FX president and general manager John Landgraf met the Television Critics Association to present the cable network's spring season. Taking questions, he addressed the status of "American Horror Story"'s second season and new cast.
"Ryan Murphy's already looking for that cast," Landgraf said. "He's already in active conversations with new people and also two or possibly three of the existing cast members, some series regulars or guest cast may be continuing next year although they would be playing entirely new roles."
Landgraf reiterated that he greenlit the plan to kill off the season one cast. They just didn't want the audience to know that was going to happen. "We just didn't want to tell the audience that because the experience of not knowing where it would end would be diminished, if they knew we were going to burn this cast and location to the ground."
This is something Ryan Murphy does. Maybe not on "Glee," but his previous FX show was reinvented a few times too. If you liked "nip/tuck" in L.A. (and I did. It really saved the series from the Carver and organ thieves) then "American Horror Story" is following a similar artistic path.
"This was something I was really excited about this idea from the get go," Landgraf said. "One of the things I think Ryan's particularly strong at is creating a really distinctive world in all its aspects. That includes the tone and mood of the place, the costume design and music, cinematography. If you looked at the way those characters were dressed, right down to Jessica Lange's wardrobe and the way her hair was style, Ryan Murphy was involved in every aspect of that. Even with nip/tuck he wanted to recreate it at a certain point so he moved it from Miami to LA. This gives him the opportunity to do that every year."
To some extent Landgraf lets Murphy do what he wants. If audiences have a hard time with the show, they're just not going to get Murphy. But there's no reigning him in.
"They have more leeway and creative freedom than most so I don't know every detail of everything they're up to, I certainly knew a lot," Landgraf said. "I knew the entire family was going to die by the end of the season. One of my biggest concerns about the piece is that the nature of the genre is that you're always ahead of the protagonist. You know things the protagonist doesn't know so we knew that certain critics and audiences would get frustrated with the leads. It's just a classic rule of storytelling the leads should know more than the audience, or at least not less. After the lead characters were dead and knew everything, they were at least by the end of the piece able to recapture their status as leads. The final episode where Vivien and Ben Harmon spook the new couple out of the house was the first time in 7 or 8 episodes where they were ahead of the audience. It was an experiment. I didn't know if that would alienate the audience. It didn't in terms of viewership. That's Ryan. He's going to push the form and go to places you wouldn't expect."
The FX thriller from "Glee" co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk capped off its first season run with a record 3.22 million viewers -- a strong finish for the top-rated first season series in the network's history, said THR back in December.
The finale, which drew mixed reviews from critics, delivered 2.2 million viewers in the coveted 18 to 49 demographic, and ranked as cable's No. 1 program in all of key demos Wednesday. Once DVR viewership is factored in for what Nielsen named the year's most time-shifted program, the final tally will likely exceed 5 million total viewers.
Those of you who are dying for a few clues as to what to expect from the second season of "American Horror Story," show creator Ryan Murphy opened up a bit on Bravo’s "Watch What Happens Live" Monday night.
As discovered by TV Line, during a round of WWHL's "Plead the Fifth," Murphy confirmed that Golden Globe winner Jessica Lange will appear in some capacity during the FX horror show's sophomore season. As for other returning actors, the exec producer told Cohen, "I'm in negotiations with four of the people who were on last year's show, and none of them were the Harmons" — which means Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott or Taissa Farmiga are all long gone.
Murphy also teased that the upcoming season will take place on the East Coast in a "horror institution." Now that's a way to kick it up a notch!
While it's been reported about 3,200 times that Jessica Lange will return in FX's second season of "American Horror Story," Deadline has the scoop on the first of a handful of returning cast members.
Zachary Quinto, who did a scene-stealing four-episode arc on the first season of the Ryan Murphy/Brad Falchuk drama as the Harmon house's doomed former co-owner Chad Warwick, will be back as a series regular in Season 2, joining Jessica Lange. Like Lange, he will play a brand new character next season, which is set at an East Coast institution. What's more, the site reports that Quinto will play one of two male leads and the nemesis to Lange's character, which will be at the center of the Season 2 storyline.
