AMC’s ‘Preacher’ Wants To Be The Show ‘Game of Thrones’ Fans Adopt Post Season Finale
The AMC program Preacher has a golden opportunity to finally find an audience. Game of Thrones‘ season ended last week in spectacular fashion, meaning the fan favorite won’t be back until next spring. Fans of that show are turning to their friends and significant others wondering what in the world they’re going to watch on Sunday nights now.
Preacher could be the program that steps into the breach, as long as people know what they’re going in for. The program isn’t on HBO, it’s on AMC. What that means for most viewers is there’s going to be more blood and a bit more skin than if the program was on ABC or CBS.
Preacher won’t be seeing as much blood or skin as fans of Game of Thrones are used to seeing. In fact, it won’t even be close. GoT fans also have to remember this AMC series is brand new and by most critical accounts hasn’t found its legs yet.
Preacher answers your prayers for next year. https://t.co/yodJf8MwuJ
— Polygon (@Polygon) July 1, 2016
Preacher and Game of Thrones even both have literature to pull their storylines from. GoT pulls from full-length books while the AMC series leans on graphic novels as it’s source. As Bustle points out, the two shows don’t have anything close to the same setting either, but there’s enough there to compare.
Game of Thrones and Preacher are similar in the way the story is being told and with characters we get to know front and back. The problem with both shows is you might end up getting to know a character that isn’t long for their world.
Preacher and Game of Thrones both share a combination of the mundane world and the supernatural. The AMC program is set in a sleepy town in Texas where a rather reluctant preacher known as Jesse finds out he has a rather impressive gift to control others. This small town preacher is joined by a vampire, as well as run of the mill criminals and even angels.
There is a deep seeded exploration of faith, which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering the name of the show is Preacher. You may have noticed Game of Thrones has an undercurrent where many of the characters are attempting to find out which god or gods really exist, if any of them do.
Jesse Custer will continue to spread The Word as AMC renews #Preacher https://t.co/jI8bU673Fw pic.twitter.com/rC0eXRvxb6
— Comic Book Resources (@CBR) June 30, 2016
There are some serious differences that could mean Game of Thrones fans shouldn’t expect to lean on the AMC series for too long. Forbes reports Preacher is having a heck of a time getting people to watch it. The latest numbers have it hovering around 1-2 million viewers. In contrast, the Network’s biggest performer, The Walking Dead brings in about 14 million a week.
Preacher is also suffering from not getting nearly enough critics on board. Forbes has also recently said the AMC show is one that seems to be going nowhere. Considering the site also pointed out the show appears to be a prequel to the graphic novels, it seems like there should be a definite direction.
Game of Thrones fans were worried there wouldn’t be a real direction this season because it had left the books behind. Those fans were rewarded with a slow start and a big bang of an end to the season. As of this Sunday, Preacher has six episodes in the book with just four more in the season.
Preacher is going to need to find a direction it needs to go quickly or those who might be turning to the show will lose what audience it has found. Of course, the program is currently getting an 8.5 rating on IMDB and a score of 76 on Metacritic so perhaps the public is liking the show more than the critics.
If Preacher wants to be a replacement for Game of Thrones, it needs to find a bigger audience. The network has enough confidence in it that it just renewed it for a second season. The AMC program is currently airing on Sunday nights at 9:00 pm Eastern time.
[Photo Courtesy AMC]
