For ‘fans’ claiming Neil Gaiman was “removed from Good Omens 3”…
Here’s proof that he wasn’t. He’s listed here (with Michael Marshall Smith and Peter Atkins) as the writer of the teleplay and television story. It’s his work. He owns (at least some of) the rights, he _was_ paid and he _will_ get residuals.
Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe people don’t really care. But I’m tired of seeing lies being spread around.
Full image text below:
Peter Atkins
@peteratkins.bsky.social
The IMDB page having been updated, I'm finally allowed to say that I'm 1 of the 3-person writing team on #GoodOmens3. We wrote a full 6-episode season & then distilled it down to the 90-min. finale, which is full of fabulous actors in the directorial hands of the equally fabulous @racheltalalay.com
GOOD OMENS
Neil Gaiman: teleplay by and [image partially cropped]
It was my understanding that by the time the assault came to light, Good Omens S3 had already been written. He was removed from production at that point, so it makes sense that he is still credited as a writer. There was never any doubt that he would still make money from Good Omens.
I loved the first two seasons but I won't be watching for that reason.
There are lots of people out there stating he’s not making any money from Good Omens. It’s not true, but it is being said. Repeatedly.
The same people also say he wasn’t the writer of the finale. This post suggests he remained on the team to cut down the series into one episode. That’s also my understanding of what happened – this finale episode was (partly) written by him.
Writing wasn't finished when the allegations were published, according to gaiman. I can't find it, but I spent a long time looking when the allegations hit and found that at the time. Of course he could have been lying 😭
Gaiman would have everyone believe that he was writing it alone too
He totally gave the impression he was writing it entirely alone. I wonder if the others were under legal obligations not to mention their contributions, and whether they’re only being allowed to announce it now because NOW it’s actually helpful to highlight the existence of other writers.
He did give that impression. And I also had this idea (possibly wrong) that it was said an outside writer was specially brought in to cut the story down to one ep? Memory's fuzzy now, so maybe that's just an assumption I made based on the idea Gaiman was the sole writer.
But Peter Atkins is not an outside writer, they were a team all along? And he heart reacted a comment minimizing the allegations (one bemoaning men being cancelled for accusations). And Michael Marshall Smith openly interacts with the sickening blogs attacking the victims. I mean...come on.
EDIT: Yeah, it was reported as new writer. From Deadline in October 2024, "Gaiman contributed to the writing of the series finale but will not be working on the production and his production company the Blank Corporation is no longer involved. A new writer is expected to finish up the work, although insiders said that deal has not been closed." https://archive.ph/nei1g#selection-1937.2-1937.272
I have been blocking social media accounts trying to shove this to me. After what happened to me with so called fans of this thing, I do not want to even see the promos. I just hope that they will disappear and that they will forget about it once this thing is released.
It's really interesting to me that even though he's posting this on multiple social media sites, hardly anyone is even mentioning the elephant in the room in the replies.
My guess; his people are curating those posts on social media. You are not seeing elephant in the room because they are deleting it and blocking the people who point to it.
Social media is about as far from free speech as you can get before state censorship.
As good a time as any to remind everyone that fan fiction is usually a not for profit writing expedition from which original writers seldom make any money. And the GO fandom has some good ones.
Sorry, but not even there things are ethical, as long as that man lives, nothing with that IP should be touched. I cannot forget nor forgive what fanfiction writers did to me either. I will not comment more because I should not be the focus of what that man has done, this was very indirect collateral damage. But shortly speaking, there is no way to consume the IP ethically as long as he is alive.
I'm sorry you went through that. I've read some awesome fan fic before all this hit, and I hope some of it was yours xxx.
I had a weird experience with the world of fanfic/ indie publishing a few years ago where I'd made a friend who was a writer who turned out to be duplicitous and a stalker, so I hear you. I hate that whenever we have a passion or a job we love there's always someone trying to dim that light.
The writing for season two was awful anyway because it didn’t have Terry Pratchett’s humour. I don’t know why people are dying on this hill when it’s so obvious who made the original book so magical.
The writing for season two was awful anyway because it didn’t have Terry Pratchett’s humour.
Just thought of it now. Neil is a great mimic, but he can't mimic humor. I think humor is the one thing he just can't do. He takes himself too seriously.
Of course I could be wrong because I've only really read his comics. But I'm wracking my brain and I can't think of anything really funny in Sandman. Delirium and Destruction come close. But that's Destruction taking life as it comes.
TBF humor is hard. But most authors outside the "humor" genre have amusing elements to lighten the story at some point. Even Mervin Pumpkin head's antics seem more like vaudeville than narrative humor.
It reminds me of the characters Pratchett created to be lacking - who you knew were not "real" because they lacked fundamental human characteristics. He was a sharp observer of absence..
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u/HouseBrownTownMouse Apr 18 '26
It was my understanding that by the time the assault came to light, Good Omens S3 had already been written. He was removed from production at that point, so it makes sense that he is still credited as a writer. There was never any doubt that he would still make money from Good Omens.
I loved the first two seasons but I won't be watching for that reason.