‘American Crime Story’ Boss Ryan Murphy On Season 2’s Surprising Theme

When Ryan Murphy debuted American Crime Story with the O.J. Simpson case, people weren’t quite sure what to expect and Murphy had the deck stacked against him with misconceptions that he would sensationalize the facts for entertainment value. As the season went on and more and viewers found themselves drawn to American Crime Story, it became apparent that the new series would be nothing like Ryan’s Scream Queens and American Horror Story shows. Now, as Season 2 heads into production, Murphy reveals that the new season will be yet another beast altogether.

American Crime Story Won’t Necessarily Take Place In A Courtroom Every Season

While covering the O.J. Simpson trial was a big attention grabber, helping American Crime Story to nab a sizable share of television viewers its first time out, Den of Geek reports that courtroom dramas aren’t necessarily a staple of the show. Yes, the series will cover true stories, but, as Ryan Murphy explains, that doesn’t necessarily a legal drama with every season.

“We’re not interested in doing a trial-of-the-week or murder-of-the-month; we’re interested in tackling crimes and events that have some sort of social importance.”

So, what’s up for Season 2 of American Crime Story? Murphy reveals that the next installment will cover Hurricane Katrina and explains that, along with the rest of the producers and writers, he had been researching the events surrounding the tragedy for a year, before they even attempted to write a story. He says they found the history of Hurricane Katrina to be too grand to be compressed into just 10 or 11 episodes, so Season 2 will be a bit longer, with Murphy estimating a 13- to 15-episode season.

The American Crime Story showrunner adds that Season 2 will be similar to the O.J. Simpson season in that every episode will follow a specific theme.

“You follow a cast of characters from before the storm hits to its aftermath, and we’re spending a lot of time, energy and resources on it.”

American Crime Story: Hurricane Katrina Won’t Be Just About The Tragedy

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, the actual events of Hurricane Katrina seemed to have been one tragedy after another with few rays of hope and heroism rising from the aftermath, but Ryan Murphy says American Crime Story won’t just dwell on the heartbreaking travesties. He says there have been some truly inspiring stories amid the depressing tales of death and devastation, and he says American Crime Story will portray both sides of that coin.

“You have the best of people and the worst of people, and we’re laying into questions like, What do you do when you’re in a city and your government has abandoned you? How do you live? How do you get out? And you get out by climbing up and pulling up people with you, and to a large degree that’s what the miniseries is about,” says Mr. Murphy. “It’s not just what happened but heroic stories about people surviving — or, in some cases, dying helping others. So it’s upsetting, but it’s also uplifting.”

Ryan reveals that even the behind-the-scenes process for American Crime Story is different from American Horror Story in that this new series won’t be bringing back the same band of actors over and over again. Each season will hold new auditions, and for the most part, won’t be bringing back familiar faces. He adds that, unlike Scream Queens, where scripts are kept under tight reins, he’s more open in sharing the story with his actors.

“I’m having general meetings with actors, but I don’t like to offer anything to anybody unless they have a big chunk of things to read because I want them to know what they’re signing up for.”

American Crime Story will debut Season 2 on FX later in 2017.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]