It's official: HBO has renewed its flagship series "Game of Thrones" for a seventh season. The epic fantasy series notched a record-setting 12 wins at this year's Emmy awards, and the highly anticipated sixth-season will kick off this Sunday. This season will mark the first time that the show has surpassed the narrative timeline of George R.R. Martin's novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire."
In addition to "Thrones," HBO also put in a renewal order for a sixth season of "Veep" and a fourth season of "Silicon Valley," ensuring that their bookmark comedy properties are in place for the immediate future.
One of the more pressing questions regarding the renewal of "Thrones" is how many episodes the seventh season will contain. Since the series launched in 2011, each season has contained 10 episodes, as will the sixth.
However, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, along with HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo, have discussed shortening the final two seasons of the show. Specifically, the braintrust discussed splitting the last two acts into seven episodes in season seven and six episodes in season eight.
Unfortunately, HBO did not provide a specific episode count along with the renewal announcement, though that is just standard operating procedure. HBO never lists the number of episodes in a season of "Thrones" following a renewal order. If at any point we receive any information regarding the amount of episodes in season seven, we'll be sure to let you know right away.
None of the renewals come as a surprise. "Game of Thrones" is HBO's most popular series of all time, with season six episodes being viewed by as many as 20 million people and the series claiming the coveted honor of most illegally downloaded show ever. "Veep" and "Silicon Valley" are also highly regarded by fans and critics alike and are solid performers at the Emmys.
All three series will have their season premieres this Sunday night. To promote the debuts, HBO is temporarily suspending its premium requirements so that all cable subscribers will be able to watch the network Sunday night.
