Feud | |
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Genre | |
Created by |
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Starring | |
Composer | Mac Quayle |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Production locations | Los Angeles, California |
Cinematography | Nelson Cragg |
Editors |
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Running time | 45–60 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | FX |
Release | March 5, 2017 – present |
Feud is an American anthology drama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam, which premiered on FX on March 5, 2017. Conceived as an anthology series, Feud's first season, Bette and Joan, chronicles (over eight episodes) the well-documented rivalry between Hollywood actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis during and after the production of their psychological horror thriller film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon star as Crawford and Davis, respectively. Judy Davis, Jackie Hoffman, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, and Alison Wright feature in supporting roles. Academy Award–winning actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kathy Bates also appear. Critically acclaimed, with major praise for Lange and Sarandon's performances, the first season garnered several accolades. It received 18 nominations at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards and won two, including Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup (Non-Prosthetic). Bette and Joan also received six Critics' Choice Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Television Critics Association Awards nominations.
In February 2017, FX renewed the series for a second season. Following a hiatus, in April 2022, it was announced that the second season would be Feud: Capote vs. The Swans , with Jon Robin Baitz serving as showrunner/writer, Gus Van Sant as director, and Naomi Watts starring as Babe Paley. The season will focus on the fallout of a roman à clef story written by author Truman Capote based on the lives of several New York socialites. It premiered on January 31, 2024. [1]
The first season (subtitled Bette and Joan) centers on the backstage battle between Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) during and after the production of their 1962 film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? . [2]
The second season (subtitled Capote vs. The Swans ) focuses on the end of Truman Capote's friendships with many New York socialites nicknamed "The Swans" when he lightly fictionalizes their lives in published excerpts from his ultimately unfinished novel Answered Prayers .
Feud features appearances by a number of actors, directors and other historical figures of the period, including:
Season | Title | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | ||||
1 | Bette and Joan | 8 | March 5, 2017 | April 23, 2017 | |
2 | Capote vs. the Swans | 8 | January 31, 2024 | March 13, 2024 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Ryan Murphy | Jaffe Cohen & Michael Zam and Ryan Murphy | March 5, 2017 | 1WBB01 | 2.26 [3] |
In 1978, filmmaker Adam Friedman interviews Olivia de Havilland and Joan Blondell for a documentary about the complex relationship between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Seventeen years earlier, with her career gradually waning, Joan pitches a film adaptation of the horror novel What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? to Bette and director Robert Aldrich. Aldrich, in turn, brings Baby Jane to Jack L. Warner, who comes on board despite his hatred for both women. But as filming begins, Joan's acute narcissism and Bette's strong opinions quickly put them at odds. | |||||||
2 | 2 | "The Other Woman" | Ryan Murphy | Jaffe Cohen & Michael Zam and Tim Minear | March 12, 2017 | 1WBB02 | 1.32 [4] |
Bette and Joan act on their shared interest to eliminate a showy supporting actress, but their problems at home spill over at work. Jack forces Aldrich to create a power play between the two actresses for hype. | |||||||
3 | 3 | "Mommie Dearest" | Gwyneth Horder-Payton | Tim Minear | March 19, 2017 | 1WBB03 | 1.08 [5] |
Bette and Joan learn some intimate details about each other, but their animosity climaxes on set as filming winds down. | |||||||
4 | 4 | "More, or Less" | Liza Johnson | Gina Welch & Tim Minear | March 26, 2017 | 1WBB04 | 1.21 [6] |
Contrary to all expectations, Baby Jane is a huge hit. With no other film offers, Joan's jealousy grows as Bette's performance is critically acclaimed. She fears that she will not get an Oscar nomination, but that Bette will. Meanwhile, Pauline hopes to direct her own film but is discouraged by the lack of support from Aldrich and Joan. | |||||||
5 | 5 | "And the Winner Is... (The Oscars of 1963)" | Ryan Murphy | Ryan Murphy | April 2, 2017 | 1WBB05 | 1.36 [7] |
