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fuckyeahgoodomens · 2 years

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Good Omens NYCC panel recap

- Guests: Neil Gaiman, Douglas Mackinnon, Rob Wilkins, Maggie Service, Nina Sosanya and Guelin Sepulveda, it is said that Michael Sheen will join at the end over Zoom.

About Season 1

- What do they miss most when S1 wrapped and before S2:

Douglas: All the cast and all the crew. We were very big and cuddly family.

Neil: Yeah.

Rob: David Tennant and Michael Sheen.

Nina: Missing the mentioned family and being part of the nuns sisterhood.

- At the beginning they shared several bts stories from season 1 and the book:

First day of shooting in the bookshop was cancelled because of the blizzard and the second day they were foreced to shoot interiors because outside there were people with flamethrowers trying to melt what was there. So they build the set of Soho 2 inside.

Rob kept a lot of the vehicles from S1 and S2, all the motorbikes, the cars, and now I have topped it with Crowley’s Bentley.

A lot of nuns including Maggie had warts, but Nina didn’t want one.

Neil about Nina’s audition (read more here).

That both Michael and David both independently suggested that he might like to write a Good Omens stage play so they may swap roles each night.

About Michael originally being Crowley (more here and here).

About Terry and Neil being Aziraphale and Crowley - Neil: In the creation of Crowley Terry took the things that I did that he thought were hilarious, like wearing sunglasses indoors when I didn’t need to. He put a lot of me into Crowley but then we both put a lot of ourselves into both of them. (here, also this).

Michael Sheen is amazing mimic, Neil recalls that during one of the final scenes he had producer headphones on, the guys were acting and sitting on the bench and all of the sudden David Tennant started saying awful things about Michael Sheen, just, you know, there’s Crowley and Aziraphale talking and Crowley is saying all this stuff about how Aziraphale is fat Michael can’t act and all the stuff and I’m like ‘Whaat?! David is the nicest man in the world...’ and then the penny drops and it’s Michael sitting there doing pitch perfect as Crowley.

About Season 2

- What was like for Quelin to join the show:

She was a fan. The very first day was a bit like out of body experience, there was a scene where she interacted with David and Michael. So it was like, ‘Concentrate, Quelin, concentrate! It’s okay, it’s okay!’ And it was just overwhelming in the best of ways, honestly.

She plays angel Muriel. When Neil and John Finnemore talked about season 2, they realized that they didn't have another nice, well-meaning angels except for Aziraphale in Heaven, all they had were bastards, all awfull, so they thought ‘Let’s have a nice one’ and so they created angel Muriel, curious, gullible, well-meaning and chatty angel that spent 6000 filing in the same office in Heaven hoping that somebody would come in and the day would get more interesting and it doesn’t.

She’s a 37th order scrivener, bottom of the pily, it’s her first time to Earth.

- They felt Terry’s presence also during filming S2.

- Douglas said that they started doing the ADR post production and that the difference between David and Michael is that David looks at the monitor and whatches what he’s done and Michael never watch, so now Michael saw himself for the first time and he was like a fan doing, ‘Oh look we’re back! And there’s Aziraphale!’.

- Neil about Maggie and Nina returning:

It was a thing where one of the things I was very very certain before I started writing season 2 that there were two characters in it and I wanted them to be played by Maggie and Nina, so in order to make it clear to everybody reading the script, that they were going to be played by Maggie and Nina, I called the characters Maggie and Nina. Maggie and Nina liked being Maggie and Nina so the names stayed.

Douglas joked that he thought that a bit lazy not to think up new names and it was hell on set. Later he jokes that since Muriel is an actual angel name, that Neil didn’t make that one either.

Maggie runs a record shop which is beside Aziraphale’s bookshop in Soho, Mr. Fell is her landlord, shop passed through the generations. Her shop looks across shop where Nina works.

Nina works in the independent coffeeshop Give Me Coffe or Give Me Death, she is good with dealing with people in Soho who come in, not afraid of dealing with them. Wears great cardigans. Her character is quite grumpy. There is a scene where at the start her love life is doomed and she is getting passive-agressive texts for Lindsay - Neil says writing the texts was some of the most fun they had - maybe there will be a hope for her love life.

- About more characters:

Neil didn’t want to lose people because they are such a family and wanted Miranda Richardson back but Madame Tracy’s story had really finished and couldn’t think of more for here and her story had ended so beautifully so he wrote a new part for Miranda - she plays Shax, demon that was sent on Earth as the replacement of sacked Crowley.

Anna Maxwell Martin couldn’t make the filming (was in two shows and a stage play when they needed her), so Beelzebub is played by Shelley Conn. She demanded a lot more flies.

Donna Preston plays Mrs. Sandwich, and We’we never quite sure about Mrs. Sandwich’s profession but she’s definitely in Soho.

-When Neil started writing S2:

In August 2019 he told Amazon and BBC at fancy breakfast, ‘This is the plot.’, and they said, ‘Oh, we like that plot.’

In December he and John Finnemore got together and Neil told him the plot and he said, ‘That is a good plot, but how does it end’ Neil said that he doesn’t have ends until he gets there but John needed one so Neil said, ‘How about this?’ and told him the end and John said, ‘That’s a good end.’ And that is the end we’ve got.

He started writing it in the middle of the pandemic Summer 2020, writing with pencil to his notebook the first scene which is the first scene.

- Neil what will S2 be about:

Six episodes, each about 45 minutes.

There are some love stories in it.

We will learn a lot about Jane Austen we didn’t know before.

There is a lot more Heaven, a lot more Hell.

