If you were looking forward to witnessing a royal feud (one that does not involve Meghan Markle's family, anyway) you won't see it on Ryan Murphy's anthology series.
According to FX Networks CEO John Landgraf at the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Friday, the subject of the second season of anthology series Feud is still up in the air. While it was announced via press release last year that Murphy and his team would tackle the tumultuous relationship between former spouses Princess Diana and Prince Charles for the show's sophomore season, that is no longer the case.
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"We're not moving forward [with that season] at the moment," said Landgraf of the royal showdown-focused season.
Netflix's The Crown will introduce Princess Diana towards the end of its third season, leading some to speculate that the competing show could be the reason why FX is not moving forward with a royal-centric concept. Landgraf shot down that theory at the TCA, telling press:
"The Crown is told from the point of view of the royal family and this was going to be equally told from the point of view of somebody coming into that family. Ultimately, we just couldn't get the material to the place we wanted it."
The first season of anthology series Feud tells the story of the tense relationship between longtime rivals, and one-time co-stars, Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange). The general thesis of the show is that it was actually outside forces — such as rampant sexism and ageism in Hollywood — that fuelled the titular feud. It's worth wondering what deeper questions a show about the Princess Diana and Prince Charles battle could ask: Was their hostility the result of love lost, or an inadvertent reaction to an obsessed media seeking a tabloid-worthy story?
Of the then-planned season, executive producer Murphy told E! News:
"I wanted to do a different kind of feud that's about broken hearts. And I think that's what that marriage was, and that's what Charles and Diana is about."
Alas, it looks like we're going to have to put our royal dreams on hold. Maybe Murphy will treat us to a Katy and Taylor season instead? At least that feud has a happy ending.
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