FX SETS FALL PREMIERE DATES FOR ORIGINAL SERIES
Sons Of Anarchy Returns Tuesday, Sept. 6, 10 PM ET/PT With a Special 90-Minute Premiere
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Begins Thursday, Sept. 15, 10 PM ET/PT
New Drama Series American Horror Story Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 5, 10 PM ET/PT
The League Kicks Off Thursday, October 6, 10:30 PM ET/PT
Archer Gets Special 3-Week Run Starting Thursday, Sept. 15, 10:30 PM ET/PT
LOS ANGELES, July 20, 2011 – FX, basic cable’s leader for scripted programming in the fall season, is continuing its strategy of launching new and returning original series in September and October.
FX opens its fall season with the return of the award-winning hit drama Sons Of Anarchyon September 6, and will continue to run Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT. The 13-episode season kicks off with a special 90-minute premiere episode. Sons Of Anarchy, is an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones that explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s (MC) desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that there simple, sheltered town of Charming, California which remains exactly that, charming. Season four begins with SAMCRO fresh out of jail and back into Charming. Upon their arrival, they encounter new law enforcement and head right back to business. The club is pressed with a decision that could challenge what SOA has always stood for and brings forth an unlikely alliance. With Jax fresh out of a jail and the birth of his newborn son, he is forced to put new plans into motion that could affect the club and ultimately his family. Sons Of Anarchy is the #1-rated series in FX history. Sons Of Anarchy first moved to the fall in its second season and saw its ratings increase upwards of +70% in viewership and all key demos. Sons Of Anarchy was created by Executive Producer/Writer/Director Kurt Sutter and it stars Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal, who won the Golden Globe® Award for Best Actress in a Drama for her performance last season. The series is produced by Fox 21 and FX Productions.
A mainstay on FX’s fall schedule since 2007, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia begins its seventh season on September 15, airing Thursdays at 10 PM ET/PT for 13 weeks. Sunny has grown into a huge success to become one of the top scripted comedies on cable. Last season, Dee got knocked up, Charlie and Dennis partied in Atlantic City, and Mac fought gay marriage in his own unique, misguided way. This season, tune in to see the Gang prepare for the apocalypse, hit the beach at the Jersey Shore, produce a child beauty pageant, and take a walk down memory lane at their high school reunion. As they say, some things never change, so prepare for more depraved schemes, half-baked arguments and absurdly underhanded plots to subvert one another. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia was created by McElhenney and is executive produced by McElhenney, Day, Howerton, Michael Rotenberg, Nick Frenkel and Tom Lofaro. The show is produced by FX Productions.
FX’s new drama series American Horror Story makes its debut on October 5 and will run Wednesdays at 10 PM ET/PT. American Horror Story, co-created by former Nip/Tuck executive producers and current Glee co-creators/executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, revolves around The Harmons, a family of three who move from Boston to Los Angeles as a means to reconcile past anguish. The All Star cast features Dylan McDermott (The Practice) as “Ben Harmon,” a psychiatrist; Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) as “Vivien Harmon,” Ben’s wife; Taissa Farmiga as “Violet,” the Harmon’s teenage daughter; Jessica Lange (Tootsie, Blue Sky, Grey Gardens) in her first-ever regular series TV role as “Constance,” the Harmon’s neighbor; Evan Peters
(One Tree Hill) plays “Tate Langdon,” one of Ben’s patients; and Denis O’Hare (The Good Wife) as “Larry Harvey.” Guest stars for the series include Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) as the Harmon’s housekeeper; Alexandra Breckenridge (Dirt) as the Harmon’s housekeeper; and Jamie Brewer as Constance’s daughter. The pilot episode of American Horror Story, shot in Los Angeles, was written by Murphy and Falchuk, and it was directed by Murphy. In addition to Murphy and Falchuk, Dante Di Loreto will also serve as Executive Producer of the series. American Horror Story is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television.
The League kicks off its third season on October 6, airing Thursdays at 10:30 PM ET/PT for a 13-episode run. The League, which debuted in September of 2009, is set against the backdrop of a fantasy football league. The show is about friendship, marriage, parenting, and growing up…or refusing to grow up. Season two of The League grew +4% in Total Viewers and +5% in Adults 18-49 vs. season one. It was created by the husband-and-wife team of Jeff Schaffer (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld) and Jackie Marcus Schaffer (Disturbia, EuroTrip) who serve as executive producers and directors. The ensemble cast features Mark Duplass, Stephen Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Katie Aselton and Jon Lajoie. The series is produced by FX Productions.
