Director of the 1980s Shogun miniseries has called out the 2024 adaptation

Shogun is widely regarded as one of the best shows to hit television last year, but someone who's not a fan is the director of the 1980s miniseries Jerry London. Despite the series being showered in Emmys, London believes it could have been a lot better.

"It's completely different from the one I did," London told The Hollywood Reporter. "Mine was based on the love story of Shogun between Blackthorne and Mariko, and this new one is based on Japanese history, and it's more about Toranaga, who was the Shogun. It's very technical and very difficult for an American audience to get their grips into it. I've talked to many people that have watched it, and they said, 'I had to turn it off because I don't understand it.' So the filmmakers of the new one really didn't care about the American audience."

"They made it basically for Japan, and I was happy about it because I didn't want my show to be copied. I think I did such a great job, and it won so many accolades, that I didn't want them to copy it, which they didn't do. But the new one is funny because everybody I talked to said, 'I don't understand it. What's it all about?' I watched the whole thing. It's very difficult to stick with. It won all the [Emmy] awards because there were no big shows against it," he continued.

Quite a back-hand to Americans, saying they are incapable of understanding the show, but to each their own. Even with London's disdain for the 2024 series, its popularity has proven to be widespread, earning a second and third series to be commissioned.