Ryan Murphy Explains ‘American Crime Story’ Topic Selection Process
The People v. O.J. Simpson made for an appropriate first season of American Crime Story, though the second season’s focus on Katrina and subsequent topics expand the definition of “Crime Story.” Now, Ryan Murphy offers insight into how O.J., Katrina and Gianni Versace open up different conversations, and why we may never see the courtroom again.
We’d previously heard from Murphy and FX the unlikelihood of future American Crime Story seasons returning to either the O.J. story or courtroom drama; with Katrina providing the staunchest example of a broader “Crime Story.” Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy spoke to the different topics brought up by Katrina and Versace, which will air within six months of one another, starting in 2018:
I think with American Crime Story whenever we do a crime, it has to sort of have a social context to it. Like O.J. had sexism and racism and all of that stuff, and Versace-Cunanan has a huge amount of homophobia and celebrity worship — and why did that happen in that beginning of that culture? […]
[The U.S. government’s response to Katrina]‘s the true crime in my book. It’s a different way of looking at a crime but a crime nonetheless.
American Crime Story Season 2 will draw its Katrina inspiration from Douglas Brinkley’s The Great Deluge, also potentially expanding its run as 13-15 episodes. Sarah Paulson is confirmed to return, but few others just yet.
Season 3 will follow the July 1997 murder of Gianni Versace by Andrew Cunanan, who committed suicide eight days later as police closed in. Its first two episodes written by Tom Rob Smith, the season will be based on Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favors. Despite prior reports, Lady Gaga will not be playing Donatella Versace.
Murphy didn’t comment on a potential fourth season based on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but will future American Crime Story seasons prove so effective as the first?