The problem with "After the Thrones" is that it seems that they're just trying too hard and the result is this stilted, awkward mess of a show. The constant game of "how many pop culture references can we shoehorn into the show" is very tiresome as is the incessant one upsmanship on display.
It might be unfair to compare AtT to "Talking Dead", which is the gold standard of after shows, but because of the nature of the format, the comparisons are inevitable. AtT suffers from not having the same level of access that TD has. There are no show runners, cast members or writers as guests and because of a lack of access, the show's time slot is pushed to the next evening which is kind of pointless. These types of shows are essentially post game shows and who exactly is going to watch a post game the day after the game aired? Everything has already been chewed over and discussed. You have to be bringing something REALLY special to the table to make a day after show a worthwhile watch.
I must say that the "Who the Fcuk was That?" segment is very useful and brings insight to the audience. Mallory Rubin is also another standout, but even she sometimes comes off as trying too hard to be "one of the guys." I can also do without the cringeworthy sports references. I'm a big sports fan and I get that the show started out at Grantland, but I do not tune into this type of show for ham-fisted Rajon Rondo references. They also need to scrap the "Who Won the Week?" segment. It comes off as filler from some third-rate ESPN afternoon opinionfest.
I really wanted to like this show and gave it a fair shot, but after four episodes, my watch has ended.
