American Gods (Starz)

[Fishy]

The first episode was very good.

Lots of series-debut exposition necessary with a story with the number of moving parts this one will have and there were some choppy moments in the first 20 minutes. But I enjoyed it. Lots of potential, very quirky.

Might not be one for the family. A man gets eaten by a vagina - good luck explaining that one to the kiddies.

 

[coachcap]

Damn, forgot to set the DVR. Will have to tape a rerun on one of the plethora of Starz channels.

 

[Mano]

Bryan Fuller is a pretty incredible showrunner/producer. Hannibal was amazing and I was sad to see it end. I just got rid of Starz so I'll have to find another way to watch this but I had been looking forward to it as well.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The first episode was very good.

Lots of series-debut exposition necessary with a story with the number of moving parts this one will have and there were some choppy moments in the first 20 minutes. But I enjoyed it. Lots of potential, very quirky.

Might not be one for the family. A man gets eaten by a vagina - good luck explaining that one to the kiddies.

Read the book when it came out. I'm re-reading in anticipation of this. Looks like it should be pretty good. They don't always capture Neil Gaiman well on screen.

 

[intlzncster]

The first episode was very good.

Lots of series-debut exposition necessary with a story with the number of moving parts this one will have and there were some choppy moments in the first 20 minutes. But I enjoyed it. Lots of potential, very quirky.

Might not be one for the family. A man gets eaten by a vagina - good luck explaining that one to the kiddies.

Have you read the book? If so, how is it vis a vis that?

 

[ZooCougar]

Tried reading the book. I couldn't get through it.

 

[intlzncster]

Tried reading the book. I couldn't get through it.

I found it really good, but was a little underwhelmed at the ending. If they get the shot, maybe the producers can improve upon it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I found it really good, but was a little underwhelmed at the ending. If they get the shot, maybe the producers can improve upon it.

It's good, but he's been trending down for years as a writer. I'm not sure what it is. His early stuff, like Good Omens and in graphic novels like The Sandman, is brilliant. My wife is a huge fan and hated his newest novel.

 

[HuskyHawk]

How did anyone see the first episode, since it launches on April 30?

 

[intlzncster]

How did anyone see the first episode, since it launches on April 30?

I looked for it the other night and was like wtf? But it was probably a sneak premier.

 

[Fishy]

Sorry - yes, I saw it early.

Neil Gaiman is on the faculty at Bard College in New York and he hosted a preview with Bryan Fuller last Saturday.

1) I never saw Hannibal and I wasn't really familiar with anything Bryan Fuller had done previously. Seems an interesting fellow; he also said that they have not given up on Hannibal and are actively working to find it a home. So you may see it again.

2) The first episode hews pretty closely to the book. Some things are out of order and some things are (too) compressed, but it's familiar. Gaiman and Fuller both said that the show will deviate at times and there will be new characters, but that Gaiman has control over all of it.

3) First season is just eight episodes and covers less than a third of the book. They obviously hope to keep going; if they run out of book, Gaiman has already been writing more. Basically, exactly the opposite of George RR Martin.

4) Gaiman did not write any of the episodes. Apparently, Amazon gave the BBC a fortune to produce a "Good Omens" mini-series and that's what he's been doing for the past year.

5) There is an ass ton of blood in episode one. If you remember the dopey Spartacus series on Starz, it's that level of blood. At times, it's flying everywhere. Fortunately, Gaiman says that 98% of all the blood in the season is in the first episode.

6) The casting is very good. And they're very proud of episode four.

 

[intlzncster]

Sorry - yes, I saw it early.

Neil Gaiman is on the faculty at Bard College in New York and he hosted a preview with Bryan Fuller last Saturday.

1) I never saw Hannibal and I wasn't really familiar with anything Bryan Fuller had done previously. Seems an interesting fellow; he also said that they have not given up on Hannibal and are actively working to find it a home. So you may see it again.

2) The first episode hews pretty closely to the book. Some things are out of order and some things are (too) compressed, but it's familiar. Gaiman and Fuller both said that the show will deviate at times and there will be new characters, but that Gaiman has control over all of it.