Bette is on track to win a record-breaking third Best Actress Oscar. Joan and Hedda Hopper launch a clandestine campaign against her. Joan bullies nominee Geraldine Page to skip the ceremony and allow Joan to accept the award on her behalf if she wins; Anne Bancroft, unable to attend, also allows Joan to accept her award. Offering herself as a presenter, Joan arrives at the 1963 Academy Awards ceremony dressed like a "silver Oscar." With a shocked Olivia de Havilland and crushed Bette watching, Joan accepts the Oscar for Bancroft. | |||||||
6 | 6 | "Hagsploitation" | Tim Minear | Tim Minear & Gina Welch | April 9, 2017 | 1WBB06 | 1.06 [8] |
As Joan promotes her new film, Strait-Jacket , Jack enlists Aldrich to write and direct a new film in the successful "Hagsploitation" genre. Aldrich ultimately takes his script, called Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte , to Darryl F. Zanuck to produce, angering Jack. Aldrich lures Joan in return for top billing, and Bette in return for creative control. Bette becomes increasingly unreasonable, and Joan's suspicions about Bette's influence over Aldrich are confirmed when Joan hears Bette having champagne with him. | |||||||
7 | 7 | "Abandoned!" | Helen Hunt | Jaffe Cohen & Michael Zam | April 16, 2017 | 1WBB07 | 1.31 [9] |
With Robert's divorce pending, he and Bette have an affair. On location filming Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Joan feels disrespected by the production (especially after being left behind when the production wrapped in Baton Rouge) and comes to resent Bette's creative input as a producer. On the other hand, Bette is relishing her new role as a producer but is haunted by Jack Warner's mistreatment when she first started in Hollywood. When filming returns to Los Angeles, Joan fakes an illness to stall production in hopes that 20th Century Fox will cancel the film. She eventually learns that the studio is suing her for breach of contract and, while in the hospital, learns via radio announcement that Olivia has replaced her. Hysterical, Joan destroys her hospital room, and Mamacita leaves her. | |||||||
8 | 8 | "You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?" | Gwyneth Horder-Payton | Gina Welch | April 23, 2017 | 1WBB08 | 1.30 [10] |
Following the critical failure of her latest film, Trog , and bad publicity photos, Joan officially retires from acting. In the following years, she moves to New York City. Realizing how miserable she is alone, she makes amends with Mamacita and her daughter, Cathy. One night, Joan hallucinates Jack and Hedda having a party in her apartment, where she joins them and is later joined by Bette. In the fantasy, Joan and Bette end their feud and speak civilly toward each other about one another. In mid-1977, Joan's health deteriorates rapidly, and she dies with Mamacita at her side. Meanwhile, Bette, who has worked consistently since Sweet Charlotte, learns of Joan's death via a journalist who asks for comment. Bette responds with one final negative comment towards Joan. At the 1978 Academy Awards ceremony, Adam finishes his interviews for his documentary, with Bette refusing to be a part. Bette, Olivia, and others express sadness at Joan's brief appearance in the In Memoriam segment, while simultaneously being horrified by the brevity of the moment. A flashback to the first day of filming Baby Jane shows Bette and Joan chatting happily before going into their separate trailers. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [11] | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) [12] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 1 | "Pilot" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | January 31, 2024 | 3WBB01 | 0.461 |
10 | 2 | "Ice Water in Their Veins" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | January 31, 2024 | 3WBB02 | 0.263 |
11 | 3 | "Masquerade 1966" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | February 7, 2024 | 3WBB03 | 0.298 |
12 | 4 | "It's Impossible" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | February 14, 2024 | 3WBB04 | 0.259 |
13 | 5 | "The Secret Inner Lives of Swans" | Max Winkler | Jon Robin Baitz | February 21, 2024 | 3WBB05 | 0.342 |
14 | 6 | "Hats, Gloves and Effete Homosexuals" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | February 28, 2024 | 3WBB06 | 0.281 |
15 | 7 | "Beautiful Babe" | Jennifer Lynch | Jon Robin Baitz | March 6, 2024 | 3WBB07 | 0.297 |
16 | 8 | "Phantasm Forgiveness" | Gus Van Sant | Jon Robin Baitz | March 13, 2024 | 3WBB08 | 0.307 |
Ryan Murphy, a fan of Davis since his childhood, interviewed the actress just months before her death in 1989. The agreed-upon 20-minute interview lasted four hours, and inspired his characterization of Davis in Feud. He said, "When I would ask her about Joan Crawford ... She would just go on about how much she hated her. But then she would sort of say ... 'She was a professional. And I admired that'." [13] Murphy first conceived Bette and Joan as a film years before the FX series, and approached both Sarandon and Lange about the lead roles. [14] Sarandon said, "It just felt like it didn't have a context, just being bitchy and kind of funny, but what else? In expanding it to eight hours, you could get more complexity and so many other characters." [15]
