Jon Hamm is an amnesiac archangel lost in Soho in <em>Good Omens</em> S2 trailer

Aziraphale: "I think I may have just started a war...."

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[Meathim]

To say that Pratchett had light comic sensibilities is to undersell the work of a man who in my opinion hard-carried good omens; the Discworld series shows off plenty of deep thought. Gaiman is much less to my taste.

But perhaps that is neither here nor there, and I will give this a look.

Terry Pratchett nails so many things in those books, and he does it effortlessly in small comments. He was an astute observer of Man for sure. And some aruge (my sister among them) that his portrayals of women is among the most realistic in fiction.

 

[TheMolesRevenge]

I'm another who is dubious about sequels to standalone works, even if Sir Terry & Neil already had it plotted. But as long as season 2 abides by Crowley's final line in the trailer, I think I'm okay wil it

Spoiler

"Well then, let's make it worthwhile."

 

[Redsnertz]

I don't watch films of books I've read. I don't think they're bad, but they're different and I have my memory of how it should be so I don't much enjoy it.

I got through the first half of the first episode of season 1 and I liked it but it was different, so I didn't finish.

This though? Getting the sequel to a book I love without the baggage of remembering too well how it should be? I'm in!

 

[psarhjinian]

Terry Pratchett nails so many things in those books, and he does it effortlessly in small comments. He was an astute observer of Man for sure. And some aruge (my sister among them) that his portrayals of women is among the most realistic in fiction.

This is one of the many things that made the Night Watch TV series so problematic: Pratchett absolutely nailed issues of race, creed, gender and class so well that it wasn't really necessary to modernize the characters...

...but they did, making some of them (Cheery and Lady Sybil) worse in the process.

Good Omens, thankfully, didn't muck with the brilliant character development at all.

 

[IncorrigibleTroll]

I don't know why, but there's something about "didn't you have a flaming sword?" from the first series that still gives me the giggles.

I must admit I'd have loved to see Anathema Device return for the second series.

Her story arc closed nicely already. There isn't much to do with that character going forward.

 

[DistinctivelyCanuck]

Her story arc closed nicely already. There isn't much to do with that character going forward.

well, we could debate "the whole show" wrapped nicely

maybe "perfectly nice prophecies redux" or something ?

 

[brionl]

Sounds great. Too bad it's a Prime exclusive so I'll never be able to watch it.

 

[Fatesrider]

Count me in with those who are hopeful about this, given that only one of the original two authors is involved, but it's the more active one, who pushed the previous project through (Pratchett died in 2015, and Good Omens hit Prime in 2019).

Assuming the same creative and imaginative style, more would be great.

It's just, other than Star Trek Original Series movies, sequels generally suck, so here's hoping that this one doesn't. I'll definitely be checking it out.

 

[nartreb]

I'm quite hopeful. It'll be interesting to see a Pratchett show without having read the book first. I always wondered how Good Omens would look to someone who didn't already know the plot. Lots of unfamiliar ideas (witchfinders? tibetan monks? UFOs?) coming at the audience very fast when you adapt to a video format. There's very little time to explain why things happen. I guess it all makes enough sense if you get the characters across and keep it entertaining, which the Good Omens series did very well.

I also found it interesting how strongly the new trailer played up the idea that the basis of Crowley and Aziraphel's relationship might be... a little more than just friendship. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the trailer for the first series did something similar. It was a running joke in the book too, the idea that people would jump to conclusions. Angels don't have sex organs. But then again, these two have been on Earth for a long, long time.

 

[nbs2]

I’ll put this onto the “hesitantly hopeful” category. I enjoyed season one. Tenannt and Sheen were great. However, the track record of tv shows going “beyond the book” is decidedly mixed. I know, as mentioned in the article, Pratchett and Gaiman had long talked about a sequel. Hopefully they had fleshed it out enough before Pratchett’s death to do the book and the first season justice.

More than fleshed out. Like others, I'm hopeful but wary of a product that two started but only one can finish.

S1 was bound by the thoughts and life experiences of two authors in 1989; 35 years of experiences and the loss of half your combined brainpower is a lot of resistance when hoping to recapture lightning in your proverbial bottle.

Stacked on top is a Prime that did great with the first season, but has not done so with WoT and RoP since.

 

[nimelennar]

I also found it interesting how strongly the new trailer played up the idea that the basis of Crowley and Aziraphel's relationship might be... a little more than just friendship.

I mean, it's pretty clear that the two of them love each other deeply, even if that love isn't romantic or sexual in nature. The two of them have basically been life partners for dozens of human lifetimes at this point. The two of them stood together against the combined forces of both Heaven and Hell. It's pretty clear that what they have is more than a simple friendship.

