JCC Amph Buggre Alle This For A Larke - Good Omens (now an Amazon Prime/BBC series)

Good Omens: the Nice and Accurate Predictions of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, a satire of pop culture notions of The End Times, is quite simply one of the funniest books I've ever read. Long has their been talk of a screen adaptation, which I've largely dismissed as fanboy longings.

Imagine then, my surprise and glee to learn that not only is the book going to be adapted into a limited series, but that they cast Michael Sheen as Arizaphale the Angel, and David frikkin' Tennant as Crowley the Angel Who Did Not So Much Fall As Saunter Vaguely Downward.



At this point, the only information regarding an air date is "early 2019." The cast looks amazing, including John Hamm as Gabriel, and Josie Lawrence as Agnes Nutter.

OP EDIT: For those who haven’t read the book, you should. You totally should. But anyway, the thread title refers to the angel’s stated profession while on Earth, that of a bookstore owner who’s passion is collecting mis-printed Bibles. His prized possession is an original print of what is commonly known as the Buggre Alle This Bible (not Awl This, as I apparently misremembered) due to an “extra” verse in Ezekiel Chapter 48:

“Buggre Alle this for a Larke. I amme sick to mye Hart of typefettinge. Master Biltonn if no Gentelmann, and Master Scagges noe more than a tighte fisted Southwarke Knobbefticke. I telle you, onne a daye laike thif Ennywone withe half and oz of Sense shoulde bee oute in the Sunneshain, ane nott Stucke here alle the liuelong daie inn thif mowldey olde By-Our-Lady Workefhoppe. @ *"Æ@;!*”


The Buggre Alle This Bible was also noteworthy for having twenty-seven verses in the third chapter of Genesis, instead of the more usual twenty-four.

They followed verse 24, which in the King James version reads:

"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life," and read:

25 And the LORD spake unto the Angel that guarded the eastern gate, saying Where is the flaming sword which was given unto thee?

26 And the Angel said, I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down some where, forget my head next.

27 And the LORD did not ask him again.”

 

It's great! One of the subplots is...y'know how in the Omen series of movies, the Satanists place the baby Anti-Christ with a family and raise him to be...yknow...the Anti-Christ? Imagine if the Satanists botch the baby-switch, and the Anti-Christ gets raised by a really nice family...

 

I just realized a bit of brilliance in the music choice for the trailer. Crowley drives a Bentley with an 8-track which eventually transforms whatever is placed in it into Queen’s Greatest Hits!

 

It's not even that - it's just a general observation that any tape left alone in any car for too long eventually transforms into Queen's Greatest Hits.


Good Omens is one of those books that gets funnier each time you read it. To people who haven't read it yet, do yourselves a favor and pick it up. It's easily one of the funniest books ever written, but it also has the more serious, philosophical observations that Pratchett tended to put into his books.
The show looks like it could be a more or less perfect adaptation. And it'll be extra exciting to see since it also incorporates plotlines and characters from the unfinished sequel, 668 - The Neighbour of the Beast.

 

Looks like the release date is May 31

 

Brian Cox has been cast as Death, and a new trailer will be released today.

I've thought for years that Benedict Cumberbatch would be the perfect voice actor for Pratchett's Death, but since he already plays Satan in Good Omens... oh well.
Brian Cox will probably be great in the role.

 

It's glorious!

 

Watched the first two episodes. Amazing so far! A missed opportunity, though: when Crowley protests that he didn’t so much fall as hang around the wrong crowd, that would’ve been a great place to give a nod to the book’s Dramatis Personae. Other demons were listed as (So And So), Fallen Angel. Crowley was An Angel Who Did Not So Much As Fall But Sauntered Vaguely Downward.

 

I've watched the first two episodes. I think it's basically perfect. A few nitpicks here and there, but on the whole I love it so far.

 

I stand corrected, and couldn’t be more pleased!

 

McKean's character, Shadwell, is supposed to have a completely unidentifiable accent, rather than any specific one, so I don't know if McKean's accent is bad, or if he mixes it up on purpose. My guess is the latter.

 

LOVED the level of diversity in the cast!