LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- "It's really about age and demography," John Landgraf (CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions) told reporters about his newly expanded umbrella of networks at the TCA Summer Press Tour. "We're going to have three channels. [FXX, launching September 2] is going to be a little bit more purely focused on young adults, so 16-34. [FXM, formerly FX Movie Channel] is going to be a little more focused on older adults... say 25-60. And then we'll have our mothership [FX] that's sort of adults 16-60."
FXX will be the largest cable launch in history with availability in 72 of the 100 million TV households. That's compared to 18 of the 90 million TV households that launched FX in 1994, also a record at the time. As for the differences in programming, Landgraf said, "FXX might have some content that's maybe a little bit more in the Comedy Central vein I guess, a little bit intentionally younger skewing. I do think the spirit of the brand will be the same across [the board]."
Landgraf would ultimately outline the series rollout schedule for both networks:
FX
Ongoing
"Anger Management" (Season 2)
September 2013
"Wilfred" (Season Finale on September 5)
"Sons of Anarchy" (Season 6 Premiere on September 10)
October 2013
"The Bridge" (Season Finale on October 2)
"American Horror Story" (Season 3: Coven)
January 2014
"Archer" (Season 5)
"Justified" (Season 5)
"Saint George" (New Comedy)
Winter 2014
"The Americans" (Season 2)
Spring 2014
"Fargo" (10-Episode Limited Series)
May 2014
"Louie" (Season 4)
FXX
September 2013
"Parks & Recreation" (Off-Network Launch Marathon on September 2)
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (Season 9 Premiere on September 4)
"The League" (Season 5 Premiere on September 4)
"Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell" (Daily Strip Launches on September 4)
"2013 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards" (September 21)
October 2013
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (100th Episode on October 9)
January 2014
"Chozen" (New Animated Comedy)
"Legit" (Season 2)
Beyond said plans, Landgraf affirmed his high hopes for its six comedy pilots - the Billy Crystal-led "The Comedians"; the Tracy Morgan-led "Death Pact"; the Nat Faxon/Judy Greer-led project from Andrew Gurland; Simon Rich's "Man Seeking Woman"; Charlie Kaufman's "How and Why"; and Stephen Falk's "You're the Worst" - as well as its two dramas "The Strain" and "Tyrant."
Landgraf also indicated he aspires to add a limited series each year with "Fargo" in 2014, two in 2015 and three in 2016. "I guess that's conceivable," he said when asked if one of those could be a sequel to "Fargo." "It would have to be a whole new story in the sort of tone and vernacular of 'Fargo.' But not those characters." Adding, "Those characters don't continue, just like 'American Horror Story' the characters don't continue from one season to the next."
As for specifics, in addition to the just-cast Billy Bob Thornton, Landgraf revealed "there is no William H. Macy character so there are no characters in the limited series 'Fargo' that are derived from the characters in the film 'Fargo.'" The same applies to Frances McDormand's character. "[There is] a young deputy, she's in her early 20s, so she's not really the character from 'Fargo.'"
"It will do justice to the Coen brothers' classic film of the same title, which is one of my favorite films of all time," he noted. Later adding, "It's hard to describe how remarkably true to the film it is. When Joel and Ethan Coen actually saw the script they said, 'Well, we don't really know how to give notes so can we rewrite it?' We're like, 'Yeah, sure. We'd be happy to have you.' And they sent back, I don't know half a dozen pages with just a few dialogue suggestions."
Additionally, Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan's "The Strain" is envisioned as a limited series in the grander sense. "They wanted to tell the story of the books," Landgraf said about their initial pitch. "[That] story would be told over three, four or five seasons [and] they had work to do in terms of figuring out how they were going to resituate that story in an episodic television series. That show will be somewhere between 39 and 65 episodes, no less, no more."
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