Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: When did the first season of the Game of Thrones TV series air?
Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of "A Song of Ice and Fire", George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, the first of which is "A Game of Thrones". It is filmed in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Scotland, Spain, and the United States. The series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and its seventh season ended on August 27, 2017. The series will conclude with its eighth season premiering on April 14, 2019.
Each ten-episode season of "Game of Thrones" has four to six directors, who usually direct back-to-back episodes. Alan Taylor has directed seven episodes, the most episodes of the series. Alex Graves, David Nutter, Mark Mylod, and Jeremy Podeswa have directed six each. Daniel Minahan directed five episodes, and Michelle MacLaren, Alik Sakharov, and Miguel Sapochnik directed four each. Brian Kirk directed three episodes during the first season, and Tim Van Patten directed the series' first two episodes. Neil Marshall directed two episodes, both with large battle scenes: "Blackwater" and "The Watchers on the Wall". Other directors have been Jack Bender, David Petrarca, Daniel Sackheim, Michael Slovis and Matt Shakman. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have directed two episodes together but only credited one each episode, which was determined after a coin toss.
"Game of Thrones" rapidly became a critical and commercial success after it started airing in April 2011. A few days after ratings for the second season's premiere, "The North Remembers", hit a series high of 8.3 million viewers, HBO announced the show's renewal for a third season. Prior to that announcement, there had been rumors and reports that showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss planned to shoot seasons three and four simultaneously. Benioff said that this would be very efficient, but impossible to write.
Game of Thrones: Season 1 is the soundtrack album for the first season of HBO series "Game of Thrones". Composed by Ramin Djawadi, it was released on June 14, 2011 for digital download and on CD. Djawadi accepted the task 10 weeks before the show premiered, after Stephen Warbeck left the project. The soundtrack has received neutral to favorable reviews and peaked at #17 on the U.S. Soundtrack Albums chart. It was nominated for International Film Music Critics Association for "Best Original Score for a Television Series".
"Beyond the Wall" is the sixth and penultimate episode of the seventh season of HBO's fantasy television series "Game of Thrones", and the 66th overall. It was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Alan Taylor. At 70 minutes, it was the series' longest episode until the airing of the season's finale.
Since shooting the pilot episode in 2009, Dinklage has portrayed Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series "Game of Thrones", for which he won three Primetime Emmys from seven consecutive nominations. He also received a Golden Globe for the role in 2012.
Introduced in 1996's "A Game of Thrones", Viserys (along with his younger sister, Daenerys) is one of the last confirmed members of House Targaryen who, until fifteen years before the events of the first novel, ruled on the Iron Throne for nearly three hundred years.
Merchant played Daenerys Targaryen in the unaired pilot of the HBO series "Game of Thrones", based on George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of fantasy novels. The pilot was poorly received, and as a result the first episode was completely remade. Merchant was replaced in her role as Daenerys by Emilia Clarke.
The series premiered on April 17, 2011, on HBO. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss both serve as executive producers along with Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger, Bernadette Caulfield and George R. R. Martin. Filming for the series has taken place in a number of locations, including Croatia, Northern Ireland, Iceland and Spain. Episodes are broadcast on Sunday at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, and the episodes are between 50 and 81 minutes in length. The first seven seasons are available on DVD and Blu-ray.
The Game of Thrones Tapestry is a hand-woven tapestry which currently stands at 66 m (217 ft) long, which was opened to the public on 21 July 2017 at the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Once finished, it will be longer than its inspiration, the Bayeux Tapestry, at 77 m (253 ft). The tapestry tells the entire story of the television show, "Game of Thrones". It consists of six 11 metre long panels of hand-woven fabric, and one 10.5 metre panel. The seven panels depict scenes from each episode of the aired seasons. After season 8 is aired in 2019, the tapestry is planned to grow to reflect that season's six episodes.
Clarke began her acting career with a small role in a 2009 BBC One series, Doctors. Since 2011, Clarke has gained international recognition, playing the character Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO series Game of Thrones, for which she has been nominated for an Emmy three times. In 2017, Clarke became one of the highest paid actors on television and earned £2 million per episode of "Game of Thrones".
