In 2018 it was reported that Netflix had signed up Ryan for a five-year $300 million creative contract to create shows for the entertainment giant. The Politician is the first of his shows for the platform to go live.
We discover what shows he currently has on the streaming platform.
The Politician
Ryan Murphy and his long-time creative partner, Brad Falchuck have a number of shows on Netflix, the most recent of which is the critically acclaimed and fan-loved The Politician starring, Goop‘s Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Platt. There are eight episodes of the show for you to enjoy charting the rise, stumbles and rise again of Payton to become President, of the school’s Student Body. Also stars Ryan’s go to camp vamp, Jessica Lange. Series 2 of the show has now been released.
Glee
Next up is Glee. The juggernaut show from the late noughties that follows the lives of school kids of William McKinley High School and their neverending goal of reaching the talent finals with their Glee club. Glee was the third major series that Ryan worked on after Nip/Tuck and Popular, but arguably his most profitable yet. The soundtracks to the show alone have broken all records – including ones held by the Beatles.
American Horror Story
Up next is American Horror Story, the epic show that just won’t quit. Netflix carries 8 seasons of the cult show including our personal favourites, ‘Murder House’, ‘Asylum’ and ‘Freak Show’. Look out for the new series, ‘1984’. In these shows, the core cast, including Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett get to stretch their acting legs in a variety of characters.
Circus Of Books
A documentary film, about a straight couple and their family who opened a gay book store to make money out of the LGBT+ market in West Hollywood. The film is made by the couple’s own daughter.
Pose
Hailed by viewers as incredible (the show has a Rotten Tomatoes scored in the high 90s), Pose is a show set in New York at around the time of the LGBT+ ballroom culture (see Paris Is Burning). Netflix has just season one available to stream, but there is another already out and a third has been ordered.
The People V O.J. Simpson
Engross yourself in the details of the O.J. Simpson murder trial that rocked the United States in the mid-1990s. Ryan and his team meticulously recreate the drama and feel of the story that threatened to derail Los Angeles’s frail race relations and legal system. The level of detail is never as claustrophobic as the inside of that infamous courtroom.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace
The next in the instalment of American Crime Story, The Assassination of Gianni Versace follows the story of one of America’s most notorious gay serial killers, Andrew Cunanan, whose murder spree ended in the death of Gianni Versace in 1997. Utterly captivating. Again Ryan and his team manage to squeeze detail after detail of the gruesome story into a must-see show.
Eat Pray Love
A film this time, rather than a series. Starring one of Hollywood’s most enduring leading actors, Julia Roberts, Eat Pray Love sees Liz reshaping her life after divorce. Based on a true story, this film is sentimental and romantic.
Hollywood
Hollywood has an all-star lineup and follows the hopes and dreams of young actors who come to tinsel town to find their fame and fortune. Partly based on fact, and real people and the realities they faced (homophobia, racism and sexism) and the part total fantasy, which ultimately ruins the season.
The Boys In The Band
(Released on the 30th September 2020)
More than fifty years after Mart Crowley’s play became an unexpected smash hit for putting gay men’s lives centre stage with honesty and humour, THE BOYS IN THE BAND returns to the screen in a new adaptation that reunites acclaimed director Joe Mantello with the all-star cast of the Tony-winning, 2018 Broadway production. In 1968 New York City – when being gay was still considered to be best kept behind closed doors – a group of friends gather for a raucous birthday party hosted by Michael (Jim Parsons), a screenwriter who spends and drinks too much, in honour of the sharp-dressed and sharp-tongued Harold (Zachary Quinto). Other partygoers include Donald (Matt Bomer), Michael’s former flame, now mired in self-analysis; Larry (Andrew Rannells), a randy commercial artist living with Hank (Tuc Watkins), a school teacher who has just left his wife; Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington), a librarian tiptoeing around fraught codes of friendship alongside Emory (Robin de Jesús), a decorator who never holds back; and a guileless hustler (Charlie Carver), hired to be Harold’s gift for the night.
