FX, Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Strain’ picked up to series; will air in July 2014

While we saw this renewal news coming a mile away, it does not make it any less rewarding in the end: FX has decided to pick up the vampire drama “The Strain” to series, and the 13-episode drama from Guillermo del Toro, series author Chuck Hogan, and “Lost” co-showrunner Carlton Cuse will premiere starting in July of next year. While vampires are a pretty hot commodity these days, and one presumably nearing their zenith in popular (heck, they could even be on their way down), what we feel may have been the long-term appeal of this show in particular is that it combines some of the vampire genre with the sort of “diseased” motif that comes from “The Walking Dead” and other zombie shows over the years.

Speaking in a statement, del Toro had the following to say about FX giving the series a shot:

“The Strain books are near and dear to my heart and now, Chuck and I have the blessing of a partnership with Carlton and FX that holds great promise. Working with FX has yielded an amazing experience with total creative freedom and support.”

This news does in fact help to confirm that when it comes to Cuse in particular, he’s going to be quite a busy man for quite a while moving forward. This is a guy who already had a major show in “Bates Motel” on the air, and he really did not need to get anything else on the air. However, this opportunity may have been too hard to pass up, given that there are few cable networks out there that seem to be as supportive to creators as FX is.

The only question that we are wondering now when it comes to this show is just what night it will air. Thursdays seem to be the days for FX comedies, while “The Bridge” aired last summer on Wednesday nights. We could see the show coming on Tuesdays, but it would need to premiere earlier in order to make sure that it was done before “Sons of Anarchy” took its spot (unless the motorcycle drama is starting later next year).

Are you excited to see “The Strain” on TV? Share your thoughts below!