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“I’ve been privileged to work with some wonderful composers, and I’ve learned so much from them. With Tom it was a master class,” said George Miller, the “Fury Road” director. “He has a scholar’s mind. He studied law, taught music and sound design, and has a fierce, wide-ranging intellect. I guess he’s a kind of musical omnivore. But none of this gets in the way of an agile and powerful artistic intuition.”

Cast your mind back, way back. To a time when a handful of TV networks — none of them streaming — unquestionably ruled the TV landscape. To a time when looking at Twitter did not make you want to set rage fires every day. Back when the number of Supernatural seasons was in the single digits and Broad City hadn't even premiered. Bless the old gods, we were all so young back then.

Here's how different that the spring of 2011 was: I can recall a subset of hardcore Game of Thrones advocates expressing concern on fan sites about whether the fantasy saga would get renewed for a second season. And those fears weren't entirely unjustified.

The ratings for the first couple of episodes were respectable, but not break-out-the-champagne gargantuan. The overnight ratings for the pilot showed that more than two million viewers watched it — a mere fraction of the 16.5 million viewers the Season 6 finale had in a far more fractured television environment, but an okay premiere number nonetheless. As a show of faith that was quickly justified, HBO renewed Game of Thrones early into the first season. But it's worth remembering that Game of Thrones did not start out as a Big Deal. The death of Ned Stark (Sean Bean) late in Season 1 certainly propelled the drama into the public consciousness in a major way, but its growth into a colossus took a few years — years that occupy an interesting niche in the history of TV.

Photo: HBO

A re-watch of the show's pilot and second episode serves as a reminder that Game of Thrones acted as a bridge between two important television epochs — the male-centric, "Prestige Drama" Golden Age, and the slightly more egalitarian and friskier streaming era.

From the start, Game of Thrones was suffused with the anti-heroic flavor of a world in which characters struggle to make morally complex choices in an environment that does not encourage selflessness and altruism. Those themes were all over many of the most well-regarded programs of the aughts, which flowered mainly in the cable and premium cable realms on dramas that were commercially appealing but not generally franchise-friendly.

Game of Thrones Season 8: Everything We Know So Far

But the Game of Thrones premiere, like that of The Walking Dead in 2010, marked a turning point toward what I call Tentpole TV. The way both shows quickly became spin-off-generating, hugely profitable franchises convinced TV executives to start commissioning an enormous array of programs based on of comic books, science fiction, and fantasy properties — anything that would be likely to whip a San Diego Comic-Con crowd into a frenzy.

Of course, TV was doing all those things before the world become more acquainted with George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire saga. But the way that Game of Thrones succeeded — on the then-flagship network of Prestige TV, no less — put that trend into maximum overdrive. We'll be living with the beardy, sword-intensive results for decades to come.

In addition to turning TV toward tentpole territory, Game of Thrones was a step forward from the sausage-fest that TV had been almost forever, but especially in the anti-hero age. Of course, this attempt at a transition toward greater gender balance was fraught. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and Cersei (Lena Headey) were just two of a number of notable female characters who played key roles in the story from the start. But the show's treatment of its female characters, especially when it came to gratuitous nudity and sexual violence, was problematic, to say the least. For example, if you didn't get enough of Dany sobbing while Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) rapes her in the pilot, she cries again while he forces himself on her in the show's second episode. Then there's a Skinemax scene of one of Dany's handmaidens writhing around while teaching her how to please the Khal in bed. Sigh.

Photo: HBO

The way Game of Thrones has and hasn't transitioned into the new TV era is a fascinating case study to any student of television. And returning to the first two episodes offers plenty of examples of TV's most dismaying tendencies. The streaming era isn't perfect, of course, but TV now gives more quality screen time to female, LGBTQ, and non-white characters than it did a decade ago. However, at the start, and through most of its run, the core Game of Thrones cast was white, and Khaleesi's wedding in the pilot is a festival of tired tropes in which the non-white people on display are depicted as animalistic "savages." It's one of the most cringe-intensive part of Game of Thrones' series premiere, and the show's tin ear on race extended well beyond the first season.

