CHAT WITH KELLY Q Is there more of The Americans on the way?
USA TODAY’s Kelly Lawler chats with readers Mondays at 2 p.m. ET at facebook.com/ USATODAY. Read edited excerpts below, email questions to klawler@usatoday.com or tweet them to @klawls and visit her live online.
Q How should someone looking to get into Game of Thrones start? A The
best place to start is the beginning. Game of Thrones is one of the most dense and complex series on television, and it would be almost impossible to jump in cold with the new seventh season and be satisfied. You would miss 60 episodes, so your best option is to watch at your own pace and try to avoid spoilers. The performances, the production values and the storytelling are still great, even if you know what happens, which is how readers of the book series experienced the majority of the series. A Yes, although not much.
The Americans will air a shortened sixth and final season in 2018. But honestly, I think that’s a good thing. Many series outstay their welcome and suffer creatively. But shows that have a definitive end date are able to craft the story’s conclusion with more finesse. HBO’s The Leftovers is a good example of this. Although it only aired for three seasons, the series delivered a finale that satisfied its fans. Had it lasted too long, it might not have earned the same acclaim. QI was in my late teens and early 20s when Snowfall takes place, with a certain personal experience. How close to reality do you think it is? A The new series from Boyz N
the Hood director John Singleton chronicles the story of “how crack began” in 1980s Los Angeles, but its fictional characters make its accuracy hard to measure. Snowfall has a more muted approach to its ’80s setting than other recent series about that period, which might be refreshing. It’s less in-your-face with fashion or hairstyles, and less often references real-life events from the era, so it never feels cartoonish.