Tag Archives: Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy discusses the interconnectedness of ‘American Horror Story’

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How have you been enjoying American Horror Story latest incarnation? Only four episodes in and it’s already proven to be one of the franchise’s best seasons yet. The Halloween themed “Edward Mordrake” two parter was quite exquisite, to say the least. And I’m sure you feel the same way I do about the inclusion of little miss Pepper. It’s a shame she never got her meatloaf, but more than that she’s served as a great addition to the season’s sprawling cast. Creator Ryan Murphy said including her and effectively bridging a gap between season 2’s Asylum and the current Freak Show was a decision that was not made lightly. But now that the door is cracked open, he’s going all the way in.

It’s been reported that AHS mainstay Lilly Rabe is making an appearance later this season and she will be the second actor to reprise a character from a previous season. She’s coming to the Freak Show as her Asylum alias Sister Mary Eunice to snatch up poor Pepper and bring her to the mental institution Briarcliff Manor. In an interview with EW, Murphy waxed about Rabe’s return as well as the interconnectedness of it all.

I don’t want to say much about it but obviously she’s playing Sister Mary Eunice. The interesting thing about doing a show like this is every season is incredibly its own story and its own beginning, middle and end. Its own journey. But we have always from the very beginning in the intertwining mythologies and how things connect. This is the first year where we begin to tell you that season two is connected to season four which is connected to season one. People have started to write articles about that. A lot of their hypotheses have been completely right on. That’s the fun of the show. Hopefully by the end of the run, be it 10 years or 15 years, people will be able to stand back and be able to say, “Oh that was connected to x.”

There’s definitely a rhyme or a reason and a connectedness to all of these seasons, but in the same way, they’re standalones, which is the fun of it. But it is a puzzle. And Lily coming back and dealing with Pepper is sort of the first unveiling of that connectedness. She’s so great in that role, Lily. I understood she wanted to go off and do her own show. But I was thrilled she was able to come back and give us a couple days and show how Sister Mary Eunice and Pepper are connected and how it’s all connected. I’m glad she’s back in the habit!

So AHS fans, rejoice! The show will remain an anthology series, but going forward Murphy and co. will begin to tie at least some things together for studious fans to froth over. I, for one, cannot wait to find out how exactly this season will make a bridge to Murder House!

AHS: Freak Show airs Wednesdays at 10 on FX.

Ryan Murphy and FX team up again to tell ‘American Crime Story’

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From horror to crime, Ryan Murphy has more stories to tell. Murphy, whose latest iteration of American Horror Story debuted last night to franchise record-high ratings (6.1 million viewers and a 3.1 demo rating), is breaking ground on an AHS “companion series”–also of the anthological sort–appropriately titled American Crime Story. The new show will tackle notorious crime stories spanning U.S. history, starting with the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial. According to a press released outed by FX:

American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson is a look at the O.J. Simpson trial told from the perspective of the lawyers that explores the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court, and how a combination of prosecution confidence, defense wiliness, and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt.

ACS: TPvOJS will air across 10 episodes and will be based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson. Production is set to begin early next year. Murphy is producing with Brad Falchuk, Dante Di Loretto, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson. Episodes will be written by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flynt) and Murphy has signed on to direct the pilot.

“Time and time again, Ryan Murphy has transformed the medium of television by redefining genres and formats as he did with Nip/Tuck, Glee and the American Horror Story franchise, and we expect the same of American Crime Story,” said FX Networks CEO John Landgraf. “Scott and Larry have adapted Jeffrey Toobin’s book into a masterful 10-hour piece. I have no doubt that Ryan and his partners Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, and Dante Di Loreto are going to make something very memorable here – and that it will be a spectacular first entry in what is destined to become a series of great true crime-based miniseries.”

Added Murphy, “This is an exciting project for me, as I’ve been looking for the right property which could serve as an extension of the American Horror Story brand I love so much. The O.J. case was as tragic as it was fascinating — it seemed like everyone had a stake in the outcome. It was really the beginning of the modern tabloid age.”

First details spill from upcoming ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’

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As has been the case each year, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has fun with his fans by slowing doling out details about the next incarnation of his adored anthology FX series. For the fourth round, he started with the upcoming season’s title: American Horror Story: Freak Show (see the revealing tweet embedded above). EW managed to scoop up a tantalizing bit of the plot:

Set in Jupiter, Florida, in 1950, Freak Show finds Jessica Lange playing a German ex-pat who is managing one of the last freak shows in the U.S.

On March 28 at PaleyFest celebrating AHS: Coven, Murphy confirmed that the majority of the witchy season’s cast will return for Freak Show: Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Gabourey Sidibe, Frances Conroy, Jamie Brewer, Denis O’Hare, and Evan Peters. The newest addition to the AHS cast is Michael Chiklis (The Shield). Season 4 will also try to reel back some actors from the series’ first two seasons, Murder House and Asylum.

