“American Horror Story” fans have been perplexed by the mysterious marketing for Season 6 of Ryan Murphy‘s anthology series, but that was the response the network was hoping for, said FX Networks CEO John Landgraf on Tuesday.
“We just thought it would really be fun to keep it a mystery, so we are,” Landgraf said simply, when asked during his executive session at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour.
In fact, the scattershot marketing, which so far has featured a number of different themes and genres, was intended to mislead fans of the show.
“[Murphy and Stephanie Gibbons, FX head of marketing and on-air promotions] went out and made many more trailers than you’ve actually seen for hypothetical seasons of ‘American Horror Story,’ meaning different genres and different places,” Landgraf said. “And one of them is accurate, and the others are just misdirects.”
Landgraf confirmed that, like previous seasons, the upcoming season of “American Horror Story” will have a unique setting and theme, but it will remain a secret until the premiere.
“We just thought that would be a nice change after doing things one way for five years,” he said.
Landgraf also addressed questions about the show’s endgame, saying there have been no discussions about concluding the series yet.
“All good things must come to an end, but as long as Ryan keeps coming up with inventive and original new ideas, as long as the audience seems to want to see it,” he said. “That’s the genius of this anthological series of miniseries idea that Ryan really invented. It’s only the limits of the stories or your imaginations that ends the show.”