Based on the titular bestselling 2001 fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman, this Starz original series stars Ricky Whittle as an ex-con named Shadow Moon who agrees to work for the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane). As Shadow plays driver and bodyguard to Wednesday, he is introduced to an underworld populated by the old gods, made irrelevant since traditional religions and beliefs have given way to the new gods: TV, social media, technology, and a commercialized Christianity. Meanwhile, Shadow's recently-deceased wife Laura (Emily Browning) is raised from the dead thanks to a lucky coin from a mad leprechaun (Pablo Schreiber) who wants his charm back. Gaiman draws from myths, legends, and folk tales, weaving them into stories of the modern world, and producer/showrunner Bryan Fuller gives the series an amazing visual design, mixing beauty, horror, and fantastical imagery within the material world. Gillian Anderson has a recurring role as Media (she first appears as Lucy from I Love Lucy, talking to Shadow from dozens of TV screens), and Bruce Langley, Orlando Jones, Peter Stormare, Corbin Bernsen, Jeremy Davies, Kristin Chenoweth, and Crispin Glover appear as gods old and new. Presenting all eight episodes from the 2017 debut season, extras include audio and video episode commentaries, a production documentary, an interview with Gaiman, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)
American Gods: Season One
Lionsgate, 3 discs, 449 min., not rated, DVD: $34.99, Blu-ray: $39.99 Volume 33, Issue 1
American Gods: Season One
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