The show's treatment of violence, sexual violence, and race turned some viewers off completely. Even as I continued to soldier on, I could see why. Game of Thrones could be so subtle, so haunting, so moving at times, and then at other moments hit the viewer over the head with clumsy cliches, offensive stereotypes and superficial dime store nihilism. Those breaks between seasons sometimes almost became permanent breaks for me as well.

Emilia Clarke Hints Stark Sisters Will 'Hate' Daenerys in Game of Thrones Season 8

Still, as frustrated as I got with Game of Thrones on a number of fronts, it was impossible to ignore. It so often embodied what was best and worst about TV, and I could never tell which was coming next. And it had dragons. I'm not made of stone; I had to see the battles and the dragons and the next holy sh-- moment.

But none of those big moments would work if individual characters' problems weren't intriguing. What's most striking when returning to the first two installments is how they set up the show's core moral questions quite efficiently. Should you be a good person? Well, that doesn't work — Arya (Maisie Williams) tried to do the right thing when Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) came across the butcher's boy, but her actions ended up causing pain, punishment, or death for everyone involved (RIP Lady).

Photo: HBO

Does coddling monsters mitigate the damage they can do? Probably not, because the attempts to pacify the aggrieved Joffrey didn't work in the short or long term. All right then — should you just be a scheming, selfish, amoral person? That's what Cersei is, but somehow she's more than that as well. What's incredible about Cersei's visit to the comatose Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) is that Lena Headey miraculously makes you feel a few shreds of sympathy for the women who helped engineer his near-death state. That is some next-level acting.

The world that the show lays out is brutal and confusing; it's one where "good" people can cause great pain and "bad" people can be the most fascinating individuals on the screen. Characters are often presented with multiple options, but much of the time, all those choices are scary, if not life-threatening. At its best, Game of Thrones thrived within that messiness and provided forward momentum, gorgeous visuals, and poignant conversations. And even laughs now and then (thank the gods for Tyrion's [Peter Dinklage] wine-soaked wit).

Game of Thrones: Las Vegas' Pick to Win the Iron Throne Is Interesting

Even so, at various points in its run, Game of Thrones sometimes embraced a form of lazy pessimism, as if the writers challenged themselves to think of the most cynical outcome for a given situation and went with whatever came to mind first. But that wasn't the tone at the start: The feeling was that this was a scary, terrifying world that dwarfed the fragile, breakable human bodies in it. Two minutes into the pilot, we got that awe-inspiring look at the Wall, but what made it seem so overwhelming were the little human shapes in front of it. The pilot sequences north of the Wall and at Winterfell are full of mystery, psychological insight, and well-wrought terror, and they did a fine job of setting the stage for what followed: There were ominous developments and an epic sense of scale, all of it anchored by humane performances. And that one scene where a bunch of the drama's hunky guys were shirtless (and we never got a scene quite like that again. Thanks for nothing, HBO).

Photo: HBO

Of course, the first two hours were mostly occupied by laborious set-up: The first half of the debut season was more efficient than excellent, and sometimes that efficiency faltered. Never forget that the Season 1's Hand's tournament looked like a bargain-basement ren faire in a forlorn corner of the Midwest. Seriously, revisiting the early days of Game of Thrones is like looking at your high school yearbook: Oh hey, tiny Arya! Remember how sketchy Cersei's early struggle wigs were? Sansa (Sophie Turner), do not make googly eyes at Joffrey, he is the literal worst! Ned Stark, you beautiful moron, don't leave Winterfell! Rickon (Art Parkinson), I guess you exist! And we can't forget Tyrion Lannister telling Jon Snow (Kit Haringon) to wear his outsider status "like armor" and slapping Joffrey repeatedly, which is, let's face it, something Tyrion should have done in every episode.

It was all there at the start: intrigue, power plays, eerie threats, quips, an array of storylines of varying quality, leather waistcoats, boobs (so many boobs), and incest. You can't argue that the first two hours of Game of Thrones failed to give you a reasonably accurate accounting of what was to come.

