Sorry, "Game of Thrones" led the pack for 2016 Emmy nominations (and yet, nothing for the perpetually stiffed Sansa) but new HBO programming president Casey Bloys confirmed that the delayed Season 7 will premiere too late for consideration for the 2017 awards. So congrats, everyone else, a half-dozen acting slots just opened up.

During his talk at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, Bloys covered all kinds of GoT bases, from the Emmys to spinoff plans to confirming that Season 8 will indeed be the end.

On Season 8 as the final season:

"Yes, I think [the showrunners, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff] have a very specific plan about the number of seasons they want to do," Bloys said (via TVLine and The Hollywood Reporter). "If I could get them to do more, I would take 10 seasons but we want to take their lead with what they could do and what the best version of the show is."

On Spinoff plans:

"We've talked about it. It's not something I'm opposed to but it has to make sense creatively. I'm not sure the guys can wrap their heads around it when they are about to start production. We're open to it; the guys aren't opposed to it but there's no concrete plans right now."

On being taken out of the 2017 Emmys:

Awards are "not our main goal. The main goal is to do the best show for our subscribers and fans. ... [The Emmy fallout] is just something we have to live with."

"Game of Thrones" is starting production pretty soon, and some actors have already been seen heading to Belfast, where they base most of filming. Filming is meant to continue until February, which is later than usual, for a summer 2017 start, which is a couple of months after the usual April premiere. Season 7 is meant to have only seven episodes, down from the usual 10. There's no word yet on how many episodes Season 8, the final season, will have, but that too is expected to be shortened from 10 to possibly six.

In terms of a spinoff, well, they could go way back in time with George R.R. Martin's characters, or do something from the fairly recent past, like Robert's Rebellion, or even do something set in the future. We'll have to see what they go with, if anything, but you know HBO wants as much GoT as the rest of us.

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