here is an alternate take:
i did not watch GoT when it was airing. i avoided talk of it and didnt watch it at all. i had read reviews of the books basically saying that martin was a shitty writer and the prose was terrible, so i never bothered to get into it. a friend convinced me this past winter to watch it. i decided to just binge watch it, starting on a trip to europe where i'd be in the air for 8 hours. i watched the first 2.5 seasons in basically one trip to europe and back. watching the episodes in quick succession made it easier to follow what was happening. i then just motored through the rest of the series, and probably ended up watching the whole thing in 1 month.
there are obvious flaws in the show, some of the character development is awful, some of the stories just drag, key players disappear for entire seasons, and it is kind of strange. i find the over exuberant sexual violence to be a bit much, and i wonder about the kind of guy martin really is. that said, some of the storytelling is good, some of the acting is good. i do think some of the critical acclaim for the show is way over the top, i would not put it anywhere close to the wire, the sopranos, six feet under or breaking bad. that speaks more to all of the amazing television we've seen in the last 15 years than how bad GoT is. its still a good show. im excited to see the last batch of episodes, and i imagine it will be really difficult to do it "correctly" and it not turn into a giant fucking mess.
