TCA16: HBO's Casey Bloys Takes Heat During TCA Session

Read more TCA '16 summer tour coverage

HBO Casey Bloys’ won’t soon forget his first appearance at the Television Critics Association summer tour since being named the network’s programming president after taking some critical questions from TV writers.

As Bloys confirmed the end of the network’s biggest show Game Of Thrones after its eighth season he was hit with several questions from reporters about Thrones and new series Westworld's sexualized violence against women, including rape.

While Bloys said that the concerns are valid, he said that the violence cuts across both men and women, jokingly adding “we’re going to kill everybody.”

Bloys -- who took over the position this past spring from the departed Michael Lombardo -- said Game Of Thrones will not be eligible for the 2017 Emmys season because of the late summer launch of its seventh season, but added he’s confident the network will still have enough content to continue its run as the top Emmy-nominated network in the industry. Game Of Thrones earlier this month earned an industry high 23 Emmy nominations.

“Even without Game Of Thrones my hope is that we will have some new candidates that will help keep our count up,” Bloys said.

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Bloys also discussed several other issues during the session, including being open to a third season its anthology crime series True Detective if the network can find the right take on the franchise. He added the network could continue the franchise without creator/writer Nic Pizzolatto taking the lead.

-- The new Jon Stewart digital animated series could debut later this fall, according to Bloys. The series will be revolve around a parody of a fictional cable news network.

-- Bloys also said canceling the The Mick Jagger/Martin Scorsese music series Vinyl was a difficult decision. The series had been greenlit for a second season after its first episode, but the show struggled from a ratings perspective.

 “We didn’t think it was worth the producer’s time our time our resources to try to thread the needle just a little bit,” he said.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.