Tag Archives: FX

‘Louie’ will return for a fourth season in Spring 2014

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FX renewed Louie for a fourth season this summer, but you won’t see the comedian return to the airwaves for quite some time. Instead of premiering in late June as is tradition, Louie will come back in Spring 2014. Why the hold-up? In a conference call today Louis C.K. said he’s taking an extended break from the show for two main reasons: to focus on touring (which runs from this month all the way to February 2013) and to allot time to making the next season as creative, entertaining, and funny as possible. “The last three seasons have been this surge of fun and work and stories and it’s been great, but I want the show to keep getting better,” he said. “That’s my goal, and I don’t want it to be making the donuts, I want it to be something that comes from somewhere important and stays funny.”

Louie envisions his FX show to live on for nine seasons. The first three seasons have served as the first act of a trilogy, making season four the beginning of a new phase for the show. Following the splendid three-episode Late Night arc and the absurdity that ensued in the season three finale, I personally cannot wait to see what Louie has up his sleeve.

[Via Deadline; EW]

FX renews ‘Anger Management’ with 90 episode back order

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It was expected and now it’s official. FX has granted Charlie Sheen’s comeback vehicle Anger Management–the highest-rated new comedy series on cable this year–not only second season but 90 additional episodes. “We set a very high ratings bar that included some additional hurdles for Anger Management to earn its back-90 order and the series met and exceed those metrics,” said FX executive Chuck Saftler. “[Creator] Bruce Helford has created a sitcom that works extremely well in our pre-10PM programming lineup,” he continued. “Charlie Sheen and the entire cast did an amazing job in the first ten episodes, which were produced in a very tight window. I have no doubt that the producers and cast will be able to pull off the Herculean task of producing 90 episodes over the next two years.”

Production on season 2 is already underway, and Charlie’s father Martin Sheen (who was introduced as Charlie’s estranged father in this season’s penultimate episode) will return as a series regular. Though it plays like a typical sitcom, a likable cast headed by a recovered Sheen makes Anger Management a show worth tuning into during the dog days of summer.

[Via Deadline; EW]

‘American Horror Story: Asylum’: more clues & trailers, a premiere date

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As we inch closer to fall and Halloween, you can sense the return of Ryan Murphy’s spooktacular inventive anthology series American Horror Story. Over the course of the last few weeks, FX has dropped clues for fans to watch and dissect. The first three can be viewed here, and the rest of them have been neatly posted to AHS‘ official Facebook page. The most intriguing of the bunch include two new trailers introducing the members of Asylum and they are Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and newcomers Adam Levine, Chloë Sevigny, Joseph Fiennes, and James Cromwell. Other new players not featured in the trailers are Jenna Dewan and Clea Duvall. Watch an introductory trailer above and an even insaner one after the break; they both play in front of an AHS theme-infused rendition of the famous song “Que Sera Sera.”

Below, flip through four creepy pieces of key art; I wouldn’t recommend peeking before bedtime.

AHS: Asylum premieres October 17 at 10PM on FX.

Continue reading ‘American Horror Story: Asylum’: more clues & trailers, a premiere date →

TV teasers: ‘American Horror Story: Asylum’

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Don’t expect to understand anything that’s going on in these three creep-tastic teasers for the next season of American Horror Story subtitled Asylum. In the first (titled “Special Delivery) a nun walks into a dark forest with two buckets filled with who the hell knows (I’m thinking body parts), dumps one of them out for some reason or other, and then continues nonchalantly into the woods. The next two are embedded after the break. In #2 (“Blue Coat”) we see a nun in black garb praying in an alcove as another in white passes by to hang a blue coat on the wall; then she sits down (to pray?) and at the very last second she sneaks a peek at us! In #3 (“Hydrobath”) we get a birds-eye view of a bathtub filled with a milky substance and inside it a body writhes around until a zipper magically locks the thing (a human?) inside. So many questions but these “clues” dropped by co-creator Ryan Murphy and co. will surely get you excited for what’s to come next in his anthology series.

