Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Ryan Murphy, Creator Talks Nip/Tuck!

Source: Canmag.com - Oct. 10, 2006 by Fred Topel

While on the PR tour for his first feature film Running with Scissors, Ryan Murphy let a few tidbits about the future of his TV show nip/tuck slip. With his contract up this month, the future of the show may be uncertain despite it’s recent upswing in popularity.

Ryan Murphy Talks Nip/Tuck
“I don't know if I’m doing nip/tuck again,” said Murphy. “I don’t have a contract past this month so I don't know what I’m going to do. I have a couple movies in development. I have a couple of TV shows in development. I’m getting ready to start a production company. I don't know what I’m going to do. This year has been such a whirlwind for me with all this stuff and I feel so appreciative. I don't know. I don't know what I want to do.”

Fortunately for fans, Murphy left enough vagaries in there that it’s entirely likely this is just a negotiation tactic. The prospect of letting another show runner handle future seasons led to more sarcasm and vagary.

“Never, are you kidding? I don't know. I don't think they’d want to do it without me. I say that only because I’ve asked them. It’s a hard show. It’s a tone poem. It’s very much about my point of view of the world. Maybe. I would love it. I would love it if some of the other writers would do it and I’m not saying I won’t. I’m saying right now I don't know. I don't know what I want to do. I love the show. I love the people on the show.”

With last week’s episode revealing that the organ harvesters would be a recurring element with main characters involved, fans might see another Carver in the making. Murphy assures the majority of Carver-haters that he’s not going there again.

“Oh no, we’re never doing the Carver again. I don't know if you got that memo. No, it’s not because it’s not nearly as graphic. It’s not nearly as scary I think as that Carver stuff was. I didn’t want to do anything that was serial killer-esque and none of Jackie’s patients die. They all recover. But the show is about gothic elements. It’s an overblown pastiche about stuff like that and I always say that every season is only as good as its villain so it’s a medical story that’s kind of crazy but I love that. Jackie Bisset as an organ harvester, is there anything better than that? And I didn’t tell her when she signed on that that’s what’s going to happen to her so now she’s appalled and loves it. But Jackie Bisset in an Yves St. Laurent trench coat going on an organ harvest.”

Some of the Carver haters may still have lingering questions, even though an extra on the season three DVD explained how everything was set up for the big reveal along the way. Well, everything except the fact that they could have framed Christian for everything but instead gave him a perfect alibi.

“They had compassion. I don't know. I think they did. I don't know, the whim hit me. I knew they’d end up on the coast of Spain getting away and continue to carve people. I don't know. It’s just what I wanted I guess. I know it doesn’t make sense.”

But Quentin carved his own sister while Christian was locked up, and one has to imagine she let him since they were in on the whole thing. “Oh, I think that was sport. Those wackadoos. Crazy.”

Murphy has felt the backlash against the Carver-centric third season and designed the current one as almost an apology. “People hated that last year. A lot of people, they thought it was too much. They thought the fun had gone out of the show so this year I was really conscious about okay, no more gore, very little gore, a lot more comedy, a lot more sex and even if you do something like the Jackie Bisset organ harvest, you do it with a wink. The show has always had a sense of irony about it. I think if you do a television show particularly, it’s difficult to have everybody love everything. It’s like a marriage. Not every year in a marriage is fantastic. Some of them are really bad or difficult. And you learn things and I learned things. I learned what the audience loved and what they didn’t love and what I loved and what I didn’t love and I tried to make them mesh this year and as a result, this is the highest rated year we’ve had. It’s about okay, I hear you and I’ll try and fix it. It was sort of fun because it’s a challenge and it was like okay, I’m excited to prove that I can do this.”


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