by Diana Vaccarelli
Twenty years later and the OJ Simpson trial still fascinates so many. Executive Producer Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee, Nip/Tuck, and American Horror Story, decided to produce a series based on Jeffrey Toobins book The Run of His Life. The show starts at the murder scene and continues through the trial.
THE GOOD:
- The best part of this series is the acting. Everyone fits their roles perfectly. John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, and Cuba Gooding Jr. as OJ Simpson. Each actor gives the viewer the most poignant performance. It is almost like watching the trial all over again.
- The cinematography by Nelson Cragg is nothing short of brilliant. The colors and the scenery bring you into the scene.
- The writing makes the characters come alive. We experience the emotional toll that the case has on them all…and, man, is there ever a toll.
THE BAD:
Shonda Rhimes is quite possibly the hardest-working person in show business. Since 2007, she has never not had at least two full-length network television series for which she was both executive producer and show runner (i.e. the person responsible for not just the overall scope of a show, but also the one actually writing most of it, too). For a brief period, she had three: Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 12th season, Scandal, in its fifth, and Private Practice, which ended in 2013.
by Erik Adams, Les Chappell, Danette Chavez & Noel Murray