American Crime Story: Ryan Murphy Talks Season Two on FX

In October, we reported that Ryan Murphy was planning the second season of the American Crime Story TV series, without knowing if it would be cancelled, or renewed. Murphy started early, to ensure he could secure the intellectual property rights for his next topic.

The first season of FX‘s anthology TV series, American Crime Story, premieres February 2, 2016. Season one focuses on the OJ Simpson trial and stars Cuba Gooding Jr., in the title role. If American Crime Story  is renewed for season two, it will focus on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

Here are the details, from The Hollywood Reporter:

[FX Networks CEO John] Landgraf, for his part, isn’t waiting around for critics to validate the series — he has declared it the best project his network has done. “It has that perfect Venn diagram between good popular entertainment and really smart, relevant social commentary,” he says. Already, the producers have turned at least some of their attention to the series’ second season, which hasn’t received a formal green light but is all but inevitable given the investment and pedigree. They’ve decided to broaden their definition of American crime, opting not to focus on trial-of-the-week fare but rather other watershed moments in American culture. “Ones where there are before and after moments, and they change the way we look at the subject at hand,” says Jacobson.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter can reveal that the second installment will center on Hurricane Katrina and its devastating aftermath. Though Balian’s team was still in negotiations for source material at press time, the producers are hoping to start production in the fall and have begun talking to writers. (Alexander and Karaszewski will not be involved; the pair is adapting Toobin’s next book, about kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst, as a film.) Murphy says the working plan is to follow a group of six to eight people in an attempt to examine all sides of the tragedy, from the Superdome in New Orleans to the hospital to those who were put on buses and dropped off with babies who had to wear trash bags for multiple days. “I want this show to be a socially conscious, socially aware examination of different types of crime around the world,” he says on a rare quiet afternoon in his L.A. office in mid-December. “And in my opinion, Katrina was a f—ing crime — a crime against a lot of people who didn’t have a strong voice, and we’re going to treat it as a crime. That’s what this show is all about.”

When the network CEO declares a show the best project his network has done, it is not a renewal guarantee. That said, it sure is a good sign that cancellation is unlikely. Any show would be proud for such high praise, before it even premieres.

Do you like the idea of focusing on Katrina and the aftermath, in the second season of American Crime Story TV show? Do you plan to tune in for the first season of American Crime Story: The People Vs OJ Simpson? Tell us.