- What could be more eras for Aziraphale and Crowley

Douglas: 19th century Scotland, Neil: Edinburgh perhaps around 1827?, Douglas: That would be good, can you write that?, Neil: Oddly enough, episode 3 will take us to a little stint of body snatching in the era. For me it would be like 1941 and we’d go back to those Nazis. Douglas: That would be good and what about something biblical as well, could we do something? Neil: Bible’s good. Yeah back to biblical times, that would be really fun, we could do one of those in episode 2. (they are obviously talking about minisodes :))

- There was a clip from the show but only sound for those watching the stream.

Listen here.

Description from twitter ‘Crowley rushes into the bookshop holding plants and it’s so cute’.

This pic should be from it :)

- Season 2 Release Date: Summer 2023

- At the end on the zoom dropped not on Michael but also David and Jon Hamm! :)

Watch here :), their banter was written by Neil, Staged-style.

Michael and David found out that there’s going to be S2 probably at the same time from Neil. There was always sort of hope after the end of S1 that there might be more story to tell. Jon found out about it from Neil during press for S1 as potentiality and then during covid Neil said an idea to Jon that we would start by walking down the street in Soho completely nude and he send me the beggining of the scene where Gabriel does not recogni- and the rest is deliberately cut with ‘Lost connection’, to the nude part Neil said, I knew that if he said yes to that he’d say yes to anything and then he says it is not actually there.

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fellshish · 8 months

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Season 2 spoiled us. A & C were together almost all the time. We got so much screentime with them together. (unlike season 1).

I think I can’t handle it if in season 3 they will be separated for most of the season again. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that we’ll get a happy ending, but I want it to last longer than the last 15 minutes. I want to see at least some of the cute moments we all imagine come to live on screen. And when the conciliation happens in the last episode there will be nearly no time for fluffy stuff, especially assuming that there will be an bigger overarching plot in season 3 and new characters, who’s stories need to be told as well.

I know I’m unreasonable, but I want them to make up early in the season or I need more episodes.😭

Ohh anon, i get you. But I think you’re making yourself sad based on a lot of assumptions that might not necessarily be true.

Remember that most of their scenes together that we got this season were actually in the flashbacks from their long history. I imagine s3 could easily feature a couple of delicious minisodes — we might for example see the reasons for aziraphales past apology dances that he mentioned. We might see aziraphale rescue crowley from hell after the elspeth thing. Those are my hopes and guesses.

While i agree that we got spoiled this season with lots of content together and s3 will undoubtedly feature less of that, and i too enjoyed their scenes together most, i don’t think s3 will necessarily mean a quick wrap-up and fade to black. Sure, we can’t expect a fanfic level episode of fluff only, but to me that sounds just as boring too. That’s why fanfic exists. But we won’t necessarily get a solution in the last 15 minutes of episode 6 only.

I’m a simp yes… but i trust that gaiman and finnemore will not only build a narratively good season but they’ll also honour these characters and give them that happy ending with care and decades of writing expertise. And i trust in tennant and sheen to put their whole tussy and shussy into it.

#my asks #good omens #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #good omens spoilers #good omens speculation

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xxgothchatonxx · 9 months

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Well I’ve finished Good Omens 2 and I’ve got to say, this was one hell of a strong sequel.

It felt smaller but in a good way. Don’t get me wrong, I love the first story/first season, but I like that this season was less plot-driven and more character-driven.

I also found it to be more chaotic and unhinged, despite being a more simplistic story? But it worked! I love unhinged chaos when it’s done well, and Mr. Gaiman and Mr. Finnemore did it very well! And it is still the nice, warm, and cozy world we all know and love, just with an extra dose of feels-attacks.

The cast brought their A-game as always and the writing was wonderful. And that ending... I thought that was written and executed perfectly. Now I‘m just hoping and praying for a season 3- but I do still support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, that’s more important.

So, I give Good Omens 2 a ranking of 5/5 wahoos :)

#good omens #good omens 2

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thealogie · 7 months

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hii thea this is completely random but do you think we'll get john finnemore back for GO3? i am not familiar with his other work but the job minisode was easily the best writing in s2 for me so no complaints there.

i just hope to god (ha) we get a good co-writer who will deliver on a well-written romantic arc apart from whatever Big Plot neil has planned. i want the gay angel and demon and their love story to be the highlight idc!! 👆

I have no special insight but I’d be really surprised if Finnemore is not brought back. If they got along and the show did well numbers-wise, it’d be weird to bring in a new writing partner. At the same time, it’s clear it’s Neil’s show like we might get scenes/dialogue from another writer but we’re not getting whole story beats to without neil being on board (but like I think he understands the beating heart of the show is the relationship so I’m too worried)

