Apparently it’s called American Crime Story: The People v OJ Simpson.
Pretty highly reviewed so far.
He’s certainly made up to look like the end result of his work.
American Crime is a different anthology crime series that Ryan Murphy (the AHS guy) isn’t involved in, and a cursory glance seems to show that the crimes are fictional.
Not to be confused with American Crime Story, which is produced by Ryan Murphy, and is planned to be an anthology series of high profile true crimes. Next year might be “I swear on my children’s eyes” Robert Blake, for example.
too late!
Next season’s story will focus on Hurricane Katrina. Hollywood Reporter
Sabotage was an excellent musical bed for the start of the highway sequences. This whole episode was fantastic, I thought. Best was OJ repeatedly apologizing to all the cops.
The cuts to the Kardashian kids were completely pointless and annoying.
Much like the kids themselves, I suppose…
Yes! I was hoping someone would make a topic about this! I’ve been excited about this series ever since I heard of it. Its completely mesmerizing! I was in high school when this happened, didn’t watch the news, didn’t care about it, didn’t watch much sports, no reality TV at the time, and this brought all of that together in one big package. I didn’t watch every minute of the trial, but I live in LA and our local channel had a 30 min OJ trial update every day that must have pissed off the local news anchors used to getting an hour. 
I loved the first episode. I thought Schwimmer was cast perfectly as Kardashian because I remember him being the kind of soft-spoken, introverted personality that the show portrays him as. I initially had issues with Travolta and Gooding’s casting, but I don’t remember much about Shapiro’s personality (he was completely subsumed by Johnnie Cochran) so I’ve accepted it. I also read that Gooding wasn’t going to do a physical imitation of OJ, so I don’t mind the contrast between OJ and him too much anymore. Its acting, eh whatever, and its an interpretation based on a book. I didn’t see too much of OJ before the trial, I wasn’t a football fan and don’t remember too much of the movies and commercials so I don’t know enough of his personality to compare. That and he said so little during the trial and was never cross-examined so I have little to base OJ’s personality on
OJ did fail a lie detector test, and I’m pretty sure the police talked to him without a lawyer before he was officially taken. The prosecution was annoyed at how his interrogation went and how short it was. Nobody knows for sure about what Shapiro and OJ said in private though.
Here’s a couple of episode 2 recaps and fact checks. I’m finding them almost as engrossing as the series as it brings back a lot of real life memories of that time
Thanks for the links YogSothoth.
Agreed.
PBS just had an American Experience show about Leopold and Loeb, which predates the Lindbergh kidnapping by 12 years. It was an interesting examination of the media circus in 1924: Clarence Darrow’s last trial with a three-day rambling closing argument, allegations of homosexuality, testimony of “alienists” (as psychiatrists were known then), nonstop media coverage, the question of capital punishment of 19-year olds, spoiled rich kids thinking they could get away with murder, etc. The Leopold & Loeb episode made me think of many crime stories currently in the news (affluenza defense anyone?). It was supposedly the inspiration for Hitchcock’s Rope. The episode is available online; if you liked watching the OJ trial this might interest you as well.
It was also the basis of the 1959 film Compulsion, which *is *the Leopold & Loeb case but for some reason changed the names of the principals (Leopold & Loeb become Steiner & Straus). Orson Welles plays Clarence Darrow (also under an alias).
So is every episode going to have a vignette with the Kardashian children? :rolleyes:
I’ve seen “Rope” and there is DEFINITELY a homosexual subplot running through it.
Dream Team assembling! Plus another hilarious Kardashian cameo. Is it just me, or does the girl playing the older Kardashian, Kourtney I think, look exactly like her? I could believe she was an actual Kardashian daughter!
I almost forgot about Barry Scheck, that bowl haired, mousey looking guy with the DNA stuff. The way the defense decided how to attack the DNA by putting the LAPD on trial was brilliant, if not slimy. I remember the stat that the possibility it wasn’t OJ blood in the car or the glove was something like 1 in 8 billion, but then I also remember Dennis Fung fucking up the DNA and the handling of the evidence and Mark Fuhrman, so the defense did its job.
There were a couple of great lines that I’m trying to remember. One was Kardashian telling OJ they’ll get him out of jail…if you don’t deserve to be in here. The other was between Darden and Clark. He was telling her how she wouldn’t understand some aspect of the case, then pause, because she doesn’t get emotional in her cases. Like, we all thought he was going to say because she’s not black, that was a cool swerve.
Does anyone know if Cochran ever got a prank call like that? Who would have done it? He was famous in LA but not super world famous, and who would know enough about Cochran’s mind that they could prank him with a fake OJ call? But with so many other things about this case unbelievable but real, I could see something like this happening. It would totally fit the reality show nature of the whole spectacle
Another gem.
[QUOTE=Robert Cardovian]
We’re Kardashians. In this family being a loyal friend is more important than being famous. Fame is fleeting, hollow. It means nothing without a virtuous heart.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=jsc1953]
Travolta seems to be playing Robert Shapiro as a slightly swishy mortician.
[/QUOTE]
It is kind of weird when Nathan Lane is the butch one in a scene. 
I’m enjoying it more than I expected (except for Cuba) as well.
So far Darden is about the only remotely likable character, but that was true at the time as well.
The old joke was always that Cuba Gooding Jr cries in every movie he’s in, no matter how small the part. I’m starting to think he might keep the streak alive by crying in every single episode.
Wasn’t Cochran basically the LA version of Al Sharpton in terms of public perception?
One thing I forgot to point out: FX continues to push the envelope for basic cable standards. Outside of the occasional unedited midnight broadcast with tons of disclaimers, I believe this is the first basic cable show to say the word “fuck” out loud and unedited. Specifically, the very last scene when Marcia Clark says: “Jonnie Cochran…Motherfucker!”
I’m pretty sure that Louie (also on FX) used the word a season or two ago in one episode and they left it in. It’s unusual enough right now to be noticeable, but in a few years I’ll be surprised if it’s not commonplace on FX and possibly AMC shows.
IIRC, the FCC allowed AMC to air the word once a season for Breaking Bad. Perhaps that’s the rule now, past a certain hour?