Worst culprit: Lost. God I hated that TV series, at least the first season and the little I saw of the other seasons.

That's why I prefer movies, at least I know when I start watching it that there is supposed to be some logical conclusion to it all, and it will not be cancelled after the first half an hour.

I wouldn't say there is a target group.

It's dark medieval fantasy, with fantasy taking a backseat in the first book/season.
The author is a big fan of the Dark ages, so it's mostly based on plotting, war and struggle for power.

No mages firing fireballs like in a video game.

Not "sterile", "realistic". The trouble with modern fantasy, post-Tolkien fantasy, is that it applies modern morals and ethics to medieval settings. There's a reason that the only girl who ever fights a battle in Lord of the Rings does so because she dresses up as a man in armor, and hides her face with a helmet. Same reason Aragorn didn't take his Elf girl in the back room at Rivendell for a quickie behind her dad's back.

I shouldn't need to explain this, and no it's not sexism or being prude on my part, you say BSG's plot was illogical (which it was in parts, ending was ridiculous), but what is more illogical are fantastic medieval societies with 2012 morality.

Man, I wish I knew what 2012 moralities let me have crazy rape sex with my hot 13/16 year old wife these days.

That's just a weird point to bring up. The only woman on the battlefield in this series hasn't even had her screen debut yet, and she's mistreated like crazy for it.

Army recruits, for sure.

Three laptops, 40 men and women. The pileup was...really something.

Personally I can't wait to see the new season. The books blew me away, and the first season was far less eye cringing than I anticipated, considering there is always a dilemma of how to cram so much material into a show that must appeal to both long time fans and newcomers. I think they were quite competent in this regard.

Wasn't really referring to GoT, just modern fantasy. My problem with GoT is that it's fantasy without fantasy, it takes out the magic in trying to be gritty.

Heh, you just described The War of the Roses.

Waaaaaitaminute...

(this was obviously a joke, don't overdo it :)

Completely wrong, you could maybe argue that there was more sex going on in the middle ages then it is now, only thing that has changed is the perception of it.
Tolkien never wrote a realistic romance, but a highly idolized one.

With the tight grasp of the Church at the time it just wasn't visible on the surface like it is today where sex is everywhere just to sell things.
Even the greatest work of the genre from the time, Le Morte d'Arthur has adultery as it's core.
Not to mention the really hardcore stuff like Boccaccio's Decameron (where yes, you would take someones wife in the same room).

You should look more in this specific subject matter with a good book or even a documentary, I guarantee you will be amazed by what you find.

Not to mention what you find going eve further to the Roman empire or even Greece.

Doesn't start on TV here until May. So I don't' get to see it yet.

Unless I ... *gasp* ... PIRATE it