TV fans that have been clamoring for a la carte options in their programming purchases might be a small step closer to seeing their dreams become reality.  Comcast is the first major cable company to offer HBO and HBO Go with a basic subscription that does not include a cable TV package, excluding channels and channel groups such as ESPN, Fox News and TNT.  Their “Internet Plus” test group offers HBO and HBO Go alongside broadcast TV, video-on-demand, 20 or 25-Mbps broadband, and Comcast’s VOD service, Streampix.  This limited-time offer isn’t available in all areas and is aimed at new residential customers.  Hit the jump for more fine print details.

The internet meme known as “Bad Lip Reading” has made its way to Game of Thrones, and the results are quite funny.  For those unfamiliar, the video involves dubbing over footage from a famous movie or TV show (in this case HBO’s insanely popular Game of Thrones) with squirrely lines that kinda sorta fit with the actors’ mouth movements.  Though this version, titled “Medieval Land Fun-Time World,” starts off a bit shaky, it starts to come together as soon as Tyrion and Joffrey’s dubbing begins.  The result is a cross between Adventureland and Clueless set within the confines of Westeros.

Hit the jump to take a look.  Game of Thrones will return to HBO with season four sometime next spring, likely in March or April.

The Descent filmmaker Neil Marshall hasn’t directed a feature film since 2010’s Centurion, but it looks like that may finally change very soon.  Marshall earned high praise for helming the “Blackwater” episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and now Deadline reports that he has signed on to rewrite and direct a remake of the 2010 Norwegian film Troll Hunter.  Production is looking to get underway in early 2014 while there’s still snow on the ground, which means that things are going to move very quickly on the project.  The original pic centered on a group of students investigating mysterious bear killings who come across a troll hunter and, subsequently, a giant troll.

Hit the jump for more, including news of Marshall helming another massive episode of Game of Thrones.

HBO has released a deleted scene from the upcoming Game of Thrones: Season 3 Blu-ray/DVD.  In the scene, Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) is in the middle of fishing when he’s confronted by Grand Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover) begging to get his seat back on the high council.  We were shown this scene at Comic-Con, and I loved it.  I can kind of understand why it was cut since every episode packs in so much material, and this scene doesn’t drive the plot forward.  However, it completely changes our perception of Pycelle through a surprising and dramatic reveal.  That’s not to mention the terrific performances from Dance and Glover.  While it may not have been deemed essential by the showrunners, I’m glad that fans will still get a chance to see it.

Hit the jump to watch the deleted scene.  Game of Thrones: Season 3 will hit Blu-ray and DVD on February 18, 2014.

While at the HBO portion of the TCA Press Tour, President of Programming Michael Lombardo and co-President Richard Plepler took some time to talk about new and returning programming.  During the interview, they spoke about how long Game of Thrones and True Blood could run for, what they have currently in development with both David Chase (The Sopranos) and David Milch (Deadwood), the status of the Criminal Justice pilot and why they think it’s best to recast the role James Gandolfini played, the possibility of a second season for Family Tree and a third season for The Newsroom, the half-hour series about high school life that they’re developing with Danny McBride and Jody Hill, and that they are no longer moving ahead with a Transporter series at Cinemax.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

For those of us not lucky enough to be at San Diego Comic Con this year and see all of the panels for ourselves, here are the full videos for some of the television panels that were live blogged and tweeted but that have not, until now, been able to be seen by all.  It’s finally time to check out some of those awesome surprises from the Game of Thrones panel, and get hyped seeing the Breaking Bad cast together in anticipation of the series’ final few episodes that will start airing next month.

Hit the jump for all of the videos, including for The Walking Dead, The X-Files 20th Anniversary Reunion Panel, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Community, Sherlock, Hannibal, Teen Wolf, and Veronica Mars.  Don’t forget to click these links for live recaps along with many others which also include information about footage shown at the Con that’s not available online.

Game of Thrones was an odd presence at Comic-Con’s Hall H last year. On the one hand, it was an obvious inclusion. It’s hugely popular among geeks, and it can fill the room easily. But on the other hand, they had nothing to show because filming on the upcoming hadn’t begun. That also means that showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff weren’t on hand to answer questions. Instead, the panel rests entirely on the actors and their interactions with fans. I assumed we’d be getting the same thing at this year’s Comic-Con panel, but with more actors and a different moderator (Elvis Mitchell instead of author George R.R. Martin). Instead, Weiss and Benioff were on hand, they had some fun stuff to show, and aside from Mitchell’s weak, scattershot questions for the panel, it was a big improvement.

Hit the jump for a recap of the panel. Game of Thrones returns spring 2014.

