TV shows have been on the rise for a long time, and it doesn’t seem like its slowing down at all. “Game of Thrones” came onto TV screens nearly 7 years ago, and its level of interest has only skyrocketed since the end of season 6. The problem with a show like “Game of Thrones” taking a break after a completed season….what are we supposed to watch now?! Netflix saved many people from TV boredom as shows such as “Stranger Things”, “Narcos”, and “The Get Down” (which are all shows I highly recommend) all aired in the absence of HBO’s biggest show.
Additionally, CW’s new lineup of superhero crossovers and shows have started these past few weeks. Even with all of these shows, I have been feeling a slight emptiness where “Game of Thrones” used to be for a good 10 weeks. However, all that has changed as soon as I watched HBO’s newest Sci-Fi thriller “Westworld.” HBO is planning well ahead as “Westworld” is going to be the clear front-runner TV show once “Game of Thrones” comes to a conclusion.
What is Westworld? Based off of the 1973 Sci-Fi thriller movie of the same name, imagine a futuristic theme park where you can fully immerse yourself in your western fantasies of being a cowboy, a sheriff, or the most notorious villain you’ve dreamt of, and then take that initial urge even deeper to the point where you can be your true self without the fear of any retaliation, and that is what Westworld is. It is an amusement park for the 1%ers of this world where guests can pay a large sum of money to do literally whatever they want in this Westworld, and with no fear of any type of retaliation from the “hosts”, the androids that help and cater to the guests needs. Check out the trailer below:
Anthony Hopkins takes the lead as the park’s creator, Dr. Robert Ford. He’s followed by an excellent cast in Evan Rachel Wood (“The Wrestler”, “Across the Universe”), Thandie Newton (“Mission Impossible: II”, “Crash”, “W.”), and Ed Harris (“Apollo 13”, “The Truman Show”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Snowpiercer”).
The first episode will definitely grab your attention and confuse you in a way that will make you want more. If Anthony Hopkins doesn’t convince you enough, this show is produced by J.J. Abrams, who has had an excellent resume of “reviving” or remaking past Sci-Fi series classics such as Mission Impossible, Star Trek, and now Star Wars. And if that isn’t convincing enough, this show was created by Lisa Joy and Jonathon Nolan, and if you’re familiar with movie directors then “Nolan” should ring out. Jonathon is the brother of Hollywood directorial giant, Christopher Nolan.
However, not only is Jonathon Nolan Christopher’s brother, Jonathon Nolan has helped his brother write a few of his greatest movies such as “The Prestige”, “The Dark Knight”, “The Dark Knight Rises”, and “Interstellar.” To add to this star studded list of cast and writers, Ramin Djawadi is the man behind the music for this show. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he is the one who helps bring “Game of Thrones” to another level due to his musical compositions.
This show has everything in the makings to be the next big thing. But with almost everything in life, nothing is ever a sure thing. One can only hope that this show will continue to tickle our minds and keep us intrigued and wanting more. I personally have no doubt that this show will be the next thing to take over people’s Sunday nights. If you haven’t checked it out and have HBO as a service, then please do yourself a favor and give this show a shot. A new episode airs every Sunday at 9pm on HBO, HBOGO, and HBONOW.