FX’s ‘Pose’ sets premiere date for final season
The third and final season of the groundbreaking LGBTQ drama takes place in 1994
Groundbreaking LGBTQ drama Pose has set the date for the premiere of its third and final season.
Season three of FX’s critically-acclaimed show about ballroom culture in New York City during the HIV/AIDS crisis of the ’80s and ’90s will debut May 2 at 10 p.m. EST/PST.
Pose‘s seven-episode third season moves the story from 1991 to 1994, with FX revealing “ballroom feels like a distant memory for Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) who struggles to balance being a mother with being a present partner to her new love, and her latest role as a nurse’s aide.”
“Meanwhile, as AIDS becomes the leading cause of death for Americans ages 25 to 44, Pray Tell (Billy Porter) contends with unexpected health burdens,” the release continues. “Elsewhere, the emergence of a vicious new upstart house forces the House of Evangelista members to contend with their legacy.”
While it will only have aired three seasons and 25 episodes when it wraps on June 6, Pose is set to leave an incredible legacy in its wake.
The show has won Peabody and AFI awards, and Billy Porter became the first gay Black man to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards.
It also set a record for the number of out LGBTQ people in its cast, particularly transgender women of color including Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, Angelica Ross, and Hailie Sahar.
Writer, director, and producer Janet Mock hailed the impact of the show in a statement, saying her life “has been forever changed because of Pose, a drama series that centered around trans and queer people, people living with HIV/AIDS, and Black and Latinx people — without trepidation or apology.”
“It’s left an indelible mark on our culture, modeling that a TV show can be successful and entertaining while also casting authentically, hiring LGBTQ talent in front of and behind the camera, and moving people living on the margins to centerstage,” she continued.
“Though I am heartbroken to say goodbye to our beloved characters, I know the work my fellow writers and producers, our crew, and trailblazing cast did on Pose will live forever as a glittering, heart-filled, bright beacon of love, acceptance, family and community.”
Steven Canals, who co-created the show with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, said that at the time of writing the first draft of Pose, “we weren’t seeing very many Black and Latinx characters — that happened to also be LGBTQ+ — populating screens.”
“Pose was conceived as a love letter to the underground New York ballroom community, to my beloved New York, to my queer and trans family, to myself. I, along with my incredible collaborators, never intended on changing the TV landscape,” Canals continued. “I simply wanted to tell an honest story about family, resilience and love. How fortunate am I to have done that for three seasons.”
Related: Olly Alexander on bringing ’80s London to life – and death – in ‘It’s a Sin’
Murphy, who also created American Horror Story, Glee, and Ratched, called Pose, “one of the creative highlights of my entire career.”
“To go from the beginning of my career in the late ’90s when it was nearly impossible to get an LGBTQ character on television to Pose — which will go down in history for having the largest LGBTQ cast of all time — is a truly full circle moment for me,” he said.
“Pose’s story may end in 1996, but its impact will go on forever.”
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