In addition to Lange and Quinto, three other actors from Season 1 of "AHS" will return next season. Murphy is expected to announce their names at the show's panel tonight, which will open this year’s PaleyFest.
"American Horror Story" co-creator Ryan Murphy announced tonight at PaleyFest that Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe will join Zachary Quinto and Jessica Lange to play completely new characters in the sophomore season of the FX horror anthology series.
Says THR, Season 2 will shift from the creepy Los Angeles haunted mansion to an East Coast "horror institution," with SAG and Golden Globe award winner Jessica Lange (who co-starred as the all-knowing nosy next door neighbor Constance) and Zachary Quinto (who recurred as a ghost trapped in the house) previously confirmed to return.
Peters co-starred as a mass-murderer-turned-ghost stuck in the house Tate Langdon, while Paulson had a more limited run as medium Billie Dean -- who in the penultimate "Birth" episode explained to Violet (Farmiga) that the house had a paramagnetic grip -- like a battery, with negative energy that feeds on trauma and draws things to it. Rabe played Nora Montgomery, one of the original owners of the house at the center of the series.
Season 2 of FX's "American Horror Story," which will likely return in October, will revolve around Lange's new character, with Quito cast as a series regular.
Adam Levine is set to make an appearance in the hit US television series 'American Horror Story'.
The Maroon 5 frontman is reportedly in final negotiations to make his debut acting appearance in the popular television show.
'American Horror Story' revolves around a family who move into a haunted house, and Levine is set to play one half of a couple called 'The Lovers'.
According to reports at Entertainment Weekly, chief executives at the FX Channel are so keen to sign The Voice US judge and Maroon 5 frontman, that they are willing to shoot the series around the band's summer touring plans.
Adam Levine is currently working on the third American series of The Voice, as well as releasing his own fragrance, and working on a new record with Maroon 5. He tweeted yesterday: "We are working on a new song. Singing it in the studio gave me goosebumps. Never been more excited."
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Come on! Where the f u c k is Connie Britton?! She was the sole reason why I was even interested in AHS in the first place! Bah!! I'll still watch AHS, but it's gonna bum me out if she doesn't return in some capacity.
But this will be about a washed up country singer......in a haunted house. That has to be riveting... right?
“American Horror Story“ apparently isn’t done populating the asylum at the center of its upcoming second season.
TVLine has learned exclusively that Britne Oldford, best known for her role as moody, pill-popping Cadie in MTV’s “Skins,” is joining the FX hit in the recurring role of Alma. A description of Alma was not made available, but conventional wisdom points to her being one of the patients holed up at the institution for the criminally insane run by Jessica Lange.
Other new faces on tap for Season 2 of the FX hit include “Big Love”‘s Chloe Sevigny, “The Voice”‘s Adam Levine, French actress Lizzie Brochere, “FlashForward”‘s Joseph Fiennes and Oscar nominee James Cromwell, while Lange, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe — who in Season 1 played Constance, Chad, Tate, psychic Billie Dean and doctor’s wife Nora — are all set to return but as different characters.
“Everybody is playing the opposite of what they played last year,” “Horror Story” co-creator Ryan Murphy recently told TVLine, “which I think is why they’re all so into it.”
The upcoming second season/installment of FX’s horror series/miniseries “American Horror Story” will be titled “American Horror Story: Asylum,” co-creator/executive producer Ryan Murphy announced today, reports DL.
Set in 1964, “American Horror Story: Asylum” stars Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, James Cromwell, and Joseph Fiennes.
Principal photography on “AHS: Asylum” started on July 17 for an October premiere.
“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,” Murphy said. “This year’s theme is about sanity and tackling real life horrors.”
The first installment of “American Horror Story” earned 17 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, tying for the most of any program this year and setting a record for the most Emmy nominations for a miniseries in basic cable history. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Dante Di Loreto and Tim Minear are Executive Producers of “American Horror Story: Asylum.” It is produced by 20th Fox Television.
