8.4 /10 1 Votes
96% Rotten Tomatoes Genre Crime drama Composer(s) Mark Isham Original language(s) English | 7.7/10 IMDb 7.9/10 TV Created by John Ridley Country of origin United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Starring Felicity Huffman
Timothy Hutton
W. Earl Brown
Richard Cabral
Caitlin Gerard
Benito Martinez
Penelope Ann Miller
Elvis Nolasco
Johnny Ortiz
Lili Taylor
Trevor Jackson
Connor Jessup
Joey Pollari
Angelique Rivera
Regina King Network American Broadcasting Company Writers John Ridley, Sonay Hoffman, Diana Son, Julie Hébert, Keith Huff, Stacy A. Littlejohn, Davy Perez Awards Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie Cast Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Timothy Hutton, Richard Cabral, Elvis Nolasco Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
American crime trailer
American Crime is an American anthology crime drama television series that premiered on ABC on March 5, 2015. The series was created by John Ridley, and stars Felicity Huffman and Timothy Hutton. The first season centers on race, class, and gender politics as it follows the lives of the participants in a trial who are forever changed during the legal process.
Contents
- American crime trailer
- Overview
- Regular cast
- Recurring cast
- Development and production
- Critical response
- References
The series was renewed for a second season on May 7, 2015. The second season, which premiered on-demand on December 17, 2015, and premiered on ABC on January 6, 2016, features a new storyline and characters, with some actors from the first season—including Huffman, Hutton, Regina King, Elvis Nolasco, Richard Cabral, and Lili Taylor—playing different characters. On May 12, 2016, ABC renewed the series for a third season, which will star Huffman, Hutton and King. The third season will premiere on March 12, 2017.
Both seasons of American Crime received critical acclaim. In 2015, the series received ten Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including for Outstanding Limited Series, Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Ridley), Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Huffman), Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Hutton), Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Cabral), and a win for Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (King).
Overview
The first season takes place in Modesto, California, where a war veteran becomes the victim of a home invasion gone wrong and the lives of four people are forever changed after each one is connected to the crime.
The second season takes place in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the captains of a private school's championship basketball team are accused of sexually assaulting a classmate and posting photographs of the incident online.
The third season takes place in Alamance County, North Carolina, where five people struggle to survive in a place where the American Dream is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
Regular cast
Regular cast
Regular cast
Recurring cast
Development and production
In October 2013, ABC announced it was developing a drama pilot created by John Ridley. In January 2014, ABC greenlighted the pilot, and signed a deal with Ridley to direct.
Elvis Nolasco and Caitlin Gerard were the first regular members to be cast, as announced on February 14, 2014. Later Richard Cabral, Johnny Ortiz, Benito Martinez and W. Earl Brown were cast for regular supporting roles in the pilot. In early March, Timothy Hutton was cast in a lead role as Russ, and Penelope Ann Miller signed on in a supporting role of the mother of the murdered man's wife. Soon thereafter, it was announced that Felicity Huffman was cast in the lead role of Barb Skokie, Russ' stoic ex-wife and mother of the murdered young man.
The pilot episode, along with further episodes, was filmed in Austin, Texas, which substitutes for the California Central Valley city of Modesto. On May 8, 2014, ABC picked up the pilot to the series for the 2014–15 television season.
Filming for the series moved to Los Angeles with the third season, as the show's production was awarded a California tax credit.
Critical response
American Crime has been met with wide acclaim from critics with many praising the writing, directing, and the acting abilities of its cast, particularly Felicity Huffman and Regina King. Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a rating of 95% based on 42 reviews with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Raw, emotional portrayals of diverse characters in dire pain, mashed up with chilling narratives and a gutsy attitude make American Crime a must-see." Metacritic gave the first season a score of 84 out of 100, based on 34 reviews. Deadline.com critic Dominic Patten said in his review that "the 11-episode limited series marks a resounding flag planting by network television and tells cable that it doesn’t own poignant drama on our small screens." Critic Ed Bark praised the performance of Felicity Huffman and wrote that she would be a favorite to win at next year's Primetime Emmy Awards.
The second season continued to receive critical acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 97% rating based on 30 reviews with an average score of 8.2 out of 10. On Metacritic, it has a score of 85 out of 100 based on 26 reviews.