3) First season is just eight episodes and covers less than a third of the book. They obviously hope to keep going; if they run out of book, Gaiman has already been writing more. Basically, exactly the opposite of George RR Martin.

4) Gaiman did not write any of the episodes. Apparently, Amazon gave the BBC a fortune to produce a "Good Omens" mini-series and that's what he's been doing for the past year.

5) There is an ass ton of blood in episode one. If you remember the dopey Spartacus series on Starz, it's that level of blood. At times, it's flying everywhere. Fortunately, Gaiman says that 98% of all the blood in the season is in the first episode.

6) The casting is very good. And they're very proud of episode four.

Interesting stuff. Thanks.

I've never actually gone to a talk/premier like this before. Seems like something worthwhile to seek out.

I've liked Ricky Whittle for a while now, so was happy to seem him cast as Shadow.

And I liked Spartacus. Though, the show took a downturn upon the (literal) death of the lead actor--Andy Whitfield. He got cancer and went very quickly. Sad story.

 

[Fishy]

They said they auditioned a couple of hundred people for Shadow.

Every time they whittled (boom) the list down, Whittle was always the the last guy before the cut line. When they tried to get down to 10, he made it as the 11th name.

He auditioned 16 times. During one of the later ones, Gaiman and Fuller said that he was getting better faster than the people above him on the list and that's when they knew he would eventually be the guy.

I had never heard of him prior, but he's pretty much perfect. There's some choppy/compressed editing that makes him look like he got the emotion of one scene pretty wrong early on, but that wasn't his fault. (You know it when you see it.)

 

[HuskyHawk]

Sorry - yes, I saw it early.

Neil Gaiman is on the faculty at Bard College in New York and he hosted a preview with Bryan Fuller last Saturday.

1) I never saw Hannibal and I wasn't really familiar with anything Bryan Fuller had done previously. Seems an interesting fellow; he also said that they have not given up on Hannibal and are actively working to find it a home. So you may see it again.

2) The first episode hews pretty closely to the book. Some things are out of order and some things are (too) compressed, but it's familiar. Gaiman and Fuller both said that the show will deviate at times and there will be new characters, but that Gaiman has control over all of it.

3) First season is just eight episodes and covers less than a third of the book. They obviously hope to keep going; if they run out of book, Gaiman has already been writing more. Basically, exactly the opposite of George RR Martin.

4) Gaiman did not write any of the episodes. Apparently, Amazon gave the BBC a fortune to produce a "Good Omens" mini-series and that's what he's been doing for the past year.

5) There is an ass ton of blood in episode one. If you remember the dopey Spartacus series on Starz, it's that level of blood. At times, it's flying everywhere. Fortunately, Gaiman says that 98% of all the blood in the season is in the first episode.

6) The casting is very good. And they're very proud of episode four.

Great stuff. Thanks Fishy. You reminded me that I'm even more excited for Good Omens. Love that book.

 

[intlzncster]

They said they auditioned a couple of hundred people for Shadow.

Every time they whittled (boom) the list down, Whittle was always the the last guy before the cut line. When they tried to get down to 10, he made it as the 11th name.

He auditioned 16 times. During one of the later ones, Gaiman and Fuller said that he was getting better faster than the people above him on the list and that's when they knew he would eventually be the guy.

I had never heard of him prior, but he's pretty much perfect. There's some choppy/compressed editing that makes him look like he got the emotion of one scene pretty wrong early on, but that wasn't his fault. (You know it when you see it.)

That's interesting. I didn't realize that you had to audition 15+ times to get the lead in a show. Quite often, it seems the director/producer have in mind a few guys they want and that is that. You often hear stories about actors who read lines and everyone in the room 'just knows'. Takes some balls (as much as acting can require balls) to audition so many times and come away with the role.

Whittle was on a really crappy sci fi show (that I continue to watch) for a couple years. Almost all the characters suck, except for his character, and one or two others.

Had no idea Good Omens was being made into a TV series. I like that it's a mini too.

