This happens, but so rarely.
The bottom line is FX sent along six episodes of "The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story," which I found as impossible to stop watching as I did the original White Bronco Chase and the run-up to the verdict.
It's easily my favorite Ryan Murphy TV series and, in truth, the only project besides Murphy’s TV movie “The Normal Heart” that I would ever recommend to anyone.
But recommend I do, and most enthusiastically.
While Murphy’s “American Horror Story” tells only fictional tales, the first season of Murphy’s “American Crime Story,” launching tonight, is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s nonfiction book “The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson.”
At least three hours of the 10-hour miniseries were directed by Murphy (“Popular,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Glee,” “Eat Pray Love,” “The Normal Heart,” “Scream Queens”) and parts were written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (“Problem Child,” “Problem Child 2,” “Ed Wood,” “That Darn Cat,” “The People Vs. Larry Flynt,” “Man on The Moon,” “Screwed,” “Agent Cody Banks," "Big Eyes”).
“Big Eyes” notwithstanding, Alexander and Karaszewski have proven much sharper when they’re adapting history books than when they’re forging terrible big-screen sitcoms, and they and their team of “O.J.” writers appear to leave no interesting detail of Toobin’s tome offscreen.
Defense attorney Johnny Cochrane mentored prosecuting attorney Chris Darden? Kris Jenner was best pals with Nicole Simpson and hated that her ex was organizing O.J.’s defense team? Johnny Cochrane essentially hijacked Robert Shapiro’s legal team while Shapiro was vacationing? Did I know these things 22 years ago and merely forgot?
Just as future LegalZoom pitchman Shapiro assembled a team of name lawyers to defend his former Hertz pitchman client, so has FX ponied up for an adept, eye-opening cast:
Gil Garcetti: Bruce Greenwood
Barry Scheck: Rob Morrow
F. Lee Bailey: Nathan Lane
Alan Dershowitz: Evan Handler
Mark Fuhrman: Steven Pasquale
Faye Resnick: Connie Britton
Kris Jenner: Selma Blair
Robert Kardashian: David Schwimmer
Kim Kardashian: Veronica Galvez
Kourtney Kardashian: Isabella Balbi
Robert Shapiro: John Travolta
Linell Shapiro: Cheryl Ladd
Chis Darden: Sterling K. Brown.
Lance Ito: Kenneth Choi
Kato Kaelin: Billy Magnussen
Marcia Clark: Sarah Paulson
Johnny Cochran: Courtney B. Vance
Dominick Dunne: Robert Morse
Fred Goldman: Joseph Siravo
Kim Goldman: Jessica Blair Herman
Jeffrey Toobin: Chris Connor
Tom Lange: Chris Bauer
Phil Van Atter: Michael McGrady
Eddie Brittain: Michael Graham
Paula Barbieri: Angie Patterson
AC Cowlings: Malcolm Jamal Warner
Jill Shively: Romy Rosemont
Howard Weitzman: Ken Lerner
Ron Goldman: Jake Koeppl
Nicole Brown Simpson: Kelly Dowdle
Travolta’a Shapiro make-up makes him look way too much like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the casting that strikes me as most awkward might be Cuba Gooding Jr., who brings a lot of charisma to the role of O.J., but always strikes me as too small and too squeaky to play the hulking, baritone Simpson. (My own choice would have been “Star Trek” icon Michael Dorn. I also would have tested Simpson lookalike Lenny Kravitz.)
As with “American Horror Story,” each season of “American Crime Story” will feature an all-new set of characters (possibly played by these same actors!).
… It’s so artfully reliant on multiple viewpoints that those who believe Simpson should have gone to jail will get what they want. So will those who believe he is innocent (Gooding’s performance goes a long way here) or at least was rightfully acquitted. …
… because [Ryan Murphy is] not the lead writer, the series is able to largely avoid the tonal whiplash that's baked into Glee, Scream Queens, et al. … The performances by Paulson, Brown, and Vance are all spectacular, taking three individuals who had long been rendered caricatures and making them achingly, complicatedly human. … With Murphy attached, I feared The People v. O.J. would continue treating the story as a joke. But the treatment is serious, thoughtful, and an introductory triumph for this American Crime Story franchise. …
... absorbing, infuriating and, yes, thoroughly entertaining. …
... very good and even powerfully thoughtful …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... The enduring notoriety of the Simpson case and memories of the live courtroom broadcasts are enough to hook viewers regardless of the problems with the series. Some of the problems are minor, others we can sweep under the rug as the show progresses, one is unfortunately insurmountable [casting John Travolta as Robert Shapiro]. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... proves itself deeply engrossing and surprisingly entertaining, even though many viewers will know almost every beat of the story. …
... thanks to a stellar cast — including John Travolta in a rare TV role, Sarah Paulson (“American Horror Story”), David Schwimmer (“Friends”) and Academy Award-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Jerry Maguire”) — terrific writing and direction, the trial of the last century becomes the most engrossing miniseries of the new year. …
... a superior effort, a successful attempt both to vividly re-create the original case and to intelligently reframe it from a more knowing 2016 perspective. …
... tightly written, sometimes stunningly performed … a crackling good courtroom drama that fiction can only envy. … while this may be the finest work Murphy has ever done, as with any project from this gifted but undisciplined producer, any recommendation comes with a warning that the hours we’ve yet to see could slide off the rails. Or they could all hold together, and forge not just a great series, but an important one. Let's hope that's the final verdict.
... Though the verdict polarized the country, most will agree on the merits of The People v. O.J. Simpson as terrific TV. …
... often feels like an elaborate stunt, but still ekes out ample nuance, humanity and humor, despite a couple clunky performances that threaten to spin the series into the realm of camp. …
... Arresting from the get-go, the performances in this limited series are almost uniformly superb (with one glaring exception), and dealing with a true story imposes a level of discipline and restraint on producer Ryan Murphy and his collaborators that’s become a rarity in his other shows. Although “People v. O.J.” commits a few minor fumbles, almost everyone here has acquitted themselves honorably, in roles that, for the most part, fit them like a glove. …
10 p.m. Tuesday. FX.
