History Series / AmericanCrimeStory

An additional fourth season [[AdoredByTheNetwork has already been greenlit as well]], dealing with President UsefulNotes/BillClinton's impeachment.

* A fourth season about President UsefulNotes/BillClinton's impeachment (TBA)

Its first season, ''[[Series/ThePeopleVOJSimpson The People v. O.J. Simpson]]'', covers the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial that spanned eleven months between 1994 and 1995. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Simpson himself, while the cast is rounded out by Creator/SarahPaulson as Marcia Clark, Creator/CourtneyBVance as Johnnie Cochran, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Creator/JohnTravolta as Robert Shapiro, Creator/DavidSchwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Selma Blair as Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian), Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey, and Billy Magnussen as Kato Kaelin.

A third season, ''Katrina'', was slated to follow ''The People v. O.J. Simpson'', but delayed due to production issues. Its cast includes Creator/AnnetteBening as Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco, Sarah Paulson as Dr. Anna Pou, Creator/MatthewBroderick as Matthew D. Brown, and Creator/DennisQuaid as President UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. It's scope was also narrowed to Memorial Medical Center, where the staff were left stranded for five days after the hirricane and left to care for hundreds of patients without electricity, ultimately deciding to euthanize many of the worst cases.

A third season, ''Katrina'', was slated to follow ''The People v. O.J. Simpson'', but delayed due to production issues. Its cast includes Creator/AnnetteBening as Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco, Sarah Paulson as Dr. Anna Pou, Creator/MatthewBroderick as Matthew D. Brown, and Creator/DennisQuaid as President UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush.

Its first season, ''[[Series/ThePeopleVOJSimpson The People v. O.J. Simpson]]'', covers the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial that spanned eleven months between 1994 and 1995. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Simpson himself, while the cast is rounded out by Creator/SarahPaulson as Marcia Clark, Creator/CourtneyBVance as Johnnie Cochran, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Creator/JohnTravolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Selma Blair as Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian), Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey, and Billy Magnussen as Kato Kaelin.

->''"Evidence doesn't win the day. Jurors go with the narrative that makes sense. We're here to tell a story. Our job is to tell that story better than the other side tells theirs."''
-->--'''Johnnie Cochran'''

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/american_crime_story_8.jpg]]

''American Crime Story'' is an Creator/{{FX}} {{true crime}} {{docudrama}} {{anthology}} series, exec. produced by Creator/RyanMurphy and Brad Falchuk -- the masterminds behind anthology sister shows ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' and ''Series/{{Scream Queens|2015}}''.

Much like ''American Horror Story'', each season of ''American Crime Story'' moving forward is intended to [[{{Dramatization}} dramatize]] a different [[BasedOnATrueStory real-life]] crime, using some (if not most) of the same cast members in different roles.

[[/index]]

Its second season, ''The Assassination of Gianni Versace'', is going to detail the murder of the legendary fashion designer committed by Andrew Cunanan in 1997. Edgar Ramirez stars as Versace, while other main cast members include Creator/PenelopeCruz as Donatella Versace, Creator/DarrenCriss as Cunanan, Max Greenfield as Ronnie, Ricky Martin as Antonio D'Amico, and Finn Wittrock as Jeffrey Trail.

* ''The Assassination of Gianni Versace'' (2018)

Its first season, ''[[Series/AmericanCrimeStoryThePeopleVOJSimpson The People v. O.J. Simpson]]'', covers the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial that spanned eleven months between 1994 and 1995. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Simpson himself, while the cast is rounded out by Creator/SarahPaulson as Marcia Clark, Creator/CourtneyBVance as Johnnie Cochran, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Creator/JohnTravolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Selma Blair as Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian), Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey, and Billy Magnussen as Kato Kaelin.

''American Crime Story'' is an Creator/{{FX}} {{true crime}} {{anthology}} series, exec. produced by Creator/RyanMurphy and Brad Falchuk -- the masterminds behind anthology sister shows ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' and ''Series/{{Scream Queens|2015}}''.

