Live Wire

Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy,

the creators of the hit series,Glee,the pop phenomenon about the travails of an upbeat student choir, have now turned 180 degrees to create American Horror Story,a new TV series. In the pilot episode of American Horror Story,a therapist (Dylan McDermott) and his wife (Connie Britton) move with their teenage daughter (Taissa Farmiga) to an eerie,Gothic-style mansion in Los Angeles. While mom and dad deal with a past act of infidelity,the family unfolds the house’s murderous history; encounters neighbours and hangers-on played by Jessica Lange,Frances Conroy and Denis O’Hare (as a man who has had half his face scarred in a fire); and finds something not quite human residing in the basement.

Emma Watson,

the 21-year-old,who earned legions of young fans as the plucky Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter Series (and as the fashion-forward face of several luxury brands),will now be starring in an adaptation of the young-adult novel,The Perks of Being a Wallflower ,a beloved coming-of-age tale published in 1999. Set loosely in the pre-Internet age of the early ’90s,The Perks of Being a Wallflower,which is due in theatres next year,is the closest Watson has come to playing a contemporary character not too far removed from herself,she said. It’s not a grown-up role,but carrying the film—helping get it made at all—is a newfound adult responsibility.