'Hollywood', Ryan Murphy's New Netflix Show, Arrives In May

The always-busy Ryan Murphy has a new Netflix series debuting this May. It's called Hollywood, and it's set in post-World War II Tinseltown, following a group of aspiring film folk looking for their big break. The series features Darren Criss, Samara Weaving, Patti LuPone, and more. It also includes real-life figures from the era, including Rock Hudson.

Get ready to say hooray for Hollywood, the first of Ryan Murphy's Netflix series following his huge deal with the streaming service (The Politician, which Murphy co-created, streamed on Netflix but was actually produced by 20th Century Fox TV). The series, which consists of seven episodes, now has a premiere date: May 1, 2020. Murphy previously called Hollywood a "love letter to the Golden Age of Tinseltown" and said that the show would "look at Hollywood and the sex industry, and how absolutely everything has changed and nothing has changed."

Here's the synopsis:

A new limited series from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, HOLLYWOOD follows a group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood as they try to make it in Tinseltown — no matter the cost. Each character offers a unique glimpse behind the gilded curtain of Hollywood's Golden Age, spotlighting the unfair systems and biases across race, gender and sexuality that continue to this day. Provocative and incisive, HOLLYWOOD exposes and examines decades-old power dynamics, and what the entertainment landscape might look like if they had been dismantled.

Hollywood features David Corenswet as Jack, Darren Criss as Raymond, Jeremy Pope as Archie, Laura Harrier as Camille, Samara Weaving as Claire, Dylan McDermott as Ernie, Holland Taylor as Ellen Kincaid, Patti LuPone as Avis, Jim Parsons as Henry Willson, Jake Picking as Rock Hudson, Joe Mantello as Dick, and Maude Apatow as Henrietta. Guest stars include Mira Sorvino and Rob Reiner. The show is executive produced by Murphy and Brennan, along with Alexis Martin Woodall and Janet Mock, who also serves as a writer and a director.

"It's 1940s Hollywood, so there's going to be great clothes and great accents. It's going to be sexy and optimistic. It's really about young people and the excitement of young people seeking opportunity," said star David Corenswet. Sexy and optimistic? In this economy? We'll just see about that!