* ''ThePeopleVOJSimpson'' (2016)

* ''Series/AmericanCrimeStoryThePeopleVOJSimpson'' (2016)
* ''American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace'' (2018)
* ''American Crime Story: Katrina'' (TBD)

An additional fourth season [[AdoredByTheNetwork has already been greenlit as well]], dealing with President Creator/BillClinton's impeachment.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/american_crime_story.jpg]]

''American Crime Story'' is an Creator/{{FX}} {{true crime}} {{anthology}} series, exec. produced by Creator/RyanMurphy and Brad Falchuk -- the masterminds behind anthology sister shows ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' and ''Series/ScreamQueens2015''.

The first season, titled ''The People v. O.J. Simpson'', covers the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial that spanned eleven months between 1994 and 1995. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Simpson himself, while the cast is rounded out by Creator/SarahPaulson as Marcia Clark, Creator/CourtneyBVance as Johnnie Cochran, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Creator/JohnTravolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Selma Blair as Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian), Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey, and Billy Magnussen as Kato Kaelin.

A second season is going to detail the murder of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace committed by Andrew Cunanan in 1997, starring Creator/PenelopeCruz as Donatella Versace.

[[AdoredByTheNetwork It has already been renewed for a third season]], which is reportedly dealing with events in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. Both Gooding and Travolta have expressed interest in taking part (not as their season one roles, obviously). Creator/AnnetteBening will portray Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco. In addition, it a fourth season is in the making, detailing Bill Clinton's sex scandal during his tenure as President of the United States.