Feud: Bette and Joan was being written at the same time that Murphy was forming his Half Foundation, which promotes an increased presence of women in film and television production positions. [15] The series features 15 acting roles for women over 40, [15] and half the episodes were directed by women, including actress Helen Hunt. [14] Initially conceived as an anthology series, Feud, developed by Murphy, was picked up to series by FX on May 5, 2016. [16] Bette and Joan was inspired by the real-life feud between Crawford and Davis, [16] and explores issues of sexism, ageism, and misogyny in Hollywood. [15] Its eight episodes were expanded from a feature-length screenplay Murphy had optioned called Best Actress by Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam. [17]
Sarandon said, "In our story, it was a fact that [the people behind Baby Jane] encouraged the animosity [between Crawford and Davis], first of all to control them, second of all to make what they thought was more onscreen tension, and that really hasn't changed a lot." [15] Melanie McFarland of Salon wrote that the series shows "just how brutal the Hollywood system was on some of the greatest talents in its firmament" and that it "cuts to the root of why collaborating and delighting in the fall of the mighty is eternally marketable." [18] The Crawford-Davis feud was also documented in Shaun Considine's 1989 book Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud . [19]
Frequent Murphy collaborator Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon were attached to star as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in Feud. Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Judy Davis, and Dominic Burgess were also a part of the cast, in the roles of Robert Aldrich, Jack L. Warner, Hedda Hopper, and Victor Buono, respectively. [16] In August 2016, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sarah Paulson joined the cast playing Olivia de Havilland and Geraldine Page, respectively. [20] [21] [22] [23]
In September 2016, it was reported that American Horror Story executive producer Tim Minear would be co-showrunning the series with Murphy. Jackie Hoffman joined the cast as Mamacita, Crawford's housekeeper. [24] In November 2016, Molly Price, Kathy Bates and Alison Wright joined the cast of the series, in the roles of Harriet Foster, Joan Blondell, and Pauline Jameson. [25] [26] [27] In January 2017, it was announced Kiernan Shipka was cast in the series as Davis's daughter, Barbara "B.D." Sherry. [28]
Sarandon admitted to initially being "overwhelmed and terrified" about the prospect of portraying Davis accurately. She said, "She's so big and she really was so big, so I tried not to make her a caricature or someone a female impersonator would do ... That was my fear, that she would just be kind of one-dimensional." [15] Lange said her performance was informed by her view that Crawford's "brutal childhood" was masked by the "beautiful, impenetrable veneer of this great, gorgeous movie star ... So she was always on, which is a tremendous burden in and of itself, but always there was this thing lurking underneath of being this poverty-stricken, abused, unloved, abandoned young child and woman." [15] Both Sarandon and Lange researched their roles by reading books by and about Davis and Crawford, and watching and listening to TV performances and recordings. [14] [28]
For Capote vs. The Swans, Naomi Watts was cast to star as Babe Paley in April 2022. [29] In August, Chloë Sevigny, Tom Hollander, Calista Flockhart and Diane Lane would be added to the cast. [30] [31] The following month, Demi Moore and Molly Ringwald were added to the cast. [32] [33] In March 2023, Chris Chalk announced his involvement in the season. [34]
FX renewed the series for a 10-episode second season on February 28, 2017, with Murphy and Jon Robin Baitz attached as writers. Initially planned with a focus on the relationship between Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, [35] the season was first titled Charles and Diana, then renamed Buckingham Palace, [36] with Matthew Goode and Rosamund Pike cast in the titular roles. [37] Plans for Buckingham Palace were eventually scrapped in August 2018. [38] In November 2019, Murphy stated he was open to resume work on Feud. [39]
An April 2022 announcement unveiled new plans for the second season, with Jon Robin Baitz serving as showrunner/writer and Gus Van Sant as director: Feud: Capote vs. The Swans would focus on the fallout of a roman à clef by author Truman Capote based on the lives of several New York socialites. [29] It premiered on January 31, 2024. [1]
