The Showrunners Must Go On for American Gods
Word broke yesterday that Starz’s hit series American Gods, based on the Neil Gaiman book of the same name, will be losing its showrunners. Bryan Fuller along with co-showrunner Michael Green are departing the series that is currently in the early stages of second season production. According to Deadline Hollywood, the departure relates to a dispute over the show’s budget. Costs for the show ran high in its first season and production company FremantleMedia North America wanted to get those down in the second year. Fuller and Green were apparently unhappy with the cost-cutting measures and chose to exit from the production (though it is also possible that they were pushed out). Supposedly half of the Season 2 scripts are already written and Neil Gaiman may come onboard as co-showrunner, though he is currently busy with the Good Omens mini-series he is working on for Amazon. There is no word at this point if the loss of the showrunners will delay production, though I do expect it to impact the Season 2 debut (which has not been set) to some extent.
Fuller is known as somewhat of an auter, and his work has been acclaimed on shows like Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, and Heroes (the first season). He had been attached as showrunner for Star Trek: Discovery, but departed from that for creative reasons. He had already picked up the showrunner duties for the upcoming Amazing Stories reboot on iTunes and will now focus his attention on that gig.
G.R.R. Martin Confirms a Ten Episode First Season for Nightflyers
We already knew that Syfy was moving forward with a television adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s sci fi / horror story Nightflyers, and now he has confirmed on his blog that the show will have a ten episode first season. He will not be directly involved in the production, but he seems to be pleased with how it is progressing. Following are some of his comments on the show and you can read the full post at this link:
NIGHTFLYERS will be shot in the Republic of Ireland, I’m told, on sound stages in Limerick… which will give them access to the same great pool of Irish and British actors that GAME OF THRONES has tapped in Belfast (and considering how many characters we’ve killed, a lot of them should be available). ((If by some miracles I actually complete enough of my other projects to create some free time, I’ve love to go over there and kill two birds with one flight by visiting both the GOT and NIGHTFLYERS sets… but that remains a long shot, given my current word load)). If all goes according to schedule, the series should debut this summer, in late July. It will be broadcast on SyFy in the USA, and on Netflix around the world.
More Sci Fi TV News of Note
Maggie Grace (Lost) will be joining the cast of Fear the Walking Dead in that show’s upcoming fourth season. The details of her character have not been announced yet.
FOX’s The Orville will only air twelve of its thirteen first episodes this season with the remaining ep to be held over until the show’s second year.
FOX has ordered six more episodes for Ghosted‘s first season, but that is not necessarily a show of confidence. More on that over at CancelledSciFi.com
See a full rundown of the premieres, returns, and finales in December at this link.
More Sci Fi TV News: Walking Dead Crossover Character Announced, Matt Smith Wants to Team with 13th Doctor Read
Keep up with the current schedule of sci fi and fantasy TV shows at this link and the weekly listings at this link. And be sure to follow The Sci Fi TV Site on Twitter for schedule reminders and breaking news.