!! ''American Crime Story'' provides examples of:
* AbsenceOfEvidence: In Episode 7, Robert Kardashian reveals to AC Cowlings that he's run over the case again and again in his head, reminiscing about Nicole and finding what he could about Goldman. With all the information and media coverage about the case, it's deeply troubling to him that NO other credible suspect or theory has popped up in regard to who killed Ron and Nicole.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Johnnie Cochran is fond of this. In "Manna from Heaven", when he requests the Fuhrman tapes from a North Carolina judge, he says: "It is important, it is imperative, it is indispensable that we return them to California." The judge rebukes him for his "gratuitous alliteration".
* AllPeriodsArePMS: When Marcia buys tampons in a shop, the cashier jokes: “Guess the defense is in for one hell of a week, huh?” Marcia isn't amused.
* AmoralAttorney and RulesLawyer: The Dream Team consists of these, with two exceptions. The first is Robert Kardashian, who genuinely believes that O.J. is innocent and wants to help him because they are friends. Johnny Cochran is also this to some extent, in that he is also truly convinced O.J. is a falsely accused black man, but is totally willing to use every trick at his disposal in what he sees as the just cause of proving O.J. innocent.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
** While mostly praising Sarah Paulson's performance, Marcia Clark has said that, contrary to what the series shows, at no point did she ever suggest the death penalty for Simpson.
** While the show has many other minor departures and alterations from its source material, "The Run of His Life" by Jeffrey Toobin, one of the more major ones may very well be the portrayal of Robert Kardashian. The show depicts him as a well-meaning, slightly naive and [[ConflictingLoyalty morally conflicted]] [[TrueCompanions loyal friend]] of Simpson's, while Toobin in his book views Kardashian as a frantic, obsessive sycophant clinging to media attention out of envy for his ex-wife's Kris Jenner's success in the media. Of course, others have also taken issue with Toobin's book and argued that many of the details in his book are flat out wrong (including members of the prosecution team). The basics of Kardashian's character arc, coming to doubt Simpson's innocence during the trial and their friendship dissolving afterwards, are undoubtedly true. So this is one instance where the TV adaptation may actually be more true to real life than the source material was.
** Similarly, the portrayals of Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden are more sympathetic than in Toobin's book, as he paints the prosecutors as arrogant (Clark) and incompetent (Darden), whereas the show opts for a much more nuanced characterization of both.
** Cochran's comment about Faye Resnick's tell-all book being trash was made by Lou Brown, Nicole's father, who dismissed the book as "T-R-A-S-H".
** In "The Race Card", when the jury visits Simpson's house, some members are shown in his trophy room aweing at his accomplishments out loud. In reality the jury was specifically told not to speak at all and the trophy room was off limits for the tour.
** In the same episode, William Hodgman collapses in court of an apparent heart attack. In reality, Hodgman had complained of chest pains in a strategy session before the court appearance and was sent to the hospital as a precaution, where it was discovered it was actually a panic attack.
** At the end of "The Race Card", Mark Fuhrman is seen polishing Nazi medals and paraphernalia, backed to the Richard Wagner composition "Die Meistersinger" (which was frequently played in Nazi propaganda during World War II). In real life, although there were allegations made about Fuhrman owning Nazi medals, it was never proven in court and was dismissed as hearsay.
** Tracey Hampton is portrayed as faking a nervous breakdown in order to get out of jury duty. In reality, her repeated requests to be sent home were eventually granted by Judge Ito. However, she did have a nervous breakdown shortly after being released due to the media's harassment.
** Judge Ito is shown facepalming when he sees a TV parody of him. In real life Ito actually found the parodies of him very flattering. This may be shorthand for Ito's post-trial reluctance to engage with the media; to this day, he regularly refuses interviews and is one of the few major figures in the Simpson case not to write a book or memoir about it.
** The scene where Darden and Clark snap at Ito and the defense for turning the trial into a media circus actually did happen, but it occurred much earlier during testimony from a different detective. Also, Darden's outburst occurred during a sidebar discussion with Ito and Cochran rather than while he was actually questioning the witness.
