The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story -- FX series

Did any one watch the premier of this series last night (Tuesday, 2/2/16) on the FX channel? I would surely like to hear some thoughts and reviews.

Back at that time, I really only followed what was shown during the actual court case -- I really didn't know that much about the personal lives and backgrounds of many of the folks involved in the case.

The series is based on the book by Jeffrey Toobin titled The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson. Has anyone hear read this book? I have not... yet.

 

Didn't watch the show, but OJ is guilty.

To quote Bob Dylan, I don't need a weatherman to tell me which way the wind blows

 

I don't care for these types of entertainment based re-prosecutions of real cases - they always have an angle they're trying to sell, whether or not it coincides with one's particular opinion.

 

I watched it when it happened. I was out of work during the trial and I don't recall ever sitting down and watching the trial while it happened.

 

Wait! You just said you watched it when it happened and then you said you didn't. Which one is it?

 

I watched it. I thought it was pretty corny, especially the gratuitous scene at the funeral where they just had to show the Kardashian girls. Not one of Travolta's greatest performances. The real O.J. "the guilty murderer" Simpson was a lot more charming than this guy. Well, except for when he almost decapitated Nicole.
I know I should know the name of the actor portraying Simpson but it just slips my mind right now.

 

I think the first episode was phenomenal. I told my wife last night that I didn't really want to relive the whole thing but that she should watch it. I was 30 then, she was 12 and although she remembers it, I thought it might be good for her to get an understanding of just how much of an impact the event had on our cultural lives. Anyway, decided this morning to give it a shot and was really blown away by the performances and the sense of tension it managed to create even though it's dealing with events we all watched unfold live. The people involved in the case- detectives, police, forensic experts, lawyers, friends were all very well portrayed. Courtney Vance as Johnny Cochran does a particularly good job as does Sarah Paulsen portraying Marcia Clarke. Was also very impressed with Cuba Gooding Jr. and, yes, even Travolta. I'll definitely keep watching.

 

I recorded this.

I'm disappointed to see in your post this is by Jeffrey Toobin. Whenever I see him on CNN, I think he comes off as much less smarter than he thinks he is.

But, I will give it a try. I know all about this. I was working at an all news radio station when the trial took place and we broadcast every minute of CBS radio coverage. It was the highest rated event we ever aired.

 

And the world's most famous Low Speed Chase to boot.

 

Cuba Gooding Jr - I have trouble imagining him as OJ. Curious to check this out on demand at some point, but not that high on my list.

 

I was skeptical too but he really manages to capture Simpson's mixture of likability and extreme narcissism.

 

Isn't he like a foot shorter than OJ?

I remember this all too well and thought it was a miscarriage of justice at the time sold on Oj's charm and fame. Tragic waste of talent, life and a really really stupid thing to do as it continues to --justifiably-- haunt OJ to day and, unfortunately, also haunts Nicole's family as well because of the horrible outcome of the trial.

Sometimes justice stands for unjust especially when it comes to celebrities.

 

Finding it quite watchable .

 

I just learned about this from this thread.

I watched the trial as it happened back in the 90s. I really have no interest in seeing a re-enactment of it now, based on some lawyer's perspective.

What's the point in the backgrounds of the players? The trial happened, a verdict was reached, and he was found "not guilty". I'm not going to get into a personal opinion about whether he did the crime or not because we have had threads locked when that happened.

 

I'm going to wait for the upcoming 30 for 30 series: OJ Simpson: Made in America. It covers his life, not just the trial.

 

Exactly....You couldn't avoid it. it was on the local news. It was in the papers. I didn't sit all day long in front of my tv watching it.
I lived in LA and was downtown and saw the idiots out there selling t-shirts in front of the courthouse "The juice is loose tv shirts"
I even read a new yorker article on how Marsha Clark was WINNING the case (you either win or lose)
I was out of work the first year I was in LA and I was focused on getting a job. There was a lot of noise about the trial and I don't want to watch a tv movie reliving it.

 

I appreciate all the responses here... especially from those who watched the first episode.

I know outlooks and mindsets differ, but even though I was indeed old enough to follow and keep up with the trial at the time, I feel the trial itself and its outcome have had far-reaching repercussions -- involving race, celebrity, justice, wealth -- that are felt throughout the culture of the US well into the 21st century.

I find the case and its aftereffects historic, so I'm always interested in new perspectives or information.

I'm not looking for this little TV miniseries to change anyone's cut and dry answer to whether OJ is guilty or not -- I really don't think that's the intention of the show.

 

I definitely plan to watch it!

At the time I watched the 'car chase' live while I was at this place called Lost Weekend in West Palm Beach. I was playing pool and drinking beers and shaking my head at the craziness of it all.

Then I had a job at a golf course that was actually closed that summer of the trial. All I could do was sit around and watch tv and maybe sell a bucket of balls to the customers who would come in to use the driving range. Anyway as it turns out the pros at this course knew OJ. They had pictures of them all together. They were totally rooting for him. I was completely stunned by that trial. It was so bizarre. And I saw WAY too much of that trial. And lots of episodes of I Dream of Jeanie and Bewitched too.

The day the verdict was read I was in the waiting room of the Oprah Winfrey show in Chicago. They held the show I was supposed to be in the audience for because they were doing the OJ verdict episode first. When it was read, half the room was completely elated! The other half was completely shocked and disappointed. It was completely on racial lines too.

What an experience.

 

I am guessing he will be seated for most of it. They can give him a booster seat if too many people complain.

 

It came up in discussions at work quite a bit back then. I didn't really follow it except from what I heard from my co-workers. Some of them were really into it, which was surprising for a bunch of 50-ish guys - I was only in my mid 20s.

 

I watched some of it and I find it rubbish. I didn't notice if Ross was in the first episode. Was he already there?

 

I recorded it last night but haven't seen it. I'll give it a shot.

 

I watched it and was a bit disappointed after hearing about how great it was. I think Cuba Gooding Jr. is miscast and liked Travolta even if his performance is a bit, uh, eccentric. Ross from Friends with the skunk stripe in his hair looks like he walked out of a SNL skit.

I worked at Court TV and ABC News during the trial + worked on A&E's OJ "Biography" so you can guess I am plenty sick of it even 20 years later. It was the ground zero of all the celebridiot culture we have today. People like Kato Kaelin and Faye Resnick were reality stars before there were reality stars.

 

I thought it was very good but the Kardashian kids bit was dumb. I don't think Cuba Gooding Jr. looked or acted remotely like OJ, though.

 

And now more than 20 years later, Resnick still pops up on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.