The hit HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones is associated with a lot of words like quality and epic, but pretty high on that list is the word nudity. Game of Thrones has never shied away from any sort of nudity before, unlike network television where sheets always carefully cover anything indecent. Well, that's how TV in America works anyway, but over in Canada, they like to play it a little more fast and loose. CTV, a Canadian broadcast network, will be airing all 10 episodes of Game of Thrones Season 1, uncut and uncensored with few commercial breaks. That means all the episodes will contain their respective curses, violence, and nudity. Advantage: Canada.
Beginning on August 8, CTV will air one episode of Game of Thrones a night at 10 p.m. until the season culminates on August 19 with "Fire and Blood." This is a notable not only for the fact that an HBO series will air on network TV, but that the episodes won't be tampered with in any major way. They aren't going to dub "fuck" over with "fudge" like they would do in the States. And while there will be commercial breaks, they will be limited in order to give the best viewing experience possible. Canada is going all in on this one.
And then, of course, there's the whole nudity thing. It's a pretty big deal for any network to show genitals, and it's something that would probably never happen in America - at least not anytime soon. (Some shows will feature buttocks, such as NYPD Blue, but that's about it.) Game of Thrones has inspired at least three different porn parodies, so it's not like NBC is going to throw it on after the six o'clock news. Even the edgier cable channels tend to shy away from showing that much nudity. CTV is taking precautions to make sure viewers know Game of Thrones is full swears and boobs, too, and there will be viewer discretion warnings in front of each episode to make sure everyone is on the same page.
This is no doubt awesome news for any readers up in Canada who don't have HBO or just haven't gotten around to watching Game of Thrones yet. The network may only be airing the first season, but a lot of people are going to get hooked on Jon Snow, Daenerys and the rest of the gang. It's unknown if CTV will do more season marathons, but if this one is successful, there will no doubt be more down the line.
We can only hope for something this cool in America, but in the meantime, Canada can have the spotlight. The highly anticipated Season 7 of the show might be delayed, so this marathon sounds like it's coming at as good a time as any to celebrate the series, eh?