American Horror Story: Asylum premieres this October on FX. Continue reading TV teasers: ‘American Horror Story: Asylum’ →

‘American Horror Story’ season 2 gets subtitled ‘Asylum’, new details emerge

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The highly anticipated second season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story is coming soon. The facts are these: season one star and Golden Globe winner Jessica Lange is back but this time in the lead role. Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters, other cast members featured in season one, return. All returning actors, however, will be playing completely different characters. Since AHS has been branded an anthology series, every season will tell a completely new story and feed off a different kind of fear. Season two ditches the haunted house for an east coast mental institution and goes back in time to take place in 1964.

And now for things you haven’t heard yet. Season two has a name: American Horror Story: Asylum. Murphy shares: “When we launched the show last year, we kept quiet about the closed-ended nature of the show because we didn’t want to tip off the audience that the characters were not going to survive. Now that it has been established that each year is a closed-ended story, the time seemed right to reveal what we’re calling the new installment. We picked Asylum because it not only describes the setting — an insane asylum run by Jessica Lange’s character which was formerly a tuberculosis ward — but also signifies a place of haven for the unloved and the unwanted. This year’s theme is about sanity and tackling real-life horrors.”

The growing cast is not something to bat an eyelash at. In addition to the returning season one stars, AHS season two brings the following actors into the fold: Adam Levine (yes, of Maroon 5), Jenna Dewan, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, and Clea Duvall.

Besides what he’s said here, Murphy has yet to spill on the beans on a more well-rounded plot description. Still, Lange runs an insane asylum; that should be enough of a hook to get you watching. Surrounding this subtitle announcement, though, Murphy leaked two pictures from set; one featuring star Adam Levine shining a light on the mysterious wall paint “Bloody Face” (see above) and the other also includes Levine with co-star Jenna Dewan and Glee‘s Lea Michele (see after the break). What does it all mean? Tune into FX this October to find out.

[Via THR; Twitter 1, 2] Continue reading ‘American Horror Story’ season 2 gets subtitled ‘Asylum’, new details emerge →

FX renews ‘Louie’, ‘Anger Management’ expected to receive 90-episode pick-up

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High off his record-breaking seven Emmy nominations, Louis C.K. has more to be excited about. On Saturday FX renewed his comedy series Louie for a fourth season. The cable network also renewed Russell Brand’s new talk show BrandX and said it will undergo creative changes as the show continues through the fall. Wilfred and veteran Justified were not renewed, but FX entertainment president John Landgraf remains positive about their respective futures. On Wilfred, he expects the bizarre comedy to remain on the air for “many years.” On Justified, he sees the Timothy Olyphant-led show run for at least six seasons (season three concluded in April).

Charlie Sheen’s comeback vehicle Anger Management has performed well enough in the ratings for FX to grant it a (whopping) 90-episode order. Though Landgraf has yet to greenlight the order, he expects to do so in the near future. “We won’t make a decision on the 90 episodes until all 10 have aired but the series up until now has given us every indication [that it will return],” he said. In episode 10, Charlie’s father Martin Sheen will join the cast as a series regular. “What the entry of Martin Sheen’s character will do is it will give an extra dimension to the show and make it a multi-generational family show,” Landgraf explained. “The show will still deal with his relationship with his patients and the women in his life, but will also [expand to focus on his family].”

Currently Anger Management, Louie, and BrandX air Thursday nights at 9:30PM, 10:30PM, and 11PM, respectively, on FX.

[Via EW 1, 2]

TV reminder: ‘Louie’ returns to FX tonight at 10:30PM (also, he’s going on tour)

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Louie Louie Louie Louieeeeeee. Sing it. You know you want to.

