Game Of Thrones: 10 Shocking Revelations From Benioff & Weiss's Q&A

5. They Thought The Pilot Was A Disaster

After already admitting that they felt the whole thing was one long learning experience, and that neither man had any real handle on how to produce a TV show when they began, it should come as no surprise that the initial pilot was something of a disaster. Even by their low standards, it was apparently a complete mess.

"They acknowledge that they have no idea why after such a dismal pilot why they went forward. “Everything we could make a mistake in, we did.” Script, casting, costume. They think HBO went forward bc they had a lot of foreign pre-sales on the series"

The acknowledgment from the pair that the show's eventual green light might have been more financially-motivated than any creative reasons is certainly an eyebrow-raiser but, if nothing else, should provide encouragement for others to take a punt on some "unplolished" premises.