** That said, the show exaggerates the behind-the-scenes tensions between the two legal teams for RuleOfDrama. There was real heat between Johnnie Cochran and Chris Darden (who, naturally, didn't appreciate the former's race-baiting), but Clark says that she mostly got along well with Cochran and the other defense attorneys even though she deplored their heavy-handed courtroom tactics. By Clark's account, she and Darden were far angrier with Judge Ito for not reining in the defense, blaming him in large part for the trial's outcome.
** Although "The Verdict" makes it seem as if the jury's four-hour deliberation happened in just one day (forcing the legal teams to cancel plans that they were en route to), it wasn't as fast in real life. The jury was dismissed after closing arguments on September 29, and were allowed to spend the weekend in their hotel. The jury started deliberations at 9 AM on October 2, and reached a verdict at 3 PM (four hours not counting re-listening to some testimony); Judge Ito then announced that the verdict would be read the following morning. So while the decision was, in fact, abnormally fast, it wasn't quite the dramatic turn-around fiasco that happened in the series.
** While Marcia Clark was raped, in real life it happened while she was in college in the U.S. (rather then when she was underage and in Italy like in the show) and she never pressed charges against her attacker out of fear.
** The Bill Clinton speech on race relations watched by Cochran and his law firm was actually given a year after the trial had finished and had nothing to do with the verdict.
** O.J.'s speech about him searching for the real killers was written by him, but read by his son as part of a press conference. O.J never said the speech himself.
** Contrary to what Darden in the show says, Marcia Clark had to put Fuhrman on the stand. While Fuhrman may not have been the one who entered the glove into evidence, he was the one who found it at the crime scene. If the prosecution didn't call him to testify, the defense would have.
** In one scene Johnnie Cochran gives an inspiring speech to OJ, mentioning a great game OJ had against the Atlanta Falcons in 1978, where OJ was so good it inspired Johnnie to continue practicing law. OJ remarks "Yeah, I even scored a touchdown in that game." Juice's real life stats for that game: five carries for 15 yards, and no touchdowns.
* AsYouKnow: Conversations during the preparation of the case involve retreading of terms and explicit explanations that a seasoned lawman would not require, for the expository benefit of the audience.
* AskAStupidQuestion: During the (in)famous White Bronco chase scene.
--> '''911 dispatcher:''' (over the phone) Is everything okay?
--> '''A.C. Cowlings:''' What kinda stupid-ass question is that?! NO, everything is ''not'' okay! Everything is terrible!
* BadassBoast: When Shapiro attempts to convince F. Lee Bailey that he should take the case ''pro bono'' in order to "reintroduce [him]self to the public," Bailey gives a beautiful response:
-->"I don't need reintroducing. I'm F. Lee Bailey."
* BadLiar:
** O.J. seems one for sure, at least before Cochran builds his confidence up after visiting him in prison. Of particular note is O.J.'s initial recorded interview with the police in the immediate aftermath of the murders (lines taken from the ''actual'' real-life recording). O.J. doesn't just pick one answer and stick with it, but fumbles around desperately between different statements without making any coherent explanation.
** Even after Cochran's coaching, the defense later decides they can't possibly put O.J. on the stand in his own defense, because in a mock cross-examination when he is directly asked about the confirmed incidents in which he beat his wife to a pulp, he very poorly tries to wave them aside as harmless bickering.
** Shapiro can't hide that he believes O.J. to be guilty, no matter how many times he says otherwise.
* BasedOnATrueStory: Each season is intended to [[{{Dramatization}} dramatize]] a real-life crime; season one is about the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
* BatmanGambit: Bailey and Cochran play Christopher Darden like a fiddle, baiting him into demanding that O.J. try on the gloves.
* BeautyInversion: Sarah Paulson's Marcia Clark is styled very frumpily, despite the former's obvious good looks.
* BetterThanSex: Marcia references this trope by name in "The Dream Team", telling her co-workers that trials are better than having it.
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** In "Jury in Jail", the supremely agreeable juror Armanda Cooley ends up leading a revolt among the jurors after the deputies are suddenly swapped out.
** Mark Fuhrman seems outwardly nice and polite, to both white and black co-workers. However, something seems slightly...off in how his responses are delivered, especially when speaking with Darden. It's enough to fool Clark and the other white members of the prosecution team, who don't believe Darden when he emphatically tries to convince them that as a black man, he can sense that Fuhrman is lying. Unfortunately, they don't believe Darden... and they learn too late that Fuhrman isn't just racist, he's what even Clark describes as one of the most vehement racists on the ''planet''.
* BewareTheQuietOnes:
** In "100 Percent Not Guilty", Robert Shapiro tries to convince F. Lee Bailey to defend O.J. pro bono. Bailey responds by conspiring with Johnnie Cochran to let Cochran take over.
** In "Jury in Jail", the Dream Team is shown to be mortally terrified of one of the alternate jurors - a little old white lady who has spent the whole trial quietly sitting and taking very thorough notes. They've even nicknamed her "The Demon". At the end of the trial, she indeed turns out to be one of only two jurors to initially vote "guilty" - though it's not because she is white or a woman (at least officially). She tells the other jurors that she voted "guilty" specifically because she took thorough notes - and thus focused on the facts instead of the defense's appeals to emotion, which she feels couldn't easily explain away the mountain of evidence against Simpson.
* BigNo: In "A Jury in Jail", Cochran unleashes one when another one of the jurors (a black woman, therefore someone who was likely on the side of voting O.J. "not guilty") is about to be dismissed due to omitting that she had accused her spouse of physical abuse in the past.
* BigShutUp: Judge Ito gives one to Clark and Cochran during an argument they begin having, having grown exhausted with their various attempts to get members of the jury dismissed.
* BittersweetEnding: For all parties involved:
** Although he is acquitted of the murders, O.J. ends up being shunned by the Brentwood neighborhood and his golfing buddies, and in the latter case, he is no longer welcome at the Riviera Country Club. His party was attended by people he's never seen before, who just came for the novelty that the televised trial created around him. He also loses his friendship with Robert Kardashian. The final shot of the episode has him sadly looking at the statue of himself, reminiscing about his GloryDays as a football player, and realizing that he's all alone.
*** And, of course, there's the knowledge that O.J. later did ultimately wind up sentenced to 33 years in prison for a different crime, where he remains to this day.
** Marcia Clark and Chris Darden are both crucified by the press and public for losing the case and became disillusioned with working as prosecutors, each resigning soon after. However, they also signed lucrative book deals and found well-paying, low-stress jobs.
** The families of Nicole and Ron thoroughly believe O.J. was guilty and received no justice for the murder of their loved ones (though in the latter case, the Goldmans are seen thinking about pursuing additional criminal action, a nod to the eventual civil trial that would take place later in which O.J. got the pants sued off of him by the Goldmans).
** Johnnie Cochran goes all in on the O.J. case in an attempt to demonstrate his societal worldview to a public audience. In this, he succeeds, not just in getting O.J. to be found not guilty, but (as the ending suggests) starting a fundamentally important conversation about America's failures on race. This is pretty sweet, but the bitter part comes beforehand, when Chris Darden criticizes Cochran after the verdict for attaching undue importance to the verdict while less fortunate black Americans will continue to suffer. Darden ends up being pretty much VindicatedByHistory.
* BookEnds:
** The series begins with Chris Darden planning to resign due to underlying racism and double standards within the justice system, and only stays on because Cochran and Clark convince him to stay. At the end of the season, he confides in Clark that he's finally had it and is planning to resign from the department.
** The series begins and ends with a shot of O.J.'s statue in his house.
** As for the chase, O.J. flees in a white Ford Bronco and is cheered on by the Brentwood neighborhood. After his acquittal, O.J. is escorted back to his Rockingham mansion in a white Ford Aerostar, and is shunned by the Brentwood neighborhood, who now see him as a murderer.
* BrokenAce: Great NFL career and successful Hollywood acting gigs made O.J. a respectable celebrity, until he wasn't.
* CaptionHumor: A brilliant fakeout by the production team, after the grueling, miserably long trial reaches its endgames and the jury deliberations begin. As the jury sits down to discuss the piles of evidence they've been presented, a caption comes on the screen reading "Day 1." [[spoiler:Contrary to what that caption implies, the jury reaches a verdict within barely four hours, to the shock of both the prosecutors and the defense.]]
* CassandraTruth: Darden senses instinctively that Fuhrman is going to damage their case irreparably, but he's not able to convince his colleagues to not put him on the stand.
* CelebrityIsOverrated:
** {{Discussed}} in-universe. Kato Kaelin tells his friend about his newfound fame and fortune while they're out jogging, and in the span of a few moments, he gets flashed by a group of wild teens and spat on by a pair of angry joggers. Kato then tells his friend that he still isn't sure what to make of it.
** In another scene, Robert Kardashian tells his children to try and be good, virtuous people rather than seeking fame wherever they can find it. It clearly doesn't get through to them.
** Unlike her publicity-seeking opponents, Marcia Clark is absolutely not prepared to deal with the many indignities of fame.
** Johnnie Cochran, meanwhile, serves as a showman in court and relishes the spotlight... until it comes out that, during his first marriage, he had a mistress and was accused of domestic abuse towards his wife. It's exacerbated when both the mistress and ex-wife do a joint interview with Geraldo Rivera as the trial is going on. His current wife calls him out on reveling in his fame without thinking about the consequences.
--->'''Sylvia''': All your stuff with Barbara, all of it is in court records, Johnnie! You made the world your stage. You wanted the attention...[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Now you got it.]]
** Judge Ito enjoyed all the attention he was receiving, even being sent an autograph picture of Arsenio Hall. But he starts showing annoyance when the news media starts criticizing him and Jay Leno starts making fun of him in Series/TheTonightShow skits.
* TheChessmaster: F. Lee Bailey is a master of manipulating everyone around him to get his intended results.
** The camera even [[LampshadeHanging hovers over a glass chess set]] in the scene where F. Lee Bailey makes his first move of [[spoiler: convincing Johnnie Cochran to become Lead Attorney over Robert Shapiro.]]
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Marcia, nervous over the case and her impending divorce, is seen smoking frequently.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
** As they watch their father read O.J.'s suicide note on the air, the Kardashian kids are more fixated on the fact that the reporters can't spell their last name than on the fact that a man they've known as their honorary uncle might be planning to kill himself.
** Followed up when the kids fail to realize the implications of their father being recognized as the "O.J. guy" in E3.
** When Cochran asks O.J. if he has black friends or has ever done anything for the black community, O.J. can only mention his friendship with Al Cowlings ("and he is darker than me!") and the house he bought for his mother.
* ConflictingLoyalty: Robert Kardashian is close friends with both O.J. and Nicole, but in episode 7, he began to have increasing doubts about defending O.J., especially after DNA evidence was introduced. By the end of the series, Kardashian ends his relationship with O.J. after O.J. announced his intention to search for the real killers, and according to the epilogue, they didn't speak with each other again before his death in 2003.
* CourtroomAntic: Cochran pulls a number of them, including numerous petty insults to Christopher Darden, and forcing the court to hear a defense witness early to derail the prosecution's momentum. (The alleged reason is that the witness is about to leave the country imminently, but during questioning it becomes apparent that that's just an excuse engineered by Cochran.)
* CynicismCatalyst: The verdict becomes this for both Clark and Darden, who both intend on resigning by the season's end. Made especially clear in Clark's case, as she specifically took the case because she was fighting for victims' rights, due to a traumatic rape when she was younger and a resulting trial that ended with the assailant walking free. The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue makes it clear that both resigned from the L.A. District Attorney's Office soon after the end of the case.
* DeadpanSnarker: Bill Hodgman.
* DeathGlare: After the tapes of Mark Fuhrman's absurdly racist statements are played, he arrives back in the courtroom to find ''every single person'' glaring daggers at him.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** The jurors were desperate to get put on the case, some even lying to on their questionnaire to do so, believing they'll get fame and a free vacation. The reality of being a sequestered jury in a high profile case hits them hard - having very limited and monitored entertainment and social interaction, forced to stay months longer than originally told and being dismissed if they're believed to be planning to write a book or go to the media.
** Clark and Cochran dig deep into the jurors histories and activities, finding things to get those they don't like dismissed and replaced with ones more likely to vote in their favor. Eventually they lose so many jurors that a mistrial (an unattractive outcome for both sides) starts becoming a real possibility.
* DomesticAbuse:
** O.J. did this to Nicole.
** Cochran's first wife accused him of this.
** One of the jurors was a victim of this and was dismissed for lying about it.
* DoubleStandard: All over the place.