Finally, FX’s acclaimed animated series Archer will get a special three-week run with all new episodes September 15, 22 and 29, Thursdays at 10:30 ET/PT behind It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Archer showed strong year-over-year growth in its second season, posting increases of +23% in Total Viewers and +22% in Adults 18-49, and the special run behind Sunny will provide an excellent sampling opportunity to expand its audience before officially launching its third season in early 2012 with a 13-episode run.
This summer FX is getting strong performances from its original series. The new critically acclaimed comedy series Wilfred is delivering the highest first-season ratings ever of any FX comedy. Wilfred’s season one finale airs on Thursday, September 8 at 10 PM ET/PT.
Louie, starring Louis C.K., is having an impressive second season, posting year-over-year gains of +57% in Total Viewers and +60% in delivery of Adults 18-49. C.K. was recently received Emmy® Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (an FX first) and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. The season two finale of Louie airs on Thursday, September 8 at 10:30 PM ET/PT.
FX’s award-winning drama Rescue Me debuted its seventh and final season last Wednesday, up +22% in Total Viewers and +9% in Adults 18-49 vs. the season 6 average. The groundbreaking series will air its series finale on Wednesday, September 7.


What about The Walking Dead? (That's the channel it airs on, right?)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to American Horror Story, just because I have no idea what it is
ReplyDeleteIt airs on FX in the UK
ReplyDeleteAMC in America I believe :)
Ah, that's it! I couldn't remember for sure or not. Definitely AMC.
ReplyDeleteGotta love FX, basically looking forward to all of these shows. Although it's still very unclear what American Horror Story is about.
ReplyDeleteNice to have some extra episodes of Archer, even though I didn't really understand what they are, it's like a "special" right? Not part of S2 or S3.
ReplyDeletewell it's certainly not S3, who knows
ReplyDeleteNope, it's on AMC, but the Comic-Con poster indicates the 2nd season will start in October.
ReplyDeleteI wish AMC had chosen to premiere the show sooner though. I'm guessing we'll have a friggin' Christmas break, splitting the season in two parts : if they start season 2 around Halloween, 6-7 episodes would air in late 2011 and the other 6-7 episodes would air in January/February 2012, just like Chuck's final season. C'mon AMC, HBO would never do that.
AMC could definitely have aired all of their returning dramas (minus Mad Men set in '12) this year :
- July 17th to September 11th : Breaking Bad at 10pm (episodes 4.01 to 4.09).
- Sept 18th to October 9th : The Walking Dead at 9pm (2.01 to 2.04) / BB at 10pm (4.10 to 4.13).
- Oct 16th to December 11th : TWD at 9pm (2.05 to 2.13) / Hell on Wheels at 10pm (1.01 à 1.10).
All three shows, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels, fit perfectly. All it would have taken more is a 2-hour finale for Hell on Wheels after the season finale of The Walking Dead on December 11th.
But that probably won't happen, sadly.
As for FX's schedule :
- I love that Archer will have 3 new episodes until the new 13 episode season in 2012. Perhaps it's because FX still had 3 unaired episodes in store, given that season 1 only had 10 episodes. It's cool that The League gets 13 episodes even though the show won't premiere until October 6th.
- Speaking of late premiere date, it's the same deal with American Horror Story : October 5th. In order to air all 13 episodes before the break (it applies to The League as well), a.k.a finish both their seasons on December 14th/15th, FX would have to air a 2 hour premiere and a 2-hour finale of both The League and American Horror Story. If they don't, then either episodes 12 and 13 will air on December 21th/22nd and 28th/29th, or they pull off a 3-4 week Christmas break with only 2-3 episodes left for 2012 : either way, there's no better way to have crappy ratings.
I will probably watch the first season of American Horror Story because it's gonna be good, and then jump ship halfway through season 2 where Murphy's curse usually sets in.
ReplyDeleteIs Powers midseason?
ReplyDeleteThey're not even done filming the Powers pilot. It hasn't been picked up to series. Yet.
ReplyDelete3 extra episodes of Archer! Best news today.
ReplyDeleteYou must look forward to a lot of things in life then.
ReplyDeleteI do
ReplyDeleteAh. With all the news about the show lately, I thought it had already been picked up to series.
ReplyDeleteI wish but no such luck.
ReplyDeleteI guess that AMC want The Walking Dead to spread also through the first months of 2012 to reduce the time gap between that and Mad Men Season 5.
ReplyDelete