For many years now, showrunner Ryan Murphy has been a huge advocate for the anthology format on television, proving that it can work very successfully through shows such as 'American Horror Story', 'Feud' and 'American Crime Story'. It's something that allows fresh faces and plots to come to the forefront each year, whilst still building on a franchise.

Ryan Murphy is responsible for a slew of hugely successful TV showsRyan Murphy is responsible for a slew of hugely successful TV shows

An anthology series is when each individual season of the show brings a new story and cast of characters to the screen. Sometimes, the actors involved will stay the same, but they'll take on an entirely new role, as the likes of Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters have done throughout the years during their time on Murphy's 'American Horror Story'.

For the most part, it's something that seems to work very well, but there is one particular bad thing about it, according to Murphy.

"The only downside is [there's] no network money," he joked, when asked about the pros and cons of the anthology format on TV in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "But creatively, you just can't beat it. When you were doing something that was 22 episodes, it was so creatively difficult and physically taxing and the actors were falling apart. And forget cold and flu season. If you just do eight episodes, it feels like your soul is much more nourished and you're able to function as a human being and a family person."

It's certainly fair to say that Murphy would be enjoying a more balanced lifestyle when creating just a few episodes of a series per year, as opposed to some of the bigger series that are on television each week, such as Shonda Rhimes' 'Grey's Anatomy' or The CW's superhero shows 'Arrow', 'The Flash', 'Legends of Tomorrow' and 'Supergirl'. These shows all have more than 20 episodes a season, so those working on them never really seem to get time off.

Whatever the case may be for the future of television, it's certainly the most quickly-changing form of media entertainment out there right now. It's going to be interesting to see exactly where it goes next.

More: Ryan Murphy Hopes Jessica Lange Will Return For 'American Horror Story' Crossover Season

'American Horror Story' returns later this year, with 'American Crime Story' set to debut season 2 and 3 in 2018.