Starbucks in Westeros? HBO speaks up on 'Game of Thrones' set blunder

HOLLYWOOD — With two episodes of HBO's wildly popular medieval fantasy saga "Game of Thrones" to go, puzzled fans took to social media on Monday after heroine Daenerys Targaryen was joined at a wooden banquet table by a rogue to-go coffee cup.

Jokes, spoofs and critiques quickly followed the anachronistic appearance of the beverage -- taken to be a Starbucks coffee by many who noticed -- in the fourth episode of the eighth and final season.

"Seriously, they have Starbucks in Winterfell," one commenter wrote on Twitter, while others lamented the slip-up after waiting two years for the eighth season to air.

Yet another tweeted a redrawn logo of the American coffee chain with the title changed to "Winterfell coffee" and the wolf's head sigil of the Starks, one of the noble families at the center of the series.

HBO spoke up as the blunder went viral, tweeting that "the latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake" and playfully adding that Daenerys -- played by British actress Emilia Clarke -- had ordered an herbal tea.

Meanwhile, executive producer Bernie Caulfield told WNYC radio she couldn't believe the error, saying that "our on-set prop people and decorators are so on it 1,000 percent."

"We're sorry!" she said. "If that's the worst thing that they're finding, we're in good shape."

HBO called it a "craft services coffee cup" but Caulfield echoed a theme spread widely on Twitter, speculating that Westeros -- the fictional continent where the action takes place -- "was the first place to actually have Starbucks."

Though he hadn't personally watched Sunday's episode, entitled "The Last of the Starks," art director Hauke Richter told Variety magazine: "Things can get forgotten on set."

Starbucks seized the opportunity to capitalize on the faux pas, evoking its popular dragon fruit-based thirst-quencher in a statement that read: "We're surprised she didn't order a Dragon Drink."

It was not immediately clear if Daenerys, known in the show as the Mother of Dragons for her mastery over the winged creatures of legend, has ever tried coffee.

Season eight began airing on April 14, nearly 20 months after the seventh season's conclusion. The last ever episode will be shown on May 19.

source: philstar.com

‘Game of Thrones’ star breaks silence over controversial sexy scenes

MANILA, Philippines — Fans of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” fans were shocked after Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) had a steamy scene with Gendry Baratheon (Joe Dempsie).  

Social media erupted with discussions about the scene, with netizens saying they were not prepared for the young lady assassin having a love scene with her friend. 

#AryaStark #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/5nlk7OWHrq

— JoJo Donovan (@JoJoDonovan) April 25, 2019

— ????α???α. (@aleexa_gp) April 25, 2019

Maisie took to Twitter to address reactions from fans. 

“If u feel uncomfortable just know that my mother and my step dad and my 2 sisters and my 4 brothers have all probably watched this too ahahakillmeehehe,” Maisie wrote. 

if u feel uncomfortable just know that my mother and my step dad and my 2 sisters and my 4 brothers have all probably watched this too ahahakillmeehehe

— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) April 23, 2019

Arya and Gendry have been friends since the earlier parts of the series. The two characters slept together before the Night King and his army of dead attack Winterfell. 

“I want to know what it feels like before I die,” Arya told Gendry before doing the deed. 

Maisie’s age was reportedly one of the most searched keywords in Google after the episode was released. 

Arya’s character is already 18 years old while Maisie is 22 years old. 

Ne ara büyüdü ????
#AryaStark #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/JYNf6yTqox

— The Geyik (@thegeyikcom) April 25, 2019

Sophie Turner, who plays Arya’s sister Sansa Stark in the series, took to Instagram to troll her friend about the scene. She posted a video of herself sipping wine. 

“In honor of Easter, I guess ‘Game of Thrones’ wanted to have a little storyline of a little Easter bunny hop, hop, hoppin’ into that pussaayyyyyy,” Sophie said about the video.

source: philstar.com

'Game Over': Trump again taps 'GoT,' this time in Russia saga

WASHINGTON, United States — President Donald Trump has used "Game of Thrones" imagery to push for his wall on the US-Mexico border and to hint at fresh sanctions on Iran.

Now, he has once again gone to the iconography of the widely acclaimed HBO fantasy series to declare himself the victor in his pitched battle with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

On Thursday, even before the release of Mueller's long-awaited report detailing his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election, Trump was ready.

"GAME OVER," he declared in an unmistakably "Game of Thrones"-esque tweet. Trump was pictured from behind, wearing his trademark black overcoat, against a backdrop of mist or fog.


"NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION. For the haters and the radical left Democrats," it said.

Trump posted the image after Attorney General Bill Barr again declared there was no collusion between the president's campaign and Moscow -- but before the report was made public.

That report, the result of nearly two years of investigation, reveals that Mueller was "unable" to clear Trump of obstruction of justice.

Trump, nevertheless, pinned the tweet on his account.

But HBO was not thrilled.

"Though we can understand the enthusiasm for 'Game of Thrones' now that the final season has arrived, we still prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes," it said.

source: philstar.com

Trump turns to 'Game of Thrones' to push for border wall

WASHINGTON, United States — US President Donald Trump turned Thursday to "Game of Thrones" -- a hit TV show that features a massive ice wall -- to push for his controversial barrier on the Mexican border.

"THE WALL IS COMING," Trump wrote in a post on Instagram that featured the font from the show's title and his picture with a border barrier at the bottom.

"Winter is coming" is an iconic phrase from the show that has been fodder for a slew of memes, which Trump previously referenced in a tweet about impending sanctions on Iran.

HBO, which airs "Game of Thrones," was unamused by the president's first nod to the program, saying in a statement carried by US media that it "would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes."

The wall in "Game of Thrones" was built to protects the land of Westeros from an army of undead foot soldiers led by villainous "White Walkers" intent on wiping out the humans living to its south.

Trump's wall -- a dispute over funding for which has led to a protracted shutdown of the US government -- is aimed at keeping out Central American migrants fleeing poverty and rampant violence in their home countries.

The wall in the show -- which has played a central if silent role in its eight-season run -- ultimately fails when confronted by an undead dragon.

source: philstar.com

'Game of Thrones' wins Emmy for best drama

LOS ANGELES — "Game of Thrones" has won the best television drama series Emmy Award.

The HBO fantasy series won after a one-year hiatus in the category and was the leading nominee going into Monday's ceremony. Peter Dinklage also won the Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama series Monday night.


It beat out other drama series "The Americans," ''The Crown," ''The Handmaid's Tale," ''Stranger Things," ''This Is Us" and "Westworld."

source: philstar.com

Hackers target ‘Game of Thrones’; data, script stolen — HBO

NEW YORK — U.S. cable channel HBO said on Monday that hackers had stolen upcoming programming, and Entertainment Weekly reported that the theft included a script for an unaired episode of the hit fantasy show “Game of Thrones”.

HBO, a unit of Time-Warner Inc, declined to comment on the specific programming stolen in the hack.

“As most of you have probably heard by now, there has been a cyber incident directed at the company which has resulted in some stolen proprietary information, including some of our programming,” HBO Chairman Richard Plepler wrote in a message to employees, which the company shared with reporters.

The company declined to comment on reports that unbroadcast episodes and scripts were among the data hacked, citing an “ongoing investigation” by unspecified law enforcement officials.

Entertainment Weekly reported that hackers stole 1.5 terabytes of data and had already posted online unbroadcast episodes of “Ballers” and “Room 104,” along with “a script or treatment” for next week’s episode of “Game of Thrones”.

Reuters also received an e-mail on Sunday from a person claiming to have stolen HBO data, including “Game of Thrones”.

The show is now in its seventh season and due to wrap up next year.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Game of Thrones’ makes Emmys history

LOS ANGELES | Fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” made television history at the 68th Emmys on Sunday, becoming the most decorated fictional show since the awards began nearly seven decades ago.

The HBO series picked up 12 total Emmys this season — nine awards in technical categories and three top prizes at the glitzy ceremony in downtown Los Angeles — television’s equivalent of the Oscars.

The blood-spattered, sex-filled saga about noble families vying for control of the Iron Throne took home the most coveted prize of the night, the best drama Emmy — along with statuettes for writing and directing.

That gives it a total haul over the years of 38 — more than any other narrative series since the first Television Academy prize-giving in 1949, overtaking the haul of 37 won by long-running comedy “Frasier.”

“We love ‘Frasier’ and he had a long run and we’re sure someone will come along and take it from us. We just hope it doesn’t happen until we’re all dead,” showrunner David Benioff told reporters.

It went down to the wire in the end, as “Thrones” drew a blank in the acting categories, despite being a hot favorite and having multiple nominees, and only set the record with the last prize of the night.

Three of its stars — Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams — dominated the betting in the supporting actress category, but the statuette went to Maggie Smith of “Downton Abbey.”

Peter Dinklage missed out on a supporting actor trophy, as did co-star Kit Harington, the category’s favorite, with Ben Mendelsohn picking up the prize for Netflix family drama “Bloodline.”

