I'm totally with you here. I generally feel re-watchability is a big part of what makes one show better than another, at-least for me. I loved The Wire and The Sopranos, Battlestar Galactica and others I can't think of right now, but need a lot of time in-between rewatches. I tried with Fargo, but abandoned the idea early on. Maybe I will before I start watching season 3.
This is different from other, more favourite shows for me. I can pretty much watch GoT, Arrested Development, golden-era Simpsons, and a bunch of others over and over without finding them any less entertaining than on a first viewing.
Re-watchability isn't the only factor that makes a good show great, but it certainly makes them more enduring for me.
We're really fortunate to be in this golden era of television. So much great TV, so little time.
GoT is definitely my favourite television series right now, but I was pretty blown away by Westworld last year.
Sorry to thread jack, GoT spoilers ahead. Fair warning for those behind... I wasn't a big fan of Ollie as a character, so Ygritte's death was that much more frustrating. However, she definitely had to go.
As big of a fan as Tolkien GRRM claims to be, he is clearly more interested in subverting archetypal tropes, than paying homage. I imagine anyone looking for a happy ending (read: "They all sail west of Westeros and live happily ever after...") for the Starks or Targaryans will be disappointed when ASOIAF / GoT ends. But I'm wrong at-least 75% of the time if I guess what's next on GoT.
We saw Thoros of Myr bringing back Baric Dondarrion in season 3, so I really didn't think the Jon Snow resurrection was the show jumping the shark. Given where the character needed to go in-terms of storyline, I thought it was an efficient way to get to where the season ended up. I'm really interested to see how GRRM picks up the storyline, because I don't for 1-second think he's dead in the book, either.
Never heard of I Claudius. Added to the list now. Thanks!