FX’s ‘American Horror Story’ has admittedly struggled a bit in recent seasons, with ‘Freak Show’ displaying some initial promise over the directionless ‘Coven,’ but similarly losing steam before this week’s coming finale. Now, with a fifth season confirmed for the fall, FX brass claims the next cycle may reinvent the series far more than any previous.

Per TVLine, FX president John Landgraf kept predictably mum as to the exact setting of ‘American Horror Story’ season 5, but at least responded to questions of returning the story to present day with “That’s my hope, yeah.” Landgraf explained that series creator Ryan Murphy would reveal the next focus in time, in the process suggesting that season 5 might see much wider changes from season 4 than any prior transition:

One of the things I love so much about that is that it can be radically, radically reinvented in terms of tone, setting, period, characters, cast. I think there’s going to be an unusually large reinvention in between Book 4 and Book 5 relative to, say, between Book 3 [Coven] and 4 [Freak Show].

While series anchor Jessica Lange has previously expressed that ‘Freak Show’ might represent her last ‘Horror Story,’ we might also see less direct presence on the part of creator Ryan Murphy, considering his involvement in FX’s ‘American Crime Story,’ FOX’s ‘Scream Queens,’ or potentially even a ‘Serial’ TV adaptation. Fellow series mainstay Sarah Paulson might also have less involvement in the fifth season, given her ‘Crime Story’ casting as prosecuting O.J. attorney Marcia Clark.

We wouldn’t mind seeing ‘American Horror Story’ get something of an overhaul in season 5, whether by cast or creative, but what do you think? What might the “unusually large reinvention” look like when FX’s horror-drama returns to the airwaves this fall? Watch a preview of Wednesday’s ‘Freak Show’ finale “Curtain Call” below, and give us your predictions in the comments!

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