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alatabouleau · 9 months

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(1): Sooo, now that I watched all of season 2 (SPOILERS): Let's say it from the start that this is not a personal attack on either Neil Gaiman, John Finnemore or anyone else involved in this production. This just me sharing my perspective which will always be subjective no matter how hard I try for objectivity, so really, with this I'd rather just like to open a discussion about a bigger picture. To be fair, this season was in on itself solid writing with a cohesive arc, very enjoyable to watch and inside of it, characters's motivations made sense and as always, Michael Sheen and David Tennant are immaculate in the leading roles. Inside the season, the ending makes perfect sense. And that's my point. Inside the season. If you look back on season 1 and then switch to s2, you'll probably notice the gigantic tone shift. Season 1 was already a tad grimmer than the book, but it was still quite light-hearted, most of the time, a comedy about the end of the world, a subversion of the Doomsday-Genre, that’s what it always was supposed to be in my pov. Compare that to Season 2, who still manages to be occasionally very funny, but for the most part, takes a much more serious approach to Zira's and Crowley's situation. Not that this never existed in the subtext, but having this now be the main thing feels... weird? I mean, it certainly changed how I engage with the show, but that may be the topic of another post. Also, that’s not really my point. My point is… I once told my siblings that it feels strange to me shipping “Ineffable spouses” because usually, I’m quite the drama-shipper and I wouldn’t find much of it in their dynamic. Especially if you take the book, Aziraphale and Crowley mostly just,…. get along. And even if they are a bit rougher in season 1, they still end up dining at the Ritz seemingly having cleared all their problems with Heaven and Hell and now have a long time ~together~. There’s a reason why most fanfics I read put them coming together at “The Night at Crowley’s flat”. So, when Neil Gaiman announced that season 2 would be rather “quite, gentle and romantic”, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who was just hoping for one season of Aziraphale and Crowley just being together, doing stuff. Though of course, being through Cherik beside other things, alarm bells were ringing in my head, because I knew that a studio like Amazon would never allow this for the sake of being queer, but for the sake of making ~money~. And what did we get? Well…. It’s certainly there. And I will not for one moment pretend that I didn’t scream when the ineffable duo danced together or parented Gabriel together, or when Crowley kissed Aziraphale… But. This. Kiss. It’s pure pain, that’s what it is. And this, after two seasons of dancing around each other, yet somehow already having three break-up-scenes, just makes it seem.. weird. Because I realised, queer rep is not necessarily about a kiss or a dramatic declaration. Ianto and Jack from Torchwood never had a dramatic love declaration on-screen and only kissed twice in season 1, yet their story, and Torchwood in general was the first queer show that made me actually feel well-fed. No. It’s about how you portray queerness in your character. They don’t have to be “good”, “virtious” or anything like that, they just have to be genuine.

#good omens #my long season 2 post part one #I just have too many things to say about this #gos2 spoilers #ineffable husbands #ineffable bureaucracy #queer representation #torchwood

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quillyfied · 9 months

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Things I’m noticing on this rewatch, which I’m hoping to take slow and ponder on but we will see how it goes, PART ONE (obviously major Good Omens season 2 spoilers throughout, specifically for S2E1):

- Angel Crowley’s hair is so bright and curly! The shade feels more like his new post-apocalypse ‘do, which I find curious. New hair is obviously still much darker but it’s that more unnatural shade of red that could be very bright indeed under the right lighting.

- Aziraphale trying to soften angel Crowley up for his warning by complimenting the colors of the nebula first. People pleaser already, I see.

- The opening: that bit where they separate. They’re on the wrong sides. Then they move past each other to the right sides. Then they separate backwards to the wrong sides again, and that’s when the bridge between planets behind them breaks apart. Pretty obvious visual representation of where they end the season, but I do have to wonder about the emerging “they swapped again” theory and if this back and forth motion could be pointing to that.

- Initial analysis about Maggie: cute as a button, blonde, runs a shop of antiques not particularly useful or lucrative in the modern world, formal style of writing, accommodating to the people around her (perhaps to excess), vintage aesthetic all the way around: immediate thought is that of course she’s a mirror to Aziraphale the same way Newton Pulsifer is. Let’s see where it goes.

- I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS SPY EXCHANGE ON THE BENCH BEFORE SHAX SHOWS UP. Also why aren’t we talking about Shax more??? She’s a delight! The way she’s absolutely befuddled by how humans outdo her at her own job, the weird strained but sort of mentor/mentoree and also informant relationship she has with Crowley, how she is also probably one of the best dressed in Hell without the smell and blemishes and obvious animal aspect…she’s fascinating and I can’t wrap my head around her. Is she supposed to be a dragon? I could deffo see dragon.

- “What’s the point of it all?” Oh Crowley. So correct.

- His hair matches her dress. Significant that they match??

- Half rations of what???

- The correction of the peas. I weep. Has the air of all the times Neil has probably been corrected about it on tumblr and elsewhere for the bread in the book XD

- There are a lot of Statues of Liberty in Nina’s coffee shop. Why??

- Initial analysis about Nina: cool, collected, blunt, friendly but not familiar, hipster vibes, popular store and business model without being a model business owner, seems like she has it all together but has a pretty big lingering anxiety in the form of a controlling relationship: perfectly fine mirror for Crowley, like Anathema Device. Continuing to see where it goes.

- John Hamm’s befuddled face is the highlight of his performance for me, bc he has such a commanding gregarious menace for playing Gabriel and it’s weird to see it replaced for just…gregarious :P

- I know this is a horrifying moment but can we take a moment to just appreciate the comedy of Aziraphale seeing Gabriel’s whole bare bottom before realizing whose bottom it is? Gosh and the hug. So awkward. (THE JIGGLE)

- John Finnemore also excels at writing idiots. Jimbriel has John’s fingerprints all over it. The conversation is golden.

- This conversation with Michael makes much more sense now tbh but. Want to talk about it in full later, when we have all the information.

- I’ve noticed it since we got promos but: Jimbriel using the angel wing mug and Aziraphale using the blue teacups just…strikes me. Could be because he’s having tea and not cocoa. But still. Hmm. Interesting.

- Aziraphale’s immediate panic over knowing what it’s like to be close to a person. Hmm. Yes. Quite. (And a moment to enjoy Gabriel, even in some pretty extreme amnesia, knowing Aziraphale is safe and will help him. Not so much warm fuzzies over GABRIEL knowing that as it is Aziraphale getting to HEAR that from someone who should by all accounts not feel safe with him at all. Guardian instincts being validated. This won’t backfire.)

