‘Game of Thrones’ season 4 debate: Speculating on premiere dates

For this “Game of Thrones” season 4 article, we are really pushing forward the clock a pretty long ways … straight until the spring of 2014. This is when, pending some enormous change that shocks the hearts of fantasy fans everywhere, the beloved series will be back on HBO.

So when will the show be back for more? There is one date that you should mark on your calendar now, and that is Sunday, March 30. This is a day earlier than when the series premiered this year, but season 3 premiered precisely one day earlier than season 2. This has already been figured out to be a pretty nice window for the show as it starts while some networks are still in repeats, gets you hooked before the May sweeps, and then runs for a few weeks after the sweeps are over to scoop up some more monster ratings for the final episodes. It also gives producers the necessary time to write, film, and work on the show in post. (For those curious, there are already a number of scripts being perfected, and filming starts next month in Northern Ireland.)

One other date to keep track of as well is April 7; at some point, HBO will probably shift the show back a week rather than airing it the day before when it came on last year. We just don’t know when it will be. If the network is more keen to keep the show primarily in April over time, this could be an option.

Regardless, look for the show to likely return in the same time frame that it has the past two years. We have yet to really hear anything suggesting that a change, like winter, is coming down the pipeline and it would only be production-based at this point if it were.

Want to read some more “Game of Thrones” debates? Then be sure to head over to the link here, where we address the issue of what characters and events need to be left out in order to keep the story tight moving forward.

Photo: HBO