American Gods (STARZ)
 

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I'll give anything Ian McShane a look.

one of my favorite books

Absolutely

Yeah, it was a great read. Will give this show a shot.

Sort of looks cool but the trailer doesnt tell much.

Its about some kind of supernatural powers?

The book it's based on is pretty weird. But it was really entertaining.

I just did a cursory search after seeing Gillian Anderson as Marilyn Monroe. Vaguely reminds me of the Incarnations Of Immortality series.

Just got done reading this book after picking it up on Friday afternoon.

McShane is ****ing perfect casting. Holy shit.

Did anyone else read this book and just not care for it. I had a hard time even finishing it.

I picked it up a few years back on a recommend and couldn't get into it. I picked it up again about a month ago and I'm liking it a lot better--about 150pgs into it at the moment.

Yeah, I've picked it up and started it twice over the last 8 years or so. Still haven't finished it.

Curious to see how long of a series it will actually be.

Michael Green is also behind it? I'm doubly sold. I know I'm in the extreme minority, but I enjoyed Kings in the brief run it had.

I wasn't a big fan, which surprised me based on the hype for the book. I liked "Anansi Boys", which was similar, a lot more then "American Gods".

At the time I read the book, I imagined Al Pacino in that role. But I think Ian McShane is going to be great in it and was a fantastic casting choice.

Looking forward to this, I need to do a re-read of the book as it has been a few years since I read it.

I'd probably agree.. though I don't think Pacino would be believable looking like a kind of 'has-been' like McShane can.

Further, once I saw that McShane was linked to the project I figured out who he'd be cast as very quickly into reading the book so I might be biased.

I also imagined Technical Boy being Jonah Hill based on the description in the book so I'm a little disappointed in how they've depicted the character based on the physical look of the guy. But of course getting Jonah Hill would be too tall of a task for STARZ so...

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let the fanboi squeeing commence.

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Really wish I had starz, but I can't justify the pay channels I have already, much less get another.

I have not read the book, but I thouroughly enjoyed the first episode and am ready for the rest of the series. If this was on Netflix I'd already be half way thru it.

I'm interested in the book now.

I thought the ending of the book was very disappointing, even though I REALLY like Gaiman. It was an interesting concept, but I feel like it was stuck between trying to make a point and be fantasy.

Haven't been able to make it through the episode just yet, but I like what I've seen. There were certain characters I was interested in seeing, and I think they did a good job bringing them to screen/updating their characters (the internet kid was a pudgy nerd in the book).

Meh. Looks like they're making a bunch of changes from the book at least early on.
Shadow Moon? Why add Moon?

He's Shadow Moon in the book.

The acting was phenomenal in the 1st ep. If the show runners are good this will be great.

Pilot was.... amazing.

I didn't care for it. Too much slow-mo. Confusing plot (I haven't read the books). Lots of dialogue that doesn't actually develop the characters in any way.

I'll keep watching, but the pilot didn't do anything for me.

This is how i felt. Might be a genre issue for me.

Just watched episode 1. Really liked it. I don't know anything about the plot or book, but like the way it started. The opening sequence with the Vikings was pretty damn funny, and I'm guessing that somehow ties into the story later? Either way gonna watch ep 2 tomorrow.

Ian McShane is just balls-on perfect casting.

It's weird but I can't turn away.

The rewrites aren't doing it for me. Such a good book. Maybe the show would be better if i hadn't read it.

Good stuff

Agreed. They are making changes to the storyline i.e. opening scene where the vikings inexplicably battle each other instead of sacrificing the native, Shadow's wife appearing as a dream instead of real in the hotel room, them having a house instead of an apartment and him spending a needless amount of time there, the slave ship scene,etc. none of which happened in the book. Drawing out the scene with the Russian god's to the point of boring, having a skinny Techno in a ridiculous cyber limo, Media already appearing,and in a Sam's club etc.
Shadow not being noticeably larger to the point where people comment on his size.
The difference between Starz and HBO is really apparent with this one.

Pertaining to book vs show differences:

Good points all. I'm less sanguine than you I think where it comes to rewrites whose only purpose is to stretch a story. The scene in the Russian's house dragged on forever to the point of boredom. Strict adherence to the book I know is rarely possible and it is early on so I'm not giving up on it yet. All in all it's pretty 'meh' so far. (And Shadow needs to be bigger.)

Between Preacher and this I hope there's a strong push towards more adult COMIX fare from here on...

This one is lame but Preacher and Legion are ab fab.

