“American Crime Story” arrived on FX on February 2, 2016, and made its case fast. The anthology, developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, takes one famous criminal investigation per season and rebuilds it as a self-contained miniseries. The first, The People v. O. J. Simpson, drew on Jeffrey Toobin’s The Run of His Life. Cuba Gooding Jr. played Simpson; Sarah Paulson played Marcia Clark.
Trailer, via Samy Bgs.
O. J. Simpson, Marcia Clark and the First Season
The casting is the argument. David Schwimmer took Robert Kardashian, John Travolta took Robert Shapiro, and Courtney B. Vance took Johnnie Cochran. Sterling K. Brown played Christopher Darden, Kenneth Choi played Judge Lance Ito, Nathan Lane played F. Lee Bailey. Every name here is a real person, and the show treats them that way.
Andrew Cunanan and Gianni Versace
The second season, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, premiered January 17, 2018, and closed March 21, 2018. It used Maureen Orth’s Vulgar Favors and cast Édgar Ramírez as Versace and Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan. Penélope Cruz played Donatella Versace after early reports about Lady Gaga proved false. Ricky Martin played Antonio D’Amico.
Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and Impeachment
Season three, Impeachment, premiered September 7, 2021, based on Toobin’s A Vast Conspiracy. Beanie Feldstein played Monica Lewinsky, Sarah Paulson played Linda Tripp, Annaleigh Ashford played Paula Jones, and Clive Owen and Edie Falco played Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Three Seasons, Three Verdicts
| Season | Subject | Source book | Premiere |
|---|---|---|---|
| The People v. O. J. Simpson | O. J. Simpson murder trial | The Run of His Life | February 2, 2016 |
| The Assassination of Gianni Versace | Murder of Gianni Versace | Vulgar Favors | January 17, 2018 |
| Impeachment | Clinton–Lewinsky scandal | A Vast Conspiracy | September 7, 2021 |
What the Anthology Gets Right
The show’s real subject is not crime. It is the machinery around it — lawyers, book deals, television, the way a private disaster becomes public property. That is why the format holds. A fourth season was renewed in January 2023, after a potential one titled Studio 5 was floated by August 2021. The Katrina season never got made, though Annette Bening and Matthew Broderick were cast.
Twenty-nine episodes across three seasons is a small body of work. Almost none of it is wasted. “American Crime Story” understands that the famous case is never really about the famous person.
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