The Emmy nominations have always produced a mixture of boredom and anger among TV fans, but save for a few surprises (like Netflix’s 14 nominations), the 2013 Emmy nominations are so lazy they are almost identical to 2012.  Yes, we are in the Second Golden Age of TV, yes there are tons of great shows that, without expanded categories, are not going to get nominated in the current system.  But what about taking a deeper look into the casts of the shows that are always nominated?  Might there be some diamonds in the rough behind the marquee names that might deserve recognition?  Hit the jump for a rundown of the major categories and a comment at the reality of the nominations, and then a list of snubs and a call for you to add your own to the list (because everyone will have a favorite who is forgotten). 

The 65th Emmy Awards Nominations have been announced, and Netflix’s House of Cards has made history.  The original series marks the first TV show released exclusively online to land top honors, as the David Fincher-produced series nabbed 9 nominations including Best Drama Series, Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Actress (Robin Wright), and Best Director for Fincher—actor Cory Stoll’s excellent work, though, was not recognized.  American Horror Story once again nabbed the most nominations with 17, though the only major nods were for Best Miniseries and Lead Actress in a Miniseries for Jessica Lange.  Game of Thrones followed with 16 nods overall.

House of Cards appears to have knocked Boardwalk Empire out of the Best Drama Series category, as the latter failed to secure a nod.  FX’s The Americans was surprisingly absent as well, and other surprises include New Girl being completely shut out, Mad Men failing to land any writing or directing nominations, Vera Farmiga getting a Best Actress nomination for Bates Motel, and Elizabeth Moss being double nominated for Mad Men and Top of the Lake.  Hit the jump for the list of major nominations.

While walking around the Gaslamp district outside Comic-Con this morning, I snapped a ton of pictures of the various movies and TV shows advertising on the sides of buildings and on the street.  While these images barely scratch the surface of what’s about to be unleashed when the Comic-Con doors open at 5pm, for now you can check out some posters for Breaking Bad, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, The Smurfs 2, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and NBC shows like Revolution and Dracula.  Look for a lot more Comic-Con images later today.

Differences between the A Song of Ice and Fire book series and HBO’s Game of Thrones TV series are one of the most divisive issues in the fandom, but now the book series’ author George R. R. Martin is throwing his two cents in about HBO’s Iron Throne versus the one he imagined.

No adaptation is perfect, and while fans have vehemently debated the changes to character arcs and some of the casting choices, the setting of the show and the art direction have rarely come into question.  Still, Martin obviously has had a bone to pick about the HBO-designed Iron Throne for awhile.  Hit the jump for his reasons, as well as the thumbnail picture he posted.

Yesterday we got a look at the rather tame Comic-Con 2013 schedule for Wednesday’s Preview Night and Thursday, and today SDCC has unveiled the full panel lineup for Friday, July 19th.  Last year was the first year that Comic-Con moved TV panels into Hall H for days other than Sunday, and after getting a look at Friday’s lineup, the Con is starting to look more and more like a TV convention.  While there are first-looks at The World’s End, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Kick-Ass 2, and Riddick to look forward to, the entire convention is packed with TV panels on Friday, including Hall H panels for The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and the Veronica Mars movie.

I’m baffled by the fact that the panel for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Joss Whedon is being held in Ballroom 20 and not Hall H, and at the same time as the Walking Dead panel no less.  Hit the jump to take a look at the highlights from Friday’s schedule.  Comic-Con 2013 runs from July 18th – July 21st.

One of the best episodes of HBO’s immensely popular fantasy series Game of Thrones thus far is undeniably season two’s “Blackwater.”  The installment is singled out for good reason, as the hourlong chronicle of the Battle of Blackwater Bay is heavy on character, intensity, and fantastic pacing.  Book series creator George R.R. Martin wrote the episode, but it was director Neil Marshall who brought “Blackwater” to life, and now it appears that the The Descent helmer has been asked back to helm the season four finale of Game of Thrones.  Hit the jump for more.

Game of Thrones recently wrapped its third season, and now fans can get ready to relive all their favorite horrifying moments like The Red Wedding and Theon getting tortured to no end.  The third season is set to arrive on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on February 18, 2014, and as HBO has done in past years, they’ll be releasing a special edition through Best Buy.  But this time, fans will get to choose the box art for the set.  The standard edition will be a slipcase with the dragon shadow from the poster.  But for the special edition, fans can choose from the character posters, the sigils of boring houses Tyrell, Baratheon, and Tully, or the sigils for cool houses Stark, Targaryen, and Lannister.  The only downside in voting for the last group is that they were already used in for past special edition box sets.

Hit the jump to find out how to vote, and click here to pre-order the standard edition.

This week on The Collision, we’re joined by our TV Editor Allison Keene to talk about Game of Thrones.  Now that the third season has finished, we look back on the show so far, how it compares to the books, the future of the series going forward in relation to the written and unwritten novels, and more.  As always, we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“The Art of Marketing Hollywood Movies”), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.