Renewed for a second season.

Kinda thought it would be a while for the gay sex but oh well.

Haha that'll scare away the Redneck demographic LMAO


GOOD show by the way, The leprechaun is great and McShane kills it. The dude who plays Shadow is, ironically, overshadowed by him sometimes..

I wanna de-virginize Zorya Polunchnya

It's starting to lose steam, hopefully things pick up.

What's the deal with the fire eyes?

The taxi driver is a djinn.

Apparently one of the producers is a dick wrangler who felt the book didn't spend near enough time or detail on the gaysex scene. So he re-wrote a two minute scene into 10 minutes that do absolutely nothing for the story other than perpetuate his gay vision. Same guy who thought he give himself AIDS by masturbating with a cut on his hand.


The senseless re-writes continue; the pace absolutely crawls.
You were spot-on about needing to drag it out enough for two seasons. Which would be great if the were good at it.
Difference between HBO and Starz.

STARZ is kind of championing the dick showing as kind of a gender equality thing.

Usually that kind of pandering annoys me, but w/ever. Fuller and Green are reading it as Salim was a repressed gay man, whereas I felt that the scene in the book was beyond a gay/straight dichotomy because the djinn is.. well, a djinn.

Overall, I liked the episode. It's strongest with McShane being on screen (duh) and Shadow is likeable if still a bit bland. Pablo being cast as Mad Sweeney is ****ing amazing too and we need more of him.

I can put up with some back alley zipper fights in a series especially if it's balanced out by hot girl action (I'm looking at you Trueblood) but that was too much. Fast-forward FTW. I read an interview with the gay producer, Bryan Fuller, that made it pretty clear there will be more gay pandering where that came from.

Anyway though, fully agree with McShane nailing it. Not so much because hes perfect for the part, he plays the exact same guy in every show he's in, but because the part is so perfect for him.
Not very far behind him is Mad Sweeney. Dude is full on.
Shadow is a distant third up to this point.

I thought episode one was great and was ready to settle in for a wild ride. After episodes two and three I'm ready to go to sleep. Seriously, if not for Mr. Wednesday and Mad Sweeney I would have already stopped watching. Hope they pick up the pace soon.

This has been really bad, so far. I'm about one more bad episode from writing off this series.

*sigh* Another good book twisted apart by bad TV writers.

Beyond the spoiler-y bits, the big take away is that you have to think of this as a graphic novel adaptation of Gaiman's work... except that it's a graphic novel that is animated with live action.

It's a graphic novel based on how they've chosen to shoot the scenes, the verisimilitude of what we are seeing and hearing and the subject matter at hand. It's not going to make everyone who read the novel happy, nor will it be a typical viewing experience for those who prefer episodic dramas. The events of episode 3 are going to make a lot of people uneasy and that's okay. I just hope people give it at least a full season to appraise one way or the other.

So think of it as a comic book instead of Gaiman's work and it won't suck as bad?
I dunno man.

Sure.

Also, it's not like Gaiman has zero influence on what's going with the show.

Got ya'; appreciate the input.
I haven't watched 4 yet, going to stay hopeful and give this season a chance to gain momentum and come together. It's not gotten off to the best of starts but we'll see.

I watched 4. Worst episode of an already not-so-good season. SOOOO slow. I fas forwarded through 15 minutes of the first half hour of needless, boring, Shadow and Laura tripe.
I won't even touch on Laura being at Audrey's where she inexplicably needs an arm sewn back on.
It's called "American Gods", not "American Stiffs". An entire episode without showing any of the interesting characters was a horrible idea.

They've been losing viewership each week. If they want to reverse that they'd better show a whole lot more Odin and Mad Sweeney and bring in some other interesting characters or soon nobody will believe in this show and it will die.

Maybe it's different if you haven't read the book. What do those of you who have not read the book think of the series so far?

To be honest I was a bigger fan of the idea than what the comix gave me. Great premise then slowly lost me...

I haven't read the book and after 4 episodes I have zero interest in watching the rest. The only reason I have STARZ in the first place is to watch "The White Princess" (based on The War of the Roses). After this series is over in two more weeks I will drop STARZ . American Gods isn't worth the price of admission. Boring, plodding story line IMO.

Thanks. I couldn't tell if the series seemed so uninteresting up to this point because I knew what the story line was supposed to be or if it was generally bad viewing whether you'd read the book or not.

You can't tell by the show but the book is a rather good read.