Tonight stand-up comedian Louis C.K. returns to your television screen in his highly lauded comedy Louie. The season three premiere is called “Something is Wrong” and the log line goes like this: “Louie has a challenging day.” This has got to be good. As you should be used to by now, C.K. wrote, directed, and edited the episode; you will see his name plastered all over the opening credits throughout the 13-episode season. He hit a high point in last year’s war-themed “Duckling,” and he’s still red hot following the massive success that was Live at the Beacon Theatre. Expect a bunch of guest stars to pop up throughout the season including Oscar winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and fellow comedians Robin Williams and  Jerry Seinfeld (the latter will help carry a three episode arc towards the end of the season).

Louie airs Thursday nights at 10:30PM on FX. Also premiering tonight on the cable network is the return of Charlie Sheen in Anger Management (9PM) and Wilfred season 2 (10PM).

In related news, C.K. is going on tour again soon. It starts on October 3 in Cleveland, OH and comes to a close on February 1 in Washington, DC. He’s following his previous means of success (read: Live at the Beacon Theatre) by directly selling tickets to his fans through his website. Tickets go for $45, no fees, no annoying emails.

In a blog post he explained, “Making my shows affordable has always been my goal but two things have always worked against that. High ticket charges and ticket re-sellers marking up the prices. Some ticketing services charge more than 40% over the ticket price and, ironically, the lower I’ve made my ticket prices, the more scalpers have bought them up, so the more fans have paid for a lot of my tickets.” He continued, “By selling the tickets exclusively on my site, I’ve cut the ticket charges way down and absorbed them into the ticket price. To buy a ticket, you join NOTHING. Just use your credit card and buy the damn thing.” And he means business. “Also, you’ll see that if you try to sell the ticket anywhere for anything above the original price, we have the right to cancel your ticket (and refund your money). this is something I intend to enforce. There are some other rules you may find annoying but they are meant to prevent someone who has no intention of seeing the show from buying the ticket and just flipping it for twice the price from a thousand miles away.”

That’s the C.K. way, and it rules. Click here to read the rest of his blog post and here to view the tour dates.

Update: He did it again, only this time he did it faster. According to the AP, Louis sold 100,000 tickets and raked in $4.5 million in sales in 45 hours. He shared his excitement in a tweet: “I guess it was a good idea.”

Ryan Murphy sheds more light on ‘American Horror Story’ season 2

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At a TV event in Hollywood this week, American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy excited fans of the FX psychological thriller by revealing some important facts about what they can expect when season 2 rolls around this October. As we already know, Golden Globe winner Jessica Lange is back but not as Constance Langdon; she’ll be playing an entirely new character as will be the other returning cast members from AHS season one (namely Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters). Murphy also previously let slip that the next season will take place at an “horror institution” on the East Coast. But now we know more.

“[Season 2] is set on the East Coast at an institution for the criminally insane that is run by Jessica [Lange’s new character],” Murphy said this week. And what was the clue pointing to this that was planted in the first season’s “Birth” episode Murphy once alluded to? It was “something that Sarah Paulson’s character, Billie Dean, says to Jessica and Taissa [Farmiga] as she’s sage-ing the house and talking about places where evil collects: We talk about institutions and prisons and things like that. That was the clue.” Mystery solved.

Also new: “[Season 2] is a completely different world and has nothing to do with Season 1; there’s not a mention of Season 1,” Murphy added. “The second season is set in a completely different time period.” Farewell, little demon child? Chew on that.

Murphy made sure to reiterate that other actors from season 1 (i.e. Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Taissa Farmiga, Frances Conroy, Alexandra Breckenridge, Denis O’Hare) might show up in the new season. “The idea is to work with actors that you love and are excited by,” he said. “The second season, everybody who was announced, there will be other people up on this stage who are not announced who will also be in it but are playing the polar opposite of what they were in the first season in every way.”

In addition to all this, also announced was a new character that will be played by Maroon 5 frontman and a judge from The Voice Adam Levine. Said Murphy: “He’s a sexy guy, so he needs to play a sexy guy — but the guy that is different than who you think he would play. I pitched him the part and he listened, slack-jawed, and simply said, ‘I’m in.’ The second season is fun, sexy and baroque. It has a lot of meat to it; it’s a really gritty part. He’s with a girl, and they play characters called The Lovers.”