Murphy gave several interviews about Feud during the 2017 Winter TCA Press Tour. [40] The show's first teaser trailer was released on January 19, 2017, and the second the following day. [41] That same week, Lange and Sarandon appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly as Crawford and Davis. [42] FX released another teaser on January 23, two on February 5, one on February 7, and one on February 8. [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] A short commercial for the show also aired during Super Bowl LI. [48]
Feud had its official premiere at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on March 1, 2017. [49] Before the show's premiere, FX held screenings of the pilot episode at several gay bars across the United States. [50]
The first season of eight episodes, Bette and Joan, premiered in the United States on March 5, 2017, on FX [51] and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2017. [52]
The second season of eight episodes, Capote vs. The Swans, premiered in the United States on January 31, 2024, on FX, with a special Director’s Cut of the first episode simulcasting on its sibling network FXX. [1]
The original television soundtrack of Feud: Bette and Joan, with music by Mac Quayle, was released in two editions: a regular edition with 23 tracks, and a limited edition with 31 tracks.[ citation needed ]
Feud received critical acclaim, with major praise for Lange and Sarandon's performances. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 95% based on 118 reviews, with an average rating of 8.15/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While campily and sweetly indulgent, Feud: Bette and Joan provides poignant understanding of humanity, sorrow, and pain while breezily feeding inquisitive gossip-starved minds." [53] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [54]
Melanie McFarland of Salon called the writing "creatively wicked" and the series "outrageously fantastic", praising Lange and Sarandon for their performances and for "tempering their decadent rages and vengeful spats with a gutting sense of loneliness that tempers its lightness in solemnity." [18] Verne Gay of Newsday wrote that the series is "Full of joy, humor, brilliant writing and performances, and a deep unabiding love for what really makes Hollywood great—the women." [55] People called the series "bitter, biting and entertaining". [56] The Atlantic 's Spencer Kornhaber described the first few episodes as "deft and satisfying" but suggested that "maybe six installments, rather than eight, were all this tale needed". [57] Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote that the series is "big and it's catty, but it's also smart and elegant, with the old Hollywood setting toning down some of Murphy's more scattershot creative impulses." [58] Emily Nussbaum, in The New Yorker , praised Murphy's ambition and lauded both stars, saying of the series, "Beneath the zingers and the poolside muumuus, the show's stark theme is how skillfully patriarchy screws with women's heads—mostly by building a home in there." [59]
Not all reviews were positive. Sonia Saraiya of Variety compared Bette and Joan unfavorably to Murphy's The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story , writing that Feud is "neither as brilliantly campy and hateful as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? nor as contextualizing and profound as People v. O. J. Simpson." [17] David Weigand of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the series a mixed review, criticizing the script and Lange's performance, but praising Sarandon's, writing: "Lange is always interesting, but she’s only occasionally convincing here as Crawford. The voice is too high, for one thing. Sarandon fares better, as much good as that does with such a lousy script." [60] The Guardian also criticized the series for being "lightweight", noting, "At just eight episodes, there’s almost too much to cover and at times, one craves a little more depth to certain moments." They singled out Lange's performance, however, writing, "Lange in particular moves past just an easy impression to something with far more weight. In a reversal of fortune that would make Crawford cackle in her grave, it’s likely that she’ll be the one up for awards at the end of the year rather than her co-star." [61]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans has an approval rating of 77% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While this Feud might lack the abundance of incident that made its predecessor such a nasty delight, Capote vs. the Swans' luxe milieu and dynamite ensemble will keep spectators entertained." [62] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 70 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [63]