Three Game of Thrones-Inspired Cocktails You Can Make at Your Watch Party

All in all, as I watched, what I was most nostalgic for was the general lack of expectations for Game of Thrones back in the day. A decade ago, the TV show wasn't that big a deal to anyone but hardcore fans of the books. In 2011, a fantasy series with castles and magic and sad aristocrats could just be another TV show. Unlike the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV adaptation, Game of Thrones didn't face a crushing burden of expectations right out of the gate. It took more than half a season to truly find its feet, and back then, before certain precincts of TV became tentpole territory, that slow and steady build was perfectly acceptable.

All the first two episodes needed to do was convince me to keep coming back. Those early installments ticked that box, and started the process of getting me to care about many of the characters we will say goodbye to in 2019. Thank the new gods for HBO GO: Once Game of Thrones is over, we'll be able to watch every messy, dumb, beautiful, glorious moment of this transitional game-changer forever. What is dead may never die.

Game of Thrones premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9/8c on HBO.

PHOTOS: Game of Thrones Characters, Then and Now

Lana Del Rey teased a collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly via a short video on her Instagram account on Tuesday (Oct. 23). In the clip, simply captioned “@machinegunkelly,” Del Rey sits in a car as she listens to Kelly rap “Look, this is gonna end bad for you/ I’m gonna go mad for you/ I know you wanna be bad for me but I don’t wanna move to fast for you.”

The clip’s release comes after Kelly tweeted on Oct. 19 that he was working in the studio with Del Rey. Their collaboration has caused some outrage among Del Rey’s fans because of Kelly’s ongoing, and very public feuds with Eminem and G-Eazy.

Although Del Rey is set to release her new album, Norman Fucking Rockwell, next year, it’s unclear if the song she’s teasing is hers, or an MGK track that she’s featured on. 

Check out the clip below. 

Source: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8481553/lana-del-rey-teases-machine-gun-kelly-collaboration-watch

Salem is a city of broken hearts, and people's loves often die in bizarre, violent ways -- until Days of Our Lives decides to bring them back.

During the week of 10-22-18, Nicole appeared to perish in a fire, putting an end to a farfetched storyline about a miracle resurrection drug and a laboratory full of previously dead baddies that Kristen Dimera was trying to bring back to life.

Nicole's tragic death may lead to a ton of drama, but I doubt she's dead at all.

We've gone down this road too many times before for her death to be believable.

Every classic supercouple has gone through a presumed dead storyline. Jack Deveraux probably holds the record number of inaccurately reported deaths, but Hope, Marlena, Steve, and Will have all been presumed dead at one time or another and then showed back up at the most awkward time possible.

DAYS is determined to give Nicole and Eric supercouple status, so why not them, too?

Related: Get Shudder via Prime Video Channels for Spine-Tingling & Provocative Films, TV Series, & Originals!

The set-up is perfect for a return from the dead later on, too. Nicole's death was not shown on air; viewers saw her surrounded by flames and next saw a firefighter give Eric her necklace (which had somehow survived the blaze intact) and telling him he was sorry that there were no survivors.

Nicole could have escaped or been kidnapped by Kristen, who also supposedly died in the fire, since it didn't sound like her body had been found. 

I'm sad to lose Nicole because she's yet another one of my favorite characters to allegedly bite the dust, but it's hard to invest tears in her demise when it seems so likely she will be returning someday.

I'm more mad than sad about any of this. No pun intended, but I'm burnt out on all these character deaths!

The writers rarely write anyone out in any way other than killing them off, then inevitably scramble to find a way to bring them back when the actor becomes available again or fan demand for the character's return is high.

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to write characters out without killing them so that they could come back whenever the story calls for it?

I think it would have been poetic justice for Nicole to have had no romantic interest in Eric because he didn't believe in her enough to go looking when she first left town instead of believing her lies about not loving him anymore.

That would have been Eric's karma for dumping Jen so quickly when he heard Nicole might be available despite having promised her a billion times that Nicole was in his past!

