Interview with FX President Landgraf

Do you envision American Horror Story as closed-ended at 13, or do you see that going as long as audiences are there for it?
JOHN LANDGRAF: It’s designed to go multiple years, and some aspects of the show will be closed-ended each season. So, each season will be a serialized saga that has a beginning, middle and end, but there’s a longer, epic, serialized mystery that involves some of the characters who continue year to year, involves the house in which the series takes place, and delves back into the history of that house. We don’t know yet how Ryan is going to unfold subsequent seasons, but some of them may in fact take place in the past, as well as taking place in the present, as it unfolds. I have optimism that American Horror Story is going to be a break-through commercial piece of television that’s going to be widely imitated subsequently, if audiences find it.

Do you think the ninth season could be the final season for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or is that still open-ended?
LANDGRAF: It’s still up in the air. We actually have an option, in conjunction with this deal, to pick up a tenth season. We are just picking up two now, but we could go to 10 seasons, if we chose. I don’t know what stories they are going to do in Seasons 8 and 9, but I have seen all of the episodes that comprise Season 7, which will be airing in September, and I legitimately think it’s the funniest season, so far. A lot of what you are looking for is, “Are they tired? Are they bored with the show? Is the show played out, or is it still creatively vibrant?” And, judging from what I’ve seen, I don’t know if it’s a second wind or whatever, but it’s just uproariously funny. They are trying different kinds of stories on Sunny right now, and they seem to be working.

I think the possibility of continuing on a comedy is greater than a drama. You could continue Law & Order indefinitely, or The Closer, or another procedural show, but every show that we’ve put on the air is really an epic story of a character that has a beginning, a middle and an end, so it’s a challenge to keep these shows going. I’m really proud that we kept The Shield for seven seasons, Nip/Tuck for eight, and Rescue Me for seven. To end them prematurely and not tell the whole story is frustrating for the audience. But, on the other hand, distending them beyond their useful life is also bad. You have to find an optimal balance on dramas, which has to do with the showrunner and creator’s sense of what the saga is and how to tell the whole thing, from beginning to end.

Source: Full interview @ Collider