American Crime Story

Watch: American Crime Story Season 1 Episode 1

S1 EP1

TV-MA

29 episodes3 seasons

US Release

~ You don’t know the whole story. ~

Overview:

An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminal investigations.

Created by:

Larry Karaszewski & Scott Alexander & Tom Rob Smith & Sarah Burgess

Status:

Ended

Language:

English

First air date:

2/2/2016

Last air date:

11/9/2021

Key words:

police
based on true story
anthology
lawyer
criminal
crime investigation
criminal law

Seasons

Specials

1 Episodes

The People v. O.J. Simpson

10 Episodes

The Assassination of Gianni Versace

9 Episodes

Impeachment

10 Episodes

Cast

Sarah Paulson

~ as ~

Linda Tripp and 1 more

Annaleigh Ashford

~ as ~

Paula Jones and 1 more

Sterling K. Brown

~ as ~

Christopher Darden

Kenneth Choi

~ as ~

Lance Ito

Beanie Feldstein

~ as ~

Monica Lewinsky

Christian Clemenson

~ as ~

Bill Hodgman

Cuba Gooding Jr.

~ as ~

O. J. Simpson

Margo Martindale

~ as ~

Lucianne Goldberg

Bruce Greenwood

~ as ~

Gil Garcetti

Edie Falco

~ as ~

Hillary Clinton

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

Stephen Campbell
Written 6 year(s) ago
8
Thoughts on 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace'

There has been so much written and said about the murder, and thousands of suppositions, but not a trace of reality.
- Antonio D'Amico; ""My life was torn in two when Gianni was shot": Versace's lover breaks silence" (Angela Giuffrida); The Observer (July 30, 2017)
Telling the story of the murder of Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramírez) at the hands of Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), what's especially interesting about this season of American Crime Story is the narrative structure. The opening scene of the first episode sees the murder, and the show then goes backwards, with each episode set earlier than the previous one, an achronological structure that unifies form and content; this isn't about a murder, it's about how Cunanan became a serial killer.

Within this, the show deals with two interrelated issues; 1) the concept that one must work hard to be successful, and 2) the desire to be remembered. Cunanan is obsessed with the second, but unwilling to acknowledge the first, despite his conviction of his own greatness. His attitude is nicely critiqued by Versace himself ("Life isn't about convincing people you can do great things. It's about doing them"), and the last shot masterfully encapsulates much of Cunanan's deepest existential fears. For all that, however, the season is good, but not great. The last two episodes are far and away the strongest, especially Jon Jon Briones's appearance as Modesto, Cunanan's detestable father, but, overall, it isn't a patch on The People v. O.J. Simpson.