This is relevant to Benjamin January, you guys

[brigdh]

OMG the upcoming season of American Horror Story is set in New Orleans and partly taking place in the 1830s and Delphine Lalaurie is a main character. I AM SO AMUSED.

OMG ANGELA BASSETT IS PLAYING MARIE LAVEAU. I have reservations with "witchcraft vs voodoo" being the main plot, but I am so watching this.

Comments

[cloudsinvenice]

I share your reservations about how they'll handle the material, but I am really intrigued at the same time - and Angela Bassett is just great. :)

Is this totally distinct, narratively, from the first season? I mean, I'm probably going to marathon that anyway in preparation, but I'm curious...

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

'American Horror Story' has a really interesting set-up in that each season is entirely unrelated to previous seasons. They all share a general theme (horror!) and most of the actors are re-used, but the plot and characters and setting are all brand-new. I quite liked the first season (haunted house in modern-day LA, a lot of thematic stuff about sex and desire and infidelity) and haven't watched the second season (1960s mental asylum, I think it involved demonic possession, maybe?). It's an interesting format for a TV show, because you can build up an audience by staying in the same genre and reusing actors, but it allows you to tell stories that have clear beginnings and ends, instead of going on forever.

[cloudsinvenice]

That's interesting - it sounds almost like the effect of a studio like Hammer, back in day. We have a lot of the old Hammer horror movies and it's fun spotting familiar cast members (Michael Ripper, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt etc.) over again...

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, very similar! I think the varied seasons of 'American Horror Story' probably hang closer together, due to sharing the same single producer (who, strangely, is also the guy who produces 'Glee'), but that's the general idea.

[somebraveapollo.livejournal.com]

!!!!!

Sounds potentially great and YES BASSETT IS THE BEST CASTING (oh for her star-like tignon). Is American Horror Story anything at all like American Gods in tone or themes or anything?

(also, hi, guess who got seaside internet)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THE BASSETT CASTING. Kathy Bates has been cast as Lalaurie, who in this version is apparently a descendant of the Salem witches, which just makes me go ???????? on so many levels. But Bates is a great actor, so who knows!

Alas, American Horror Story is not at all like American Gods (which, by the way, HBO is supposedly developing a show of! But it's still a rumor and has not yet been officially announced). American Horror Story is hard to describe, because each season is basically an entirely new storyline (plot, characters, setting, etc), so it's hard to have any idea of what the New Orleans season will be like before it starts. The first season was a haunted house story set in modern-day LA that did some things with real life LA history (the Black Dahlia, for instance, was a ghost who showed up occasionally); the second season was set in a 1960s mental asylum and used the actual historical treatment of people who were mentally ill (or just declared mentally ill) for a lot of the horror.

(Whoooo, internet! Though I hope you are enjoying the sun & water!)

[somebraveapollo.livejournal.com]

Yesssss, Bates is a great match for her. Wow, this will be creepy. You're right that the witches-vs-voodoo setup seems suspicious, but hopefully Bates and Bassett will have sizzling fascinating chemistry together on screen.

Thanks for the rundown on the show! Sounds like Not My Thing in general (I have a huge, huge squick regarding institutionalisation of any sort), though I shall definitely check out this season (I LOVE that all the seasons have different plots and casts - that makes it so easy to join in midway!)

Ahhh, an American God HBO show might be the best thing ever - especially if they make Sam Black Crow the protagonist, which they should, because Shadow is really too boring to be the lead (which is the point, of course! But still) but she;d be an excellent link between the audience and the show.

(I am LOVING the sun and water; also the ice cream - I have this hypothesis that ice cream quality is inversely proportionate with distance from Italy - and architecture and oleanders.)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I AM SO READY FOR LALAURIE VS LAVEAU SHOWDOWN.

Heh, yeah. I actually haven't watched the second season myself for that very reason. The first season was very good, though!

(Oh, man, ice cream. And you know, architecture and oleanders, but ice cream.)