Shadow of ‘O.J. Simpson’ looms large at Emmys
LOS ANGELES: 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 polarise 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 behindthe-scenes look at how he was acquitted of murdering his exwife 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 Theatre Film and Television.
Wall-to-wall coverage
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 headlinegrabbing “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 recordbreaking 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.