At PaleyFest Murphy elaborated, “It’s not a circus, it’s not a carnival, it’s a freak show set in 1950, and it was a concept that Jessica Lange talked about as she wanted to play this type of character.” The season, like Coven before it, will be shot in New Orleans though, as previously stated, it will take place in Jupiter, Florida.

So we’ve got the what, the when, and for the most part the who for the upcoming Freak Show. That’s quite a start! Stick it here for more details regarding the next installment of AHS as they creep in.

[Via EW 1, 2; Deadline]

Ryan Murphy reveals original ‘Glee’ ending

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In October at PaleyFest Glee creator Ryan Murphy announced that the musical dramedy’s sixth season will be its last. He admitted his idea about how the show would end and it involved Lea Michele’s Rachel character and the late Cory Monteith’s Finn.

“I always knew how it would end,” Murphy told the press. “I knew what the last shot was–he [Monteith] was in it. I knew what the last line was–she [Michele] said it to him. So when a tragedy like that happens you sort of have to pause and figure out what you want to do, so we’re figuring that out now.”

On Monday Entertainment Weekly shed light on exactly what Murphy had in mind for the show’s ending with a “Late Great” essay penned by Murphy himself.

The ending of Glee is something I have never shared with anyone, but I always knew it. I’ve always relied on it as a source of comfort, a North Star. At the end of season 6, Lea [Michele]‘s Rachel was going to have become a big Broadway star, the role she was born to play. Finn was going to have become a teacher, settled down happily in Ohio, at peace with his choice and no longer feeling like a Lima loser. The very last line of dialogue was to be this: Rachel comes back to Ohio, fulfilled and yet not, and walks into Finn’s glee club. “What are you doing here?” he would ask. “I’m home,” she would reply. Fade out. The end.

Sound familiar? That’s because the blanks had already been filled during the Finn tribute episode; in “The Quarterback” Rachel has an exchange with Mr. Schue where she imagines her future with Finn and it’s pretty much what Murphy had planned to do if Monteith hadn’t passed so suddenly.

So how will Glee end now? That’s still being kept under wraps, but at PaleyFest Murphy said, “I’m going to tell the studio and the network how after Cory’s unfortunate passing we can end the show that I think is very satisfactory. And kind of in his honor, which I love.”

Ryan Murphy says ‘Glee’s sixth season will be its last, previews Katy/Gaga hour

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This week Ryan Murphy announced that the next season of Glee, the show’s sixth, will be its last. And with the unfortunate death of star Cory Monteith, Murphy and his writing team are forced to come up with a new ending for the musical dramedy.

“The final year of the show, which will be next year, was designed around Rachel and Cory/Finn’s story,” Murphy told the press at a Paley Center event honoring the FX network. “I always knew that, I always knew how it would end. I knew what the last shot was–he was in it. I knew what the last line was–she said it to him. So when a tragedy like that happens you sort of have to pause and figure out what you want to do, so we’re figuring that out now.”

Murphy says he has “a good idea” as to how he plans on properly ending the series. “I’m going to tell the studio and the network how after Cory’s unfortunate passing we can end the show that I think is very satisfactory. And kind of in his honor, which I love.”

When Glee returns with new episodes starting November 7, things get punched back into high gear and high energy; the new episode back is called “A Katy or a Gaga” and “it’s about the kids trying to figure out who they are as artists,” reveals Murphy. Following the Finn tribute episode, Murphy says he “wanted to do something that was maybe a little more inspirational, because that was so hard on the cast,” Murphy explains. “So we did something that [features] a lot of costumes, a lot of great set pieces.” Preview the new episode after the break.

Glee airs Thursdays at 9PM on FOX.

[Via TVLine 1, 2; EW] Continue reading Ryan Murphy says ‘Glee’s sixth season will be its last, previews Katy/Gaga hour →

Inside the ‘American Horror Story’ main title sequence

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If you’re a fan of FX’s American Horror Story then you know just how intricate and foreboding the main title sequences for the series can be. In this brief but tantalizing clip, executive producer Ryan Murphy and title designer Kyle Cooper discuss the sheer amount of effort that goes into making the title sequence for the show. Since each season tells an entirely different horror story with new characters, each opening sequence therefore also shifts and adapts to a new setting and tone.

“If you can make a title sequence that elicits an emotional reaction, that’s a successful title sequence,” says Cooper.

“I’ve always been obsessed with main titles, I really feel like it’s an art form,” Murphy adds. “It tells you what the viewing experience ahead is going to be.”

Murphy goes on to tease what fans can expect from the Coven opening titles, and I’ll save that fun morsel for you to hear yourself. Click play and invite that spooky theme music back into your squishy brain.

AHS: Coven premieres this October.

