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American Gods No Longer Planned for HBO

by Jacob Klein
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gaimen-godshboThis may come as disappointing news to many of you out there.  Neil Gaiman did an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit today and had the following reply to one of his fans asking the question: “I always hear things about an American Gods HBO Series, pilots and greenlights and all sorts of things. Whats the truth?“.  Here was his answer:

There is an American Gods TV series in the works. It’s no longer with HBO. The moment that things are ready to be announced I am sure they will be, either legitimately or via a leak in a big Hollywood Agency mailroom.

We’re not sure where the show will be airing whether it be AMC, FX, Netflix or even Amazon who also now seems to be in the business of original content these days.  Gaiman had remained mostly silent, even defensive about releasing any info in the past.  Needless to say we probably won’t be reporting much more on this project as it is no longer on HBO.

We’re not sure when the show moved away from HBO but throughout our investigation of the possible series we have noted that the content would have been somewhat difficult to put to film in a convincing way.  Maybe the Home Box Office didn’t think they could do it proper justice on the silver screen.

We’ll leave the speculation to others though as this project’s tenure with HBO appears to be severed.  What do you think, HBO fans?  Will HBO try their hand at another supernatural thriller to replace True Blood in summer 2015?  Leave us a comment below with your thoughts.

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24 comments

Wow January 14, 2014 - 3:28 pm

Hope its FX cause I get that channel

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Miseryschild December 25, 2013 - 9:56 pm

Can not wait!!!! Absolutely love all of Neil Gaimans’ work , but “American Gods” is by far my favorite!

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Robbie Moraes November 25, 2013 - 2:45 pm

Who cares? It will be more British TV crap. Like always.

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charlie December 18, 2013 - 4:29 pm

Right, ’cause Sherlock is just horribly written garbage. Got it.

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yourlordthejedi December 27, 2013 - 5:24 pm

Actually, british tv does suck. As for sherlock being garbage– sherlock had his run with many books, he became soooo played out that even the author killed him off. If you remember, he falls to his death with his nemesis ( professor moriarty). Then Years later, he comes back to life… apparently faking his death for watson. GARBAGE writing at its it’s finest. Youre probably one of those teeny boppers that knows nothing about anything but likes to comment on everything. Have fun with your british shows like skins, and dr who, and misfits.

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d December 28, 2013 - 5:10 am

sherlock was brought back due to popular demand. The writer hated writing about him so killed him off. So a tad harsh with your assessment of sloppy writing. British tv is crap.

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E.Gem December 26, 2013 - 8:19 pm

How can you say that when your name is Doctor Who?

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Ed_G11 January 2, 2014 - 9:54 am

Also ironic is that Mr. Gaiman wrote two episodes for Doctor Who (“The Doctor’s Wife” and “Nightmare in Silver”)

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mwilson21 November 23, 2013 - 1:54 pm

More than fine with this, honestly. I read the book after hearing that the show was being developed at HBO, and like most of Gaiman’s other work, I really enjoyed it – I just didn’t think it would make for a compelling series. It seemed like something that would be better suited to a different network.

Just about everything else that’s in the pipeline at HBO (in terms of dramatic programming) seems more interesting to me, personally. They’ve got the untitled Scorsese late 70’s rock & roll series; a Steve McQueen series focusing on a young African American’s transition to high society living in New York; Damon Lindelof’s The Leftovers; David Milch’s The Money; Ryan Murphy’s Open; Guillermo del Toro’s Monster; the recently announced Socrates Fortlow series with Laurence Fishburne attached; a series based on The Last Tycoon novel from the writer of Captain Phillips; and probably a few others that I’m forgetting. Obviously none of the half-hour programs they’re developing are even accounted for here.

If anything, I’d imagine they passed on American Gods in lieu of one of the science-fiction series that was announced (The Spark or Westworld). I’m fine with Game of Thrones, as far as the fantasy genre being represented on HBO goes. And though I wouldn’t mind seeing The Dark Tower adapted for HBO, hopefully they would forego the interspersed theatrical films and focus solely on developing the story as a television show.

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Timmy T November 25, 2013 - 11:03 am

Same here. And let’s not forget David Simon’s (hopefully) next project after Treme – that history of the CIA (Legacy of Ashes) he’s been talking about.

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mwilson21 November 25, 2013 - 3:24 pm

Very true. Given the recent NSA revelations, and the general disregard for the Constitution that the American government has shown itself to have, I don’t think there could ever be a more fitting time to develop that show into a series. Pair it with The Money, and you’ve got Milch & Simon on the same freaking night!

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Jacob Klein November 26, 2013 - 2:15 pm

Yeah I love both of your ideas. Let’s not forget that HBO has TONS of stuff in the oven right now. I think they need to make sure they DIRECTLY fill this True Blood void in 2015 but still.. lots of stuff incoming.

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Jef Dinsmore November 20, 2013 - 3:59 pm

I am not really surprised about this news nor am I holding my breath that the concept actually gets to air anywhere. If have the money to make it right.

My 2015 prediction is THE LEFTOVERS.