On June 30, 2017, a day before her 101st birthday, actress Olivia de Havilland filed a lawsuit against Feud: Bette and Joan for inaccurately portraying her and using her likeness without permission. [64] The lawsuit stated that the pseudo-documentary-style of the series leads viewers to believe that the statements made by the actress portraying de Havilland in the show are accurate, but that in fact de Havilland had not said such things in real life. [65] The various defendants filed a motion to dismiss under California's "anti-SLAPP" law. The trial court denied the motion but, on March 26, 2018, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, reversed the decision and ordered the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that no person can "own history". The Court of Appeal further ruled the defendants were entitled to be reimbursed their attorneys' fees. [66] De Havilland filed for estoppels to pursue action with higher courts, securing a restraining order against Murphy and the production company from airing Feud until further review and a court date with the United States Supreme Court. In January 2019, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. [67]
The first episode drew 2.26 million live-plus-same-day viewers, which Deadline.com characterized as "solid" and made it the most watched program on FX that week. In comparison, the premiere of The People v. O. J. Simpson attracted 5.1 million viewers in 2016, and the FX limited series Fargo got 2.66 million in 2014. [3] [68] The premiere earned 3.8 million viewers in the Nielsen live-plus-three-days ratings, and 5.17 million viewers total when including two encore broadcasts, making it the highest rated new series debut on FX since The People v. O. J. Simpson. [69] [70]
No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | March 5, 2017 | 0.5 | 2.26 [3] | 0.4 | 1.54 | 0.9 | 3.79 [71] |
2 | "The Other Woman" | March 12, 2017 | 0.3 | 1.32 [4] | 0.4 | 1.46 | 0.7 | 2.78 [72] |
3 | "Mommie Dearest" | March 19, 2017 | 0.3 | 1.08 [5] | 0.4 | 1.46 | 0.7 | 2.54 [73] |
4 | "More, or Less" | March 26, 2017 | 0.3 | 1.21 [6] | 0.3 | 1.33 | 0.6 | 2.54 [74] |
5 | "And the Winner Is... (The Oscars of 1963)" | April 2, 2017 | 0.4 | 1.36 [7] | 0.3 | 1.40 | 0.7 | 2.76 [75] |
6 | "Hagsploitation" | April 9, 2017 | 0.3 | 1.06 [8] | 0.3 | 1.28 | 0.6 | 2.34 [76] |
7 | "Abandoned!" | April 16, 2017 | 0.4 | 1.31 [9] | — | 1.36 | — | 2.67 [77] |
8 | "You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?" | April 23, 2017 | 0.3 | 1.30 [10] | 0.3 | 1.37 | 0.6 | 2.68 [78] |
Joan Crawford was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison".
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was known for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue ten Academy Award nominations for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress. Known for her roles on stage and screen she has received numerous accolades and is one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. Lange has received two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Olivier Award.
Susan Abigail Sarandon is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and nine Golden Globe Awards. In 2002, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Alfred Molina is a British and American actor. He is known for his leading roles and character actor roles on the stage and screen. In a career spanning over five decades he has received a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, a British Independent Film Award, an Independent Spirit Award, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Tony Awards.
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 1964 American psychological horror thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, and starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead and Mary Astor in her final film role. It follows a middle-aged Southern woman, suspected in the unsolved murder of her lover from decades before, who is plagued by bizarre occurrences after summoning her cousin to help challenge the local government's impending demolition of her home. The screenplay was adapted by Henry Farrell and Lukas Heller, from Farrell's unpublished short story "What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?"
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological horror thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, from a screenplay by Lukas Heller, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. The film stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and features the major film debut of Victor Buono. It follows an aging former child star tormenting her paraplegic sister, a former film star, in an old Hollywood mansion.
Ryan Patrick Murphy is an American television writer, director, and producer. He has created and produced a number of television series including Nip/Tuck (2003–2010), Glee (2009–2015), American Horror Story (2011–present), American Crime Story (2016–present), Pose (2018–2021), 9-1-1 (2018–present), 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020–present), Ratched (2020), American Horror Stories (2021–present), and Monster (2022–present).
The 35th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1962, were held on April 8, 1963, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, hosted by Frank Sinatra.
