Usually when a series is in production, and we learn that an episode or two were cut that is a bad sign of how things are playing out but showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green want to stress that isn’t the case in ‘American Gods.’ In fact, Neil Gaiman approved of the reasons as to why the changes were made for the adaptation which is soon to land on Starz! Fans of Gaiman know that he doesn’t pay lip service so if he approves this change it was likely for the best.
According to Fuller here is how it played out:
“When we shot it, we didn’t like what we saw. There were issues with the sets. There were some things that happened too early in Shadow’s journey that changed the perspective of the story.
We went back to the concept that was the strongest, and in order to pay for it, we had to drop an episode.”
To fix this, he worked with Green on cutting what they didn’t like from episodes three and four and creating a new third episode from it. With some of the big reveals that fans of the novel already know it shouldn’t come as too surprise as to what kind of material might be cut from earlier episodes.
According to Green, they were able to pitch this episode restructuring after how well the trailer reveal at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con went:
“They sat us down, and they said, ‘That went better than we could have hoped. What can we do to make sure we deliver a show as good as that trailer?’” Green recalls. “They said, ‘We will put on the table something that you can take or leave’ — because they’d always cautioned us about our own appetites — ‘If you want to do less show and focus on making it better, we’re open to that. If that means fewer episodes, consider it.'”
When asked what Gaiman’s response was it was pretty straight forward as Green says that:
“He took the classic, long, 45-second Neil pause and went, ‘That’ll work.””
For fans of the book, this is a bit of a spoiler so you’ve got a second to turn back if you’d like. We’ve learned that the season finale cliffhanger will take place just before Mr. Wednesday and those who are journeying with him reach House on the Rock.
Are you looking forward to the premiere of ‘American Gods’? Do you believe that less is more in this case as we’re getting a higher quality show with these changes? Share your thoughts below!
Synopsis:
American Gods pits Old Gods against New Gods, with the ancient mythological ones fearing irrelevance as their believers die off or are seduced by the money, technology, and celebrity offered by the younger deities. Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) is an ex-con who, left adrift by the recent death of his wife, becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to conman Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane). But in truth, Mr. Wednesday is a powerful old deity, on a cross-country mission to build an army and reclaim his lost glory.
The ‘American Gods’ Will Wage War On Starz On April 30th, 2017 at 9 pm ET/PT!
Source: TV Line
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