“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” also glittered, picking up a total of nine awards this season, including the prize for best limited series.

“If your show doesn’t have a dragon or a white Bronco in it, go home right now,” host Jimmy Kimmel joked at the start of the three-hour broadcast, a reference to “Thrones” and the infamous car Simpson was in when he went on a wild ride through Los Angeles before his arrest.

The all-time Emmy list of winners — which includes nonfiction — is topped by NBC comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live,” with 45 awards, one of them handed out Sunday to Kate McKinnon for best supporting actress.

MILESTONE FOR LOUIS-DREYFUS

It was a night of recognition for old hands in the comedy categories, while the drama awards went to relative newcomers.

In the best actress in a comedy category, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won a fifth consecutive Emmy for her role as the hapless acting president on HBO’s “Veep.”

“I would like to dedicate this to my father who passed away on Friday, and I’m so glad that he liked ‘Veep’ because his opinion was the one that really mattered,” she said in an emotional tribute, her voice breaking.

“Veep” later picked up the Emmy for outstanding comedy series.

The award for best actor in a comedy went for the second year in a row to Jeffrey Tambor for “Transparent,” who pleaded with producers and directors to give transgender talent a chance in television.

In the tightest race of the night, lead actress in a drama, Tatiana Maslany won for “Orphan Black,” pipping favorite Robin Wright (“House of Cards”) and last year’s victor Viola Davis (“How to Get Away with Murder”).

“House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey, who has never won an Emmy, missed out again for outstanding actor in a drama, which went to Rami Malek, the star of cyberspace security thriller “Mr. Robot.”

POLITICAL NIGHT

Ex-presidential hopeful Jeb Bush made a surprise appearance as a limo driver in a televised opening joke sequence, asking Kimmel what it’s like to be nominated.

Several stars took aim at divisive Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, either in prepared jokes or in acceptance speeches.

“I want everyone to know that after careful consideration, I decided I’m going with Trump — which is why I’m saying we should get rid of all Hispanic and Muslim actors,” said award-winning comedian and writer Aziz Ansari.

GLORY FOR ‘O.J. SIMPSON’

The win for FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson” for best limited series was the most widely predicted victory of the night, and the show — a scripted drama recounting the American football star’s shocking fall from grace — swept up acting prizes.

Sarah Paulson and Courtney B. Vance were rewarded in the lead acting categories for their acclaimed portrayals of sparring attorneys Marcia Clark and Johnnie Cochran.

Sterling K. Brown took home a statuette for his supporting actor role, while D.V. DeVincentis was recognized for the show’s writing.

In the battle of the networks, perennial leader HBO finished top with 22 Emmys — six on Sunday to add to its 16 from the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony last weekend.

FX, which scored the most nominations in history for a basic cable network, ended the night on 18 in total — twice as many as third-placed Netflix.

source: interaksyon.com

Jon Hamm, ‘Game of Thrones’ finally win Emmys glory

LOS ANGELES | HBO’s fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” won for best drama series and Jon Hamm finally took home a trophy for “Mad Men” on Sunday at the Emmy Awards — a night of firsts that saw a black actress make history.

Viola Davis gave an emotional speech as she became the first African-American to win the award for best actress in a drama series for her portrayal of a law professor involved in a twisted plot on ABC’s “How To Get Away with Murder.”

Other highlights of the show included a best comedy series prize for HBO’s political satire “Veep” and several prizes for Amazon’s dark transgender comedy “Transparent” — a major breakthrough for the streaming content provider.

“Game of Thrones” was the big winner at the star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles, raking in 12 awards, and HBO also struck gold with “Olive Kitteridge,” about a couple whose marriage is in trouble, which won eight awards.

“Thrones” – a sweeping epic filled with blood, sex and back-stabbing — had won many awards before, but never the top prize.

“Thanks again, HBO, for believing in dragons,” said series co-creator David Benioff.

But the emotional high points of the night — television’s equivalent of the Oscars — belonged to Hamm and Davis.

Hamm — whose portrayal of seductive, mysterious ad man Don Draper on retro-cool “Mad Men” had won him rave reviews and transformed his career — finally struck gold on his eighth nomination for the role.

“It’s incredible and impossible for me personally to be standing here,” Hamm said after receiving a standing ovation from the audience at the 67th Emmys.

For Davis, the moment was not one to be missed.

“Let me tell you something,” she told the audience to wide applause. “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.”

