The thing is, not every story needs 8 seasons (remember that GoT is an adaptation of several large books). For that not, not every story even needs 10 episodes.
At the same time, sometimes 2 hrs is not sufficient.
As I was saying earlier, I think the modern mini-series is roughly equivalent to those old epics. Even though it wasn't a historical story, I am reminded of the Stephen King mini-series Storm of the Century, which ran for three episodes and clocked in at just over four hours. Lonesome Dove was four episodes and ran about 6 1/2 hours. On the shorter end of the spectrum, I remember there was a Joan of Arc mini-series and also a Merlin mini-series, both of which ran right around three hours.
The problem there is that the three- or four-night mini-series format just isn't used much anymore (note that I'm making a distinction between "mini-series" and the longer "limited series.") Its heyday seemed to have been in the 90s (three of the four I mentioned earlier were from the late 90s). I really think this format should be revived. I remember when these used to air they were television EVENTS! It was a big deal! And it was the perfect way to tell stories that were a little too long for a film but not long enough for a whole TV series.
The only mini-series that I can remember from the past 20 years or so is a mini-series that ABC did on Bernie Madoff and a handful that the History Channel did a few years ago, but now seem to have discontinued.
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