 

[Fishy]

I didn't read Good Omens. I gather he wrote it with another author who passed away. He promised the other author that he would see the book turned into a show.

He wrote a script and pitched it to the BBC.

The BBC said, "we like it, but we're skint broke and we can't afford to do this."

Then they went out to find funding and came back and said that Amazon had offered them more money for "Good Omens" than they had ever raised for anything else. (Amazon is also involved with "American Gods"; they're the overseas distributor.)

Gaiman is the show runner for it - it'll be on BBC next year and then it will move to Amazon Prime.

 

[intlzncster]

I didn't read Good Omens. I gather he wrote it with another author who passed away. He promised the other author that he would see the book turned into a show.

He wrote a script and pitched it to the BBC.

The BBC said, "we like it, but we're skint broke and we can't afford to do this."

Then they went out to find funding and came back and said that Amazon had offered them more money for "Good Omens" than they had ever raised for anything else. (Amazon is also involved with "American Gods"; they're the overseas distributor.)

Gaiman is the show runner for it - it'll be on BBC next year and then it will move to Amazon Prime.

Crazy you seem to know everything about this. I actually like a lot of what the BBC has produced in the past, and Amazon seems to be putting out some very smart, high end content of late. So probably a good marriage and my expectations are high. Good to see Amazon wants a spot at the table next to Netflix.

The budget for AG must be huge, because it's not like the BBC has been totally skint on shows in the past. Thinking Sherlock, Peaky Blinders, Dr Who, Orphan Black, heck, even something like Planet Earth etc. Good on em.

 

[Fishy]

I'm really just regurgitating information from the evening at Bard.

I have no independent knowledge of any of this stuff.

 

[intlzncster]

I'm really just regurgitating information from the evening at Bard.

I have no independent knowledge of any of this stuff.

Well it's all news to me, so I appreciate it. . Again, I'm gonna have to attend some of these things. Sounds way more interesting than I would have thought, naive as that may be.

 

[Fishy]

The Bushnell is a good place to start - Jason Reitman and Rob Reiner are there together in a few weeks. Gaiman is there over the summer, etc.

 

[mauconnfan]

The first episode was very good.

Lots of series-debut exposition necessary with a story with the number of moving parts this one will have and there were some choppy moments in the first 20 minutes. But I enjoyed it. Lots of potential, very quirky.

Might not be one for the family. A man gets eaten by a vagina - good luck explaining that one to the kiddies.

Might not be good for the family, man eats, I mean gets eaten by a vagina - had to read that a few times. This alone makes this worth giving it a chance.

 

[Penfield]

I'm reading the book in anticipation, and about half way through. It's enjoyable so far but waiting for the good stuff ( I assume there is good stuff) to go down.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Watched episode 1 last night. Good stuff. Well done. I'm still going through my re-read of the book, hoping to stay ahead of the episodes.

 

[Dove]

So we watched the first episode tonight. When a show makes my wife say "WTF?" then it has to be out there. We were big fans of the first two seasons of Hannibal but fell off the wagon for season 3.

When I saw Ian McShane I couldn't help thinking he was channeling Al Pacino from The Devil's Advocate.

 

[Dove]

The vagina was busy this week. And a man with a raging hard-on soared through outer space!!

And a game of checkered was the focus of this episodes end with Shadow losing and facing the cow-kill sledge hammer at the hands of Peter Stormare.

must.keep.watching.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The vagina was busy this week. And a man with a raging hard-on soared through outer space!!

And a game of checkered was the focus of this episodes end with Shadow losing and facing the cow-kill sledge hammer at the hands of Peter Stormare.

must.keep.watching.

This was a fairly weak episode, including several things not in the book. The Anasi scene was totally new...introducing 2017 BLM concepts to a book written many years ago. Not needed. The original scene from the book was better. The emphasis on Bilquis is odd, considering she barely appears in the book.

Unfortunately, the episode ended right as we were getting to something really interesting with the Zorya sisters. So I expect episode 3 to be a strong one.

