Good Omens Writer Neil Gaiman Attributes Bad Subtiles To WGA Strike

In May, the Writers Guild of America officially went on strike after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for better pay and residuals failed. In July, the actor’s guild SAG-AFTRA followed suit. Many famous folks have been seen on the picket lines since the strikes began, and some have been sharing their opinions about the current state of Hollywood. Writer Neil Gaiman has been fielding questions about the strike online in addition to talking about the second season of Good Omens, which was recently released on Prime Video. Turns out, the subtitles for the series have an unusual amount of errors. Many fans have taken to social media to call out the major mistakes, which prompted a response from Gaiman. 

“This probably happened because I’m on strike,” Gaiman wrote in a Tumblr post. “On S1 I checked the closed captions that the BBC made and I checked the scripts that went out to foreign countries to be dubbed or subbed. For S2, Amazon did that stuff directly, and I was on strike and unable to do a final check and correct it.”

Gaiman continued, “Having said that, whoever does the captions is meant to refer to the scripts, so I don’t understand why they were so off. I feel guilty, because it shouldn’t have happened: it’s not fair on the hard of hearing or anyone relying on the closed captions for aid. Nobody relying on the closed captions knows about Mrs Sandwich’s hatpin, for example, or knows that Shax brought Crowley’s mail to the bookshop, or that the first Doctor Who Annual was cover-dated 1966. I very much hope it will be corrected soon.”

Will Good Omens Get a Season 3?

The first season of Good Omens was based on the book of the same name by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, and while the book never got a sequel, Gaiman wrote the show’s new season. Recently, Gaiman teased that the second season is actually a bridge between the first book and his original sequel idea. The new season also ends on a cliffhanger for Crowley and Aziraphale, which means fans are already eager for news about a Season 3. Recently, Gaiman took to Twitter to reveal how fans can help make another season possible.

“It’s planned and plotted and if there wasn’t a Writers Strike on I’d be writing it right now,” Gaiman replied to a fan who asked if there’s hope for another season. “Ways to help make Good Omens Season 3 happen are A) watch Season 2, B) get people who know nothing of Good Omens to start watching S1, and C) encourage the studios to negotiate with WGA.” 

Good Omens is now streaming on Prime Video.