As the co-creator of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy currently has one of TV’s most popular shows under his belt, and he’s trying to branch out into different areas with the true crime-inspired anthology spinoff American Crime Story and Fox’s upcoming comedic slasher anthology Scream Queens. So why wouldn’t he want to continue piling more projects onto his plate? Fortunately, he’s not looking outside for his next occupational challenge, but in, as he’s currently mulling over whether or not he’d like to put out two seasons of American Horror Story during the same TV season. Sweet baby Thaddeus, that sounds insane.
Though this concept hasn’t been buried alive in stone just yet, Murphy says the possibility is very much in consideration, and the first steps toward such a gore-doubled future are already being taken. Here’s how he put it to EW.
Next year we might do a fall American Horror Story and a spring…We’re doing something that we’ve never done before on the show where we’re doing two different groups of writers rooms. Some of our writers will be bouncing around but a whole different group is coming in late August. The next thing we’re crafting up is very, very different than this. Not smaller. But just not opulent. More rogue and more dark.
I’m sorry, I don’t see how anything could get more rogue or dark than Asylum’s Nazi scientist and monster-maker Dr. Arden committing suicide by lying atop the deceased former devil-nun Mary Eunice and sending them both to a burned up fate in the crematory. It’s hard to look back from that point and think that things could get even crazier. That said, I’m completely down with Murphy trying. After all, as Dot and Bette showed us in American Horror Story: Freak Show, sometimes two things can be better than one.
Murphy’s tentative plans are apparently such that one season would come out during the normal fall season, as the Hotel storyline will in October, and then another separate season would air afterward, during the spring. Past seasons of American Horror Story have ended in December and January, so that would give FX time to maybe air a shortened-season series (or repeats) in between AHS installments. Or perhaps Murphy considers late January/early February the “spring,” and the seasons would just air back-to-back.
There’s a good chance this decision will come down to how well American Horror Story: Hotel does with ratings and with audiences. With Lady Gaga taking over for Jessica Lange as a lead character, people will almost definitely tune in for a few weeks regardless of what the quality is. And if it’s as enjoyable as earlier seasons, the audience will keep building, and then we’ll get two American Horror Story seasons a year, and then there might be a future where there’s a TV network devoted entirely to Ryan Murphy’s anthology shows.
For now, get your blood cell count in check for American Horror Story: Hotel, which premieres on Wednesday, October 11, on FX.
