Ryan Murphy says ‘Scream Queens’ is an homage to Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis entered Hall H to massive applause at the joint “American Horror Story� and “Scream Queens� presentation at Comic-Con on Sunday.

Curtis, who this year made her first trip to Comic-Con in San Diego after “selling yogurt that makes you [poop] for six years,� joined fellow “Scream Queens� cast members Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Skyler Samuels, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin and Billie Lourde on a panel that also featured “American Horror Story� actors Angela Bassett, Matt Bomer, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Kathy Bates. And the connecting tissue to the two shows, co-creator Ryan Murphy, sat smack dab in the center of the panel, bridging the established horror series with the new.

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“What if it’s ‘Halloween’ meets ‘Heathers?’� Murphy queried to the crowd, which was the exact question he asked his non-present co-writer Brad Falchuk regarding their new TV endeavor, “Scream Queens.�

Murphy said he would not have moved forward with the show without Curtis.

“When we were writing the pilot of this, I asked to meet Jamie Lee, who I had loved forever,� Murphy said. When they met he told her, “Look if you don’t do this show we’re not going to do it.�

“And I meant it,� Murphy said, because the series is an homage to her. And considering the title of the series, we believe it.

Curtis’ has long worn the “Scream Queens� crown since her “Halloween� days back in 1978. When asked whether her new character, Dean Cathy Munsch, would display any Laurie Strode characteristics, Murphy and Curtis replied in the affirmative.

“If you’re going to hire Jamie Lee Curtis, you want to see her kicking ass and fighting back� Murphy said.

Curtis revealed she threw in a direct wordless homage to “Halloween� in episode 2.

As for Murphy’s plans for Curtis -- noting his record of manic to murderous character creations -- “I wanted to see Jamie Lee Curtis have a sex scene with an 18-year-old,� Murphy said. And the action won’t stop there, as Murphy revealed he is scripting a scene in which she fights three killers.

Although Murphy was mum about the identity of the killer (a fact that not even the cast knows), he did say that people meet the killer in the premiere and that (he thinks) the episode makes it clear who the killer is.

But Murphy would allow cast members of “American Horror Story: Hotel� reveal the name of the characters they will be playing in the rebooted season set in a hotel.

Bassett will be playing Ramona, Bomer will be playing Donovan, Peters will be playing Mr. March, Paulson will be playing Hypodermic Sally, and Bates will be playing Iris.

Murphy also shared that it was Lady Gaga -- who is also in the cast but was not at the panel -- who approached him about being on the series and that she told him, “I want to be evil.�

The tight-lipped Murphy had one final surprise for the audience: He confirmed that this new season of “American Horror Story� would continue the trend of connecting the past seasons via classic characters. Fingers crossed they bring back the much loved alien robot spiders from “Asylum.� Just kidding, those spiders were the worst.

Twitter: @tracycbrown