Was getting into bed with the streaming giant a huge mistake for the most prolific man in TV? It seems so: his new shows are anaemic, disposable – and will leave you feeling queasy
Bow down, bow down before the towering chutzpah of Ryan Murphy – who in just four years has made Feud, Hollywood, The Prom, The Boys in the Band, Ratched, two seasons of The Politician, three apiece of American Crime Story and Pose, and nine of American Horror Story – for making a show about a talented gay man whose mistake was to spread himself thin.
Yes, Murphy has made his TV show again – this time about the fashion designer Halston (played by Ewan McGregor), whose clothes were everywhere in the 70s and who was himself in with the Studio 54 crowd. Eventually, he fatally diluted his brand by trying to be everything to everyone, signing a deal with JC Penney to mass-market his designs, which put paid to his high-end business.
Just as JC Penney was a bad fit for Halston, Netflix is in many ways a bad fit for Murphy. In seeking to provide content for the platform – as part of a $300m (£210m) megadeal – Murphy has plundered recent history and gay culture for inspiration. The result is a series of shows that are superficially outre, but somehow defanged, like Halloween costumes designed for kids.
