As The shards On screens in early August, Ryan Murphy explained how he and writer Bret Easton Ellis saw the series potentially lasting multiple seasons.
We’ll have to get to season two first – and on that front, The shards remains in the dark.
More than three weeks after the season finale, which ended on a major cliffhanger, FX has not had an update on the status of the series. That’s not necessarily a bad sign: The Disney-owned store is known for taking its time on renewal decisions. Microphones for Adults And The truthto name just two recent critically acclaimed shows, arrived months after the end of their first seasons.
FX and Murphy also seem to understand that when he’s ready to have an idea, they’re ready to support it. More than two years have passed between the last season of American Horror Story and the one that was created on September 24. There was almost Seven-Year gap between seasons one and two of Quarrel.
However, these are anthology series, and one season does not necessarily follow directly from the previous one (the big pile-up of AHS tradition aside). The shards is designed as a continuous show, following the same set of characters over a long period of time.
Murphy also spoke about his personal connection to The Shards, even though Ellis’ novel — about a group of kids at a Los Angeles prep school in the early ’80s and a possible serial killer among them — is semi-autobiographical (not the serial killer parts, obviously).
“My argument was that 1981, the year the book is set, was the most important year of my life in many ways,” Murphy said. The Hollywood Reporter about how he sold Ellis into working together. “It was the year I turned 16. It was my first date. My first driving lesson. I lost my virginity. Over and over again. I really understood these kids, and especially Bret’s character.”
The mystery is compounded by the fact that no one outside of Disney really knows how much The shards performed for FX and Hulu. Linear audiences were low — an average of 237,000 viewers for early broadcasts on FX — but that’s now the norm for a scripted cable series. A large majority of the show’s audience will come from streaming, but The shards has never made Nielsen’s streaming top 10 and FX has not released any of its own data. None of these facts are out of the ordinary, either: Most FX shows don’t make the streaming charts, and the outlet rarely does PR assessments.
The shards is also the second Murphy-produced FX show this year to end on a cliffhanger and not (yet) be picked up. Beauty wrapped up its season in early March with a lot of loose threads; in July, the cast of the series was revealed. (love storywhat effects did considered a ratings success, was also not renewed, but it might fall under the aforementioned “when the right idea comes along” plan for Murphy’s anthologies.)
Murphy has a big overall deal with Disney’s 20th Television and a long working relationship with the studio and FX – even while he was based at Netflix, his 20th produced shows continued to churn out new seasons. If The shards gets a second season, it may be a testament to those relationships more than validation of great success.
Gn entert