For the show's first three series, the broadcast of "Still Game" was limited to BBC One Scotland. The show was then moved to BBC Two for the fourth series and shown throughout the UK. On 28 December 2005, the first Christmas special was shown on BBC One, the first national broadcast of the show on the channel. A fifth series of the show started filming in February 2006 and was shown the following June on BBC Two. As of 2006, series three had not been shown nationally, and only five episodes from the first two series were shown on national BBC Two from 17 January to 14 February 2004. The second series was shown nationally from 10 July 2008. This meant it was listed as a new series in TV listings, even though it is not for Scottish viewers.
Following its debut on 6 September 2002, 56 episodes of "Still Game" were aired, including Christmas and Hogmanay specials. The first three series were broadcast only on BBC One Scotland, though five episodes selected from the first two series were later broadcast throughout the UK on BBC Two from January – February 2004. From the fourth series, "Still Game" was broadcast across the UK on BBC Two. With the seventh series in 2016, the programme began to be broadcast on BBC One on a nationwide basis. An eighth series has been filmed, which started airing on 8 March 2018 on BBC One.
The character is portrayed by American actor Peter Dinklage in the HBO television adaptation "Game of Thrones". In 2011, Dinklage received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and later the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film for his portrayal of Tyrion in the HBO series. He won the Emmy again in 2015 and 2018. Among other accolades, Dinklage has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Introduced in "A Game of Thrones" (1996) and subsequently in "A Clash of Kings" (1998) and "A Storm of Swords" (2000), Tyrion was one of a few prominent characters that were not included in "A Feast for Crows" (2005) but returned in the next novel "A Dance with Dragons" (2011). The character will also appear in the forthcoming volume "The Winds of Winter". The popularity of the character led Martin and Bantam Books to publish "The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister", an illustrated collection of Tyrion quotes from the novels, in 2013.
Thronecast is a British television series on Sky Atlantic which is presented by Sue Perkins and Jamie East. It is an aftershow to "Game of Thrones", which also airs on the channel. Each episode is an hour in length and features interviews with members of the cast and crew, interaction with the audience and social media alongside analysis of the previous episode and a preview of the next episode of "Game of Thrones". It was the only official aftershow for the American series until HBO aired "After the Thrones" in 2016 – a show which was cancelled after only one series.
Jon Snow is first introduced in "A Game of Thrones" (1996), as he and his five siblings adopt six orphaned direwolf cubs. Known by all as Ned Stark's illegitimate son and with Ned's wife Catelyn despising him, Jon has always felt removed from the rest of the Stark family. He resolves to join the Night's Watch, as his status as a bastard prevents him from holding lands or marrying into a good family. At The Wall, the other recruits resent Jon's aura of superiority, but he makes amends by helping them master swordplay. He also befriends Samwell Tarly, a cowardly lordling who, despite being helpless with weapons, displays an aptitude for book learning. Jon's independence and his compassion for the recruits invite the ire of the harsh master-at-arms Alliser Thorne, who sees Jon as a threat to his authority. Jon gains the notice of the Lord Commander, Jeor Mormont, who names Jon his personal squire and grooms Jon for command. After learning of his father's execution, Jon resolves to desert the Night's Watch and join his half brother Robb, but the other recruits convince Jon to remain loyal to his Night's Watch vows. The next night, Jon saves Mormont's life by killing an undead wight. Mormont then orders a Great Ranging beyond the Wall to learn more of this new threat.
In "A Game of Thrones", Jon Snow is introduced as the 14-year-old illegitimate son of Eddard "Ned" Stark, Lord of Winterfell, and half-brother to Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon. Jon is described as having strong Stark features with a lean build, long face, dark brown hair and grey eyes. Jon has the surname "Snow" (customarily used for illegitimate children in the North) and is resented by Ned's wife Catelyn, who views him as a constant reminder of Ned's infidelity. Jon is the same age as Robb and enjoys a warm relationship with his siblings, particularly the tomboy Arya (who resembles Jon and like him does not feel like she fits in). Ned treats Jon as much like his other children as propriety and his honor will allow. Still, as somewhat of an outsider, Jon has learned to be independent and to fend for himself when necessary. Jon idolizes his father, but is wounded by Ned's refusal to tell him about his mother. At the beginning of the story, Jon adopts the albino direwolf that he names Ghost. He later finds that at times he can "inhabit" the wolf and share its experiences.