American Horror Story: Asylum picks up in the ’60s, tells an all-new tale of terror and is set in a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Jessica Lange, Joseph Fiennes, James Cromwell, Adam Levine, Zachary Quinto, Chloe Sevigny, Evan Peters, Britne Oldford, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Chris Zylka and Lizzie Brochere star.
We’ve been squirmy with anticipation for Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s American Horror Story: Asylum ever since the announcement was made that season one star Jessica Lange would be reprising a role in the FX series.
This time around she’ll be playing the formidable nun, Sister Jude. Lange stars alongside returning alums Frances Conroy, Evan Peters, Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, and Sarah Paulson inside the mental institution, Briarcliff Manor. The now abandoned hospital was a former tuberculosis ward purchased by the Catholic Church in 1962. James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Lizzie Brocheré, Chloë Sevigny, and Ian McShane are amongst the newcomers joining them. We can’t wait for more over-the-top scares, pervy encounters, and dysfunctional drama.
To add to the insanity, we’ve created our official American Horror Story: Asylum drinking game, complete with recommended cocktails. Grab a glass, and say a few Hail Marys before heading past the break to play along with us.
Take a drink whenever…
Someone utters, “What was that?”, “Did you hear that?”, “Did you see that?”, or quotes the bible.
Anyone mentions legendary serial killer, Bloody Face.
Some unlucky person gets committed to Briarcliff Manor.
There’s a flashback. (Take two drinks if someone dies or has sex.)
You covet reporter Lana Winters’ (Sarah Paulson) smart 1960′s wardrobe — before she gets locked up for pissing off a closeted lesbian.
Someone makes a blatant reference to a famous horror film.
Finish your drink if…
One of the guys pulls a Dylan McDermott and flashes a gratuitous naked ass shot.
Zachary Quinto breaks character as Dr. Oliver Thredson and gets bitchy and possessive. (We miss you, Chad!)
Jessica Lange’s Sister Jude makes someone cry.
Chloë Sevigny’s sex addicted Shelley enjoys Sister Jude’s punishment a little too much.
Someone has sex inside the “death chute” — the underground tunnel where Briarcliff’s dead patients were shuttled outside (all 46,000 of them).
Do a shot if…
Evan Peters’ Kit — who gets committed to the sanitarium for ranting about aliens — is abducted.
Someone is forced to wear Clockwork Orange-style headgear and gets eyeball tortured (metaphorically or literally).
James Cromwell’s Dr. Arden performs a lobotomy, or zips someone up in the creepy hydrobath (and likes it).
Sister Jude is a naughty nun and has lusty fantasies about Joseph Fiennes’ Monsignor Timothy O’Hara (or acts on them).
Bloody Face’s grotesque mask made from human flesh, hair, and teeth is revealed.
Finish the bottle if…
Maroon 5’s Adam Levine actually survives the first episode (as a mortal being).
Rubber Man and Bloody Face battle it out Freddy vs. Jason-style.
One of Briarcliff’s residents goes full-on Linda Blair and performs a creepy crab walk down a flight of stairs, or an exorcism is performed.
Lily Rabe’s meek and mild-mannered nun, Sister Mary Eunice, finally rebels against Sister Jude, and things get batsh*t insane.
Ian McShane channels his inner Al Swearengen and calls someone a c*cksucker.
While creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk brought American Horror Story to television and the talented cast brings each episode to life, there exists an extensive crew who works quite diligently at bringing you the madness. Three new featurettes have gone online that show off the talent behind the camera for FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum. The behind-the-scenes videos visit the make-up department, editing room and props department, along with a lot of cool info about the level of detail that goes into making the show.
American Horror Story: Asylum airs Wednesday nights at 10 on FX. Hit the jump to watch the videos.
Those of you who are unfamiliar (or just not caught up) with American Horror Story: Asylum should avoid the following videos as they may contain spoilers. You also have the option of catching up on our weekly episode reviews, interviews and other news here.
Check out the featurettes below: