With shows such as Legion and Atlanta; The Americans and American Crime Story, FX’s legacy is adult scripted content, said John Landgraf, CEO, FX Networks and FX Productions.

And it’s that which makes FX worth investing in when it comes to Disney’s $52.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox, he said. The deal is expected to close in 12 to 18 months.

“The oddness that it’s so different from Disney’s brand is a good thing, because the expertise we have doesn’t exist currently in that company,” Landgraf said Friday at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena. “We bring something distinctive and unique into their world.”

Landgraf said Disney sees FX as part of a larger plan, although he couldn’t elaborate on the details of how “to organize this vast new company that’s going to be created.”

“How they plan to integrate us into a larger structure, where I sit relative to that, and where FX sits, I genuinely don’t know,” he said. “It’s going to take time to work it out.”

But FX has a distinctive culture and process, and he believes Disney will maintain FX’s integrity.

“They’re going to want the best of what we have to offer,” he said. “I feel optimistic about our ability to continue to do what we do well.”

The merger also allows FX to “bulk up” with more resources in order to remain “competitive and relevant” among big-budget companies and global streaming services such as Netflix and HBO.

FX’s programming ranked third behind those two players in TV critics’ 2017 year end roundups, according the network’s analysis. Out of the 48 cable dramas launched last year, FX’s Legion came in at number two, Taboo at number three and Snowfall at number five, based on Nielsen data, Landgraf said.

Comedy Better Things has also been a hit for FX, staring creator Pamela Adlon as a divorced actress raising her three daughters by herself. The show is co-created by Louis C.K., whom Fox severed ties with following his confirmations of sexual misconduct. FX conducted an internal investigation into accusations against C.K. and “did not find any issues … during the eight years we worked together,” Landgraf said.

With the relationship ended, season two of Better Things will fall on Adlon’s shoulders, who Landgraf called “extraordinary.”

“She’s the font; she’s the creative engine of that show and that will not change,” he said.

The network also revealed a 10-episode order for Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans MC from Kurt Sutter and Elgin James.

“Kurt Sutter is a master storyteller and Mayans MC has the raw energy and intensity that are hallmarks of his signature style,” said Nick Grad, president of original programming for FX Networks and FX Productions, in a statement. “Thanks to Kurt, co-creator Elgin James and this amazing cast, Mayans MC builds on the legacy of Sons of Anarchy, taking it in a thrilling new direction that we can’t wait for the world to see.”

The saga continues with The Mayans, who were recurring and pivotal players in FX’s seven-season run of Sons of Anarchy. The series is set in a post-Jax Teller world, where EZ Reyes, fresh out of prison, is a prospect in the Mayan MC charter on the California-Mexico border. Now EZ must carve out his new outlaw identity in a town where he once was the golden boy who had the American Dream within his grasp, according to FX.

Mayans MC stars Edward James Olmos, JD Pardo, Sarah Bolger, Clayton Cardenas, Richard Cabral, Michael Irby, Raoul Trujillo, Antonio Jaramillo and Carla Baratta. It will premiere in 2018.

Landgraf highlighted the show’s Latino cast saying FX continues to make strides in diversity, and adding that the network’s number of diverse directors has grown from 49 percent in 2016, to 53 percent in 2017.

“Hit television and diverse television can be the same thing,” he said.

FX also revealed a March 1 premiere date for season two of Donald Glover’s Atlanta.

The second chapter focuses on the show’s characters facing sudden fame, which is something the cast has also had to deal with in real life. Success has impacted who they hang out with, what they do, and has brought an awareness about the divide between making money and real life in the hood.

This season is about “am I going to be a drug dealer, or am I going to be a celebrity?” said Glover, who serves as creator, director, writer and executive producer.

Also, despite the success of season one, Glover said the second season was approached not from the perspective of “let’s give the audience what they liked,” and rather “how do we make another season of a show I want to watch.”

So expect a few surprises when it airs.

FX also revealed the sixth and final season of The Americans will premiere on March 28, as well as the March 25 launch of Trust, which “delves into the trials and triumphs of one of America’s wealthiest and unhappiest families, the Gettys.”

The series begins in 1973 with the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (Harris Dickinson), an heir to the Getty oil fortune, by the Italian mafia in Rome. Trust also stars Donald Sutherland, Hilary Swank and Brendan Fraser.

Simon Beaufoy, the show’s creator, writer and executive producer, said he has been fascinated by the lack of empathy across the family dynasty.

“There was a big, huge hole in each of their souls that they tried to fill with money or drugs or sex, and they passed it down,” Beaufoy said.

FX will also debut American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace on January 17, and dance musical series Pose in the summer of 2018, which boasts a LGBTQ cast of regulars. Many of the survivors of Paris is Burning are featured in the show and serve and consultants.

And Fargo is “not gone.” Noah Hawley, currently on Legion, has said he has an idea for the fourth season, slated for 2019.

“We feel optimistic the coming year will be a good one for FX,” Landgraf said.

[Photo: Mayans MC. Credit: Prashant Gupta, FX]

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