Feud is an American anthology drama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam, which premiered on FX on March 5, 2017.
The Swans, with Jon Robin Baitz serving as showrunner/writer, Gus Van Sant as director, and Naomi Watts starring as Babe Paley.
The season will focus on the fallout of a roman à clef story written by author Truman Capote based on the lives of several New York socialites.
Feud features appearances by a number of actors, directors and other historical figures of the period, including: Ryan Murphy, a fan of Davis since his childhood, interviewed the actress just months before her death in 1989.
"[13] Murphy first conceived Bette and Joan as a film years before the FX series, and approached both Sarandon and Lange about the lead roles.
"[15] Feud: Bette and Joan was being written at the same time that Murphy was forming his Half Foundation, which promotes an increased presence of women in film and television production positions.
[17] Sarandon said, "In our story, it was a fact that [the people behind Baby Jane] encouraged the animosity [between Crawford and Davis], first of all to control them, second of all to make what they thought was more onscreen tension, and that really hasn't changed a lot.
"[15] Melanie McFarland of Salon wrote that the series shows "just how brutal the Hollywood system was on some of the greatest talents in its firmament" and that it "cuts to the root of why collaborating and delighting in the fall of the mighty is eternally marketable.
[19] Frequent Murphy collaborator Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon were attached to star as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in Feud.
Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Judy Davis, and Dominic Burgess were also a part of the cast, in the roles of Robert Aldrich, Jack L. Warner, Hedda Hopper, and Victor Buono, respectively.
[24] In November 2016, Molly Price, Kathy Bates and Alison Wright joined the cast of the series, in the roles of Harriet Foster, Joan Blondell, and Pauline Jameson.
"[15] Lange said her performance was informed by her view that Crawford's "brutal childhood" was masked by the "beautiful, impenetrable veneer of this great, gorgeous movie star ...
[34] On June 30, 2017, a day before her 101st birthday, actress Olivia de Havilland filed a lawsuit against Feud: Bette and Joan for inaccurately portraying her and using her likeness without permission.
[43] An April 2022 announcement unveiled new plans for the second season, with Jon Robin Baitz serving as showrunner/writer and Gus Van Sant as director: Feud: Capote vs.
The Swans, premiered in the United States on January 31, 2024, on FX, with a special Director’s Cut of the first episode simulcasting on its sibling network FXX.
The site's critical consensus reads, "While campily and sweetly indulgent, Feud: Bette and Joan provides poignant understanding of humanity, sorrow, and pain while breezily feeding inquisitive gossip-starved minds.
"[18] Verne Gay of Newsday wrote that the series is "Full of joy, humor, brilliant writing and performances, and a deep unabiding love for what really makes Hollywood great—the women.
[61] Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote that the series is "big and it's catty, but it's also smart and elegant, with the old Hollywood setting toning down some of Murphy's more scattershot creative impulses.
"[62] Emily Nussbaum, in The New Yorker, praised Murphy's ambition and lauded both stars, saying of the series, "Beneath the zingers and the poolside muumuus, the show's stark theme is how skillfully patriarchy screws with women's heads—mostly by building a home in there.
Sonia Saraiya of Variety compared Bette and Joan unfavorably to Murphy's The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, writing that Feud is "neither as brilliantly campy and hateful as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
The site's critical consensus reads, "While this Feud might lack the abundance of incident that made its predecessor such a nasty delight, Capote vs. the Swans' luxe milieu and dynamite ensemble will keep spectators entertained.