 

[intlzncster]

This was a fairly weak episode, including several things not in the book. The Anasi scene was totally new...introducing 2017 BLM concepts to a book written many years ago. Not needed. The original scene from the book was better. The emphasis on Bilquis is odd, considering she barely appears in the book.

Unfortunately, the episode ended right as we were getting to something really interesting with the Zorya sisters. So I expect episode 3 to be a strong one.

Actually, I get that one, and to a lesser extent the Anasi scene. Only because they are trying to impart the whole 'old god's are dying off due to lack of worship' and it shows their desperation to continue on. And the lengths they go to do so. People who haven't read the books need this information, and it's better this way than a character or narrator simply spelling it out.

You kind of have to expect the slow start, as this was the case with the books as well, imo. I found the Bilquis part a really interesting piece of the book actually.

 

[Dove]

Having not read a book do I have this down:

Savage guys land here and try to appease their god.
Was angry slave ship black man a god?
Is McShane a god?
Is the tall leprechaun guy a god?
I am assuming Bilquist "worship me!!" is.
Is Stormare just a dude like Shadow?

 

[intlzncster]

Having not read a book do I have this down:

Savage guys land here and try to appease their god.
Was angry slave ship black man a god?
Is McShane a god?
Is the tall leprechaun guy a god?
I am assuming Bilquist "worship me!!" is.
Is Stormare just a dude like Shadow?

1. Yes. They appeased him, left his totum on the sand, and so their legacy was that this god, the god of war, was brought to the new world. When they came back later in history, 'war' already there.
2. Yes. He's Anansi, the spider. African god of folklore. He's an important character, though more so in another book.
3. Yes.

Spoiler: Not sure if a spoiler, but just in case.

He's the very same god from the Vikings scene. Odin, the God of war. Leader of the Old Gods.

4. Gray area. I guess so. He's legit a leprechaun.
5. Yes. She's the Queen of Sheba. People don't worship her much anymore, hence "she isn't what she once was". Her life force is now derived by picking up degenerates, making them worship her, and then devouring them in her vag. Used to be a fertility god or something.
6. Yes.

Spoiler: He is...

Czernobog a slavic 'black' god. Black as in darkness, opposite of light (twin brother now lost). When people do bad things, it's because of him. Why he looks like snow.

In case anyone hasn't figured it out, it's a battle between the new Gods and the Old ones. Gods derive their strength and power through worship. That's why 'Technical Boy' (technology and internet) and 'Media' (I love Lucy scene) are new gods...that is what we worship in today's world.

 

[HuskyHawk]

1. Yes. They appeased him, left his totum on the sand, and so their legacy was that this god, the god of war, was brought to the new world. When they came back later in history, 'war' already there.
2. Yes. He's Anansi, the spider. African god of folklore. He's an important character, though more so in another book.
3. Yes.

Spoiler: Not sure if a spoiler, but just in case.

He's the very same god from the Vikings scene. Odin, the God of war. Leader of the Old Gods.

4. Gray area. I guess so. He's legit a leprechaun.
5. Yes. She's the Queen of Sheba. People don't worship her much anymore, hence "she isn't what she once was". Her life force is now derived by picking up degenerates, making them worship her, and then devouring them in her vag. Used to be a fertility god or something.
6. Yes.

Spoiler: He is...

Czernobog a slavic 'black' god. Black as in darkness, opposite of light (twin brother now lost). When people do bad things, it's because of him. Why he looks like snow.

In case anyone hasn't figured it out, it's a battle between the new Gods and the Old ones. Gods derive their strength and power through worship. That's why 'Technical Boy' (technology and internet) and 'Media' (I love Lucy scene) are new gods...that is what we worship in today's world.

This concept, while not entirely original in the context of gods generally, is what is really cool about the book as applied to the new "gods". I thought

Spoiler: Spoiler

Wednesday's run through about the various Jesus'

was a great way to illustrate the concept. These are American Gods....that's important. The gods as the exist here are separate and apart from the duplicate gods in their native lands, at least as I understand it. They are like shadows or reflections of those gods.

They are doing a really good job with this as a conversion from book to film. About as faithful as they could make it really.