The Game of Moans [OPINION]

I have never seen an episode of Game of Thrones nor do I have a desire to watch. But man, am I glad it's over!

My wife is a huge Game of Thrones fan. Thankfully, she says little about the program, at least not to me. When she is watching Game of Thrones, I either dive into a book or pop in the earbuds and get lost in some jazz or classical music. That's my escape.

It's not that I have anything against Game of Thrones per se; I am just not much of a TV guy, especially if it involves following a series week to week. I confess, though, I do watch Survivor every Wednesday night and have never missed an episode.

I have seen many clips from Game of Thrones. Last year for her birthday, I bought my wife tickets to the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience at Mohegan Sun and it was fantastic. I love live music and composer and director Ramin Djawadi did not disappoint. I have Seasons 1-7 on my Spotify and enjoy listening to it. But I won't watch the show. It just doesn't interest me.

What I find amazing, though, is the large number of folks who seem to love to hate Game of Thrones. People will rush home from parties or dinner so as not to miss the thing, and then complain for days about how disappointed they were. Last night's series finale was, I'm sure, a ratings phenomenon, and yet social media is nuts with people raging about how bad it was.

A Fox News headline screams, "Game of Thrones fans furious after series finale." Some fans actually signed a petition asking HBO to redo the entire final season with new writers. Rotten Tomatoes gave the series finale a 57! That's harsh!

Then there was this thing with a Starbuck's Coffee cup and a water bottle being visible in the final edited cut of the production in two of the final three episodes, which suggest carelessness on the part of the production staff.

Game of Thrones is over and so I imagine is the suffering of its fan base. At least for now, anyway. I hear tell one of the main characters walked off into the sunset at the end, which can only suggest a sequel and even more pain, suffering and moaning for Game of Thrones purists who will hate the follow-up for sure.

Just a bit of advice for my long-suffering GoT friends: shut the TV off and pop in the earbuds. You can always pop them out and go to bed if you don't like the tune.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.