Ryan Murphy has a new hit on his hands with "Feud: Bette and Joan." The show premiered on March 5th with great ratings. Let's take a look at how it did.
The premiere of "People Vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story" was in February 2016. The viewers of the show and the two times it reran during that week were 12 million. While "Feud: Bette and Joan" didn't break it, the show did premiere higher than anything else since.
So what were the ratings?
Ryan Murphy's new show aired two reruns so the number of chances for viewers were equal but according to Coming Soon the new show reached 5.17 million.
That was enough to out-do the premieres of both "Legion" and "Taboo."
"Feud: Bette and Joan" is based on the rocky relationship of Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during the making of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" The two were known to be bitter adversaries both on the set and off. It seems as though each time one tries to give an olive branch, someone interferes to keep them at odds. This will be the focus of episode 2, "The Other Woman," which will air on March 12th on FX at 9PM Central time.
But what's the real story?
The story of Bette and Joan is really a story of two women battling the oppression of their times. They both face discrimination for their age and were sometimes treated as inferior because they were women living in a time when this was the norm.
This show is a project that Ryan Murphy wanted to undertake for a long time. Not only was Bette Davis one of his favorite actresses, but he actually interviewed her himself before her death. He had originally approached Susan Sarandon regarding the part in a movie format. She has said that the idea of several episodes was more appealing so that the characters could be more in-depth.
The series is set for a total of eight episodes this season. Ryan Murphy and FX have already announced that there will be a season 2! Following the format of "American Horror Story," the storyline will change each season. Next season will be the story of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