There was a particularly good fanfic I've read, titled Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach, which is about Crowley going to therapy for PTSD from Aziraphale's bookstore burning down with (as far as Crowley knew at the time) Aziraphale inside. I really like the way it explores the relationship between the two of them.

 

[nartreb]

There was a particularly good fanfic I've read, titled Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach,

Holy smokes that is well-written (so far). Looks like my work assignments are going to be a little late tonight.
Edit: It's a god-damn masterpiece. Pratchett himself would be proud to have written it.

 

[Hard Thoughts]

Terry Pratchett nails so many things in those books, and he does it effortlessly in small comments. He was an astute observer of Man for sure. And some aruge (my sister among them) that his portrayals of women is among the most realistic in fiction.

I agree with both.

This is one of the many things that made the Night Watch TV series so problematic: Pratchett absolutely nailed issues of race, creed, gender and class so well that it wasn't really necessary to modernize the characters...

...but they did, making some of them (Cheery and Lady Sybil) worse in the process.

Good Omens, thankfully, didn't muck with the brilliant character development at all.

And indeed, this was one of my biggest recent disappointments.

 

[Pixy Misa Mk II]

Cautiously optimistic on this one. Normally with an American production of a new TV-only sequel to a decades-old and very British novel I'd feel comfortable predicting a dumpster fire, but this has Neil Gaiman working on it and Amazon genuinely did a great job on the first season.

I'm more of a Pratchett fan than a Gaiman fan, but when Gaiman is good, he is very, very good.

 

[slightlyspeechless]

The book was way better than the TV series. I think some lead roles may have been miscast.

Oh, christ... And I'm a "the book was better" guy now? Shit.

if it's true it is true
Was hoping for a decent adaption, was undecided after season one, things went straight downafter that. If the shoe fits it fits... the book is quite good, wo why not state it.
Same applies to Good Omens - the show is good, but the book is hilarious and great. Maybe because in 1989 it did not have to pay lip service to the current Zeitgeist ?

Not expecting too much from Season 2 of Good Omens, feels quite like milking the property. I have no problems with getting surprised by a good season out from left field, though

 

[entropy_wins]

Terry Pratchett nails so many things in those books, and he does it effortlessly in small comments. He was an astute observer of Man for sure. And some aruge (my sister among them) that his portrayals of women is among the most realistic in fiction.

Granny Weatherwax liked this comment.

 

[BasP]

The book was great, the show was... okay. The low budget didn't help, although Sheen and Tennant did, a lot.

The whole "Gaiman and Pratchett were working on a sequel" thing rings so false though. I'm sure they were exchanging ideas or even writing bits but that's a far cry from a solid outline of the story. The way some people are talking about this it's as if the book was all but published and Gaiman is now just releasing it as season .

 

[rochrist]

It’s trite and obnoxious

Show us where the awful men hurt you.

 

[Carewolf]

Looks fine, but not good enough to give up on my basic principles and subscribe to Amazon Prime even for a month, like the original was.

 

[marsilies]

The whole "Gaiman and Pratchett were working on a sequel" thing rings so false though. I'm sure they were exchanging ideas or even writing bits but that's a far cry from a solid outline of the story. The way some people are talking about this it's as if the book was all but published and Gaiman is now just releasing it as season .

The story that Gaiman and Pratchett had the rough outline for a sequel has been known for decades. Here's an interview they both did with Locus Magazine back in 1991:
https://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/1991_Gaiman_Pratchett.html

TP: "We've both got lots of stuff to do. So if you allow time for eating and sleeping, Good Omens 2 doesn’t seem to fit in there very well."

NG: "It will probably never happen. We actually know how it would go. We know the theme -- '668, The Neighbor of the Beast'."

TP: "We even know some of the main characters in it. But there's a huge difference between sittin' there chattin' away, saying, 'Hey, we could do this, we could do that,' and actually physically getting down and doing it all again. One problem is, we've been saying it fliply, but it's almost true these days, we're not on the same continent for nine weeks at a time anymore."

From a 2006 interview:
https://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/02GaimanPratchett.html

TP: "We were just playing with some ideas, and we had a few vague outlines together, which, from my point of view, is all you really need to start writing a book. I think Larry Niven likes to plan it out on 156 postcards or something, but I'll go ahead on about half-a-dozen loosely linked ideas. But I think our careers just sort of took us away from it."

 

[Wybaar]

Are the right-wing nutters going to get their panties all wet about "satanism" and try to cancel it, all over again?

Last time Netflix didn't listen to them. Perhaps they'll have better luck asking Max to cancel it?

 

[heartburnkid]

Definitely agree. Although having one of the original authors involved helps soothe some of that, especially if he's being honest about already working out general plot idea/points with Pratchett years ago.

