The TV Column

Winter filming delay pushes Thrones return to July

Game of Thrones left off with (from left) Tyrion, Missandei and Daenerys (Peter Dinklage, Nathalie Emmanuel, Emilia Clarke) sailing toward the showdown in Westeros. The series returns to HBO this summer.
Game of Thrones left off with (from left) Tyrion, Missandei and Daenerys (Peter Dinklage, Nathalie Emmanuel, Emilia Clarke) sailing toward the showdown in Westeros. The series returns to HBO this summer.

I'll take any excuse to run a Game of Thrones photo.

The occasion this time is the official announcement by HBO of when the series will return for its seven-episode Season 7.

Seven episodes is three fewer than normal and, to add to our angst, it will be the penultimate season. Only one season of six episodes is left after this.

Save the return date: 8 p.m. July 16.

Up until now, GoT (as Thrones fans refer to it) has been a spring series, but the later debut was caused because production delayed the shooting schedule to allow for more wintry weather in the outdoor locations.

Yeah, yeah. "Winter is coming; winter is coming." Well, it's finally here.

The delay is good news for the series' Emmy competition. The late return means the series will miss the deadline for the 2017 Emmy Awards. GoT is an Emmy steamroller. It has won the most Emmys of any scripted series in history -- 38. Last year, the drama snatched a dozen statuettes.

Season 7 promises to be full of action as forces converge from all across the landscape and the sea.

Still, almost four months is a long time to wait. Here's a refresher on where we stood June 26 when we last saw the show.

Cersei (Lena Headey) had blown up the Sept of Baelor, killing her enemies and half the nobles in King's Landing. Her son, Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman), killed himself in grief over the death of his wife, Margaery (Natalie Dormer), leaving Cersei sitting on the Iron Throne.

Meanwhile, Varys (Conleth Hill) is trying to broker an alliance between Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and House Tyrell to take on the Lannisters.

Jon Snow (Kit Harington) has banished Melisandre (Carice van Houten) from Winterfell as the Wildlings, Knights of the Vale and others decree Jon to be the new King of the North.

Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) rejected Petyr Baelish's (Aidan Gillen) lusty and self-serving advances; her sister, Arya, (Maisie Williams) has slain Walder Frey and his sons.

Sam and Gilly (John Bradley-West, Hannah Murray) have finally reached Oldtown with the baby. Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) used his vision powers to learn of Jon's true parentage.

Jon, it turns out, is not the bastard son of Ned Stark, but the son of Lady Lyanna Stark, Ned's sister, and Rhaegar Targaryen, the Prince of Dragonstone. Jon was raised from infancy by Ned as his own, but his true parentage was kept secret.

Finally, and most importantly, Daenerys and her three dragons (Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion) have set sail for Westeros with Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and a hoard of Dothraki, Ironborn, Dornishmen, Reachmen and Unsullied at her side.

Oh, yeah. The White Walkers have returned. There's that little inconvenience up north.

Over six seasons, Game of Thrones has evolved into a much heralded pop culture phenomenon. It is the most-watched series ever to air on HBO, which claims more than 20 million viewers per episode once you tally up live viewing, encores, on demand and other platforms.

Nashville. Now that Connie Britton (Rayna Jaymes) has left the series, CMT has announced that Rachel Bilson (The OC, Hart of Dixie) and Kaitlin Doubleday (Empire) will join the cast of Nashville. No word yet on their characters.

Nashville aired its midseason finale -- a sort of farewell to Rayna -- on March 9 and will return this summer with the next 11 episodes.

I've gotten email from readers who wondered why Britton left the show and questioning whether it'll be worth watching without her.

As much as I love Britton (and she's marvelous), I agree with her that it was time to move on. The series had become bogged down with a surplus of story lines and her departure will tighten everything up. I mean, look at that heart-tugging duets scene at the end of the last episode.

I'm a grown man and I teared up. I know Nashville is one big sappy soap opera, but the music is good and the characters intriguing. It'll be even more so now that beloved Rayna has passed on to the Grand Celestial Ol' Opry.

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Style on 03/21/2017

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