- Listen maybe it’s just because I watched the Barbie movie the night before I watched GO2 but all I’m thinking when seeing Jimbriel is that his Kenergy is off the charts. And I know that basically just means he’s at peak himbo performance but Kenergy feels more appropriate right now. More introspections there later, I think.

- Formulating a thought about the box, about how it has very prominent double red arrows and “this way up” on it…and the instructions were on the bottom. Something something Heaven/Hell Gabriel/Beelzebub symbolism?? Foreshadowing for The Final Fifteen Minutes, maybe for season 3 itself????

- “You’re funny. I love you.” UH HEY JIMBRIEL. JIM CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT. GUYS CAN WE JUST. DISCUSS THE LAYERS OF THAT. Not here, obviously, but at some point.

- The thing about writing an idiot is that they have exactly the wrong intelligence for the situation at hand. It makes them very funny. Even more so when their intelligence actually happens to be helpful.

- THE FLYYYYYYY

- Muriel!

- Oof. Sexy Bentley animations.

- “Now that I’m not reporting to Heaven” INGRAINED BEHAVIORS THAT NEED ADDRESSING, PERHAPS?

- I feel like we don’t talk about “six shots of espresso” enough. I realize it’s been like two days and there’s a lot going on but SIX. SHOTS. OF. ESPRESSO. CROWLEY. It expressly does not calm him down. Oh hey instrumental Bohemian Rhapsody!

- I paused just to fully take in the affronted look on Crowley’s face at “naked man friend” XD

- Crowley downs six shots of espresso in one go and then comes face to face with the exact being of his worst nightmare. No wonder he blows a literal lightning gasket.

- Aziraphale knows about Shax. Interesting.

- Ask him properly? Interesting turn of phrase. And Crowley leaps in immediately between them. Of course he does. Ask him properly meaning be threatening about it this time, I suppose?

- I. AM. DUSTING. ITS YELLOW. HHHHHGK.

- Crowley solution: get rid of the problem, run from it. Get away from it. Aziraphale solution: confront the problem, solve the problem, go charging into the helping of the problem. Hmm. Interesting.

- The whole “our exactlies are not the same exactly” IIIIINTERESTING.

- “I thought we carved it out for OURselves.” “SO DID I.” Y’all I cannot WAIT for the parallel gif sets. This conversation, the bandstand, the sidewalk, and The Final Fifteen Minutes. Phew. Knockout parallels.

- That was a surprisingly petulant lightning strike tbh

- Michael and Uriel sniping at each other. Somehow love it. BUT ALSO. This conversation has so many damn LAYERS now!! Heck!!!

- The floating armchair. Heck yeah.

- The distance between Muriel and the archangels, the way they talk down to her so thoroughly…heck.

- Like how the Resurrectionist matchbox has the skull and crossbones but also the Bible verse on the side. The two halves of the sign, brought together.

- MORE FLIESSSSSS

- Beelzebub’s tactic for trying to get Crowley to help find Gabriel is…interesting. I might have to make a whole separate post to analyze this scene. The matching chairs, the determined way Beelzebub’s pursuit of the hunt isn’t immediately suspicious, the flattery, but most importantly, it’s getting its own bullet point:

- The way Beelzebub shares the bit about Extreme Sanctions and how that is enough to flip Crowley’s Protect Aziraphale switch. He’s on the hook, because now there are actual stakes.

- I wonder, though, at how I didn’t immediately catch that Michael saying “anyone found HELPING him” was said. Anyone caught helping Gabriel. Why would helping an archangel be cause for Extreme Sanctions?? Surely it would be a good thing for anyone, even Aziraphale, to have kept a vulnerable Gabriel safe all this time. I’m chalking it up to first time watching excitement and sleep deprivation but huh. HUH.

- Anyway, back to Beelzebub; they immediately offer a reward to Crowley, a carrot instead of the stick. And Duke of Hell is on the table. Interesting. Weird. And their wording is anyone “involved in the affair.” Very slightly different context. Wouldn’t give away that Heaven is indeed on a manhunt (angel hunt?), but not for the exact reason you would expect.

- I wonder about the temporal implications of being erased from existence. And how this very serious and apparently mythological mode of punishment is coming back in season 3. Hmm. Hmm hmm hmm.

- Also Beelzebub’s “report to me first” I SEE YOU NOW

- Nina and Maggie’s lock-in is…hmm. The “no judgement” about drinking thing strikes me as something someone with a very religious upbringing would say to a friend who drinks. Bit clunky, lot condescending. Interesting way to get to a segue.

- Good old fashioned lover boy better have an amazing comeback next season XD

- LOVE seeing the onscreen effects for the text messages, love the way they’re like crumpled up notes, love the immediate energy that brings to this already suspicious relationship. Sigh.

- I knew “I’m back” had petty marital bickering energy from the trailer but I HAD NO IDEA HOW MUCH.

- Also brief moment of real sadness for how this is a rehash of “angel, I’m sorry, whatever I said, I didn’t mean it. Good? Yes? Get in the car.” Just smoothing over the rough patch so they can move on rather than. Yknow. Talking about it and fixing it.

- Also notice how the apology dance doesn’t actually involve saying “I’m sorry.” It’s more an admission of the other person’s intellectual or moral superiority. Which is. Funny! But also. Sad!

- Jim. Jim you were just outside earlier. Jim please.

- I notice the “little” miracle is done over the portal to heaven. Hmm. I thought at first maybe Jimbriel’s latent archangel abilities were at play but I much prefer the “together Crowley and Aziraphale are super powerful without meaning to be” interpretation, because it makes The Final Fifteen Minutes make SO much more sense.