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Cian Gaffney November 20, 2013 - 8:59 am

Well, this sucks. Hopefully the Dark Tower series will work out instead.

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SerTahu November 20, 2013 - 12:47 am

I was extremely disappointed to find this out. I thought American Gods was almost guaranteed to replace True Blood in 2015, and I was very much looking forward to it, but oh well.

It does seem that he is in talks with another network but isn’t able to talk about it yet, though. My top predictions would be:
1) Netflix (who seems to be trying to snatch up everything they can get their hands on that other networks reject)
2) Starz (who are greatly expanding their amount of original content)
3) AMC (who just have an eye for quality)
I might have guessed FX or Showtime, but they both have supernatural series’ that they have greenlit (The Strain and Penny Dreadful, respectively, and FX has American Horror Story). I haven’t actually read the book, but if it has sex scenes my hope would be Starz (who I would actually consider the channel to watch next year), and if not it would be AMC (who have the best hit-miss ratio of original dramas as far as I’m concerned)

P.S just for the record I am the guy on twitter who found this :P.

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Stephen November 20, 2013 - 3:01 am

Starz really don’t have the money for a series like American Goods.

I don’t think AMC would be a good fit. They have their limits, and they`re coming up with at least 3 new series from next year to the end of 2015 with a The Walking Dead-spinoff and companion as one of them.

The show also seems to pricey for Netflix.

Showtime might be a fit with the somewhat crazy budget the series had under development if it went forward on HBO. But then again, Showtime seems to be aiming for more traditional dramas and with something different like Penny Dreadful.

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SerTahu November 20, 2013 - 3:50 am

With Starz it could depend on how well they do in 2014. They have 4 new serial dramas starting up (Black Sails, Outlander, Fortitude and Power), in addition to two ongoing dramas (Da Vinci’s Demons and The White Queen), and it seems like they are really trying to become a serious competitor to HBO and Showtime in the premium cable sector. If any of those shows become a huge hit (and in my opinion Black Sails and Outlander very well could), they might have some more money at their disposal in a few years time. And honestly, I really hope that the have a major hit or two next year. As I said, I think they are the channel to watch next year, and if their subscriber/viewer numbers pick up they could become a legitimate competitor for Showtime and HBO. More competition is always a good thing.

As for Netflix, I’m not sure myself (I live in Australia, and they refuse to let us sign up), but the impression I got is that they have stacks of money at their disposal from their subscriptions.

AMC has Halt and Catch Fire, Turn and Better Call Saul scheduled for 2014, and The Walking Dead spinoff tentatively scheduled for 2015. However, Halt and Catch Fire and Turn could easily flop, and the lose Mad Men in 2015, so they could have an opening in 2015 or 2016.

I completely agree with your assessment of Showtime.

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Stephen November 20, 2013 - 6:01 am

Starz had to let White Queen go, they couldn’t hold the show on because BBC didn’t want more. They could not afford a new season. And with all coming it`s just too much for a channel that has so many problems with money the last couple of years. American Gods is a big risk, even bigger risk for Starz than HBO.

Netflix has their limits when it comes to money. They are making some cash, but they`re also spending much. Netflix mostly seems to afford to pick up two seasons at the time, not six seasons like Playtone wants.

AMC has also Preacher in development, and i think Playtone would not like the limits that AMC has with no sex and such. AMC also tends to try and change things, like Showtime also does.

The fact that Playtone is big friend of HBO seems to be a reason for HBO and Playtone to rather focus on the WW2-project they started developing earlier this year or late last year.

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SerTahu November 20, 2013 - 6:08 am

Yes, the BBC did cancel The White Queen, but Starz is developing a sequel miniseries by themselves:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10386303/The-White-Queen-is-to-make-a-comeback.html

Honestly, I would prefer a sequel to Camelot simply because it ended on a cliffhanger, but I’ll take it. But yeah, the more I think about it, the more American Gods seems out of reach for Starz.

But does Netflix limit their series’ to two seasons? If they greenlight 2 seasons at a time, that is more than what HBO does.

So I take it that American Gods does have sex in it? I know very little about it, other than the fact that it will be rather cgi intensive.

Wait, so it’s the same production company that is making Masters of the Air?

Stephen November 20, 2013 - 6:21 am

Ah, forgot Starz was doing that with White Queen. But that seems to be hard to do.

The deal with American Gods on HBO was a six season order by the rumors. And no season by seasons-orders. Netflix can’t give that. Only Showtime.

Yeah, Playtone is making or developing Masters of Air.

SerTahu November 20, 2013 - 6:29 am

The “HBO has greenlit it for 6 seasons” was denied by Neil Gaiman. 6 seasons might have been a goal, but they still would have just done season by season orders until they reached that point, wouldn’t they? As far as I’m aware networks never greenlight a new series for more than one season (unless they are Starz :P).

Stephen November 19, 2013 - 11:49 pm

Not actully supernatural, but HBO has The Leftovers. Picking up that show was almost a clear message that American Gods no longer was in development at HBO.

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