I havent read the book, but we where remarking last night how they where deliberately stretching out shots, scenes, and an entire epsiode on how ol girl showed up a dead zombie slut at the hotel room.

So, perhaps by incident or by intention, Episode 5 was structured in a way that made Episode 4 totally skippable since the end of Ep.3 would flow seamlessly into Ep.5.



If this was intentional... then Green / Fuller should kick themselves in the dick for an episode that can be written off as chaff outside of some comical moments between two characters and some backstory.

If it were done by incident, then people who are still on the fence about the show after the first two can be told to skip the Laura-centric episode and continue on with #5.

All of that aside, tonight brought us some action and some further revelation as to what's playing out in the world of American Gods and I think it was enjoyable.

While I guess you could have skipped it I actually though episode 4 was fairly solid for a number of things going on. Also for the amusing note of the cheating husband being Dane Cook (who I don't hate as an actor) being burred with his dick in that place.

Episode 5 did nothing to change my mind about this show. Maybe if I had read the book (or comic or whatever) it would make more sense and I could see what they were building up to. It's the old gods vs the new gods but with so many characters and a plot line seemingly going nowhere slowly, it's just an incoherent mess IMO. Next week is the last week of "The White Princess" mini-series and I doubt I'll even watch American Gods afterwards.

Best episode so far, but I guarantee there will be bitching about the "Coming to America" sequence at the beginning.

Spoiling just in case...

I've got the last four episodes sitting on the DVR, and I'm having a hard time getting motivated to watch them. Worth it, or nah?

Dive on in. Would like to hear your feedback. Have you read the book?

Yes, a long time ago. It was taking me seeing it on screen to remember that I had read about it previously.

I haven't hated what I've seen so far, but I haven't been drawn to it, either. I'll have to block out some time and get caught up with it.

90% of tonight's episode is a "Coming to America" sidestep so that'll probably bore / aggravate a lot of folk.



All of that being said, tonight is one episode that is totally devoid of Wednesday and Shadow (likely for dramatic reasons related to the end of episode 6 and the upcoming finale) so we lose there which is disappointing, but hopefully will be rewarded with an exciting finale.

I just finished reading the book a few weeks ago, and finished catching up on the show yesterday. Personally I think both are great, but the show is definitely much different than the book. I don't really have many problems with most of the additions (the Anansi scene on the slaver ship was fantastic and I really like the added storyline for Laura). What bothers me the most though is probably the overall change in tone of the "magical" world. It was much more subtle in the book. It's very in your face in the show. In the book you can understand Shadow's problems coming to terms with things.

The book was a very slow burn, much like the show. The whole book could have been condensed into a few chapters. Considering how stretched the book was, I can see why people are getting bored with the show. It is getting super stretched. I am enjoying it though. The Essie Macgowan episode was a perfect example of the stretch in both the book and the show. I enjoyed the story in both mediums though.

The gay scene, while something I fast forwarded through, is not nearly as bad as portrayed in this thread. It was twice as long in the book, and overly detailed. If anything, they shortened it in the show. In the book I couldn't tell (and didn't really want to know) if it was supposed to be torture or sex. Regardless, I disliked the shorter show version (except having to see it part) less.

I also loved Mad Sweeney in the book. His role was disappointingly short. I'm enjoying his role being expanded, and since they are greatly Laura's role, I'm more than happy that the two are together so far. They're both assholes, and they playoff well together.

They've also done a much better job explaining the role of the coin in Mad Sweeney's life. The book was incredibly vague on that, and to be honest, I had no idea why the coin was so important in the book. In the show, it is much clearer. The bathroom stall at the bar shows the reversal in how Mad Sweeney used to be protected by those wishing to do him harm (no more bad luck to his enemies). It's also shown by the reversal in luck to those wishing to help him (the AA guy getting his head spiked). Racking his nuts on the cop car was just an hilarious exclamation point on that for me. Now he's with Laura, and I'm guessing his proximity to the coin is keeping things a little more neutral.

Curious to see how they end the season. I'm guessing they try to stretch this out into 3 seasons (24 episodes). I can see that much stretch becoming draining though. Hopefully they just finish it up next season.

OK, I'm sure many will complain about the finale not moving the story along much and having too much non-book material, but I enjoyed it. Bilquis on Tinder was hilarious. Looking forward to meeting Hinzelman next season!

Thus ends Season 1.

Ugh.

Season 2 hasn’t been too bad so far.

Technical Boy has been surprisingly enjoyable. Dunno how they can go for four seasons..

Did anyone else think the book was massively overrated?