The Directors Guild has announced this year’s nominations for its annual award, and I’m delighted to report that Tim Van Patten has been nominated for his direction of our first episode, “Winter Is Coming.”

http://www.dga.org/Awards/Annual.aspx#drama

Van Patten faces some tough competition, sharing the ballot with Michael Cuesta (HOMELAND), Vince Gilligan (BREAKING BAD), Patty Jenkins (THE KILLING), and Michael Waxman (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), but I’ll be pulling for him… to win the award, and to come back and direct some more episodes for us in future (though BOARDWALK EMPIRE is keeping him plenty busy).

With this DGA nomination, and the SAG and WGA nominations previously reported here, it means that GAME OF THRONES has been recognized by all three of the major Hollywood guilds.

Pretty damn cool.

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… HBO has scheduled the second season debut for APRIL 1 (no foolin’).

Promotions are already underway. While I was travelling, two new “Making Of” videos were released by HBO. I think you’ll like ’em.

CROATIA
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ART DIRECTION
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Sad to say, I was not able to visit any of the sets this season while the shoot was going on (I wanted to, but after spending so much of the summer and fall on the road promoting A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, I needed to stay home and get some writing done), so most of this is as new to me as it is to you. I’m thrilled. Season two looks as though it will be a feast for the eyes.

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The end of the year draws nigh, which means it is time for everyone and his sister to release their list of the year’s best this-and-that.

I’m thrilled to say that in almost all the lists of the best television shows of 2011, HBO’s GAME OF THRONES is turning up.

To wit:

ROLLING STONE !“ 1/5/12 issue
!œ2011 Season: Why We Watched!
Rob Sheffield
http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/7000XH/7000XH_92740
Rolling Stone lists Ned Stark’s execution on !œGame of Thrones! as one of the highlights of the 2011 television season.

PEOPLE WEEKLY !“ 12/26/11 issue
!œTop ten shows!
Tom Gliatto
http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/7000XH/7000XH_92925
!œGame of Thrones! ranks third in Gliatto’s list of 2011’s best TV.

TV GUIDE !“ 12/19/11 issue
!œMatt Roush’s Top 10!
Matt Roush
http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/7000XH/7000XH_92918
Roush awards !œGame of Thrones! fifth place in his list of the year’s best television

TIME !“ 12/19/11
!œThe Best of 2011: Television!
James Poniewozik
http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/7000XH/7000XH_92794
!œGame of Thrones! makes TIME’s list of the top ten shows of 2011.

HITFIX !“ 12/13/11
!œTV Top 10 of 2011: The Best 10 (or 11) Overall Shows!
Alan Sepinwall shares his top 11 TV shows of 2011, which includes Game of Thrones.
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/tv-top-10-of-2011-the-best-10-or-11-overall-shows

The Washington Post -12/11/11
!œBest of 2011: Television!
Hank Stuever
http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/7000XH/7000XH_92820
!œGame of Thrones! makes The Washington Post’s list of the year’s top television shows.

NEWSDAY !“ 12/11/11
!œPlaying it to the hilt!
Verne Gay
http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/7000XH/7000XH_92816
!œGame of Thrones! makes it onto Newsday’s roundup of the year’s top five TV shows.

AFI TV Top 10 !“ 12/11/11

!œGame of Thrones, Homeland Crack AFI’s TV Top 10!
The American Film Institute’s Top 10 TV Shows of 2011 lists Game of Thrones.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047333?refcatid=13
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/12/11/afi-top-10-tv-list-2011-game-of-thrones-louie/
http://www.hitfix.com/articles/game-of-thrones-homeland-crack-afis-tv-top-10

THE ATLANTIC WIRE !“ 12/12/11
!œThe Best Television of 2011!
Game of Thrones lands on The Atlantic’s list of Top TV shows of 2011.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2011/12/best-television-2011/46048/

TIME – 12/7/11

!œThe Top 10 TV Episodes of 2011: The Best and the Rest!
TIME compiles a list of the top 10 TV episodes of the year, which includes Game of Thrones’ !˜Baelor’. Honorable mention goes to !˜The Wolf and the Lion.’
http://entertainment.time.com/2011/12/07/the-top-10-tv-episodes-of-2011-the-best-and-the-rest/

!œThe Top 10 TV Series of 2011: The Best and the Rest!
Game of Thrones makes TIME’s list of 2011’s best TV series.
http://entertainment.time.com/2011/12/07/the-top-10-tv-series-of-2011-the-best-and-the-rest/

TVology – 12/6/11
!œOlogy Presents: The 10 Best Shows Ever 2011!!
Ology ranks Game of Thrones as one of the best shows in 2011.
http://www.ology.com/tv/ology-presents-10-best-tv-shows-ever-2011

My hat is off to David Benioff, Dan Weiss, our amazing cast and crew, and all the great folks at HBO who helped make the first season of GAME OF THRONES such a success.

And the best is yet to come…

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… right along with winter.

If you’re starting to get frantic looking for gifts for the GAME OF THRONES fans in the family, do go check out the HBO shop: http://store.hbo.com//?v=hbo_shows_game-of-thrones&PID=4545541&ecid=AFF-7973318&pa=affcj

HBO has rolled out all sorts of cool new stuff for the holidays, including heraldic skins for your tablets and MP3 players, dragon’s egg and Iron Throne paperbacks, a whole range of mugs (including one with the oath of the Night’s Watch), coasters, key chains, t-shirts, etc etc etc

And of course you can also pre-order the first season of the show on DVD or Blue-Ray, though those won’t be arriving in time for Xmas.

Happy shopping!

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The end of the year is nigh, awards season is on hand, and nominations are breaking out all over for HBO’s GAME OF THRONES series.

This morning the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the finalists for their Golden Globe Awards, GAME OF THRONES was nominated in the Best Television Series – Drama category, where we’ll be competing with AMERICAN HORROR STORY, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, BOSS, and HOMELAND.

GOLDEN GLOBE

Peter Dinklage also earned a noomination, for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister. For a full list of all the Golden Globe nominations, go to: http://www.goldenglobes.org/blog/2011/12/the-69th-annual-golden-globe-awards-nominations/

The Golden Globes will be presented in Beverly Hills on Sunday, January 15.

GAME OF THRONES also rated a nod in the 18th annual Screen Actor’s Guild awards for outstanding performances, where the entire cast won a nomination for Outstanding Performance for an Ensemble in a Drama Series. The other nominees are DEXTER, BREAKING BAD, THE GOOD WIFE, and BOARDWALK EMPIRE.

SAG AWARD

SAG also nominated our sensational stuntmen (and stuntwomen) for Oustanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series. We’ll be competing against SPARTACUS, TRUE BLOOD, SOUTHLAND, and DEXTER.

For a full list: http://www.sagawards.org//awards/nominees-and-recipients/18th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards. The winners of the SAG awards will be announced on Sunday, January 29, from Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, over at the Writers Guild, our writing staff was twice nominated in the 64th annual WGA awards. In Best Drama, we will be on the ballot beside BREAKING BAD, THE GOOD WIFE, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, and HOMELAND. We’re also up in Best New Series, where we will be competing against EPISODES, HOMELAND, THE KILLING, and NEW GIRL.

WGA AWARD

The full list of nominees can be found at http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1516 The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in LA on Sunday, February 19.

Congratulations to all our nominees… ((and condolences to those who were not nominated, and deserved to be. You were robbed! Wait till next year!!)).

Keep your fingers crossed. Toes too! Tentacles, if you’ve got ’em!

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