HBO’s 73-Episode Fantasy Epic Set a Record It Could Never Break

For a glorious moment, narrative television was at its peak. Shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad seemed to define the golden age at the time, but everything changed in 2011 when Game of Thrones premiered on HBO. It wasn’t just a standard that all other shows would try to replicate. It was the first time that fantasy television went mainstream, and it did so because of the character-driven storytelling that was a hallmark of George R.R. Martin’s book series.