Surprising news: Second season of American Horror Story will feature all new characters, new haunted house.
Some of the season 1 actors may return, but if they do they'll be playing completely different characters. The only carryover is that the same rules of the supernatural apply; ie. no vampires or werewolves or anything of that nature.
They've already demolished the Harmon house sets. The idea is to treat the show as an anthology series, with each season as an independent miniseries from the same writers and creative staff. It also allows them to attract better talent cheaper, because people like Jessica Lange are willing to sign up for 13 episodes, but don't want to make a series commitment.
The house sets for this season have already been struck, to prevent FX having second thoughts.
I'm of two minds about this. The horror aspect was mostly gone after the first couple episodes because the mystery was gone once we knew the rules and the players. Going some place completely new brings the mystery back and in turn allows the horror back. On the other hand, I just spent a season investing in these characters, and the idea that that's all she wrote feels almost like a cancellation. I also wonder whether they'll retreat if the season two cast and setting aren't well received, much like the Halloween series did after Halloween III: Season of the Witch. They really captured lightning in a bottle with this cast. A true anthology show like "The Twilight Zone" doesn't have to catch lightning in a bottle every week, because if one story doesn't work they'll be a new one next week. But when you're making a season long commitment, they're really going to need to capture lightning in a bottle every year.
Some of the season 1 actors may return, but if they do they'll be playing completely different characters. The only carryover is that the same rules of the supernatural apply; ie. no vampires or werewolves or anything of that nature.
They've already demolished the Harmon house sets. The idea is to treat the show as an anthology series, with each season as an independent miniseries from the same writers and creative staff. It also allows them to attract better talent cheaper, because people like Jessica Lange are willing to sign up for 13 episodes, but don't want to make a series commitment.
The house sets for this season have already been struck, to prevent FX having second thoughts.
I'm of two minds about this. The horror aspect was mostly gone after the first couple episodes because the mystery was gone once we knew the rules and the players. Going some place completely new brings the mystery back and in turn allows the horror back. On the other hand, I just spent a season investing in these characters, and the idea that that's all she wrote feels almost like a cancellation. I also wonder whether they'll retreat if the season two cast and setting aren't well received, much like the Halloween series did after Halloween III: Season of the Witch. They really captured lightning in a bottle with this cast. A true anthology show like "The Twilight Zone" doesn't have to catch lightning in a bottle every week, because if one story doesn't work they'll be a new one next week. But when you're making a season long commitment, they're really going to need to capture lightning in a bottle every year.
