The next couple seasons of Game of Thrones are going to be a bittersweet affair for millions of fans. No doubt, everyone is tremendously excited for the show to return, but knowing that the next two seasons will be shorter and that they will be the last episodes ever is definitely a bummer in some ways. Luckily, it looks like Game of Thrones season 8 may be getting more episodes than we previously thought.

Season 6 of Game of Thrones had 10 episodes, but both season 7 and season 8 are going to be shorter. We know that Game of Thrones season 7 is going to have seven episodes and up to now, it has been said that season 8 will only have six episodes. But in a recent interview with EW, HBO's Programming President Casey Bloys gave fans some hope that the final season of Game of Thrones may be a little longer than previously expected. Here is what he had to say.

"They're still figuring out the shape of the season, what they want to do. I'll take as many as they want to do. If they give me eight, I'll want 10. But it's really up to them. They'll let me know."

It makes total sense that HBO would want as many episodes as possible. Game of Thrones continues to be a phenomenally popular show, breaking ratings records again last season with an average of 23 million viewers per episode, when factoring in repeat viewings, DVR and streaming numbers. It was also the only show to break into the top 10 trending topics on Twitter in 2016, for whatever that is worth. So we can't blame Casey Bloys for hoping that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss decided to deliver some more episodes before wrapping up the series.

Still, even after Game of Thrones season 8 wraps up, no matter how many episodes it winds up being, HBO is still hoping to explore the world of Westeros further. There have been persistent talks of a Game of Thrones spinoff series and Casey Bloys also addressed that, seeming very enthusiastic about the possibility. Here is what he had to say about it.

"It's such a big property we would be foolish not to explore it, but it's a pretty high bar. We'll take some shots at it. I'm not going to do it just to do it. It has to feel very special. I would rather have no sequel and leave it as-is then have something we rushed out. A prequel feels like it has less pressure on it [than a Game of Thrones spin-off], [Author George R.R. Martin's history of Westeros] gives you areas in which to say to a writer, 'If you were going to do this, then go flesh it out,' and we'll see what comes back. But I don't feel any pressure that we have to have something."

For now, fans can look forward to Game of Thrones season 7, which is scheduled to air this summer. The show normally airs in April, but because they needed to film in more snowy and wintery locations, they had to start production a bit later than usual. HBO hasn't set an exact premiere date for Game of Thrones season 7 yet, but we should be finding out pretty soon.