I agree with this. If anyone else but Neil Gaiman were making the show, I'd be worried. As it is, I'm hopeful.

 

[alansh42]

Looks fine, but not good enough to give up on my basic principles and subscribe to Amazon Prime even for a month, like the original was.

So buy the DVD when it comes out. The money is still going to Amazon though.

 

[marsilies]

So buy the DVD when it comes out. The money is still going to Amazon though.

Well, sure, if you buy from Amazon. I do wonder how much of a cut Amazon actually gets from the home video sales though, since it's a co-production with BBC Studios. It seems Amazon would care most about the streaming rights, while BBC would get the home video rights.

You can buy it on Blu-ray by getting the UK Blu-ray on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363915812856?
It's an all-region Blu-ray, so will play on US players:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Good-Omens-Blu-ray/244262/#RegionCoding

 

[Hispalensis]

I agree with this. If anyone else but Neil Gaiman were making the show, I'd be worried. As it is, I'm hopeful.

The fact that it is based on notes and not on a complete book makes me even more hopeful. I may be in the minority here, but I feel that Neil Gaiman is too much in love with his own material to be a good editor of his adaptations, in the sense that he skews towards preservation rather than adaptation. Starting with a series of ideas will free him from the expectation of having to replay the greatest hits of his book.

 

[heartburnkid]

Last time Netflix didn't listen to them. Perhaps they'll have better luck asking Max to cancel it?

Max does love to cancel stuff. Canceling something that's not even on their service would be a new frontier for them.

 

[sjl]

Sounds great. Too bad it's a Prime exclusive so I'll never be able to watch it.

There's a huge amount of Prime exclusives that have been released on home media. Personally, I have Good Omens, American Gods seasons 1 through 3, and the Expanse (I don't think that was an exclusive though?) seasons 1 through 4 on Blu-ray. I know that Wheel of Time season 1 has also been released on Blu-ray, but the reviews have stopped me from picking it up (maybe if it's ever on special).

I would be exceedingly surprised if Good Omens season 2 didn't get a home media release as well.

The way some people are talking about this it's as if the book was all but published and Gaiman is now just releasing it as season .

Gaiman is a very successful writer. He has more than enough money to do what he wants, as he wants, and when he wants. He's not going to just churn out pap for the sake of it. And when it comes to a treasured property, which Good Omens most definitely is, I guarantee you, he's going to do his damnedest to make sure it comes out well - if only out of his respect and love for Pratchett.

I have no doubts about Gaiman's intentions. The only doubts I have are around how the result will polish up. But given that Gaiman is an executive producer, I'm cautiously optimistic. At the very least, Tennant and Sheen will make it highly entertaining.

 

[SixDegrees]

There's a huge amount of Prime exclusives that have been released on home media. Personally, I have Good Omens, American Gods seasons 1 through 3, and the Expanse (I don't think that was an exclusive though?) seasons 1 through 4 on Blu-ray. I know that Wheel of Time season 1 has also been released on Blu-ray, but the reviews have stopped me from picking it up (maybe if it's ever on special).

I would be exceedingly surprised if Good Omens season 2 didn't get a home media release as well.

Gaiman is a very successful writer. He has more than enough money to do what he wants, as he wants, and when he wants. He's not going to just churn out pap for the sake of it. And when it comes to a treasured property, which Good Omens most definitely is, I guarantee you, he's going to do his damnedest to make sure it comes out well - if only out of his respect and love for Pratchett.

I have no doubts about Gaiman's intentions. The only doubts I have are around how the result will polish up. But given that Gaiman is an executive producer, I'm cautiously optimistic. At the very least, Tennant and Sheen will make it highly entertaining.

I thought American Gods was Starz?

 

[marsilies]

I thought American Gods was Starz?

American Gods was produced and shown on Starz first. Also The Expanse seasons 1-3 were produced and shown on Syfy Channel, Amazon picked it up after Syfy cancelled it and produced season 4-6.

 

[entropy_wins]

Last time Netflix didn't listen to them. Perhaps they'll have better luck asking Max to cancel it?

LOL, Neil Gaiman wrote Lucifer , which as as close to brilliant as a TV format series could be in the internet age....

 

[nimelennar]

LOL, Neil Gaiman wrote Lucifer , which as as close to brilliant as a TV format series could be in the internet age....

Where is Gaiman credited?

He created that instance of the character (as a side-character in The Sandman), but then Mike Carey ran with the idea in the Lucifer comic series, and it looks like Tom Kapinos was the showrunner for the TV series. I don't see any writing credits for Gaiman on individual episodes, either.

It seems like Gaiman can claim credit for being the inspiration for the brilliance of the TV series, at best.

