Ryan Murphy Is Taking Home a Huge Golden Globe Award Tonight, So Let’s Revisit His Substantial Hollywood Résumé
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It’s easy being a fan of Hollywood multi-hyphenate Ryan Murphy because it feels like there’s always a new Ryan Murphy show to watch. It’s difficult being a fan of the producer, director, and writer because there are so many shows to watch and they’re all on different channels or streaming services or part of different anthology cinematic universes and like...HOW many of these shows is Evan Peters in?! To help us all be better organized (particularly in light of the 2023 Golden Globes today, where Ryan’s getting the Carol Burnett Award), here is a comprehensive list of every Ryan Murphy TV show in one place.
The Ryan Murphy shows on FX
Nip/Tuck (2003–2010)
Murphy's first big hit was a darkly comic satire about plastic surgery.
American Horror Story (2011–present)
With a rotating cast and new settings/subjects every season (Murder House, Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, 1984, Double Feature, NYC) this is easily Murphy’s most enduring series.
American Crime Story (2016–present)
This anthology series mixes murder and courtroom drama to tell true crime stories (The People v. OJ Simpson, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Impeachment) from recent history. So far, all three seasons have taken place in the 1990s. Interesting, eh?
Feud (2017–present)
I mean, allegedly this is an ongoing series. Are we ever really getting that second season? People sure meme about it a lot, but I’m skeptical. Bette and Joan might be it, folks.
Pose (2018–2021)
This series about the house music and ballroom scene might quietly be Ryan’s best, IMO. It’s more intersectional and less cynical than some of his other shows. It has critical acclaim and shelves of awards to boast. It broke barriers for trans performers in Hollywood. Pose rules!
American Horror Stories (2021–present)
Technically, this one is FX on Hulu. It’s an anthology spin-off of an anthology series.
The Ryan Murphy shows on Netflix
The Politician (2019–2020)
If you want to see Ben Platt play a conniving high schooler, choose this over Dear Evan Hansen.
Watch 'The Politician' on Netflix
Hollywood (2020)
I genuinely would watch a dozen seasons of this show, an ultimately optimistic alternate history of movie-making with big theatre kid energy, but alas. It was a miniseries.
Ratched (2020–present)
Allegedly, a season 2 will come at some point. TBD?
Halston (2021)
This miniseries about megalomaniac fashion designer Halston won Ewan McGregor an Emmy but otherwise went under the radar. It was fine! Pretty good even! But there wasn’t any murder, and Ryan Murphy fans seemed eager for more murder. They got plenty of that in 2022.
The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022)
This was a docuseries that Ryan produced but did not direct or write.
Watch 'The Andy Warhol Diaries' on Netflix
Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022–present)
Turns out, Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story will be an anthology series about IRL serial killers. Just what we need, more true crime on television. What’s the difference between this and American Crime Story, you ask? This is a Netflix series. The other isn’t.
Watch ‘Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ on Netflix
The Watcher (2022-present)
Ryan’s other 2022 show, also on Netflix (obviously), is based on a true story about a stalker and is renewed for a second season.
Watch 'The Watcher' on Netflix
The Ryan Murphy shows, well, everywhere else
Popular (1999–2001) on The WB
I remember a lot of people telling me that Glee was nothing compared to Popular, Ryan’s first high school satire. Anyway.
Glee (2009–2015) on Fox
The mega-hit that put autotuned a capella pop covers into our ears and tricked us into thinking that being bullied was cool ran for six toe-tapping years.
The New Normal (2014) on NBC
Ryan’s sense of humor did not exactly gel with the network that gave us The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and The Good Place. Honestly, I’m not surprised.
Scream Queens (2015–2016) on Fox
This show had such a profound effect on pop culture that I always forget it was only two seasons.
9-1-1 (2018–present) on Fox
This feels like such a normal television show that I honestly forget it’s a Ryan Murphy show, like, all the time. I also feel like it’s a brand-new show when in reality it has been on for six seasons! That went by so fast!
9-1-1 Lone Star (2020–present) on Fox
Ryan Murphy, in his Dick Wolf era, now has a police procedural set in two different cities. The anchor series takes place in California, and this series takes place in Texas.
Dang, anything else?
Sure, there are Murphy odds and ends. He made a TV movie adaptation of three plays: The Normal Heart on HBO, The Boys in the Band on Netflix as well as the musical The Prom on Netflix. There are some Murphy shows in development that we still don’t know a whole lot about, like a series adaptation of the Pulitzer prize-winning Broadway musical A Chorus Line (wild idea, if you ask me, but go off, Ryan) and anthologies that sound like cheap Walt Disney World resorts called American Love Story and American Sports Story. He’s also produced some documentaries and other films for Netflix. He’s never not working! If we can take anything from this, it’s that.
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