And it would have been more in line with Nicole's strong, take no-nonsense character than her giving in to blackmail not once, but twice.

Related: Get True Crime Files by ID via Prime Video Channels for Over 1,000 Real-life Mystery & Suspense Shows!

It was also strange for Sami to be the voice of reason. She kept encouraging Eric to make reasoned decisions instead of taking stupid risks for Nicole's sake or saying things to Brady he might regret later.

It might even have suggested character growth on her part if not for the fact that she'd taken the same stupid risks to rescue a guy who might or might not be EJ thirty seconds before discouraging Eric from doing the same thing.

I did love their conversation anyway, though. Eric and Sami have that special twin bond, and we don't see it often enough.

Eric has always been portrayed as the "good" twin, but it was obvious the two of them aren't as different as everyone thinks. They both have an impulsive streak and a bad temper -- it's just that Eric hides it better when not caught up in some crazy drama around his love life.

I've never been an EJ fan, but at this point I'm hoping the mystery patient turns out to be him, because it would just be cruel for Sami to have saved some random guy that has nothing to do with her.

Now that Xander has also supposedly perished, though, I'd love it if Paul Tefler were recast as EJ. I always thought he had the right look, sound and attitude, and the way Xander treated Nicole wasn't much different from how EJ treated Sami back when he was a villain who forced her to have sex with him rather than the love of her life.

I'd still rather have Sami be part of this baby Bonnie mess than Chloe, though.

Chloe and Mimi were frenemies back in the Last Blast era in the 90s so pitting them against each other again is a nod to history. I get it.

But Sami and Lucas have two kids together and have always had each other's backs, so it makes little sense for her to have never crossed paths with him since her return to Salem.

He should have been concerned about everything going on surrounding Marlena's shooting and she should have been worried about this baby thing.

And with Belle defending Bonnie and Mimi, Sami being on Lucas' side would be a natural source of the kind of drama that only Sami can bring.

Sami already has a grudge against Belle because Belle insisted on following Marlena's Advance Directive, on top of the fact that these sisters' hatred for each other goes far beyond basic sibling rivalry.

Plus nobody does protective quite the way Sami does. Compared to what she'd do, Chloe's attempts to stand up to Bonnie and Mimi are nothing.

Maybe if I'd told Rex the truth in the first place, none of this would have happened. But it's too late now. That ship has sailed.

Mimi

Mimi must have been away from Salem for far too long if she thinks the one night stand she had with Rex and her resulting pregnancy are going to stay secret for long.

Every secret someone keeps eventually blows up in his or her face. I wish that just once, someone would remember that.

And if Mimi and Chloe dropped the decades-old grudge against each other, Chloe might tell her how well it worked out when she tried to keep her one night stand with Philip to herself, including the way Parker's paternity kept getting switched.

I like Rex so far, though. He's the best part of this story, and I'm glad Kate has yet another son putting her in her place about her nose being too much in his business.

Kate cracked me up with her defense against Rex's claim that she doesn't approve of her kids' romantic partners, which boiled down to her arguing that she would approve if only they chose people she approved of.

I don't understand how strong, overbearing Mama Bear Kate, who isn't above poisoning people she thinks have crossed her children and always gets away with everything she does to others, could be allowing Gabi to push her around in the awful gaslighting story.

Her scenes with Rex proved how out of character the rest of her behavior is. Even though I don't like Kate, when she's written properly she's a love-to-hate character, not just an annoying one.

I was glad that Chloe caught on to Bonnie's subterfuge, even if I did wish that honor had gone to Sami. But why is everyone else being so stupid?

It seemed to me that all Lucas had to do was take a video of Bonnie stumbling around drunk and forgetting she was supposed to be taking care of the baby and that would be the end of her custody case. 

Evil characters take videos of people to blackmail them all the time, so why don't the good ones ever think of it when it would actually be useful?

Mimi's constant hanging around the baby and having a more than sisterly interest in who gets custody should be a dead giveaway to everybody what's going on.