She thanked series creator Peter Nowalk, executive producer Shonda Rhimes and others, calling them “people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black.”

- Four-peat for Julia Louis-Dreyfus -

“Transparent”, about a transgender woman, won five Emmys overall for Amazon in its first year with nominations for its scripted content, as it tries to catch up with streaming pioneer Netflix.

Jeffrey Tambor took home the trophy for best actor in a comedy for his portrayal of a transgender woman in the series, which also took honors for directing, best guest actor in a comedy and for two technical categories.

“I have been given the opportunity to act because people’s lives depend on it,” Tambor said in his acceptance speech.

“I’d like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your stories. Thank you for your inspiration.”

In addition to top comedy series honors, “Veep” — the story of a female US vice president who rises to the presidency and her bumbling staff — saw its star Julia Louis-Dreyfus win for the fourth time in a row. Co-star Tony Hale won his second Emmy for best supporting actor in a comedy.

Louis-Dreyfus cracked a joke about Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump in her acceptance speech, saying, “It’s getting trickier and trickier to satirize this stuff.”

- Host Samberg quips -

Host Andy Samberg kicked off the ceremony with a musical video skit about the wealth of quality television now on offer, featuring several stars like Hamm and Kerry Washington, the star of “Scandal.”

Samberg — the star of Fox’s sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and a former cast member of US comedy show “Saturday Night Live” — then hailed this year’s event for recognizing diversity.

“This is the most diverse group of nominees in Emmy history,” he said, then quipping: “So congratulations Hollywood, you did it. Yeah, racism is over.”

source: interaksyon.com

‘Game of Thrones’ favored over ‘American Horror Story’ in Emmys

LOS ANGELES – Although “American Horror Story: Asylum” bested HBO’s fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” in picking up the most Primetime Emmy nominations on Thursday, the fright-filled FX miniseries could face another tough year at the fickle Emmys.

“It’s cursed by being in the horror genre,” Hollywood awards show handicapper Tom O’Neil of Goldderby.com said. “Emmy voters, like Oscar voters, are horrified of the horror genre and tend to stay away.”

The torture-filled miniseries set in a nun-run mental hospital picked up the same number of nominations as its predecessor, “American Horror Story: Murder House,” did last year, and “Murder House” was only able to win two Emmys – best hairstyling and best supporting actress, both in a miniseries.

It was not the only show to flop at last year’s Emmys, the top awards in U.S. television. Perennial favorite “Mad Men,” the depiction of the 1960s Madison Avenue advertising world, set a record for losses, walking away empty-handed after 17 nominations.

The Emmys honor a broad swath of television production, from the pinnacle prize of best drama series to more obscure ones like best sound mixing for non-fiction programming. There are 537 separate nominations and HBO alone picked up 20 percent of those.

The Time Warner cable channel’s “Game of Thrones” racked up 16 nods and should run away with victories in many categories, O’Neil said.

“‘Game of Thrones’ will sweep those tech categories,” the analyst said of its nominations in best sound editing, visual effects and single-camera picture editing for a drama series, among others.

But the handicapper, who said it has also been difficult in the past for fantasy series to break through in top categories, believes “Game of Thrones” is poised to cash in for nods in best drama series and best writing in a drama series.

“Suddenly what was unthinkable last year is possible,” O’Neil said. “It can win.”

VOTERS WARMING

One element working in “Game of Thrones” favor is the broad range of nominees put forward by voters. The series goes up against the likes of British period drama “Downton Abbey” and anti-terror thriller “Homeland,” last year’s top drama.

“But whereas ‘Downton’ may not have matched the quality of its earlier seasons this year, ‘Game of Thrones’ had its best and most-watched season yet, and made demonstrable inroads with actors, too,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg.

Peter Dinklage, who won best supporting actor for “Game of Thrones” in 2011, picked up his third consecutive nomination in the category, and fellow cast member Emilia Clarke scored her first Emmy nod in the best supporting actress category.

Both O’Neil and Variety’s Justin Kroll said that although Academy of Television Arts and Sciences voters are often slow in warming to fantasy series, a show’s popularity may ultimately win out.

ABC’s top-rated fantasy drama “Lost” is one recent example as it won best drama series in 2005. “Game of Thrones,” to its credit, is HBO’s second-most watched TV drama in its history, behind only “The Sopranos.”

“For a show with a largely international cast that is shot far outside the confines of the U.S. (Ireland, Iceland, Bulgaria etc.), it took a little time for the creative community to wrap its arms around the epic fantasy,” Kroll wrote.

source: interaksyon.com