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Spoilers American Gods - Season 1

How much do shows like Westworld, Game of Thrones, The Expanse get per episode? I would think in this day $9 million per episode would be enough to do pretty much anything.
 
And now AG has lost another showrunner, Jesse Alexander has been "fired but not fired" after seven failed attempts to turn in a satisfactory script for the season finale. It sounds like there might have been longer running issues, with this being the final straw. Alexander has been banned from any involvement with the show from this point on.
This has pushed the series production six weeks behind, and now instead of working on the finale they doing pickups and reshoots for other episode.
It doesn't sound like they have been officially promoted, but directing producer Chris Byrne and line producer Lisa Kussner appear to be more or less serving as unofficial showrunners as they try to finish up the season.
So.... yeah, it sounds like this is pretty much a mess right now. Hopefully they'll be able to get things straightened out and deliver a good second season.
 
The Hollywood Reporter has some interesting further details.

"That said, there were clashes over scripts from the day of the first table read. Sources note that season two scripts were often rewritten on the set, as many involved in the series wanted to honor the original vision and protect what they saw as important aspects of the characters and plot. After some actors, including star Ian McShane (Mr. Wednesday), began taking passes at improving dialogue, the production was forced to enlist co-star Orlando Jones (Mr. Nancy) as a writer on the series so a member of the WGA would be credited with writing instead of having actors violating guild rules. Others say some writers were coming to set with hand-written notebook pages — rewrites on scripts Alexander oversaw — amid "screaming matches" between the showrunner and McShane.

Starz is also said to be unhappy with Alexander, who, according to several accounts, took Gods in a more conventional direction. Though Fremantle and Gaiman supported Alexander — at least until recently — the premium cable network, sources say, balked at that evolution, and wanted more of the atmospheric, hypnotic tone that [Michael] Green and [Bryan] Fuller had created.

After Alexander was sidelined, an attempt was made to promote another writer to the showrunner position, but sources say that the unnamed individual left the production almost immediately after being elevated. Now, in the absence of a showrunner, producing director Chris Byrne and line producer Lisa Kussner are trying to steer the ship."
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Probably shouldn't have Green and Fuller then.
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Wow, sounds like things were even worse than the IGN article made it sound.
It kind of cracks me up that they fired Fuller and Green, and then got mad because it was no longer done in their style.
 
It's also funny since they fired Fuller and Green for budget reasons too. Their Season 2 scripts (they wrote six that were then completely thrown out when Alexander took over) were budgeted to be way too high for their liking. Hilariously, the Hollywood Reporter article noted that the budget skyrocketed anyway thanks to a six month hiatus and a lengthy period of significant (still ongoing, mind you) reshoots.

Such is the level of disarray that the show recently took a hiatus to sort things out. Reshoots have been a major factor in season two, and they are ongoing. Multiple sources say that executives at Starz were unhappy with a number of season two episodes, and thought some looked "cheap." There was particular dismay, insiders say, around the third and fourth installments, which has led to extensive reworking of those episodes.

The departure of Green and Fuller was partly said to be driven by budget disagreements — the freshman run came in an estimated $30 million over budget, THR reported in February — but the spending on season two has notably outstripped its original budget as well. "Now they're spending to spice up what was flat on the page," one source says.
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Ugh, what a mess and one of Starz's own creation. However, I don't find it funny. American Gods deserves better and so does Neil Gaiman, especially after the shit he went through with Neverwhere. Thank the gods he's having such a rewarding time with Good Omens, otherwise I would worry he would be soured by television again, before a potential Sandman series could be developed.
 
It is interesting to hear the network state they want something more unconventional. Unfortunately, it sounds like whatever happens in season two is likely to be a pale shadow (no pun intended...) of what came before.
 
Wait... so they got to the SEASON FINALE and then decided they didn't like the tone/direction and wanted a change? That's like building a house and then when some windows are being installed deciding to tear down the house because you don't like the look of it.
 
Emh said:
Ugh, what a mess and one of Starz's own creation. However, I don't find it funny. American Gods deserves better and so does Neil Gaiman, especially after the shit he went through with Neverwhere. Thank the gods he's having such a rewarding time with Good Omens, otherwise I would worry he would be soured by television again, before a potential Sandman series could be developed.
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Oh, I didn't mean that I find this whole situation funny, just that I find it funny they got mad that it was no longer being done in Fuller and Green's style after they fired Fuller and Green. You'd think they'd realize that putting someone else other than them in charge, would mean that it probably wouldn't be done in their style.
I really enjoyed the first season, so I am disappointed the show has apparently completely fallen apart now.
At least Discovery actually seems to be improving with it's new showrunner.
I have to wonder if Gaiman might just come in and take over himself once Good Omens is done. He's already supposed to be more involved this season than last, so it would be the logical next step.
 
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