FX President and General Manager John Landgraf likes to green light dramatic television that he feels has a strong "emotional weight" and enough compelling story to withstand seven seasons. He takes chances more times than not, and sometimes the shows don't always perform as much as he'd like (we still miss you, Terriers and Lights Out!), but no one can accuse him from not being edgy or not trying to think outside of the box (as their slogan says) and change the face of television. By picking up Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story, a psycho-sexual thriller about a family that moves into a haunted house (...oh if only it were that simple), Landgraf is not just talking the talk but also walking the walk.
"I'm incredibly optimistic about American Horror Story," Landgraf addressed television critics in Los Angeles earlier today, saying he is confident that it will be widely imitated by other networks and that is exactly the kind of drama on which he wants to take a chance.
"Obviously, I don't know what Ryan Murphy will do beyond the first season...but the intention was always to tell a character story with some of them carrying over to the next season."
So though when the show premieres in October it will star Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Taissa Farmiga, and Jessica Lange, they may not all make it out alive for a second season. Each season, theoretically, could focus on a new family moving into the house and watching them slowly unravel and be attacked by spirits and creatures and creepy neighbors. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?
Besides, could is the operative word, as Murphy has such great talent he wants to keep his options open: "We do know what that last episode is, and I think it's very unexpected and exciting for me."
Britton and McDermott are a married couple who went through a miscarriage and an affair (his) and decide to pick up their teenage daughter and move out to Los Angeles to start over. But the house they move into has quite a history of murder and violence within its walls and very quickly its truth starts to reveal itself-- even if the characters themselves can't quite fathom it yet.
"The house itself is a character," Murphy pointed out.
And Los Angeles is certainly full of old homes full of character, stories, and probably spirits. The show is set out here, and films out here as well.
"I just love that idea of move west and claim new territories, and at this point, we've almost run out of space, so people aren't creating lives that aren't touched by somebody else. I currently live in a house that I think has been touched by spirit," Murphy chuckled.
American Horror Story was an idea three years in the making for Murphy and his producing partner Brad Falchuk but is finally coming to FX this fall. In a bit of furtuitousness, his stars just happened to be looking for new projects when this script, shrouded in mystery, was brought to their attention. Britton and Murphy actually sat down at a local hotspot diner to discuss the project, while McDermott heard about the script through his agent and was just intrigued by the concept.
"Whenever I work with Ryan, he comes in and says 'Let's do A.' And then we do it," Falchuk admitted. Both producers are obsessed with the genre, but Falchuk pointed out that Murphy inspires them to push it a step further. "How can we bust the genre up...while paying homage to all of the things we love so much?"
There are a lot of mysteries in the pilot and a lot of little cliffhangers that Murphy promises to solve right away. The biggest one might be why the family even stays in the house when the weird stuff starts happening.
"That will be answered in the next episode after the pilot," Murphy said, adding that additional ones will come to light by episode three as well.
Episode three will also answer why the family is in the house in terms of if it was completely random or if someone, or something chose them...or so he said he "believes." Some work is still being done on the episodes.
"Just for us, I think that the main thing when we were writing the script was it was never really about horror...It's about the marriage," Murphy added, saying the topic will affect all of the characters. "We needed really good dramatic rocks, and I think both of these actors are unparralleled at that."
Further praising his leads, as well as his supporting cast, Murphy said that when you have as talented individuals as they, you have an "obligation" to write them really strong, grounded material. The pilot, with all of its flash and shock value, is just a blueprint, but Murphy insisted he loves good characters and story and will focus his attention there with this new project.
"I think people will come to it for really good emotional stories that are zeitgeist based but also because there is some scary stuff in there," Murphy hoped.
American Horror Story will premiere on FX on October 5th at 10pm. Stay tuned right here for an advance review of the pilot, which we'll have for you just before the series premiere.
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