MUMBAI: Ryan Murphy, the name synonymous with creativity, has created some of the most popular shows on television. From the hit series Glee to his provocative American horror story anthology, Murphy has consistently broached the entertainment industry with needles of innovation and now he is back with yet another anthology series American Crime Story. The extravagant show maker who has designed the series in a way to tell one true story per season has managed to find drama for its first instalment in one of the most publicised criminal trials in the history of crime – The O.J. Simpson murder trial. Titled The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, the show that has been one of the most anticipated on global television, premieres in India this Monday, 8 February 2016 at 10 pm only on Star World Premiere HD – the channel that is tantamount to day and date television.
With its mix of race, gender, celebrity status and politics, the OJ Simpson trial gripped America in 1995 and 20 years after the verdict, Ryan Murphy’s 10 part series revisits and unfolds the events of the eight-month criminal trial wherein a famous basketball player and actor (O.J. Simpson) was accused of brutally killing his wife (Nicole Brown Simpson) and her friend (Ronald Goldman). The case that started off as a high profile celebrity case quickly went on to become famous with a magnitude that affected the American economy greatly costing the nation an estimated $480 million in loss output on the day of the verdict. The series focuses on exploring the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and manoeuvring on both sides of the court, and how a combination of prosecution overconfidence, defence shrewdness and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt.
The show has a power-packed all-ensemble cast including Cuba Gooding Jr. (O.J. Simpson), John Travolta (O.J.’s defence attorney Robert Shapiro), David Schwimmer (O.J.’s loyal friend and attorney Robert Kardashian), Sarah Paulson (Head Prosecutor Marcia Clark), Courtney B. Vance (American lawyer and lead for the defense team for O.J. Johnnie Cochran) and Selma Blair (the murdered Nicole’s close friend and Robert Kardashian’s ex-wife Kris Jenner) all in lead roles on the show.
Speaking of making a show based on a real-life story that tapped into America’s ugliest obsessions – race, sex, drugs, money, fame, Ryan Murphy stated, “There was some people involved who did not want to speak to us, and they wanted no involvement with us, and there were some who were, and there were some who wanted involvement that we did not go after.”
O.J. Simpson continues to be one of the most famous celebrities of all time – it is debatable whether he is a basketball player, an actor or a criminal celebrity simply popular for his presence across all crime tabloids that ever existed. From being heralded as the trial of the century 20 years back, its television counterpart is all set to mark its premiere this Monday, February 8 at 10 pm on Star World Premiere HD in a bid to becoming a television event in itself, 20 years later in 2016.