- The miraculous plume is pink <33333

- The inherent comedy of “nobody will notice a thing!” *BLARING ALARMS* XD reminds me of “he’ll have an enormous hellhound with him! He’ll be easy to spot!” *cut to Dog* from season 1 :P

- Okay, final thoughts on this first rewatch: yeah the foreshadowing and scene-setting is impeccable. Great energy. Loving it! Picking up on so much more tiny hints and clues! Missing God’s narration but it really says a lot, actually, that She isn’t there anymore. No Agnes Nutter book for guidance, no scriptural references to necessitate God’s voice being present…different flavor.

Okay! Might do episode 2 tonight, as well, but I have Things to do first! We will see!

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens season 2 #gos2spoilers #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #time for the deep dive #me brains is marinated and I’m happyyyyyyy

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cuddlytogas · 9 months

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GOOD OMENS 2 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!! spewed out right after binging last night and then added to today. I'm mostly gonna ramble about structure rather than content, but the last few bits get quite spoilery

before that, though, one other thought: I DO hope the power of fandom now will mean that we'll get an influx of people listening to Cabin Pressure and JFSP and Double Acts and all that good stuff!!! John Finnemore is such an incredible writer and comedian, and I know the "following fandom brain into a rabbithole of someone's previous work" is a lot more common for actors than writers, but. one can dream!!!!!!! knowing Finnemore was a co-writer was what reassured me that the new season wasn't going to be an unnecessary sequel, he's so fucking good, and in conclusion ---

okay onto the s2 thoughts

obviously I'm, like. insane now. like I'm gonna shatter into a million pieces and also be sick. I have LOST my MIND. and it WAS good!!!

but also

I thought the pacing wasn't nearly as good as s1? obvs s1 had the ticking clock element, which is hard to recreate without just having another ticking clock, but especially some of the flashbacks tended to linger a smidge too long, and you could tell some of them were written by other writers - the "minisodes" thing I think didn't HELP. obviously I don't think this was a MAJOR problem, and I'll want a rewatch when i feel less Fully Insane to judge properly, but even ending aside, I feel like it didn't have quite the same structural/pacing qualities that made s1 so watchable

I thought the extension of the preexisting 1941 flashback felt... a bit hack-y? (it also went on too long tbh.) the reason those worked so well in s1 was because they were these little snippets, extending it (again, especially to the length that they did) was a little... hm. not, like, a cardinal sin, and it might just be a taste thing, but. again, the "minisodes written by other writers" thing didn't help.

and I'm REALLY sad it was released all at once!! with all the mystery elements, I would've loved a week to week format - even two episodes a week - to really digest all the clues, to sit and speculate and process each reveal/development! I just read that Neil Gaiman wanted that too, so it's extra hurtful. it would've been such a satisfying way to consume the show, but alas, Binge Culture must prevail, I guess :\

finally... I might be genuinely disappointed by the ending? I mean, the religious trauma is Strong With This One, and it'll depend on what they do with s3 (I'm not even going to humour the idea of no s3), but just... okay, real spoilers from here

it felt like Aziraphale really backslided?? like, wasn't the whole point of s1 the learning of "heaven and hell are both a bit shit and we're on our own side"? I understand why the final choice was compelling, both to him and the audience, but even across the season - and especially taking both seasons' flashbacks into account - he really sort of pinged back and forth between learning the lesson and going right back into denial about it, in a way that started to feel less like a character flaw and more like a cheat to keep the drama going. obvs his final choice was DEVASTATING, but also I couldn't stop thinking that Aziraphale... knows better??? not just "he should know better, how heartbreaking", but haven't we SEEN that he KNOWS BETTER?? it felt... inconsistent? again, as a writing choice rather than a character thing

like, I've slept on this thought now and calmed down a little about it, obviously I'm a bit biased by how also extremely painful that whole last scene was to watch, but - thing it, it's not even the decision itself that sits so formally wrong with me! the "I could fix things if I were in power" self-delusion is a very believable and narratively compelling (READ: HEARTBREAKING) move, as is him believing "if Crowley were an angel and I fixed everything then we could be safe and together and everything would be fine"!

but specifically the "but heaven are the good guys" - that gets me! like, after everything?? you really still believe that?? I thought it was obvious you learnt your lesson?? something something, "how can someone so smart be SO stupid?" - except we already did that bit in s1!! ahhh I dunno, it just rings a bit too much of the kind of undoing character development and recycling drama that I reeaaaally don't like :\

like, just. the pure disbelief in crowley's face - "tell me you said no" - like, yeah. and not just in a character sympathy way, but - come on, Aziraphale!! we've been through this so many times now!!!

again, this will also all rest on how it's handled in s3. and I have some faith! s2 actually bringing up crowley's "I was there when you tried to destroy Aziraphale, I saw your face when you told him to shut up and die" was revelatory, I loved that they actually made reference to it. and the writers are good! this isn't going to be a wwdits situation, I think we're safe in that. but s2 definitely had a few more plotty/pacing flaws, and that's just SUCH a huge betrayal - that whole ending was so massive - I have a lot of gay fear about how it'll all be resolved.

or, I dunno. maybe I'm just still too sad to think straight.

#Good Omens #Good Omens season 2 spoilers #spoilers #Good Omens spoilers #GoodOmenss2spoilers #GO2 #GO2 spoilers #pointless post is pointless #okay i think i'm done #just needed to throw some thoughts into the void

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o-uncle-newt · 9 months

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So um

You know how I said last week that I am very happy to give John Finnemore the credit for the parts of GO2 that I like and blame Neil Gaiman for the parts that I don't?

