'Game of Thrones' will officially end after season 8, confirms HBO boss
The network would "take 10 seasons if we could," but the show's creators are adamant that eight will be the number.
"Game of Thrones" will indeed end its HBO run in season 8.
"Game of Thrones" is officially ending with season 8.
HBO's president of programming, Casey Bloys, announced during his first presentation for the Television Critics Association fall previews that "Game of Thrones" will definitely end after the next 2 seasons. Bloys admitted that HBO would "take 10 seasons if we could," but show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have been adamant that 8 seasons was the right number.
Bloys also confirmed that the show's delayed production of season 7 will take "Game of Thrones" out of Emmy contention in 2017. The panel's "Game of Thrones" news wasn't all bleak, though. A spin-off is absolutely not out of the question. "We've talked about it. I am certainly not opposed to it," he said. "There are no concrete plans for it at this point."
Bloys also had a few other major announcements to make, including HBO's decision to put "The Larry Sanders Show" online in September. Here are the other important highlights from the panel:
"Westworld" premiere: The highly anticipated series "Westworld," an adaptation of the 1973 movie about killer robots, from "Person of Interest" creator Jonathan Nolan, will premiere October 2 at 9 p.m. ET and PT/8 p.m. CT.
"The Larry Sanders Show" returns: HBO is bringing back the groundbreaking comedy series created by the late Garry Shandling. All 83 episodes of "The Larry Sanders Show" will be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals starting Friday, September 23. The award-winning show will also air on HBO Comedy starting Monday, September 26.
"True Detective" may live again: Bloys confirmed that he is not giving up on "True Detective."
"We are open to a third season. I think it's fair to say that Nic [Pizzolatto] doesn't have a take," he said. "We are open to someone else writing it and Nic overseeing it. It's not dead, but we don't have the right take for a third season yet."
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" will return: HBO confirmed that Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" will begin production this fall and premiere in 2017. The returning cast is still pending.
Jon Stewart's animated news show still on track for fall premiere: Jon Stewart is developing an "animated parody of a cable news network" for HBO under a four-year production deal. The idea is that Stewart will produce multiple animated shorts per day that respond to daily news in real time and will be released on HBO's digital platform HBO NOW. "It will be Jon's voice, both his actual voice and tone," Bloys said. "My hope is that it will be up and running September or October, but its a big endeavor." The digital shorts will also be compiled into a show on HBO.
"Real Time with Bill Maher" renewed through 2018: HBO is renewing the political and news discussion series "Real Time with Bill Maher" through 2018, bringing the show's season total to 16. The news comes as the show currently averages 4.4 million viewers per episode in the election season -- the most since its premiere in 2003.
HBO is looking into a female-led talk show: Though there's nothing officially in the works, Bloys said HBO is very open to having a female-led talk show on the network. "It's not a plan, but it's a desire. I think it would be nice to have somebody other than white men in late night," he said.
This story originally posted as "HBO's Boss on Game of Thrones' End, Jon Stewart's New Series and a Female-Led Talk Show" on TVGuide.com.