FX is getting back in business with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, picking up their pilot “American Horror Story” to series.
Net has ordered 13 episodes of the 20th Century Fox skein that stars Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton and Jessica Lange.
Storyline revolves around a family who moves from Boston to L.A. to reconcile a past anguish. McDermott, who plays a psychiatrist, and Britton are a couple dealing with his former adulterous affair.
Production will begin next week and the cabler is targeting October as a premiere. Dante Di Loreto will exec produce with Murphy and Falchuk, who are also behind Fox hit “Glee.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome Ryan and Brad back to their original home,” said FX topper John Landgraf. “They have shown an uncanny ability to bring original series to the air unlike any that have come before, and to reconcile wildly entertaining with the creatively ambitious.”
Landgraf added that Murphy called and told him he wanted to return to the cabler. FX was the home of plastic surgery skein “Nip/Tuck,” the series that put the producer on the TV landscape.
While there will be production overlap between “American Horror Story” and “Glee,” the exec producers have expanded their writing staff for the Fox dramedy and will be able to oversee more material — rather than having to write most of the scripts — than they have in the past. Both shows will shoot at Paramount.
In ordering “American Horror,” Landgraf told Variety the cabler is in “active mode,” and sees the show as a good companion to the net’s other top drama series, including “Sons of Anarchy,” as well as “Justified” and “Rescue Me,” the latter of which just began its last season.
As for “Horror Story” debuting in October, Landgraf said FX “tends to program aggressively in the fall. We feel we can do well when we’re being aggressive.”Landgraf still has two other drama pilots he needs to make decisions on in the next few months: the superhero-themed “Powers” and “Outlaw Country,” which are currently shooting in Chicago and Nashville, respectively.
On the comedy side, the Elijah Wood Oz import “Wilfred” premiered to better ratings than any other laffer in FX history, and “Louie” had a successful Emmy morning last week. Star Louis C.K. was nominated both as an actor and writer.
