American Crime Story

Regular Cast

Regular Cast

Regular Cast

Development

On October 7, 2014, it was announced that FX had ordered a ten-episode season of American Crime Story, developed/executive produced by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, while being executive produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, who co-created such series as Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story and Scream Queens. Murphy also directed the pilot episode. Other executive producers are Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. Co-executive producers are Anthony Hemingway and D. V. DeVincentis. All 10 episodes were expected to be written by Alexander and Karaszewski. The series was previously in development at Fox, but since moved to the company's sibling cable network FX.

Casting

Cuba Gooding Jr. and Sarah Paulson were the first to be cast as Simpson and Marcia Clark, respectively. Subsequently, David Schwimmer was cast as Robert Kardashian. In January 2015, it was reported that John Travolta had joined the cast as Robert Shapiro. He would also serve as producer. In February 2015, Courtney B. Vance joined the series as Johnnie Cochran. It was announced that Connie Britton would co-star as Faye Resnick in March 2015. April 2015 saw the casting of Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Jordana Brewster as Denise Brown, and Kenneth Choi as Judge Lance Ito. In May 2015, it was confirmed Selma Blair would be portraying the role of Kris Kardashian. In July 2015, it was announced Nathan Lane had joined the cast as F. Lee Bailey.

Despite reports announcing Lady Gaga would portray Donatella Versace in the third season, Murphy confirmed the reports were false.

In February 2017, Annette Bening joined the cast of the series's second season as Kathleen Blanco, while Matthew Broderick was cast as Michael D. Brown. That same month, Édgar Ramírez and Darren Criss joined the cast of the series upcoming third season, as Gianni Versace and Andrew Cunanan respectively.

Filming

Principal photography for the first season began on May 14, 2015, in Los Angeles, California.

Promotion

In October 2015, FX released its first promotional trailer for The People v. O. J. Simpson, showing an Akita dog whining, walking from its residence onto a sidewalk to bark, then walking back to its residence, leaving behind bloody paw prints. Later that month, another teaser was released, where the first actual footage of Travolta as Shapiro was shown. In the teaser, Shapiro is about to ask Simpson (whose face is unseen) if he is responsible for the murder of his ex-wife. Another short teaser came out, where Simpson (again unseen) is taking a lie detector test.

In November, two new teasers were released. The first shows Simpson writing his attempted suicide letter, while a voice-over by Gooding, Jr. narrates. The second has the police chasing Simpson's white Ford Bronco, while dozens of fans cheer for him.

The first full trailer was released in December, along with a poster for the season. The trailer included a suicide attempt on the part of Simpson, in the childhood bedroom of Kim Kardashian, while Robert Kardashian tries to stop him.

Broadcast

The series first premiered worldwide in Canada on FX on February 2, 2016. In the Philippines, the series premiered on February 3, 2016 on CT. The series premiered on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2016. In Australia, the series' first season was promoted as a "miniseries" under the title The People vs OJ Simpson and premiered on Network Ten on March 6, 2016 before concluding on May 8, 2016. In India, the series premiered on STAR World Premiere HD on February 8, 2016. In Israel the series premiered on February 22, 2016. The series currently airs at 10:15pm on Thursdays on RTÉ One in Ireland.

The first season was made available on Netflix in all countries except Canada in February 2017. All future seasons will be made available on Netflix following their respective broadcast windows.

Reception

The first season of American Crime Story has received critical acclaim. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the season an approval rating of 97%, based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story brings top-shelf writing, directing, and acting to bear on a still-topical story while shedding further light on the facts – and provoking passionate responses along the way." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 90 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Many critics have singled out many cast members for the performances, particularly Paulson, Brown, Schwimmer, and Vance. Dan Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter praised Paulson and Vance's performances, writing: "As Clark's discomfort grows, Paulson's collection of tics seem more and more human[...] Vance's Cochran is sometimes hilarious, but he has a dynamic range such that he's occasionally introspective and always intelligent as well." Brian Lowry of Variety praised the casting of the smaller roles, particularly Connie Britton as Faye Resnick and Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey.

Despite the praise for the rest of the cast, Travolta's portrayal of Shapiro and Gooding's portrayal of Simpson have received mixed critical reviews. Brian Lowry of Variety called Travolta "awful" in the role, adding: "Yes, Shapiro spoke in stiff, measured tones, but the actor's overly mannered line readings turn the attorney into a buffoon, in sharp contrast to the more nuanced portrayals around him." Nicole Jones of Vanity Fair called his performance "campy and calculated." Dan Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter also criticized his performance, calling it "a mesmerizingly bad performance from the eyebrows down." Feinberg also observed: "His unnecessary accent varies by episode, and Travolta's laser intensity feels arch and almost kabuki at times, turning Shapiro into a terrifying character from the next American Horror Story installment, rather than a part of this ensemble."

Maureen Ryan of Vanity Fair, conversely, became more impressed with Travolta as the season progressed: "I started in the realm of puzzled disbelief, arrived at amusement, and ultimately traveled to a place of sincere appreciation. You simply can’t take your eyes off Travolta, and that is a form of enchantment." Elisabeth Garber-Paul of Rolling Stone also called it "arguably [Travolta's] best performance since Tarantino brought him back from the dead." Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote that Travolta's was the show's "broadest performance."

Dave Schilling of The Guardian panned Gooding's performance, writing: "his whiny, gravely voice sounds absolutely nothing like the real O. J. Simpson’s deep, commanding tones." Michael Starr of New York Post was also highly critical of Gooding's performance, saying that he "portrays Simpson as a hollow, sad-sack cipher who speaks in a high-pitched whine and sleepwalks in a fog he never shakes after being arrested for the brutal double murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. He’s a forgettable, annoying presence in what should be a showcase role for Gooding — who, to be fair, is reciting lines written for him, so he can only do so much with the material." Gooding's Emmy nomination for his work on the series was criticized by some reviewers.

On the other hand, Joe McGovern was more positive on Gooding's performance, writing that his casting "takes a risk and pulls it off." Elisabeth Garber-Paul of Rolling Stone described his performance as "an unnervingly believable take on a potential psychopath with teetering sanity." Nick Venable of Cinema Blend also opined that Gooding's turn as Simpson "could indeed get him on a shortlist of Emmy nominees."