American Horror Story (AHS) is an American horror anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the American Story media franchise, seasons of AHS are mostly conceived as self-contained miniseries, following a different set of characters in a new setting within the same fictional universe, and a storyline with its own "beginning, middle, and end." Some plot elements of each season are loosely inspired by true events. Many actors appear in more than one season, usually playing a new character though sometimes as a returning character, and often playing multiple characters in a season. Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe have returned most frequently, with each having appeared in nine seasons, followed by Frances Conroy and Denis O'Hare who both appear in eight; Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, and Leslie Grossman appear in six, while other notable actors including Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Adina Porter, Finn Wittrock, and Jamie Brewer appear in five of the seasons.
The first season of American Horror Story, retroactively subtitled Murder House, centers on the Harmon family, who, after dealing with a miscarriage and infidelity, move to a restored mansion in Los Angeles, unaware that the ghosts of its former residents and their victims haunt the house. The ensemble cast includes Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Evan Peters, Taissa Farmiga, Denis O'Hare, and Jessica Lange.
The fourth season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled Freak Show, is set in 1952 Jupiter, Florida, telling the story of one of the last remaining freak shows in the United States and their struggle for survival. The ensemble cast includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Michael Chiklis, Frances Conroy, Emma Roberts, Denis O'Hare, Finn Wittrock, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, and Jessica Lange, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomers Chiklis and Wittrock. The season marks the first not to be strictly anthological, with Lily Rabe, Naomi Grossman, and James Cromwell reprising their roles from the series' second cycle, Asylum.
Alison Wright is an English actress. She is best known for her starring role as Martha Hanson on the FX period spy drama series The Americans (2013–2017), for which she received critical acclaim and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2017. She has also acted in the Ryan Murphy limited series Feud: Bette and Joan (2017) and Hollywood (2020).
The seventh season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled Cult, takes place in the fictional suburb of Brookfield Heights, Michigan, during the year 2017, and centers on a cult terrorizing the residents in the aftermath of Donald Trump winning the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It is a season that does not present supernatural elements. The smallest ensemble cast of the series, it includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Billie Lourd, Cheyenne Jackson, and Alison Pill, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomers Lourd and Pill. This season marks the first to not feature cast mainstay Lily Rabe.
The eighth season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled Apocalypse, features the witches from the New Orleans coven as they battle the Antichrist and attempt to prevent the world from ending. The season is presented as a crossover between Murder House, Coven, and Hotel. The ensemble cast includes Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Adina Porter, Billie Lourd, Leslie Grossman, Cody Fern, Emma Roberts, Cheyenne Jackson, and Kathy Bates, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomer Fern.
Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud is an American biography by Shaun Considine first published in 1989 and re-released in 2017 by Graymalkin Media in paperback and as an e-book.
Pose is an American drama television series about New York City's ball culture, an LGBTQ subculture in the African-American and Latino communities, throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Featured characters are dancers and models, who compete for trophies and recognition in this underground culture and who support one another in a network of chosen families known as Houses.
Perino's was a restaurant located on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The original location at 3927 Wilshire Boulevard was opened in 1932 by Italian-American restaurateur Alexander Perino, immediately becoming popular with Hollywood's elite. In 1950 it moved to a larger location at 4101 Wilshire, where it remained until it closed in 1986. The restaurant was a Los Angeles landmark which, like the Brown Derby, Chasen's, and Romanoff's, was famed for its celebrity clientele during the Hollywood Golden Age. Despite its closure, the restaurant enjoyed an afterlife as a filming location for film and television until the building was sold and demolished in 2005.
The Politician is an American comedy-drama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan and released on Netflix. The trio also serves as executive producers with Alexis Martin Woodall, Ben Platt, and Gwyneth Paltrow. The series centers on the story of Payton Hobart (Platt), a wealthy Santa Barbaran, and each season revolves around a different political race his character is involved in.
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans is the second season of the American anthology television series Feud created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam for FX. Directed by Gus Van Sant, Max Winkler, and Jennifer Lynch, it is written by Jon Robin Baitz. The eight-episode season is based on the book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era written by Laurence Leamer. Its first two episodes premiered on January 31, 2024, with episodes available on Hulu the day after broadcast on FX.