Game of Thrones is gorgeous

Yes, it's been met with critical acclaim and a steadily growing audience. Yes, it's based on an incredibly popular series of novels and the adaptation has been as good as the source. But what really puts Game of Thrones over the top is its overall production value. The caps below are just from one episode ("Prince of Winterfell"), but believe me the entire series is full of fantastic production design, location shooting, and composition.

When they say it's not TV, it's HBO, they mean it. There's nothing on television in this format that even comes close to the sheer cinematic feel of an average episode of Game of Thrones. The lighting alone is a clue to the care and craft being put into each scene. At times an establishing location shot, on screen for mere seconds, looks as if it was plucked from the BBC's Planet Earth. Earth this is definitely not, but it could hardly be showcased any better.