To say there’s behind-the-scenes drama during the production of Season 2 of “American Gods” seems to be a gross understatement. After a successful first season on Starz, the series, based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, looked to be in good hands coming into its sophomore outing. However, after showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green had written six scripts for Season2, they were unceremoniously fired from the series and replaced by Jesse Alexander. However, since then, THR reports that the drama has only gotten worse.
According to the report, the current showrunner Alexander has been “fired but not fired.” In essence, the writer-producer has been sidelined from the series, and, as THR states, “has been asked not to sit in on editing, be involved on set or participate in any other areas of production or postproduction.” Why so why the limbo status? Apparently, “American Gods” is full of writers, actors, and producers that all very have different thoughts on what the series should look like. And leading the way is the man who created it all, Gaiman.
“We are all working very hard to make ‘American Gods’ the series that its fans want and deserve,” Alexander said, while still pretending to be involved in the making of the series.
To take a deeper dive into the problems as they exist now, the trouble behind the scenes began brewing when Fuller and Green turned in their initial scripts for the upcoming season. According to the report, Gaiman was not happy with how the two showrunners had built out the world from his novel, and flexed his producing muscle, which led to the duo’s departure. The author then hand-picked Alexander, and was said to take a more direct role in the creation of the series. However, when Alexander began filming the new season, dumping all those previously written scripts and starting fresh, things went from bad to worse.
The report states that scripts that were turned in were not up to par, with actors like star Ian McShane changing up his dialogue on the day of shooting, as did most of the other actors. However, the season progressed until work was to start on the Season 2 finale. Unfortunately, Alexander was unable to turn in a script that the studio liked, even after a seventh draft, and was relegated to his now “fired but not fired” status.
The tension between the studio and the network, as well as Gaiman’s increased role, are all the major sources of problems on set. After Alexander’s unofficial departure, producers attempted to promote someone else to the role, but as THR says, the “unnamed individual left the production almost immediately after being elevated.” Ouch.
“American Gods” Season 2 is said to have a big appearance at next months New York Comic-Con, so fans will get a chance to see the fruits of all this problematic labor. Maybe, like has been the case with numerous other film and TV projects, this sort of tension will result in quality programming. But at this point, it looks like what was once a promising series for Starz has turned into one massive headache.