And the fact that Rex not only feels a bond with the baby, but Mimi freaks out every time he mentions her belonging to Lucas, should clue him in to something weird going on.

And what is wrong with Belle? One week she's insisting it would be totally unethical to ignore Marlena's Advance Directive and the next she's agreeing to go to court to perpetuate a fraud.

Belle promising to defend Mimi against Bonnie's bogus threat to turn her in for a murder that happened at least 30 years ago would have made sense.

This makes none and just ruins Belle's character. Again.

At least the Bonnie storyline is just irritating. It's not offensive like the Stefan/Gabi/Chad/Abigail mess continues to be.

There were so many problems with the developments in that story during the week of 10-18-22 that it's hard to know where to begin. 

Stefan's delusional dream that "Gabby" came to see him and beg him to get rid of Abigail for her was as boring as it was offensive.

Stefan and Gabby are not a love story. It is a rapist rationalizing his rape and the less we see of it, the better.

Days of Our Lives: Why Social Messaging Matters

This story about Chad deciding to have Abigail committed is full of inaccuracies that could discourage viewers with mental illnesses from seeking help, too.

It makes no sense that Justin could get a court order to involuntarily hospitalize Abigail without the testimony of a psychiatrist. The word of a lay person that "I think this person is dangerous" isn't enough -- a mental health professional is needed.

And even if Gabi's story were true, hitting someone over the head non-fatally during an apparent argument does not in and of itself meet the standard for danger to others required for involuntary hospitalization.

Plus, shouldn't the shape of her bruise in that photo prove she hit herself rather than being hit by someone else?

Storywise, it requires almost everyone to act out of character, too.

Jennifer "my kids are right even when they're wrong" Horton suddenly believes Kate's word over her daughter's.

Chad doesn't seem to be at all conflicted over making the heartbreaking decision to institutionalize his wife.

And unless JJ is playing Gabi, he's also suddenly been made stupid too for the sake of the story.

I really hope he is. Gabi's lies are obvious and it's bad enough Chad has turned into Mr. Oblivious without JJ doing it too.

JJ's been careful to say neutral things around Gabi that sound like he could believe her but has not directly supported her and told Abigail that he is on her side.

He's great at undercover work, so I'm cautiously optimistic that this is what he's doing.

He usually gets either no story at all or a terrible one, so I'd really like this one to break the mold.

Related: 7 Ways Days of Our Lives Could (And Should) Be Using JJ Deveraux

Abigail's solution to this whole thing was to divorce Chad and marry her rapist.

She seems to think she's using Stefan's delusions about Gabby to get him to help her, but she's playing with fire. 

Stefan is the one who needs to be committed and any sign that Gabby is coming back to him will cause him to behave in unpredictable ways. We already had one rape that was magically turned into consensual sex in this story and we don't need a repeat.

Besides, why does Abby have to marry Stefan for this plan to work?

All she has to do is divorce Chad and give someone she trusts power of attorney.

This story is so awful that I was grateful for the silly Hattie/Roman/John/Marlena story.

I don't like the way DAYS is misusing its vets. Roman is involved in keeping Hattie neutralized, while Abe is reduced to yelling about parking spots. But both of these stories are far less grating on my last nerve than this Abby garbage.

If nothing else, Hattie's interactions with Roman are good for a few laughs, though the idea that she'll willingly go back to prison because he said so doesn't make any sense.

If Roman has to be involved in this nonsense, why not have him convince a judge to terminate Hattie's sentence early because she was so helpful or something? 

And what's up with Abe? The Abe I've known and loved for over 30 years has far more important things to do than worry about someone parking in his spot.

Lani almost made me think she had learned something when she tried to explain to him that Sheila's behavior was a defense against getting hurt. Too bad she has an ulterior motive as usual.

She doesn't care about Sheila's need for a second chance. She just wants her away from Eli... even though she rejected Eli. 

So what did you think, DAYS fanatics?

Hit the comments with your thoughts on Days of Our Lives during the week of 10-22-18, and don't forget to check back on Sunday for our Days of Our Lives Round Table discussion.

