'Pose' Scores Early Season 3 Renewal at FX

[Ulquiorra]

The category is: renewal!

FX, the now Disney-owned basic cable network, has picked up Pose, the ball scene drama from Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals, for a third season merely a week after its sophomore season debut. (Season two was announced after six of eight freshman season episodes aired.)

The renewal comes as the drama, which features a record number of trans characters portrayed by trans actors, has emerged as an awards season contender for its stars, including Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez.

Season two of Pose debuted to strong reviews — the new cycle has an impressive 96 percent rating on RottenTomatoes.com — with critic praising the drama's decision to move the focus away from stars Evan Peters, Kate Mara and James Van Der Beek and more toward its trans leads. The sophomore season shifts to the summer of 1990 and the influence and impact Madonna's "Vogue" has on the ballroom community.

Early ratings for season two have also shown growth. Per FX, the June 11 season two premiere drew 1.2 million total viewers — a series high — and 572,000 among adults 18-49 (up 7 percent and 10 percent, respectively, compared with its series debut in June 2018. Adding in viewership from two encore airings, digital and delayed viewing, the show has grossed 1.8 million total viewers in its first five days.

"Pose has elevated our culture and the TV landscape like few shows before it, and we are honored to partner with co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals on a third season,” FX chairman John Landgraf said Monday in a statement. “Our thanks to the entire creative team, including Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Sherry Marsh, Janet Mock, Our Lady J, Erica Kay, the amazing cast and crew and everyone at Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions for this incredibly entertaining, enlightening and groundbreaking series.”

Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, Hailie Sahar, Angelica Ross, Charlayne Woodard, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Dyllon Burnside, Angel Bismark Curiel and Sandra Bernhard round out the cast of the Peabody-winning series from Fox 21 TV Studios and FX Productions.

Pose is one of a few remaining scripted originals Pose executive producer and co-creator Murphy has in the works at FX. The prolific producer, who last year departed his longtime home at 20th TV for a $300 million Netflix pact, also has FX's American Horror Story and the stalled seasons of Feud and American Crime Story. The latter two anthologies are awaiting creative ideas before they can move forward. Murphy also has Netflix's upcoming The Politician and Ratched, as well as Fox's 911 and its forthcoming spinoff — all still produced by 20th TV — in addition to Hollywood, with the latter his first original for the streaming giant.

For FX, Pose is part of a rapidly growing roster of scripted originals that also includes Atlanta, Baskets, Better Things, Fargo, Mayans, Mr. Inbetween, Snowfall, What We Do in the Shadows and the upcoming Breeders, Devs, Mrs. America, Showgun, anuntitledLil Dickycomedy and Y: The Last Man. 

Under Disney, FX CEO John Landgraf hopes to double his number of scripted originals from 14 in 2018 to possibly 28 in three to five years, while also building an unscripted slate of anywhere from eight to 12 shows.