I may have to take myself up on that offer, somewhat.

In fairness, I can largely justify myself by saying that my main issues with it were with the structure/pacing and plot choices, and my main positives were the dialogue, the humor, and the biblical minisode. (And honestly, I really do kinda wonder whether the script was rewritten/condensed after JF's piece of the project was done...) But still.

Even if I'm being unfair and both cowriters deserve equal... credit or whatever for all aspects of the season, I really do hope that someone, at some point, gives JF a solo TV show to write, not because TV is better than radio but because it pays better. Because if there's one thing he's shown that he can do this season, it's entertain us. (And his minisode was so so so so good!)

#john finnemore #good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens 2 #jf you know i love ya and i'm glad you got your break #but this wasn't your best work and i think you know that #and you deserve the chance to get back to that #without gaiman hovering over you

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neil-gaiman · 2 years

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The Actual Press Release that came out today

THE AMAZON ORIGINAL SERIES GOOD OMENS 2 BEGINS PRODUCTION IN SCOTLAND, REUNITING ITS COMPANY OF PLAYERS

Supporting David Tennant and Michael Sheen will be many of the key castmembers from Season One, some reprising their roles, others playing new characters

LONDON and CULVER CITY, California—November 2, 2021—Production has begun in Scotland on the second season of the Amazon Original series Good Omens, starring award-winning actors Michael Sheen (Quiz, Staged) and David Tennant (Des, Staged), who return in the leading roles of the angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley. Supporting Sheen and Tennant are many of the key cast from the first season, who return for Season Two with some reprising their roles, and others playing new characters. Good Omens will stream exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide; a premiere date will be announced at a later time.

Originally based on Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling novel, the new season will explore storylines that go beyond the original source material to illuminate the uncanny friendship between Aziraphale, a fussy angel and rare book dealer, and the fast-living demon Crowley. Having been on Earth since The Beginning, and with the Apocalypse thwarted, Aziraphale and Crowley are getting back to easy living amongst mortals in London’s Soho when an unexpected messenger presents a surprising mystery.

Returning cast, some who are featured in new roles for Season Two include:

Paul Adeyefa (Bancroft, Ransom)

Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap, Better Call Saul)

Gloria Obianyo (Dune, High Life)

Miranda Richardson (Stronger, Rams)

Maggie Service (Quiz, Red Dwarf XI)

Reece Shearsmith (Inside No. 9, The League of Gentlemen)

Nina Sosanya (Red Joan, Killing Eve, Last Tango in Halifax, Screw)

The specific characters each actor plays will be revealed at a later time.

Writer and co-showrunner Neil Gaiman commented: “I am so happy to be back here on the streets of Soho, watching, every day, the glorious performances of Michael Sheen and David Tennant. I miss having Terry Pratchett's genius, but it does feel like we are still all walking around inside his head. It’s been an absolute pleasure to have the brilliant John Finnemore co-write this season's story shenanigans with me, and to work with director and my co-showrunner Douglas Mackinnon as he steers the ship, along with our astonishing crew, who have returned to do it again. In this season we get to have new adventures with old friends, to solve some extremely mysterious mysteries, and we encounter some entirely new humans (living, dead, and otherwise), angels, and demons. We were lucky in the first season to have so many outstanding actors taking part, so I took pleasure in inviting people back, wherever we could, some in the roles they played originally, some in new parts written just for them.”

Co-showrunner and director Douglas Mackinnon said: “Having a company of players reuniting for this second season of Good Omens is like bringing a family back together, this time in Scotland. Not only the cast, but also many of our Good Omens Season One crew have reassembled. Our team is being enriched with new talent on both sides of the camera so I am excited to be at the helm for six more episodes of what we hope will be heavenly entertainment.”

Neil Gaiman continues as executive producer and will co-showrun along with executive producer Douglas Mackinnon, who will also return to direct. Rob Wilkins of Narrativia, representing Terry Pratchett’s estate, John Finnemore, and BBC Studios Productions’ head of comedy Josh Cole will also executive produce, with Finnemore serving as co-writer alongside Gaiman. Good Omens is based on the well-loved and internationally best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett (Hogfather) and Gaiman. The new season is produced by Amazon Studios, BBC Studios Productions, The Blank Corporation, and Narrativia.

#good omens tv #I'm sure this raises many questions in your mind #but i'm not going to answer any of them

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hellyeahjohnfinnemore · 3 years

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Y'all!!! John is gonna help write for the second series of Good Omens, which was announced today!

From Neil's blog:

"So, once Good Omens the TV series had been released by Amazon and the BBC, to global acclaim, many awards and joy, Rob Wilkins (Terry's representative on Earth) and I had the conversation with the BBC and Amazon about doing some more. And they got very excited. We talked to Michael Sheen and David Tennant about doing some more. They also got very excited. We told them a little about the plot. They got even more excited.

I'd been a fan of John Finnemore's for years, and had had the joy of working with him on a radio show called With Great Pleasure, where I picked passages I loved, had amazing readers read them aloud and talked about them. I asked John if he'd be willing to work with me on writing the next round of Good Omens, and was overjoyed when he said yes. We have some surprise guest collaborators too. And Douglas Mackinnon is returning to oversee the whole thing with me.

So that's the plan. We've been keeping it secret for a long time (mostly because otherwise my mail and Twitter feeds would have turned into gushing torrents of What Can You Tell Us About It? long ago) but we are now at the point where sets are being built in Scotland (which is where we're shooting, and more about filming things in Scotland soon), and we can't really keep it secret any longer. There are so many questions people have asked about what happened next (and also, what happened before) to our favourite Angel and Demon. Here are, perhaps, some of the answers you've been hoping for.

