On the eve of the premiere of FX’s American Horror Story fourth season, the network and series creator Ryan Murphy have announced (via the Hollywood Reporter) that they will be producing a companion series called American Crime Story. Just like American Horror Story, this new show will be produced as an anthology series, with each season focusing on a different real-life crime story that made headlines all over the world and obsessed the public. The first 10-episode installment is entitled The People v. O.J. Simpson, based on Jeffrey Toobin’s best-selling book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson. The show is set to look at the O.J. Simpson trial told from the lawyers’ perspective, and is “poised to explore the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court.”
The series originally began its life over on the Fox broadcast network, written by Golden Globe winners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flint). The writing partners, along with original producers Brad Simpson (World War Z) and Nina Jacobson (Hunger Games) decided to move the show over to FX instead, which allows for a bit more mature content. Ryan Murphy adds, “This is an exciting project for me, as Iâve been looking for the right property which could serve as an extension of the American Horror Story brand I love so much. The O.J. case was as tragic as it was fascinating– it seemed like everyone had a stake in the outcome. It was really the beginning of the modern tabloid age.â The show is set to film in early 2015, probably for a premiere later that year.
If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion to Ryan Murphy for season two of American Crime Story, should there be one: focus on the Manson Family trial of 1970. That trial was insane. It had Charles Manson lunging at the judge, the Manson girls singing in unison during testimony… a total carnival show. It’s the kind of lurid, over-top spectacle that Murphy excels at on American Horror Story.
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Will you be watching American Crime Story? What other sort of anthology series do you predict will crop up over the next few years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This would be interesting to see…