And just like that AHS season 2 is starting to come more into focus.

[Via THR]

Ryan Murphy confirms returning actors to ‘American Horror Story’ season 2

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Last month Ryan Murphy guested on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live and revealed that Golden Globe winner Jessica Lange will return to his FX anthology series American Horror Story. He also let slip that four other actors from the first season of the show will be back in season two. AHS opened the 2012 PaleyFest last night, and in front of critics and fans of the show, Murphy confirmed the returning actors and they are: Zachary Quinto (he played the gay previous murder house owner Chad Warwick), Lily Rabe (she played Nora Montgomery, the baby-obsessed wife of the original murder house owner Dr. Charles Montgomery), Sarah Paulson (the mysterious medium Billie Dean Howard who could speak to the spirits in the house and (we think) rightfully predicted the birth of the demon baby), and (drum roll, please) Evan Peters (the son of Lange’s Constance character Tate Langdon).

Besides announcing the returning lineup, Murphy and co-creator Brad Falchuck remained mum about season two plot details. Here is what the panel got out of them. “We don’t want to talk about it too much, we’re still writing, anybody could pop up at any time,” said Murphy when questioned about the return of Quinto, Rabe, Paulson, and Peters. He added that “everyone is playing the opposite of what they played before.” (As we already know, AHS has been called an anthology series and each season will take place in a new location featuring all new characters.)

A day before the panel, EW reported Lange’s comeback and during that interview Murphy hinted that the next season of the show will revolve around her new character. Chew on this quote: “We have designed the second season of American Horror Story completely around her [Lange’s] character. Last year Jessica came in with Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott. This will really be the Jessica Lange show so I’m very excited about it. We are designing this amazing new opposite of the Constance character for her. She and I have spoken about different things. She has a lot of ideas, and has a lot of input into her character. She told me some things she has always wanted to play as an actress. She’s a great collaborator and a great friend.”

Back at the panel, a few more morsels of intel surrounding season two were dropped: Quinto is set to play one of two male leads; Murphy: “A supernatural element will always be a part of the show. But we’re trying to do something more historically accurate”;  Murphy again: “Our only rule is no werewolves, and no vampires”; and in the first season Lange’s Constance alluded to a fourth child she had and Murphy shared that “We have not lost sight of the fourth child. We want to answer that.” So perhaps some things will bleed from season one into proceeding seasons. We shall have to wait and see.

American Horror Story begins production on season two this July with an expected October premiere date.

[Via Deadline; TVLine]

‘AHS’ season 2 scoop: Jessica Lange is back and the location is (sorta) revealed

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On Tuesday night American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy guested on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live and he dropped some juicy hints surrounding the second season of the FX horror anthology. He confirmed that Jessica Lange, who recently won a Golden Globe for her brilliant turn as nosy neighbor Constance Langdon, will in fact return to the show in season two. (As was already made public, she will not reprise Constance but instead play an entirely new character.) Murphy’s reveal, embedded after the break, insinuates that she will make “an appearance” at some point during the next season and perhaps won’t be billed as a series regular. But nothing has been set in stone just yet.

Murphy also spilled that he is currently in talks with four actors from season 1 to have them appear in the new season in some capacity. He specified that none of them are from the Harmon family, so that logically leaves us with the aforementioned Lange, Denis O’Hare (Larry), Evan Peters (Tate), and Frances Conroy (Moira). Though all these actors were fantastic, my fingers are crossed especially tight for the return of Peters!

And then Murphy let loose one more morsel of season 2 intel: the new horror story will take place on the east coast at “a horror institution.” Until more information leaks, use your imagination.

