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In this article I’ll be going over seasons one through five of American Horror Story, part one of this series is posted now and goes over seasons six through eleven.If you want to watch American Horror Story you can use your Amazon Prime account or sign up for a free trial and watch all 12 seasons on Amazon now. AHS is known for combining sex, horror, and camp into mostly standalone seasons of ten to thirteen episodes filled with dynamic characters and fascinating settings. Originally just one ordered season of a horror anthology the show co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk found themselves met with nominations for awards and critical acclaim fairly quickly.
One of the most iconic things about AHS is the cast of phenomenal actors that play a variety of characters from one season to the next. Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Jamie Brewer, Denis O’Hare, and Kathy Bates are the main actors from early seasons.
Some would go on to becom even more prominent in the series while others, like Jessica Lange, started and ended their times on the show with season one through five characters and potential cameos later. Paulson, Peters, and Rabe are in five out of five of the seasons, Jessica Lange, Conroy, and Brewer, appeared in every one except Hotel. On the other hand O’Hare is in every season except Asylum. Bassett and Bates join during Coven and are in Coven, Freak Show, and Hotel.
Prior to American Horror Story Ryan Murphy created shows like Nip/Tuck and Glee, both well regarded in their genres and considered huge successes. Glee in particular ran at the same time as American Horror Story from 2009-2015, ending long before AHS’s end which is still yet to be announced as of March 2024. Glee is mired in controversy due to its main cast and their often tragic life outcomes.
Allegedly a toxic and hostile work environment based on what former cast members have said since in addition to what is alleged about Murphy’s demands of the AHS crew during the 2023 strike both substantiate the other if true, pointing to old Hollywood ideas in the workplace despite the modern plots and characters.
Although the franchise began with American Horror Story that is not the only type of story the creators wanted to tell. The entire franchise of shows which includes AHS, American Crime Story, American Sports Story, and rumored shows like American Love Story are all considered part of the American Story Franchise. All shows in the franchise thus far have been on FX and FX on Hulu and are created or produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.
The first five seasons of American Horror Story are generally still regarded as the best AHS seasons. Season one of AHS premiered October 5, 2011 on FX, a network of 20th Century Fox Television. Murder House’s success paved the way for green light after green light from the studio for additional seasons of the anthology horror show. After season one Asylum premiered the next year in October 2012, followed by Coven in October 2013, Freak Show in 2014, and Hotel in 2015.
Total viewership per season in millions stayed consistent between season one and season two and then saw a big increase between season 2 and 3. Total viewership drops off with season 5, Hotel, while still considerably high for a cable show. Each season follows a similar trend of starting with the highest viewership of the season in episode one that overall declines throughout the season with key bumps around certain episodes and then an uptick in viewership for the finale.
Season 1, 2, 3, and 4 saw increases in their highest viewed episode with a slight dip between Freak Show and Hotel. Season 4 of AHS reaches a milestone of most viewed episode thus far. Unfortunately the next season, 5, saw another milestone, the lowest viewed episode at that point in the season. Something else that stood out is that season 5’s average viewership reached season one levels, never getting back up to those heights again. I have an unproven common-sense notion that each season’s success, especially upon premiere, is largely reliant on the previous season, showing that Freak Show halted the meteoric levels of success early seasons saw in pop culture.
Total viewership however pokes holes in this theory with similar viewership for season 3 and 4, both significantly higher than seasons one, two, and five. So this led me to hypothesize that seasons three and four are the most well regarded. I genuinely just wanted to better understand why the show had gone from stunning to increasingly bad despite involving the same creators, actors, and increasing budgets. What season is the culprit?
That however is not supported in the Rotten Tomatoes audience scores. Season one is currently at 84%, Asylum at 90%, Coven at 76%, Freak Show at 68%, andHotel at 61%. I had anticipated that Asylum would be highly rated but didn’t think it would be the highest and had been pleasantly surprised by that. What I also didn't expect was season three being at 76% when taking social media engagement into account. I mostly saw GIFs, memes, and references to Murder House and Coven, previously even thinking that Asylum didn’t get the acclaim it deserved. Fortunately I was very wrong when it came to audience reception. I don’t agree with every rating but I do agree with Asylum being the highest scored season of the series after rewatching.
Murder House
Asylum
Coven
Freak Show
Hotel
Roanoke
Cult
Apocalypse
1989
Double Feature
NYC
Delicate
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3