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Game of Thrones’ final season wasn’t as hated as you think, and we have proof

Chris Gates
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According to the online chatter, Game of Thrones‘ eighth season was a huge disappointment. Critics slammed Thrones‘ final batch of episodes for their rushed pace and sloppy storytelling, while fans were so outraged that over 1.7 million of them signed a petition asking HBO to film the entire season over.

However, an exclusive poll conducted by public opinion and data company YouGov shows that the naysayers may actually be the minority.

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According to YouGov’s survey, 52% of the people who watched Game of Thrones‘ final season were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with it, and 72% of them think that the show deserves the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. Only 41% of people surveyed said they were dissatisfied with season 8, with the rest having a neutral opinion.

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YouGov polled 2,475 adults online about Game of Thrones and other Emmy nominees between August 21, 2019 and August 23, 2019, with a 3% margin of error. Of the respondents, 18% said they’d watched every episode of Game of Thrones. The same number said that HBO’s fantasy drama deserves the Emmy Awards’ Outstanding Drama Series trophy.

Those aren’t just good numbers for a show that took a drubbing from fans. They’re the best numbers of any show in the two lead Emmy races. Only 10% of the people YouGov surveyed said they’d watched every episode of Better Call Saul and This Is Us, which are competing against Game of Thrones for Outstanding Drama Series, while a whopping 70% of them have never even heard of poor Outstanding Comedy Series contender Fleabag.

If YouGov’s numbers hold true among Emmy voters, Game of Thrones should end up with at least one prize at the Primetime Emmy Awards next week. 

Still, all of that Thrones love didn’t translate into a loyal fanbase for Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. YouGov’s survey says that only 29% of respondents are interested in watching what the two filmmakers make next (31% said they “don’t know”).

That’s got to be concerning for Lucasfilm, which is banking on Benioff and Weiss to restart the big-screen Star Wars franchise after its post-Episode IX-hiatus, and Netflix, which just locked the duo into a nine-figure development deal.

You can find the full results of the YouGov Emmy poll below. The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, where Game of Thrones is the odds-on favorite to take home plenty of gold, will air live on Fox on September 22, 2019, at 5:00 Pacific Time.

YouGov Digital Trends Emmy Poll by Mathew Katz on Scribd

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Chris Gates
Chris Gates
Contributor
Christopher Gates lives in Los Angeles, CA and writes about movies, TV, video games, and other pop culture curiosities. In…
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