Y’all need to be praying harder for ‘American Gods’

American Gods appears to be cursed. According to a new report, Jesse Alexander, the replacement showrunner for Bryan Fuller, was reportedly pushed off the show a month ago, and things are becoming dicey as they try to finish season two:

Insiders say Alexander was asked to stop working on American Gods, an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman novel, about a month ago. The word “fired” was not used internally, and a representative for Alexander said that characterization was not accurate. But Alexander, an executive producer, is no longer working on the hyper-stylized drama as a writer or showrunner, and has been asked not to sit in on editing, be involved on set or participate in any other areas of production or postproduction.

The Hollywood Reporter

Things are not looking great, guys:

Production on the drama, which is six weeks behind and recently was forced to go on a hiatus, is in disarray. Castmembers have not received copies of the script for the show’s season two finale because, as one source put it, “there is no script.” Another source says it’s possible the crew has received a far-from-finished version of the finale script, but whatever has been partially distributed is almost guaranteed to go through extensive changes. Instead of shooting the season finale, which should have been in production already, American Gods has been filming pickups and reshoots of earlier episodes. …

Multiple sources cited ongoing friction between Starz and Fremantle, as well as efforts by author Gaiman to assert greater control over the drama, as the core sources of tension. Actors have been rewriting script pages, and Fremantle, which had hoped to trim the budget in the show’s second season, is now spending frantically in order to simply finish the season. Due to all the issues that have bedeviled this saga of clashing deities, the second season of American Gods will not arrive until 2019 — two years after the first debuted to generally positive reviews.

The Hollywood Reporter

There’s a lot more in that article and is worth reading, but it sounds like we’ll probably have a second season … eventually. But if you want a third season, that you’re going to have to sacrifice A LOT MORE to the TV Gods.

American Horror Story: Apocalypse debuts tonight. Here are three episodes to watch ahead of the premiere. But if you don’t have time, this is a quick refresher on how “Murder House” and “Coven” ended. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Mariska Hargitay talks about how Law & Order: SVU might end which is hilarious because it will never end. 

Hey, Netflix? Are you listening?

Here’s the AT&T boss talking shit about Netflix.

Hulu and Discovery have signed a deal over exclusive on-demand content.

Kenya Barris has finally talked about why he left Disney/ABC, and yes, it had a lot to do with that black-ish episode the network refused to air. What’s remarkable is that the episode was made at all considering it cost more. The creators secured the rights to use Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and hired Spike Lee to do the voiceover. And yet, despite all this, they still decided to shelve it even after having spent the money. In the end, it was just too much of a political hot potato for ABC. And now I HAVE to see it.

Also, he has some choice words for Roseanne. 

An argument for not including Saturday Night Live performers in the Supporting Actors in a Comedy series.

What was going on over on the set of The Wizards of Waverly Place, guys?

Sex Monster News

Hey, remember all the way back to yesterday when I told you about Norm Macdonald saying that Louis C.K. and Roseanne had suffered more than their victims? Yeah, it turns out people besides your trusty blogger found that a wee bit offensive, and he was disinvited to appear on The Tonight Show last night.

Macdonald has twitpologized:

Roseanne and Louis have both been very good friends of mine for many years. They both made terrible mistakes and I would never defend their actions. If my words sounded like I was minimizing the pain that their victims feel to this day, I am deeply sorry.

— Norm Macdonald (@normmacdonald) September 11, 2018

Here’s the thing. The thing is, Roseanne and Louis C.K. didn’t make “mistakes.” Louis C.K. repeatedly — and over a period of years — masturbated in front of women, so that’s hardly a singular “mistake.” As for Roseanne, she had long used her Twitter account to promote racist conspiracy nonsense and people had called ABC out for giving her a show long before the Valerie Jarret tweet happened.

And as for the “If my words sounded like I was minimizing the pain that their victims feel to this day…” part of this? IF, ASSHOLE? There’s no if about it.

Let’s go to the tape:

“But she was just so broken and just crying constantly. There are very few people that have gone through what they have, losing everything in a day. Of course, people will go, ‘What about the victims?’ But you know what? The victims didn’t have to go through that.”

YEAH, FUCK YOUR “IF.”

Look, Macdonald is just trying to dial back a p.r. crisis ahead of his new show debuting on Netflix on Friday, so there’s no reason to think that any part of this apology is sincere. 

Over in the Les Moonves mess: CBS is now wrangling what to do with Julie Chen and her two shows, especially since she issued this statement when the story first broke:

“I have known my husband, Leslie Moonves, since the late ’90s, and I have been married to him for almost 14 years. Leslie is a good man and a loving father, devoted husband and inspiring corporate leader. He has always been a kind, decent and moral human being. I fully support my husband and stand behind him and his statement.”