 

[IncorrigibleTroll]

LOL, Neil Gaiman wrote Lucifer , which as as close to brilliant as a TV format series could be in the internet age....

Did the later seasons change things up? Because the first season felt a bit like yet another instance of Police Procedural With Gimmick Consultant. It was a decent execution of that template, but it felt like a template nonetheless.

 

[marsilies]

Did the later seasons change things up? Because the first season felt a bit like yet another instance of Police Procedural With Gimmick Consultant. It was a decent execution of that template, but it felt like a template nonetheless.

They delve heavier into the mythology in the later seasons, especially once the show switched to Netflix. You still get "crime of the week" during its run on Fox, but the relationships become more of the focus, as well as the heaven/hell dynamics.

 

[marsilies]

Where is Gaiman credited?

He created that instance of the character (as a side-character in The Sandman), but then Mike Carey ran with the idea in the Lucifer comic series, and it looks like Tom Kapinos was the showrunner for the TV series. I don't see any writing credits for Gaiman on individual episodes, either.

It seems like Gaiman can claim credit for being the inspiration for the brilliance of the TV series, at best.

Neil Gaiman does do a voiceover on one episode of the Lucifer show, as God, narrating the episode. I think that's the extent of his involvement with that show though.

 

[graylshaped]

Count me in with those who are hopeful about this, given that only one of the original two authors is involved, but it's the more active one, who pushed the previous project through (Pratchett died in 2015, and Good Omens hit Prime in 2019).

Assuming the same creative and imaginative style, more would be great.

It's just, other than Star Trek Original Series movies, sequels generally suck, so here's hoping that this one doesn't. I'll definitely be checking it out.

I offer you Empire Strikes Back, Back to the Future 2, Road Warrior, Godfather Part II... We could also get into TV series that needed most of a first season to figure out where they going (X-Files, for example), but I don't see this show going past a second season.

 

[IncorrigibleTroll]

I offer you Empire Strikes Back, Back to the Future 2, Road Warrior, Godfather Part II... We could also get into TV series that needed most of a first season to figure out where they going (X-Files, for example), but I don't see this show going past a second season.

It would be nice if everybody could settle into a nice happy medium in between the common American approach of running shows well past the end of their narrative runway and the common British approach of ending shows that still have quite a bit of life to them (no, I'm not ever going to stop being crabby about there not being more IT Crowd episodes).

 

[marsilies]

It would be nice if everybody could settle into a nice happy medium in between the common American approach of running shows well past the end of their narrative runway and the common British approach of ending shows that still have quite a bit of life to them (no, I'm not ever going to stop being crabby about there not being more IT Crowd episodes).

Well, for network shows there's still a ways to go, although LOST was a tipping point where networks finally considered ending a show at the point the showrunners felt made sense, instead of just extending it, at least for serial shows.

Cable shows have been more able to have smaller runs that end when the showrunner wants. Shows like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Mad Men, etc. Just this past month, both Barry and Succession ended after 4 seasons on HBO. Streaming shows also tend to work like that, if they survive long enough to end on their own terms, that is.

 

[instadose]

No mention of the excellent John Finnimore actually writing it?

 

[graylshaped]

Neil Gaiman does do a voiceover on one episode of the Lucifer show, as God, narrating the episode. I think that's the extent of his involvement with that show though.

Darn, now I have to watch Season One again. I saw him speak in person when he said there would be a Season 2, and that it would respect Terry, and that he was beginning work on a true sequel to American Gods. I love him revisting past works, but Ocean at the End of the Lane was perfect, for example. His eclectic mind produces amazing things.

Also, Graveyard Book dazzled me, my wife, and my eight year old. It deserved the awards it received.

 

[BasP]

There's a huge amount of Prime exclusives that have been released on home media. Personally, I have Good Omens, American Gods seasons 1 through 3, and the Expanse (I don't think that was an exclusive though?) seasons 1 through 4 on Blu-ray. I know that Wheel of Time season 1 has also been released on Blu-ray, but the reviews have stopped me from picking it up (maybe if it's ever on special).

I would be exceedingly surprised if Good Omens season 2 didn't get a home media release as well.

Gaiman is a very successful writer. He has more than enough money to do what he wants, as he wants, and when he wants. He's not going to just churn out pap for the sake of it. And when it comes to a treasured property, which Good Omens most definitely is, I guarantee you, he's going to do his damnedest to make sure it comes out well - if only out of his respect and love for Pratchett.

I have no doubts about Gaiman's intentions. The only doubts I have are around how the result will polish up. But given that Gaiman is an executive producer, I'm cautiously optimistic. At the very least, Tennant and Sheen will make it highly entertaining.

This worked out great for Game of Thrones, executively produced by equally successful writer GRRM.