As Good Omens continues, we will be back in Soho, and all through time and space, solving a mystery which starts with one of the angels wandering through a Soho street market with no memory of who they might be, on their way to Aziraphale's bookshop.

(Although our story actually begins about five minutes before anyone had got around to saying “Let there be Light”.)"

#john finnemore #neil gaiman #good omens #good omens season 2 #michael sheen #david tennant #i am loosing my mind #don't mind me

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spectralarchers · 3 years

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Wow, what a ride it’s been, right?

I can’t believe I joined tumblr on March 27th, 2011. It feels like it’s a life-time ago. I remember the day I joined very, very vividly (it’s not even a joke, it was 2 am, I had been chatting online with some friends and one of them kept mentioning Tumblr, so I decided to join!)!

But, looking back, what a ride it’s been!

When I joined, I hadn’t finished high school yet had just turned 18 years old, and I was still unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. Today, I have a full-time job, a driver’s license, a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degrees, and I live in a whole other country.

In the time in between, I’ve met some absolutely amazing people on this website who make up such a large part of my day to day life that I don’t even know how I’d have been as a person without them - you guys know who you are, and some of you aren’t even on Tumblr anymore, but I won’t ever forget you!

It’s been a personal journey - going from being unaware of the different LGBTQIA+ orientations (and answering “straight” to those tag games) to figuring out I’m ace, to embracing it and finding a significant other (who also happens to be on Tumblr!).

It’s been a Fandom journey - without Tumblr I wouldn’t have joined a whole bunch of fandoms and gone through developments that go with it: learning Photoshop to make gifs, perfecting written English to write fics, traveling abroad to meet friends and for Comic Cons (I’ve traveled to Australia, Poland, Sweden, Canada, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom to meet Tumblr friends and some of you have traveled either to France or Denmark, depending on when you visited me!).

It’s been some incredible experiences - using Hailee Steinfeld as Katie Kate since 2014 only for her to be on the set of an actual Hawkeye television show all those years later still feels absolutely mind-blowing, but so was being in SDCC in 2019 and seeing Phase 4 revealed along with all of you guys who followed from home or online.

It was all the madness that was Superwholock (and what a time to be alive!), of Bondlock and of Skyfall’s release, the 2012 Summer Olympics, CATWS, of nerding out over a tiny BBC audio show (I actually even got John Finnemore to write Fizz Buzz in his handwriting to get it as a tattoo, way back in the day!), it’s been growing and learning and becoming a more responsible person.

It’s through fandom that I’ve grown most, through the guidance of so many of you (many of you I consider my surrogate moms and aunts and parents, by the way!) and I don’t think I’ll ever let go of this hellsite, because it’s just too good to let go of.

I love you all, and I hope we’ll all still be here in 10 years’ time <3

- Christine

#my things #my edits #tumblr decade tag #i promise i'll make more stuff for it

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fuckyeahgoodomens · 3 months

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The Good Omens Article From the TotalFilm Magazine, Issue August 2023 :)

POST APOCALYPSE GOOD OMENS The heavenly and hellish creations of Gaiman and Pratchett ride again…

Having averted Armageddon, angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) have settled down to the quiet life in London – but the arrival of a familiar face shakes things up for everyone.

Season 1 covered events in the novel you wrote with Terry Pratchett – what was the inspiration this time?

Neil Gaiman (showrunner): Terry and I were sharing a room at Seattle’s World Fantasy Con in 1989 and, by the end of one night chatting, we had a huge, apocalyptic sequel to Good Omens. Season 2 is all the stuff we had to put in place before we could get to that sequel, and it starts with the archangel Gabriel [Jon Hamm] wandering through Soho, with no memory – a mystery that doesn’t have giant consequences for the universe, even if it does for Aziraphale and Crowley.

What has changed between Crowley and Aziraphale?

David Tennant (Crowley): Aziraphale is a much more enthusiastic detective in this mystery and, as with most things, Crowley is reluctant to get involved or to exhibit any kind of energy or enthusiasm, so he’s dragged into it. They no longer have to report to head offices, so they’re in this slightly grey area – neither supernatural, nor of the Earth.

Michael Sheen (Aziraphale): They’ve always been the only two beings who could understand each other’s position, but now they’re slightly freer agents so they’re pushed even closer together. It’s an interesting dynamic.

Maggie and Nina, you’re back too – although not as satanic nuns this time…

Nina Sosanya (Nina): No – we’re two human women! Nina is slightly cynical, churlish and owns a coffee shop, Maggie runs the record shop and she’s rather sweet and hopeful. It’s an ‘opposites attract’ thing and Neil kindly gave the characters our names so we couldn’t say no.

Maggie Service (Maggie): Aziraphale is still running his bookshop, but he’s also Maggie’s landlord. She thinks he’s the best because he lets her stay on and doesn’t really mind if she doesn’t make too much money. Maggie and Nina act as catalysts in a way, when Crowley and Aziraphale get involved in their relationship.