[Via TVLine] Continue reading ‘AHS’ season 2 scoop: Jessica Lange is back and the location is (sorta) revealed →

‘American Horror Story’ season 2 will be “radically different” as series creator Ryan Murphy confirms anthological roots

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[Major spoilers inside] On Wednesday FX’s hit new show American Horror Story came to a dramatic conclusion, leaving most of its main cast members dead. The entire Harmon family passed on (including Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, and Taissa Farmiga) and they linger in the haunted house as ghosts with their dead child and the sweet maid Moira played by Frances Conroy. The only series regular that managed to survive the whole ordeal is Jessica Lange, who was recently nominated a Golden Globe for her portrayal as the neighborly Constance. So with the Harmon story complete, where does the show go from here? Today AHS co-creator Ryan Murphy led a conference call with members of the press and explained that the show was originally built as an anthology meaning that each season will be “radically different” from the last.

“Every season of the show will be a different haunting,” Murphy explains. “That’s always been the plan. Every season of the show will have a beginning, middle and end, and all new characters and setting … and we’ll have a new overriding theme.” So does this mean McDermott, Britton, Farmiga, Conroy, Lange, and even Rubber Man himself Evan Peters will not be returning for season 2? Not necessarily. “We’re still negotiating with a handful [of the cast members] about returning,” Murphy says. “We’re also meeting with new actors whom we’ve targeted roles for. I will say that Connie and Dylan will not be playing the leads of the show in the second season. We’d love for them to come back and do something, maybe a smaller role or a cameo.” He continued, “There will be familiar faces and some new faces. People that are coming back will be playing completely new characters… Getting to tell a different aspect of what an American horror story can be [every season] is fascinating.”

And with that it is confirmed from the man at the top that AHS season 2 will tell an entirely new story and introduce to viewers a new slate of characters that will have new issues to deal with. Murphy went on to tease what may be in store for season 2. “There are all kinds of different American horror stories to tell. There are serial killing stories, prison stories, true crime stories…Each year of the show is designed to be a little miniseries unto itself. The only thing we’re not open to doing is a season on vampires.” Phew. More: “The second season of the show will [feature] a brand new home or building to haunt,” so in addition to the main cast you can also kiss goodbye the haunted manor you’ve become accustomed to during season one. Itching to find out what exactly the next American Horror Story will be about? “There’s a clue in the last three episodes where we say what the second season will be,” Murphy teases.

Jump after the break for more. Continue reading ‘American Horror Story’ season 2 will be “radically different” as series creator Ryan Murphy confirms anthological roots →

FX renews ‘American Horror Story’ for season 2

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On Halloween afternoon, FX renewed Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s disturbingly brilliant new series American Horror Story for a second season. FX president John Landgraf celebrated the occasion with high praise. “It’s one thing to have the ambition and guts to reinvent a genre in a way that makes it captivatingly fresh for a broad audience — it’s something else entirely to have the craft to back that ambition up,” he said. “Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have hit the trifecta with Nip/Tuck, Glee and now American Horror Story, which will be scaring FX’s viewers to death for many years to come.” The show has been performing extremely well in the ratings for the cable network.  It is averaging 4.2 million viewers per episode, with an impressive 2.9 million in the coveted adult 18-34 demo. In fact, according to FX, AHS is“tracking to become the highest-rated first season of any series ever on FX, certain to surpass Murphy’s award-winning hit drama Nip/Tuck in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34.” There has been much speculation about how Murphy and Falchuk plan to continue the series beyond the current season. Will the Harmons (Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, and Taissa Farmiga) make it to season 2, or will each season feature a new family moving into the haunted house? According to stars McDermott and Britton, no one knows yet. “It’s open-ended – we’re not quite sure about the next episode never mind next year,” McDermott told TVLine. “We’re just sort of like flying by the seat of our pants.” Britton added, “I don’t know that Brad and Ryan know, which I think is really fun.” A 13-episode second season will begin filming next year.

American Horror Story airs Wednesday nights at 10PM on FX.

[Via EW; TVLine]