Shadow of ‘O.J. Simpson’ looms large at Emmys
Drama about trial set to sweep awards
LOS ANGELES, Sept 17, (AFP): O.J. Simpson’s fall from grace became a defining tale of American life — a story not just of a murder but of race, the media and celebrity in modern culture.
Two decades after the unforgettable climax of the “Trial of the Century,” it continues to polarize and seduce TV viewers, with an acclaimed documentary released this year and a drama about the trial set to sweep the Emmys.
The 10-part “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” premiered on FX in February, offering a dramatized behind-the-scenes look at how he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Exploiting a growing obsession with true-life crime mysteries, the show pulled in six to eight million viewers each week, with Simpson readying for release next year after being jailed for nine years in an unrelated robbery case.
It was nominated for nine Creative Emmy Awards — four of which it won — and is the most nominated show at television’s prestigious annual Primetime Emmys on Sunday, with a chance of winning 13 statuettes.
The series focuses on the white female prosecutor convinced of Simpson’s guilt and the star’s so-called “Dream Team” of lawyers that persuaded the predominantly black jury of reasonable doubt in the 1995 trial.
“I’ve never seen a phenomenon like that, when one crime fascinates America for so long. It’s really compelling,” said Tom Nunan, a former network boss who now teaches at UCLA’s School of Theater Film and Television.
The show’s Emmys recognition comes with American audiences feasting on a flood of true-crime series revisiting apparent miscarriages of justice.
Netflix has announced a second season of its headline-grabbing “Making a Murderer” while September sees the broadcast of no fewer than three documentaries about the 1996 killing of six-year-old pageant star JonBenet Ramsey.
Meanwhile, Disney-owned ABC has commissioned a pilot for “The Jury,” described as a cross between 1957 courtroom drama “12 Angry Men” and NPR’s record-breaking investigative podcast “Serial,” which is credited with starting the trend.
But the Simpson case was the biggest of them all, says Nunan, combining celebrity, murder, race and wall-to-wall TV coverage in one of the biggest reality spectacles in history.
The saga is even credited with paving the way for modern reality TV shows following the likes of Kim Kardashian, whose father, attorney Robert Kardashian, is played by David Schwimmer in “The People v. O.J Simpson.”
“I’m not aware of any American crime story that has drawn this degree of scrutiny, of dramatization. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Broadway or another adaptation, because our fascination seems to be endless,” Nunan said.
There were various dramatizations nearer the time of the trial, including Fox’s 1995 TV movie “The O.J. Simpson Story” and the CBS miniseries “American Tragedy” in 2000, but none had the impact of this year’s TV offerings.
ESPN’s award-winning “30 for 30” strand made the story the subject of a five-part documentary, “O.J.: Made in America,” in June which went meticulously into the background of the case.
Drawing upon more than 70 interviews from detectives as well as friends and colleagues of Simpson and other observers connected to the case, it attempted to uncover powerful truths about race and culture in modern America.