The series premiered as a one-hour television film, "Spark of Rebellion", on October 3, 2014, on Disney Channel prior to the premiere of the series on October 13 on Disney XD. The first season consisted of 14 episodes (released as four shorts, a film, "Spark of Rebellion", and 13 regular episodes) and the series features new characters along with ones from the original trilogy. The second season of 20 episodes premiered on June 20, 2015, with a one-hour television film, "The Siege of Lothal". The third season of 19 episodes premiered on September 24, 2016, with another one-hour television film, "Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow". On April 15, 2017, during "Star Wars" Celebration, it was announced the fourth season would be its last: it premiered on October 16, 2017, with another one-hour television film, "Heroes of Mandalore", and its final episode aired on March 5, 2018.
Game Show Network launched at 7:00 p.m. ET on December 1, 1994. The first aired game show was "What's My Line?". From 1994 until about 1997, the network aired classic pre-1972 game shows as well as game shows made after 1972, most of which came from the Mark Goodson–Bill Todman library. The network aired game shows in a 24-hour cycle, and also used live interstitials as wraparound programming. In its first few months, GSN's commercials consisted of public service announcements (PSAs), promotions for its programming and commercials related to network parent company Sony. By 1995, when the network began to expand, the network began accepting conventional advertising as it gained new sponsorships. On March 17, 1997, the Game Show Network rebranded with a new presentation package and a new logo (which had the network's name in boxes and a colorful swirling ball) and a new slogan "All Play, All Day". While the logo changed, its programming remained unchanged, the network also debuted new promos and new idents on that day, which were designed by graphics agency Lee Hunt Associates.
"Stargate SG-1" is an American-Canadian military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, based on the 1994 feature film "Stargate" by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. The first five seasons of the television series were broadcast by Showtime before the series moved to the Sci Fi Channel for its last five seasons. "Stargate SG-1" premiered on Showtime on July 27, 1997; its final episode aired on Sky1 in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2007. "Stargate SG-1" was nominated for and won numerous awards in its ten-season run.
The season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 15, 2016, in region 1 and March 14, 2016, in region 2.
On April 11, prior to the airing of the season's first episode, screener copies of the first four episodes were leaked to several file sharing sites. According to TorrentFreak, 18 million different IP addresses downloaded the leaked episodes, totaling 32 million downloads during the first week. The fifth season of "Game of Thrones" was the most-pirated TV series in 2015.
The soundtrack album of the sixth season of HBO series "Game of Thrones", titled Game of Thrones: Season 6, was released digitally on June 24, 2016, and later released on CD on July 29, 2016. The album reached No. 1 on the "Billboard"s Soundtracks chart, and the track from the season finale "Light of the Seven" reached No. 1 on "Billboard"s Spotify Viral 50 chart. The "Light of the Seven" is the first time piano is used in the music for "Game of Thrones". The album was composed by Ramin Djawadi. The soundtrack has received favorable reviews and peaked at #1 on the U.S. Soundtrack Albums chart and #27 on the U.S. Billboard 200. It won an International Film Music Critics Association for "Best Original Score for a Television Series".
The fourth season of "Game of Thrones" was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on .
Between January 30 and February 5, 2015, the last two episodes of season four were shown in 205 IMAX theaters in the U.S. "Game of Thrones" is the first TV series released in this format. The show earned $686,000 in its opening day at the box office and $1.5 million during its opening weekend. The one-week release grossed $1,896,092.
Beginning on January 23, 2015, the last two episodes of season four were shown in 205 IMAX theaters across the United States; "Game of Thrones" is the first TV series shown in this format. The show earned $686,000 at the box office on its opening day and $1.5 million during its opening weekend; the week-long release grossed $1,896,092.