[Dreamz19]

Originally Posted by sparky

Damages is one of the best shows in the history of television. I put it right up there with Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, The Shield and Sons Of Anarchy.

None of Ryan Murphy's shows even approach this level. He is a complete and utter hack. Here is how I assess him - he creates a compelling and sympathetic bunch of characters and a compelling storyline. It is impeccably cast. But after the first season or two, all the ground level relationships and character definitions are tossed aside for preposterous and out of character plot lines that utterly undermine the identities of all the initial series definitions. No one has a base level identity. All the characters become pawns to the plot. So the audience can no longer identify with any of the main characters. I dunno about anyone else, but by the end of season 3 of Nip/Tuck my fondest dream was to have all the main characters die in a fire. They all had become despicable.

Ditto Glee. I wanted to vomit after the first season. The characters had lost their roots. No one has any consistency of moral fiber or identity. I think he is a brilliant show creator but a dismal showrunner. After seeing a number of his shows, I am convinced he must be a sociopath. The New Normal? If I had met those gay guys in the street I would have stuck a knife in them myself. Laws notwithstanding. So disturbing that he says he based those guys on himself and his partner after they purchased their own gayby. So creepy and cringeworthy. Really? A silly shallow Broadway obsessed queen that acts like a stunted 13 year old girl who hooked up with neutered gynecologist? The mind boggles. The stomach wretches.

Thus, AHS is his perfect vehicle. It is a short cycle, and a closed storytelling box. He is pretty incapable of creating characters that have any redeeming value. They always end up unpredictable, evil to the core, and ultimately people you have to hate. AHS is the first show he has done where you can find something sympathetic at the end for any character. Thus the 13 episodes. He doesn't have enough time to utterly destroy every single person on the show.

I have enjoyed AHS on its own terms. I particularly enjoy Coven. There are some epic scene chewing lines for the great actresses he has found. I mean really, Angela Bassett telling a baby to "Shut up. I'll give you something to cry about!" And Jessica - "This coven doesn't need a new Supreme, it needs a new rug." His writers have given Kathy, Jessica and Angela some epic Baby Jane worthy dialogue.

Fantastic.

There are other great lines in Coven that will give drag queens material for years to come. Pretty rich material. But I think he is a shallow storyteller. All flash and no substance. He is no Alan Ball. No David Milch. No Kurt Sutter. He skims the surface and has a great sense of camp, but is for the most part devoid of giving his characters a lasting sense of humanity. He has no idea how to create and sustain characters who are multi-faceted and real human beings who have faults but can remain lovable and human They all become monsters in the end.

And that makes AHS okay. I think he could have used Stevie and her songs in a much more sophisticated manner. Those songs could have had so much more gravity. I can only dream what Alan Ball could have done with it. But he didn't embarrass Stevie. It came off all right. Could have been genius, but it was just average. It could have been far worse.

This is the best analysis I have ever read about Ryan's work. I was a huge fan of Nip/Tuck and Glee. I considered both top tier TV shows during its first seasons. However, both shows completely lost their way by season 3. Nip/Tuck, especially, turned into a circus side show with outlandish and ludicrous plots. I totally agree that AHS is much better in the fact he is limited by 13 episodes. It doesn't give him an opportunity to run amuck with the characters and story.