Deadline

and then followed that up on The Talk with an emphatic:

Some of you may be aware of what has been going on in my life for the past few days. I have issued the one and only statement I will ever make on this topic on Twitter. And I will stand by that statement today, tomorrow, forever.”

Deadline

Chen is staying away from The Talk for a few days but will return on Big Brother tomorrow night. Her fellow Talk co-hosts echoed Gayle King’s call for transparency into the investigation into Moonves on the show yesterday, but reportedly, CBS plans to keep the results confidential.

The guy taking over for Moonves, Joe Ianniello, is expected to only be a temporary replacement, as he was regarded as Moonves’ “right-hand man.”

Meanwhile, Jeff Fager still has a job. 

Bill Cosby is trying to get the judge in his case thrown out for reasons.

Nick Carter will not be prosecuted for sexual assault by the Los Angeles D.A.

WAIT, IF MORE WOMEN MAKE SHOWS, THERE ARE MORE WOMEN IN SHOWS? WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS? 

And here are three books about sexism in Hollywood. I’ve only read Bossypants, and I’m here to tell you, it’s not some sort of shrieking diatribe against men. If you love Tina Fey the way I love Tina Fey, you need to read it. 

Renewals

• His Dark Materials has been renewed for a second season by BBC ahead of its premiere.

In Development

• Just Like Us, a Latinx family comedy from the creators of One Day at a Time, has been ordered by CBS.
• ABC has ordered a Chinese-American family comedy from Rick & Morty writer Jessica Gao.
• His Flying Bird, a film by Steven Soderbergh, has been bought by Netflix.
• Animated children’s program, Do, Re, Mi has been greenlit by Amazon.
• Middle School Moguls has been greenlit by Nickelodeon. Jane Lynch and Tim Gunn are among the voice cast.

Casting News

• Geoffrey Owens just landed a role on NCIS: New Orleans. Being Trader Joe-shamed was the best worst thing to ever happen to this guy. 
• Evanna Lynch, Juan Pablo Di Pace, John Schneider, Nikki Glaser, Bobby Bones, Tinashe, Alexis Ren, Mary Lou Retton, Danelle Umstead, DeMarcus Ware, Nancy McKeon, Milo Manheim, and Grocery Joe Amabile are your stars who will be dancing. I have no idea who more than half of these people are.
• Bob Saget, Luis Guzmán, and Jess Gabor will guest star on Shameless.
• Rosamund Pike will star in The Banker’s Wife which is being adapted for TV.
• Shane West will be joining Gotham as a new villain. 
• Terrence J and Lyndie Greenwood are going to recur in Star this season.
• Jason Dirden, Iantha Richardson, Christopher Jefferson, Katlyn Nichol, and Jelani Winston have joined the cast of American Soul on BET.

Mark Your Calendars

• The Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs will debut on Netflix and in select theaters on November 16. It looks kinda amazing?

• The Gifted returns on Fox on September 25.

• Honeymoon Island will premiere on Lifetime on October 26. Happily Ever After will premiere on October 30. 
• It’s not confirmed, but Marvel’s Daredevil might return on Netflix on October 19. 
• Snowpiercer is expected to debut on TNT in June. 

WATCH THIS

The Real Housewives of Dallas: LeeAnn and Rich work on their wedding plans. 8 p.m., Bravo

American Horror Story: Apocalypse: When “Murder House” met “Coven.” Season premiere. 9 p.m., FX

World of Dance: The top acts from each division compete against each other for the final title. Season finale. 8 p.m., NBC

Castle Rock: Season finale. Hulu

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Your boy Beto will be a guest! 10:30 p.m., CBS

Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Daniel Radcliffe, Matt Czuchry, Teyana Taylor Late Night with Seth Meyers: Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Dominic West The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Keira Knightley, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Martha Stewart The Late Late Show with James Corden: Allison Brie, Keegan-Michael Key, Prof. Robert Winston Jimmy Kimmel Live: Christina Aguilera, Paul Scheer, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators The Daily Show: Anna Kendrick Watch What Happens Live: Cary Deuber, Stephanie Hollman

WEDS.

7:00

7:30

8:00

8:30

9:00

9:30

ABC

The Goldbergs (repeat)

American Housewife (repeat)

Modern Family (repeat)

American Housewife (repeat)

Castaways (new)

CBS

Big Brother (new)

SEAL Team (repeat)

Criminal Minds (repeat)

CW

Burden of Truth (new)

Supergirl (new)

Local

FOX

MasterChef (new)

News/Local

NBC

America’s Got Talent (repeat)

World of Dance (new)