Neil Gaiman Gives an Update on TV Series' AMERICAN GODS and ANANSI BOYS

It was previously announced that HBO was going to develop a new TV series for Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which is being produced by Tom Hanks production company Playtone. As previously reported this will be a six-season series, with 10-12 hour-long episodes each season. It also will get a $35-40 million budget. We haven't heard much on the development of the project since it was announced, but Gaimen talked about about the project saying,

From my perspective, I'm worrying about it one episode at a time, one season at a time.... The overall plan right now is that the first season would essentially be the first book, with a few interesting divergences. You don't want people who've read the book to be able to go, 'I know everything that's going to be happening here.' [They will] know a lot more than anybody who's starting from here, but we will do things that will surprise [them] too.

After that, there was always so much more plot for American Gods on what happens to Shadow, and what happens in the fallout of the events of 'American Gods,' so we're just going to follow it along.

For those of you not familiar with the property, American Gods, was published in 2002 and won both the Stoker and Hugo Award among other prizes; The story "details a battle between two sets of gods. One consists of the traditional gods and mythological creatures who got their power because people throughout history believed in them. They are losing steam as people's beliefs wane and are in danger of being supplanted by a new set of gods who  reflect America's preoccupation with technological advancements and obsessions with media, celebrity, technology and drugs. The protagonist is an ex-con who becomes the traveling partner of a conman who turns out to be one of the older gods trying to recruit troops to battle the upstart deities."

Gaiman goes on to talk about the possible sequel connection between American Gods and Anansi Boys. Basically explaining that it's not a sequel. He's just borrowing characters from his own books, and there a possibility that Anansi Boys could become a TV miniseries as well.

People always say Anansi Boys is the sequel to American Gods, but no, it isn't. If you're going to get specific, while I was writing American Gods, I borrowed a character from a book I hadn't written yet. I had this character, Mr. Nancy, in this story called Anansi Boys that I hadn't yet written, but I was going to some day. I just borrowed him and put him in American Gods because he fit.

Anansi Boys is its own thing. It was bought as a movie, but I think now it's looking now more like it's going to be a television series in its own right. It will be a TV miniseries if it happens, like the Good Omens TV miniseries that we're currently working on, with four one-hour episodes.

Here is the book description for Anansi Boys.

Anansi Boys
God is dead. Meet the kids.

When Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie "Fat Charlie." Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts" his father bestowed -- before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life. 

Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall, good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. A brother as different from Charlie as night is from day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun ... just like Dear Old Dad. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie. 

Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion, able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil. Some said he could cheat even Death himself. 

What do you think about these Neil Gaiman TV project projects?