Jack Ori is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.

Fox

The Resident (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) — The Resident returns with a familiar face gracing the hall of Chastain. Lane Hunter is back, and the families of the victims she “treated” are rightfully pissed off about her lack of prison time. Lane uses her freedom to continue blackmailing Dr. Bell while Conrad buries himself in work to cope with the news of his father’s diagnosis.

The Passage (Fox, 9:00 p.m.) — The premiere of this sci-fi thriller follows a dederal agent tasked with bringing in a 10-year-old girl who is the latest test subject of a sketchy organization called Project NOAH.

The Bachelor (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) — Colton begins his search for love by having eight bachelorettes go on a group date where they share the very intimate stories of their “firsts” with him. The only thing that makes this bearable is the appearance of Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman.

The Neighborhood (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) — Malcolm and Marty come to the rescue when Dave and Gemma’s elaborate plans for Grover’s birthday party go awry and Calvin’s gift sends one person to the hospital.

Happy Together (CBS, 8:30 p.m.) — Season one ends with Jake and Claire spending a wild night out and Cooper debuting new music for fans.

Magnum P.I. (CBS, 9:00 p.m.) — Higgins’ and Kumu’s lives are put in danger after Magnum decides to help a woman find her missing cousin, who just so happens to be a Russian fugitive.

Manifest (NBC, 10:00 p.m.) — Ben helps Cal to clear Captain Daly’s name after what happened to Flight 828, but their investigation uncovers a conspiracy that stems all the way back to the day the plane disappeared.

The Good Doctor (ABC, 10:00 p.m.) — The show’s midseason premiere picks up with the hospital still under quarantine as Shaun struggles to operate on patients in a noisy E.R.

LATE NIGHT GUESTS

Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Anne Hathaway, Colton Underwood, Jacob Banks

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Samuel L. Jackson, Judd Apatow, Mo

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert: James McAvoy, Sonequa Martin-Green, Kane Brown

Late Night With Seth Meyers: Allison Williams, Ryan Eggold, Sam Richardson, Jason McGerr

The Late Late Show With James Corden: Claire Foy, Andie MacDowell, Freya Ridings

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah: Derek Waters

It’s not just T-Series doing well at signing subscribers up for Indian-music YouTube channels. Zee Music Company has announced its own milestone: 30 million subscribers for its flagship YouTube channel, which mixes film and non-film music.

“Zee Music Company is now 30 million subscribers strong on YouTube India. A big THANK YOU to all for supporting us throughout our journey!” tweeted Zee’s official account.

T-Series is still some distance ahead: it has 82.7 million YouTube subscribers for its main channel. Still, Zee is set to ride the wave of new film ‘Gully Boy’ – at the time of writing, the track ‘Doori’ from that film has done 456k views in just three hours since its release.

Zee’s most popular video is Neha Kakkar’s ‘Mile Ho Tum’, which has 658.4m views since its release in July 2016. As we noted recently, Kakkar is now one of the most popular artists on YouTube, based on the service’s global charts.

Stuart Dredge

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NEW YORK—Scoring an inside scoop on the new celebrity couple, the tabloid website TMZ revealed Wednesday that Pete Davidson and Kate Beckinsale’s relationship is no more than a public-relations ploy orchestrated to raise the profile of the New York Rangers. “We’re in seventh place, the season’s winding down, and we need to do something to get people to pay attention to this team for the next month,” read a leaked email from Rangers publicist Kerry Stevens, who reportedly introduced the 25-year-old Saturday Night Live star and 45-year-old Pearl Harbor actress, convincing them to exchange long, deep kisses in order to foster fan interest. “With Pete and Kate on our team, we can show New Yorkers that no matter who’s winning, there’s still no better place to publicly make out with your date than right here by the ice in Madison Square Garden.” At press time, sources confirmed the Rangers’ five-game losing streak had prompted team officials to abandon the plan for all remaining home games and instead keep the Jumbotron camera continuously trained on a grimacing Christian Slater.