The sorrow and the pity of O.J. Simpson
It has taken more than two decades for our pop culture to return to the O.J. Simpson trial. But now that we have, we can’t get enough. FX will spend the day airing a repeat marathon of its excellent miniseries “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (1 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday). ABC airs the first two hours of “O.J.: Made in America” (8 p.m. Saturday, WATN-TV Channel 24), an eight-hour “30 for 30” effort that will continue on ESPN on June 14.
A hit at the Sundance Film Festival and already deemed a masterpiece by film critics, “O.J.” explores more than the infamous 1994 murder and subsequent trial.
It looks at Simpson as a pivotal figure in the history of American race relations, a football superstar who arrived just as the sport began to dominate television and who was a friendly, noncontroversial black man widely accepted by white sports fans in the late 1960s, a time of riots, civil unrest and racial tensions. At the time, football fans, as well as movie, television and advertising audiences, insisted that they didn’t see “race” when they looked at O.J. Simpson.
Add ABC/ESPN’s “O.J” to HBO’s “The Jinx” and Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” — we are living in the golden age of the documentary miniseries.
AMC launches the eighthour docuseries “The American West” (9 p.m. Saturday). The “history” consists of cinematic reenactments of oft-told stories involving Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, etc. Along the way we get “expert” commentary from Hollywood stars, including Tom Selleck and Kiefer Sutherland, who played cowboys and outlaws in well-known Western movies, as well as real historians dressed up in suitably Western regalia, whose observations have been whittled down to trite sound bites.
James Corden hosts the 70th annual Tony Awards (7 p.m. Sunday, WREGTV Channel 3). The proceedings are sure to be dominated by the musical “Hamilton,” a rather rare combination of being a thoughtful, innovative and highly respected work as well as the hottest theater ticket in town.
“The Walking Dead” is such a big and dependable hit for AMC that you can understand why the network has created the spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead.”
Now “Dead” star Norman Reedus gets his own six-episode series, “Ride With Norman Reedus” (9 p.m. Sunday, AMC).
On “Ride,” Reedus gets to explore gorgeous scenery on really cool motorcycles while talking about himself (and his really cool acting job!) and meeting biker aficionados and chopper builders and designers.