[Via THR]

Ryan Murphy discusses how ‘Glee’ will handle upcoming Finn Hudson tribute episode

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When Glee returns this fall it will do so without one of its biggest stars, Cory Monteith. The actor who played Finn Hudson on the FOX musical dramedy passed away last month due to a drug overdose. As Gleeks worldwide continue to mourn the young actor’s death, the producers behind the mega-successful series are hard at work on making a special episode that will address the character’s death. In an interview with Deadline, series executive producer Ryan Murphy shed some light on what viewers can expect. Following a Beatles tribute that spans across the season four premiere and second episode, Glee will say goodbye to Finn in the season’s third hour that will play as “a celebration of that character’s life,” says Murphy. Finn, in fact, will not die of a drug overdose in the show, and viewers may not even be privy to how he ends up passing away. Jump after the break to read the EP’s take on the upcoming tribute episode.

Glee returns September 26 on FOX. Continue reading Ryan Murphy discusses how ‘Glee’ will handle upcoming Finn Hudson tribute episode →

Ryan Murphy reveals the name of the next season of ‘American Horror Story’, introduces Kathy Bates as villain

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On Friday Ryan Murphy and company took the stage at PaleyFest and made come major announcements concerning the upcoming third season of his horror anthology series American Horror Story. First, we’ve got the subtitle: Coven. And yes, the new season will be about witches. “It’s a really cool story we’ve been talking about for a couple of years, and this seemed the year to do it.” We were told in the past that AHS 3 will shoot on location in three different cities across the country; Murphy revealed that one of those locales will be New Orleans. “The fun thing is researching what are the really haunted places in America, and we have a couple doozy locales,” he said.

As previously announced, Jessica Lange will lead an ensemble cast that includes returning AHS actors Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, and Taissa Farmiga. A surprise guest joined the cast and creators on stage at PaleyFest: veteran actresss Kathy Bates is joining the cast to play a “cuckoo-for-Cocoa Puffs character” that is at odds with Lange’s new character. “I wanted to see a lot of scenes with Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates going at it,” Murphy said, “so that’s what you’re going to see.” Despite playing the villain in the 1990 psychological thriller Misery (a role that won her an Oscar), Murphy promises that her AHS role is even worse. “Oh, Kathy’s never [played] someone this bad. Her [character] is a bad, bad woman,” he exclaimed. “When I pitched this to Kathy, her mouth was drop-jawed because what I was pitching actually happened,” he went on. “It’s a true event…You’ll see. It’s some good stuff.”

American Horror Story: Coven is really starting to take shape now. With an all-star cast and exciting new locations planned, anticipation is as high as ever for the FX drama. AHS returns for more spooks this fall.

[Via Deadline; TVLine 1, 2; EW]

Ryan Murphy teases ‘American Horror Story’ season 3

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Ryan Murphy is still being tight-lipped about the clues he dropped in the final few episodes of American Horror Story: Asylum that shed light on what’s to come in season 3 of the anthology horror series. But at a recent screening of the Asylum finale, he did open up to reporters about who’s signed on to come back and he gave a very big picture preview of the upcoming season.

When FX renewed AHS for a third season in November, it was revealed that Jessica Lange (Constance then Jude) would return for the third time in a row to star. Since then, Murphy has let slip that Sarah Paulson (Billy Dean then Lana) and Evan Peters (Tate then Kit) are also coming back as newly fleshed out characters for the new season. Also on tap to return is season 1 star Taissa Farmiga; she played Ben and Vivian Harmon’s daughter Violet. Murphy told EW: “I missed her this season. There wasn’t really a role for her. I feel very protective of her and I didn’t want her to go back into the loony bin—it was too dark. So I thought well ‘I want Taissa to be one of the leads next year.’ I called her up and pitched her the character for the season and she loved it and she said, ‘Yes let’s do it.’ So we’re in negotiations for her to headline season 3.” Rejoining the gang behind-the-scenes is director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon who helped some of the best episodes this season including “I Am Anne Frank (Part 2),” “Spilt Milk,” and the finale “Madness Ends.” Murphy said he’s signed on to direct every third episode next season and that he will have a creative hand in every episode produced.

As far as plot details go, Murphy isn’t diving in just yet but here’s what we’ve got so far. The third season will be “more historical in nature” and take place in modern day across three different cities (on location), though time will jump into the past as it did in season one. The show will continue to harp on our horrors but overall the new season will be lighter in tone than Asylum; it will feature more comedic elements and a romance story. The major arc will revolve around Lange’s character who Murphy hypes to be a “glamour cat leading lady” who will be privy to “hair and makeup and the best designer gowns ever.” Next year’s major monster following season 1’s Rubber Man and season 2’s Bloody Face will be “a great icon–and it’s a woman,” Murphy teases. In fact he says that a big theme in season 3 is going to be “female power.”

And here’s good news for fans of the series. Murphy sees it going for years and years. “I hope this show goes for 10 years because I have so many different kinds of horror that I would like to write about,” he says. “But, I love that you can jump periods and you can play with different actors.  I know the actors love playing different characters. So, it’s something that we’ll always stay with.”

American Horror Story reboots next fall.

[Via THR; TVLine; Collider]

‘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 →

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]