Neil, you’ve had some writing help this year…

NG: That’s right. We have three 25-minute ‘minisodes’ within episodes. You learn Aziraphale and Crowley’s part in the story of Job, written by John Finnemore. Cat Clarke takes us to 1820s Edinburgh for a tale of bodysnatching. Finally, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman reunite the League of Gentlemen, because I fell in love with Season 1’s Nazi spies and kept wondering what would happen if they came back as zombies on a mission from hell to investigate whether Crowley and Aziraphale were fraternising. That story involves the Windmill Theatre, black market whisky, and a bullet catch…

#good omens #totalfilm #totalfilm 2023 #interview #neil gaiman #neil interview #david tennant #david interview #magazines #michael sheen #michael interview #nina sosanya #nina interview #maggie service #maggie ineterview #s2 interview #transcripts

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queerinigo · 3 years

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honestly, I've been checking john finnemore's wikipedia page every few months or so to see if he's doing anything new (since there doesn't seem to be any more episodes of john finnemore's souvenir programme) and then it turns out he's been writing good omens season 2???????

this is so much better than I ever could have hoped

#good omens #good omens season 2 #john finnemore #mine

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londonspirit · 2 years

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I posted 1.900 times in 2021

310 posts created (16%)

1590 posts reblogged (84%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 5.1 posts.

I added 2.141 tags in 2021

#dan levy - 371 posts

#daniel levy - 357 posts

#schitt's creek - 335 posts

#david rose - 288 posts

#patrick brewer - 172 posts

#ted lasso - 168 posts

#benedict cumberbatch - 157 posts

#david and patrick - 154 posts

#leverage - 70 posts

#leverage revival - 69 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#(here's hope we'll get to see a glimpse of john's notebooks - that man's got the most beautiful handwriting in the history of handwriting!)

My Top Posts in 2021

See the full post

909 notes • Posted 2021-01-20 15:15:13 GMT

See the full post

911 notes • Posted 2021-05-03 18:29:29 GMT

youtube

Cabin Fever - Episode 1: Fitton

So apparently loads of people had no idea this existed (at least not on Twitter) so I’ll drop it here again.

First, one ALWAYS needs some Arthur to brighten the day.

Second: for the Good Omens folks who wanna know who that John Finnemore is!

THIS is he: coming up with 26(!!!) weekly episodes during that first, scary, unprecedented Lockdown back in March 2020 - writing and making these litte gems that made things a bit easier, made us laugh during time we didn’t feel like it, and helped us through some very tough times!

So yeah, go and check out his things (there’s loads more he did, but this was something that apparently flew very under the radar so hopefully it can once again help and make you laugh and get to know the talented man who’s going to fulfill Sir Terry’s dream of Good Omens 2!)

And while you’re there on John’s YouTube, check out what else he’s got there! You won’t be disappointed (and the Yellow Car community will probably grow a bit bigger!)

946 notes • Posted 2021-07-01 10:01:09 GMT

Excuse me while I go and cry into my pillow for the rest of time!!!! ❤😭❤😭❤

(from that beautifully written article which I will cherish forever: https://ew.com/books/go-inside-the-making-of-in-the-heights/)

3215 notes • Posted 2021-06-10 22:09:49 GMT

John Finnemore, lad(ie)s and gentlepeople!

3681 notes • Posted 2021-07-03 17:55:32 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #personal #tumblr review 2021 #Youtube

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sambinnie · 3 years

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1. It’s the first time that, even with neoprene gloves on, my fingers become frozen within seconds. The water is cold enough that we had to crackle through the frozen swollen edges before easing down into the river itself, and although I recite the winter swimming mantra within a stroke or two (‘Hey, it’s not too bad’) both hands are already sharply cold to the bone, and dressing afterwards takes a lot of huffing into cupped hands to allow me to do up my laces, stuff everything back in the bag. It’s been worth it, this winter, ditching my wetsuit jacket and just swimming in summer kit of running leggings and sports bra — I like a lighter backpack, and the sense that I’m really feeling the cold of the water, as much as I feel the warmth in June and July. And this winter in the river has given us so many pleasures already: the Geminid meteor showers filling the still clear sky in mid-December and reflecting in the water; a shooting star streaking across Christmas morning, in a silent dark rushing world empty even of the usual occasional early worker; a New Year’s Day hushed gathering, knowing at any moment such a cluster would become illegal; floods that mean we wade shin-deep towards the bank edge, and lower ourselves into the small bay, swimming hard to stay in place against the current.

This morning we run back through hard, bright snow, our footsteps loud, my feet numb. I run to my waking house down a street where only a handful of months ago I would circle the block on my bicycle, round and round and round at this same hour, the light pink and orange, the doves and pigeons cooing at my damp hair, the air already warm enough to send me back to sleep, not wanting yet to wake the house, not wanting yet to end this coral-coloured silence.

2. The main soundtrack of the last year has been John Finnemore: either his Souvenir Programme or Cabin Pressure, at least one of which is playing at any given time in the house on any given day. Between him and Kate Beaton’s comics, I feel like at least the housemates are getting some education in classics, history, politics, literature, geography, and comedy. When not molding impressionable minds with my own tastes, I’ve been listening to Tim Key’s Late Night Poetry Programme and In and Out of the Kitchen on headphones, escapist little windows into a different life. Diverse my listening may not be, but brilliant, amusing and comforting it very much is.

3. Can I recommend this particular episode of Reply All? I very much like Alex Blumberg’s clear and constructive riposte to Alex Goldman’s climate defeatism: we are not done yet, but there’s hard work to do and we need to crack on. Hope may be tiring, but it exists for a reason. Speaking of which, this episode of Soul Music is food for the spirit.

4. A housemate has made this a few times since receiving the Simple book for Christmas, and my goodness it’s good.

5. I hope you’re all well. Keep writing to your MP about environmental concerns, NHS concerns, schooling and jobs and housing and the flawed legal system and data collection and employee rights and all of this country’s major inequalities. Courage, mes braves. x

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