American Crime Story

American Crime Story is an anthology series about true crime, part of the American Story franchise. It focuses on real-life cases that have become infamous in the United States. While the show airs on FX, one can also watch it on Hulu.

The show premiered in 2016 with season one covering the O.J. Simpson trial. Season two recreating fashion designer Gianni Versace's murder, and season three talking about Monica Lewinsky's affair with President Bill Clinton. After a brief hiatus following season three in 2021, the show's fourth season is in development and scheduled to release in 2024.

Tropes used in American Crime Story include:

Season 1: The People vs. OJ Simpson

Alternative Character Interpretation: In-universe, the police, prosecution and defense debate this about O.J. Simpson. While he has a record of domestic abuse and a bad temper, he's also perfectly civil to his neighbors and dotes on his kids. One police officer even says he can't imagine the "Juice" committing murder, and Robert Kardashian says the same thing.
Bait and Switch: Chris Darden leaves for a long weekend to visit his dad, just as O.J. flees from his arraignment. He just found out about the chase and his dad mentions it was a "hell of a time to leave town". Turns out Chris's dad was talking about Arnold Palmer's last golf tournament.
Black and Grey Morality: No one in this series thinks they are the bad guy or villain. Indeed, Marcia Clark and Chris Darden are determined to bring a wealthy murderer to justice, while Johnnie Cochran wants to defy the system which profiles and kills innocent black folks. Robert Kardashian is caught between the middle of wanting to defend his friend, and facing the all-too-possible reality that O.J. did kill Nicole. While the defense team does use underhanded tactics to influence the jury and takes the angle of race, they are also doing their job as a defense lawyer.
Broken Pedestal:
- Chris Darden truly respects Johnnie Cochran, who encourages him not to leave the L.A. courts and keep changing the system on the inside. Over the course of the trial, he becomes disgusted with how Cochran keeps turning the trial into a "media circus" in the name of seeking justice for black victims of police brutality, and slandering him as a Category Traitor. In the end, he tells Cochran, who applauds him for doing his job as prosecutor that getting O.J. acquitted isn't a Civil Rights victory; it's proving that a black man can get away with a crime if he's rich and lives in Brentwood.
- Robert Kardashian believes that his friend O.J. is innocent and that someone else killed Nicole. Over the course of the trial, he comes to realize that O.J. is the most likely suspect, especially when O.J. admits during a mock cross-examination that the domestic abuse allegations are true.
Character Witness: Deconstructed in how people view O.J. Simpson after the murders:
- Robert keeps vouching for O.J. because he has known the guy for years. The man, he insists, is not a killer. It comes back to bite him when O.J. admits the domestic abuse allegations are true.
- Inverted when Nicole's friends, including Kris Jenner, talk about how they saw O.J.'s temper, and how he beat up Nicole. Both shoot a Death Glare at O.J. when he shows up to Nicole's funeral to pay his respects.
Everyone Has Standards:
- Despite the way that Cochran slanders Darden throughout the trial, he continually emphasizes that Darden is just doing his job and doesn't hate him personally. In fact, the series starts with him encouraging Darden not to quit SILA despite Darden hating the work owing to the injustices he sees, because someone needs to change the system.
- Bob Shapiro is an Amoral Attorney who will use his clients and connections to win or get plea bargains. He is visibly frustrated when O.J. not only flees before he's supposed to turn himself in, but signs his Suicide Note with a smiley face.
Foregone Conclusion: Like in real life, O.J. Simpson gets acquitted of murder, no matter how hard the prosecutors fight.
Heroic Dog: While he was too late to save Nicole and Ron, her Shiba Inu runs to get help from a neighbor walking his dog and leading him to the crime scene.
Irony:
- The one time the LAPD actually does due diligence and treats a black man without brutality or planted evidence, they get accused of systematic racism. As the pilot shows, they didn't even consider O.J. as a suspect until seeing the blood trail at his house and were notifying him of Nicole's death as a family member.
- Johnnie Cochran tells Chris Darden that when the law fails victims of crime, money is the answer, as in civil lawsuits. It turns out that Ron Goldman's family does just that, bankrupting Cochran's client O.J. Simpson to get justice for their son's death.
It's All About Me: While his family and friends are trying to give him support and smuggle fast food into the house past the cops, press and crowds, O.J. is ranting about the fact that he was shown handcuffed on television, that the "Juice" should never be in cuffs. He only stops when his younger kids, Sydney and Justin, arrive home.
Pet the Dog: O.J. is ranting about the shot of him being handcuffed featured on the nightly news and yelling at his friends and family alike. Then his kids come home, both looking shaken. He immediately stops and hugs them, promising "Daddy" will fix this.
Shamed by a Mob: O.J.'s neighbors shun him after the murder trial. Not helping is one of them found the body and several testified about his erratic behavior the night Nicole and Ron died. Those that show up to his party are strangers looking to capitalize on his fame.
Shrine to the Fallen: Nicole's neighbors make a tree into a shrine for her to honor her memory.
Spanner in the Works: Both to the murder itself and the prosecution.
- A neighbor sees Nicole's Shiba Inu and checks it for injuries after seeing blood on its paws. The Shiba Inu leads him to Nicole and Ron's bodies, meaning that the police were called way sooner than they might have been considering it was nighttime.
- O.J.'s roommate Kato shows the rattling air conditioner to the cops, wondering if it was an earthquake. That's where the cops find the glove matching the one near Nicole and Ron's bodies, and they start to realize that Nicole's ex-husband is a viable suspect.
Stupid Crooks: Deconstructed with O.J. Simpson. As Marcia Clark and the prosecution point out, there is an orgy of circumstantial evidence that proves O.J. killed Nicole; the trail of blood in his yard and the fact that he left the bodies out for the neighbors to see is enough for the neighbors to believe he's guilty. The problem is that when his trial goes from a condemnation of domestic violence to an exploration of racism in the LAPD system, he is able to escape a guilty verdict.
Tempting Fate: Marcia and the prosecution are convinced they have a slam-dunk murder case, especially when the blood found at the scene and in the car test positive for O.J. Simpson. Johnnie Cochran himself tells his wife he wouldn't take the case voluntarily unless O.J. personally asked for him. But then O.J. does hire Cochran... and the tide turns.
This Is Reality: Against the advice of his lawyer Howard, O.J. allowed the police to question him alone at the station to prove he had "nothing to hide". His friend Robert tells O.J. quite bluntly that such a decision was stupid, and he needs a new lawyer.

Season 2: The Assassination of Gianni Versace

Season 3: Impeachment

Morton's Fork: Hillary spells this out during her fight with Bill; now that she stood by him despite his affair coming out, she loses if she leaves or stays. It's a no-win situation that she'll either be seen as weak or as a woman that doesn't value her family.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- Hillary tears Bill a new one for lying about not having an affair, after she stuck out her neck for him. They were supposed to be a team, and he betrayed her in the worst way possible. As she put it, he humiliated her in both their personal and professional lives, with no thought how it would affect their girls.
- Deconstructed with how Ken Starr and the world views Monica regarding her affair with the president. She admits that she's not blameless when testifying in front of the Grand Jury, but the series reveals that Bill has a pattern of using his power to cheat on Hillary and get away with it .
What Were You Thinking?: The Grand Jury questioning Monica about keeping the dress with semen on it implies this. She talks about how she tends to store her clothes for dry-cleaning in the closet before sending it out but admits she's rambling.
Your Cheating Heart: The crux of this story, about Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and the consequences.