There have been a lot of questions about the future of American Gods given the departures of the showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, as well as one of the gods herself, Gillian Anderson. Since then, Kristen Chenoweth also commented on her uncertainty about whether or not she would be involved moving forward -- so is American Gods Season 2 still happening?
At the TV Critics press tour today, Chief Executive Officer and President of Starz, Chris Albrecht commented on the ongoing struggle by saying,
“I think there’s been some confusion about the cast exits. Gillian Anderson seems to be leaving everything, but this was not a surprise — we knew that she was not necessarily going to be able to come back. Kristen Chenoweth, as far as we all know, is still committed to the show obviously pending her availability. As you’ve seen, we’re having some trouble getting the second season underway, it’s an incredibly difficult adaptation of a fantastic novel, and it’s one of the reason that it took so long to get it to screen in the first place. Bryan [Fuller] and Michael [Green], working with Neil Gaiman have done a phenomenal job, and our partners Fremantle are working out with Bryan and Michael and their schedules, a way for them to continue to be involved. Neil Gaiman will be taking more of a central role and moving forward into a more traditional showrunner function. And we’re looking for a partner for him who can ensure that the television part gets the appropriate attention. We’re very committed to American Gods, and I’ve mentioned before it did very well for us. […] We’re hoping for many more American Gods to appear on Starz.”
Letting Gaiman take over as showrunner is an interesting move, though it seems like Starz are looking to pair him with someone with more of a TV background before Season 2 gets underway.
Update: Neil Gaiman clarified on Twitter that:
But one of the most surprising facts in that quote was about Bryan Fuller and Michael Green still potentially being involved. Albrecht continued,
“Bryan and Michael will be as involved as they can be, and a lot of that is between Fremantle and Neil and Bryan and Michael, because this is one of those shows that we do through a studio, and we’re not in direct negotiations with the actual executive producers and the people who are working on the show."
Budget was cited as the main reason why the showrunners first exited, which Albrecht addressed by saying,
“You know not surprisingly, if you’ve seen the show, it’s not an inexpensive show. So I think that budget is always a factor, although Fremantle has been really terrific in being willing to invest. I think this is about is there a vision that can be executed on a regular basis. Obviously not ideal to have 18 months or 2 years between seasons, especially given how competitive the world has become. So I think Fremantle needs to know that there’s a formula where they can get this show on, and we’d like to have that as well. It might be that the things Bryan and Michael are doing with their schedules have not allowed them to focus in the way that Fremantle has wanted them to, although I don’t know that specifically [but] given everything that’s going on it seems like we’re finally on a path to get this on to a definite Season 2.”
Clearly, there are a lot of negotiations that are ongoing, but when asked pointedly if the original showrunners were fired or they quit, Albrecht clarified that "Oh no, they were not fired nor did they quit […] everyone is trying to work this out so everyone be a win-win for the people involved and for the show itself […] all things being considered, I think that everyone would want to keep the team intact for as long as possible."
