FEUD: Bette and Joan is one of FX’s most highly anticipated new shows and has been since its announcement. The show is designed to be an anthology series that will highlight a different famous feud each season. The first season centers around the historic Hollywood rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.
The first installment in the series, FEUD: Bette and Joan, is eight episodes long and will launch the series. Season 1 stars Jessica Lange (American Horror Story), as Joan Crawford and Susan Sarandon (Mothers and Daughters), as Bette Davis. The rivalry between these two leading ladies was legendary both in their times and up to the modern-day, outliving both movie stars.
Despite the fact that FEUD: Bette and Joan does not debut until this Sunday, FX has announced that it has already placed a 10-episode order for season 2. The second series will be called FEUD: Charles and Diana and is scheduled to debut in 2018. It will focus on the tenuous relationship between Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Whales, whose royal marriage eventually ended in divorce.
Ryan Murphy and Jon Robin Baitz (The Slap), will write FEUD: Charles and Diana together. Murphy is also known for his other popular anthology series American Crime Story that won several awards for its first season: The People v. O.J. Simpson. He worked with Baitz previously on Katrina: An American Crime Story where Baitz served as the consulting producer. Both will serve as executive producers on the series.
This announcement comes not long after the release of Netflix’s palace drama The Crown, and seems to indicate a trend in the zeitgeist and speak to the confidence FX has in the success of FEUD: Bette and Joan. It has the potential to capture the interest of a sizable audience and shine a light on some truth wrapped up inside of a modern myth. It’s an interesting choice to deal with a much more contemporary rivalry on FEUD: Charles and Diana than was dealt with in the first season.
On the other hand, maybe FX shouldn’t be tackling subject matter that is only 20 years old. Many of the characters that will be featured in FEUD: Charles and Diana are still alive and may take umbrage with their portrayal and the fictionalization of people they love. There is certain to be more pressure on the second season of the show then there has been on the first.
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FEUD: Bette and Joan premieres on FX Sunday, March 5, 2017.
