‘American Gods’ will return for a third season
Addicted to American Gods? Luckily for us, Starz has renewed the show for a third season.
The Starz TV show, produced by Fremantle, has seen nothing but behind-the-scenes dramas, and returned for S2 with considerably less critical praise than the first. We’re pumped to hear that, all personnel issues aside, Starz has faith in the show – we think it’s actually getting better with age.
The Neil Gaiman adaptation will see a third showrunner leading the chaos, Charles “Chic” Eglee. Eglee has worked on shows like Hemlock Grove, The Walking Dead, Dexter, and The Shield. We’re guessing he’s got his fair share of weird & wonderful ideas about where this visually stunning – and absolutely batshit crazy – show might go next.
The quick production play-by-play: Bryan Fuller (father of our favorite cannibal show ever, Hannibal) and Michael Green ran a tight ship for S1 of the show. They bailed over money (or lack of it) and took some key personnel with them, most pertinently X-Files goddess Gillian Anderson.
Jesse Alexander was chief cat herder through American Gods’s second season, but the rumor on the street is he was casually sidelined without actually being given an official pink slip.
Neil Gaiman is still very much involved in American Gods and is apparently delighted to welcome the new creative partner to the project: “I’m thrilled American Gods has been renewed for a third season, and even more thrilled that I’m getting to work on it with Chic Eglee.
“Chic is the best partner-in-crime. We’ve been working for weeks now on the shape of the season and I’m delighted that he gets to carry the American Gods torch on to glory. Thank you to Fremantle, Starz, and Amazon for having faith in the series, to Bryan, Michael and Jesse for bringing it this far, to all the cast and crew, and most of all to the viewers. It’s their love of the characters that took us to this point, and will take us on to the next chapter.”
Even with the poor critical reaction to S2, this isn’t a surprising announcement. The response to the first season was overwhelmingly positive from critics & viewers alike – not to mention more than 975,000 viewers tuned in to the premiere. We’re guessing the project is still dining out on the early ratings glory and that Starz has faith in the product, happy to give it space to grow for another season.
American Gods follows Shadow Moon, an ex-con serving time for a scam gone wrong. Let out of prison early, he is quickly hired by the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday and finds himself adrift in a hidden world where magic is real and a war of epic proportions is brewing.
The American Gods book has been translated into more than 30 languages and sold two million copies in the United States alone.
American Gods stars Ricky Whittle (The 100), Ian McShane (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), Emily Browning (Legend), Pablo Schreiber (Lords of Dogtown), Yetide Badaki (Aquarius), Bruce Langley (Deadly Waters), Crispin Glover (Willard), Orlando Jones (Evolution) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files).
“The critically-acclaimed series will further its reputation as one of the timeliest shows on television by tackling additional politically and socially relevant issues including gun culture and subordination and power of women,” said a statement issued by Starz.
We are mega fans of this show and have loved both seasons. The show’s filled to the brim with decadence and debauchery that left us “dazed and sated, yet begging for more”. Ultimately, the adaptation proves Gaiman’s work deserves far more cinematic attention that it receives – whether on the silver or small screen.
American Gods airs on Starz in the United States, while in the United Kingdom it’s available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Not sure what the fuss is about? Tune in and find out: read our glowing review of season two here.
