FX Networks revealed some fairly significant details regarding upcoming projects today. First, just when you thought Ryan Murphy’s attention shifted fully to Netflix (outside of the American Horror Story franchise of course), the American Crime Story series released an official announcement on Season 3. Previously, a season focused on Katrina had been tipped to follow the award-winning OJ Simpson and Versace seasons. However, earlier in the summer, FX revealed they were dropping Katrina when Murphy and team couldn’t crack the script.
Now, a long-rumored season focusing on the 90s-era Clinton/Lewinsky scandal is officially announced. Impeachment: American Crime Story will premiere September 27, 2020 – right in the heat of the 2020 election cycle. Now, whether or not that’s a good idea remains to be seen (it’s probably not), but at least we have confirmed details.
Here’s the official press release from FX:
BEVERLY HILLS, August 6, 2019 – FX’s award-winning and critically acclaimed hit limited series franchise American Crime Story will return next year with its third installment,Impeachment: American Crime Story, it was announced today by John Landgraf, Chairman, FX Networks and FX Productions.
Production of the series from Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Production begins in February and it will premiere on Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on FX.
Written by Sarah Burgess, Impeachment: American Crime Story unravels the national scandal that swept up Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp as principal characters in the country’s first impeachment proceedings in over a century.
“FX’s American Crime Story franchise has become a cultural touchstone, providing greater context for stories that deserve greater understanding like the O.J. Simpson trial and saga, and Andrew Cunanan’s tragic crime spree which concluded with the assassination of Gianni Versace,” said Landgraf. “This franchise re-examines some of the most complicated, polarizing stories in recent history in a way that is relevant, nuanced and entertaining.
“Impeachment: American Crime Story will likewise explore the overlooked dimensions of the women who found themselves caught up in the scandal and political war that cast a long shadow over the Clinton Presidency. We are grateful to Sarah Burgess for her brilliant adaptation, as well as Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Alexis Martin Woodall, Sarah Paulson and the rest of the creative team and cast.”
Impeachment: American Crime Story features a stellar cast starring Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky, andAnnaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones.
The third installment will be written by Sarah Burgess who is also Executive Producer alongside Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander. Alexis Martin Woodall and Sarah Paulson. Monica Lewinsky will serve as Producer. Henrietta Conrad and Jemima Kahn will also serve as producers. The limited series is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s bestselling book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President.
In other news, FX revealed photos from its upcoming limited series Mrs. America. Mrs. America tells the story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, played by Blanchett. Through the eyes of the women of that era – both Schlafly and second wave feminists Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug and Jill Ruckelshaus – the series explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 70s helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted our political landscape.
Here’s the cast:
- Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly
- Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem
- Sarah Paulson as “Alice” (composite character)
- Margo Martindale as Bella Abzug
- Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm
- Elizabeth Banks as Jill Ruckelshaus
- Tracey Ullman as Betty Friedan
- John Slattery as Fred Schlafly
- James Marsden as Phil Crane
In addition to the header photo of Blanchett, here are a few photos of the cast. Stay tuned for this one (Blanchett’s Emmy play).
