“American Crime Story: The People VS OJ Simpson” Grips Nation 20 Years Later

The OJ Simpson trial was THE crime story/news story of my childhood.  I can remember no bigger news event or media circus than this.  In that respect, I'm surprised it's taken 20 years for something like this to actually materialize.  However, American Crime Story: The People VS. OJ Simpson at least seems to get it right.  Here is what I think about the FX show after a few episodes/midway through the season.

What will jump out at you first is the top-notch casting.  Not only do the actors resemble their real life 1995 counterparts, but they spared no expense.  The cast is A-list all the way, featuring Cuba Gooding, Jr. as OJ Simpson, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, Nathan Lane as F. Lee Baily, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, as well as many other recognizable faces.

The screenplay does a decent job of hitting all of the major plot points of the real case 20+ years ago.  I hate to describe a show chronicling the real-life double homicide of two innocent victims as "fun," but I do find the revisiting to be an oddly good time.  It makes you think about where you were 20-some years ago when the huge events like the police chase happened.

I have mostly positive things to say about American Crime Story: The People VS. OJ Simpson, but there is ONE thing that ALWAYS jumps out at me as incredibly stupid EVERY time it happens (which is way too frequently).  Far too often the show references major player Robert Kardashian's pre-teen children, whom you probably know to be Kim, Kortney, and Khloe.  If you DON'T know them, prepare yourself, because you WILL know them!  You would think by how much screen-time they get and how often they reference the young children that they were a key component to OJ's defense team and eventual acquittal!  Oh yeah, spoiler alert:  The Juice, or "Uncle Juice" as Kim Kardashian calls him, is found not guilty.  Anytime the future-reality stars (or whatever we call them now) are referenced, it is so corny and lame!

The interesting part of the story, though, is not necessarily the verdict as much as how they got there.  The show airs Tuesday nights on FX.  Since it's on FX, you can expect an unnecessary amount of curse words, although I haven't yet seen any over-the-top violence/gore or sexuality, which FX is notorious for.