Boardwalk Empire

Speaking at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills yesterday, HBO Programming chief Michael Lombardo was asked about the futures of many of their key shows.

First up was Game of Thrones, and when talk turned to whether or not the lack of a final book in the series is worrying the cable network, he reiterated the fact that they’re still not in the least bit concerned about potentially finishing the TV show before George R.R. Martin concludes his story on the page.

“We’re not off on our own,”  he said of plans for Game of Thrones moving forwards. “George is an integral part of the creative team [and] every move is being choreographed very closely with him. We’ll have to figure it out with George. We’re in conversations with him.” Game of Thrones Game of Thrones

As for Martin’s comments that he believes the series should finish with a film, Lombardo completely dismissed such a plan, stating that there have been “no conversations” about moving the story to the big screen when they are ready to wrap up the many plot threads scattered throughout Westeros. They also don’t intend to end Game of Thrones any time soon, with at least two more seasons on the way.

Next was the highly anticipated second season of True Detective, and Lombardo would only reveal that “some announcements will be happening in the next week,” adding, “The two scripts we have are more exciting than the first season.” All we know at the moment is that they will be, “well-known names”.

For Boardwalk Empire fans, it was revealed that the final season will premiere on September 7th, but in some disappointing news, it will consist of only eight episodes. Previous seasons have been 12 each.

Oh, and Curb Your Enthusiasm fans will be very happy to learn that Larry David is still open to continuing the series, and Lombardo recalled a recent run-in with the creator. “I said, ‘So Larry, should I emotionally get Curb out of my head?’ He says, ‘No, no, no.’ As long as he’s still thinking about it, we have a place for him.”

There are obviously a lot of pretty interesting pieces of news to digest here, though it’s the promise of True Detective casting details which are arguably most worth getting excited over! Be sure to stay tuned to HeyUGuys as we’ll have details on that and all these shows for you as soon as they’re announced.