Advertisement

Thousands urge Netflix to cancel ‘Good Omens.’ It’s on Amazon Prime

Share

A protest campaign sponsored by a lay Catholic organization gathered more than 20,000 signatures on a petition urging Netflix to cancel the fantasy series “Good Omens,” based on the 1990 novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

Netflix promptly agreed not to produce any more episodes, which was an easy promise to keep — the streaming service has nothing to do with the series, which was produced by BBC and Amazon.

Return to Order, a campaign affiliated with right-wing Catholic group the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, objected to the “blasphemous” show, BBC News reports.

Advertisement

The petition urging the show’s cancellation argues that the series “mocks God’s wisdom” and “presents devils and Satanists as normal and even good.” The group takes exception with the casting of Frances McDormand as the voice of God and the portrayal of the Antichrist as “a normal kid that has special powers and a mission to destroy the world, which he doesn’t really want to do.”

Book lovers! Sign up for the new L.A. Times Book Club for upcoming author events »

As of Friday morning, more than 20,000 people signed the petition, which has since been amended to reflect the show is produced by, and airs on, Amazon Prime.

“Due to an oversight by Return to Order staff, this petition originally listed Netflix as responsible for the offensive series ‘Good Omens,’” the petition now reads. “Amazon Video released the series on May 31. We regret the mistake, and the protests will be delivered to Amazon when the campaign is complete.”

“Good Omens” is the long-awaited adaptation of Gaiman and Pratchett’s novel, a comic fantasy about an angel and a demon who team up to stop the coming apocalypse. It was the only novel to be co-written by Gaiman, the author of “American Gods” and “Coraline,” and Pratchett, the bestselling novelist who died from Alzheimer’s disease in 2015.

Gaiman told The Times that an ailing Pratchett asked him to adapt the novel into a television series.

Advertisement

“I thought he had 10 years and then he died, very suddenly,” Gaiman said. “I flew to England for the funeral, came back from the funeral and started writing Episode 1.”

The series stars David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Miranda Richardson and Jon Hamm.

Following the announcement of the petition urging the cancellation of the show, the Twitter account for Netflix U.K. and Ireland tweeted, “OK we promise not to make any more.”

Amazon Prime’s Twitter account floated a possible deal with its competitor, tweeting, “Hey @netflix, we’ll cancel Stranger Things if you cancel Good Omens.”

Gaiman himself responded to the petition on Twitter, writing, “I love that they are going to write to Netflix to try and get #GoodOmenscancelled. Says it all really.”

Advertisement