A couple of years ago, serious allegations from the appropriately named podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman were backed up by Rolling Stone's deep investigation into the once-beloved author's alleged sexual harassment and grooming behaviors. It was more than enough to force Gaiman to take a big, skinny-jeaned step back from public life and, away from the production of Good Omens: the successful Amazon Prime-produced series, based on his novel, co-written by the father of the Sam Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socio-Economic Unfairness, Terry Pratchett.
But, with Amazon being Amazon and the Good Omens' ratings being what they are, one year and change after production was brought to a halt, it's been… unhalted? Brought back from the dead? Ah, here we go—pushed as far as possible from Gaiman's supposed bath-running bullshit and brought back for a single episode farewell. You can find the first trailer for the show plastered all over the Internet—just not in this post.
It's great that Gaiman's name is no longer associated with the much-loved show. Under normal circumstances, it would be nice to see it back for a final hurrah: In this grim era, we need all of the positive, cheeky entertainment promoting equality and love we can get our eyes on. But not from a fella under heavy, largely credible suspicion of using his position and star power to lure young women for sexual gratification.
Back when the show was getting a multi-episode third-season order, Gaiman was slated to write it. It has been reported that he was already in the word mines a-diggin' when his alleged sex life shat all over his career. At the time that I scribbled this, there was no indication of whether his work on the cancelled season three had been used to write the green-lit one-and-done series finale. Gaiman may not be listed as an executive producer this time around. But I don't feel comfortable watching it until I know how deeply he was involved in bringing Aziraphale and Crowley home. I'll need to see him exonerated or damned before I decide.
Depending on the amount of moral flexibility you can tolerate, you might want to steer clear as well.
