To no one’s surprise, FX has renewed ‘American Horror Story’ for a seventh season, whose theme is also not-surprisingly a secret.

In a statement, FX prez John Landgraf explained:

“Ryan [Murphy], Brad [Falchuk] and their team of remarkable writers have done an amazing job of keeping American Horror Story endlessly inventive, shocking and entertaining and we are honored to move ahead with them on the seventh installment.  The sustained success through six installments only proves how intensely the series resonates with fans. AHS confronts our deepest fears with unmatched suspense and style. Each new installment is a cultural event, hotly anticipated for its theme, imagery, cast and twists. We thank the creators and their team, the cast and everyone who has continued to make AHS such an extraordinary series.”

The current season, ‘Roanoke’ is currently almost a month in and its premier had the third highest premier ratings of the series with 13 million viewers (combining live viewers and nonlinear , behind ‘Freak Show’ and ‘Hotel’.  (The lower ratings may be due to the lackluster response to ‘Hotel’ which many stopped watching part way through, especially after it went on a winter hiatus that drastically deflated interest.)  But IMHO, ‘Roanoke’ is shaping up to be the best season since the first (possibly even better), so if you didn’t tune in to begin with, now would be a great time to catch up.  (The three previous episodes are available of FX’s website and on demand through most cable/satellite providers.)  ‘Roanoke’ will consist of only 10 episodes (down from 13 or 14 from previous seasons) which will air back-to-back with no break.

Of course, considering that everyone involved kept the theme to the current season under wraps until it premiered, don’t expect to find out anything about the upcoming seventh season, especially not this early in the game.

In a previous interview, Murphy teased:

“I’ve been working with a writer on a season that only he and I know.  It’s like a two-year project that we’ll continue to work on the sly and not tell anybody. I don’t know when it will [air] but it’s also an experiment. It’s a different way of doing it. It’s one person writing all episodes.”

Indeed, ‘Roanoke”s new interview/reenactment format and the fact that Murphy and company didn’t spoil the theme until its premier shows that he is determined to shake things up to keep the hit from stagnating as it grows longer in the tooth.  Murphy also teased that perhaps the next installment would air in the summer instead of the fall.

Are you enjoying ‘Roanoke’?  Are you happy that the show will go on for at least one more season?

Source: TV Line