As far as network television is concerned, few channels have been so regularly fruitful as FX, the network that gave iconic series ranging from The Shield and Louie to Justified and Archer a happy home. The network could release nothing else this year on their channel but movies and repeats, and they would still be a major part of the best TV of 2016 conversation for the fourth season of The Americans and Archer's seventh season alone. Thankfully, thats not exactly how TV networks think and schedule, so we'll have a whole new roster of shows in the second half of the year from FX, and this morning, the network revealed the release dates for three of its biggest projects.
First and foremost, there's American Horror Story, a show that always felt a bit flimsy and erratic to me, despite the fact that it has one of the best ensemble casts currently at work on network TV. After Hotel, which saw Lady Gaga taking center stage in Ryan Murphy's whirling horror-o-rama, Season 6 of the beguiling series will be hitting the airwaves starting Wednesday, September 14th at 10 p.m. Very little is known currently about what the latest "installment" of the series will bring but one might very well imagine that things will be getting a bit sanguine in the latest season.
Beyond that, there are two brand new series coming out around the same time. Centered on a bumbling young father trying to find his place in the entourage of his soon-to-be hip-hop star cousin, Atlanta is the brainchild of creator-star Donald Glover, who had memorable parts in The Martian and Community, and has a sizable role in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Having seen the pilot, I can attest that Glover gets the feeling, the atmosphere, and the texture of Atlanta life down pat, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the show goes after it premieres on September 6th at 10 p.m.
The other series of note is Better Things, a project that finds the great comedian and actress Pamela Adlon once again collaborating with Louis C.K., after writing, producing, and playing love interest to the titular character in Louie. The series will focus on a single mother of three working as an actress in Los Angeles while also looking after her mother. Considering the similarity in the basic narrative, there's already a feeling that Adlon could deliver her own West Coast variation on the strange world that C.K. has created in his show. We'll find out for sure on September 8th at 10 p.m. when Better Things premieres on FX, only a week or so after the network premieres the third season of the network's premiere dark comedy, You're The Worst. As I've said before, having too much good TV to keep up with is a problem I'm happy to have.