** All the free passes O.J. gets just because [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney he is rich and famous]], even with the notriously racist LAPD.
** Clark getting flack for her attitude, looks and clothing choice that no man in her position would get, just because she is a woman.
** Cochran being pulled over and handcuffed by police just because he was a black man driving a nice car in a nice neighborhood. Imagine what could have happened if he wasn't carrying his ADA ID in that moment.
** Darden has worked very hard to get where he is, but he's given much less credit and attention than Simpson and Cochran. Darden also explains how difficult it was to rise to the position he has: many people looked down on him because they assumed his rise was due to affirmative action, even though he really worked his ass off to graduate from the top of his class in law school and would have earned everything he has regardless of his race.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Clark starts the case seeing it as domestic abuse gone wrong, determined to pin OJ for his actions. It isn't until the media circus starts going that she finally realizes how famous OJ is and how the case is viewed in a racial lens.
* DrivenToSuicide: O.J. holds a gun to his own head after he learns he will be denied bail. [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere Then he gets in his Bronco.]]
* EverythingIsRacist:
** Robert Shapiro intends to use Simpson's identity as a black man as part of his defense:
---> '''Jeffrey Toobin:''' You're gonna say this case is all about race.
---> '''Robert Shapiro:''' Yes, because it is.
** Defied by the Juice himself.
---> '''O.J. Simpson:''' You want to make this a black thing. That's why you want Cochran. Well, I'm not black; I'm O.J.!
** "The Race Card" puts it front and center as Cochran and Darden have different views given the racism they've faced in the past with Cochran still bitter about it and pushing how the LAPD is racist to the core while Darden tries to be more hopeful.
** In "Jury in Jail", Tracy Hampton accuses Deputy Adam of being racist because he supposedly gives the black jurors less shopping time than their white counterparts.
** Cochran and Bailey travel to North Carolina to get a judge to hand over tapes of Furhman but the judge refuses Cochran's request and says he has no patience for Cochran's grandstanding talk. When Cochran angrily rants about it, Bailey points out how they're in the South, there's a statue of a Confederate soldier outside the courthouse and "I don't know if you play as well in Dixie." He then proceeds to give an incredibly lavish speech praising the great state of North Carolina to start his oral argument in the appeals court, which the panel of three judges hearing the appeal apparently accepts since he wins the motion.
* FacePalm: Ito gives himself one when he watches the infamous "Dancing Itos" on Jay Leno and realizes he's become a national punchline.
** Bailey, Cochran, and Shapiro all give each other looks that approximate this when putting O.J. through a mock cross-examination, as he [[EpicFail completely fails to convincingly argue that he didn't beat Nicole]]. (Kardashian is in equal disbelief, but moreso because [[TearJerker he has to hear as his decades-old friend basically admits to abusing a family friend, without remorse]]).
* FakeOutOpening: The first episode opens with a video of the infamous Rodney King beating by four LAPD officers, and the protests and eventually, the riots in Los Angeles that resulted from the officers' acquittal in their trial.
* FireForgedFriends: Marcia and Darden become this over the course of the trial.
* ForegoneConclusion: Anybody watching this show is probably aware of how the trial ended in real life -- Simpson was found not guilty.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Fred Goldman, Ronald Goldman's father, tearfully tells Clark that the media is completely focused on O.J. and Nicole, while his son "is a footnote to his own murder."
* FreakierThanFiction:
** In "The Dream Team", Cochran received a prank call from someone claiming to be O.J.; this was based on an event that took place during the chase, in which a Creator/HowardStern fan prank called Peter Jennings.
** The scene where Cochran is pulled over by a police bike and handcuffed when he was driving his daughters to dinner is inspired by a real incident when Cochran was pulled over by three police cars, held at gunpoint, and had his car aggressively searched, when he was driving his son and one daughter to buy toys.
** Dominick Dunne sums it all up when Ito says he has to let another judge determine if he'll stay on the trial after his wife is mentioned in Furhman's tapes.
-->'''Dunne''': This is insane! You couldn't get away with this plot twist in an airport paperback.
* FutureShadowing: In "The Verdict", Darden coldly tells Cochran how the Dream Team did little to instill any social change. It can be read that he's predicting the start of the [=#BlackLivesMatter=] movement 20 years later.
-->'''Darden''': This isn't some civil rights milestone. Police in this country will keep arresting us, keep beating us, keep killing us. You haven't changed anything for black people here. [[TheWhitestBlackGuy Unless, of course, you're a famous, rich one in Brentwood.]]
* GoneHorriblyRight: The defense succeeds in getting hold of tapes where Furhman launches into a list of racial slurs and talk of faking evidence. However, the tapes also have Furhman bad-mouthing Ito's wife (the highest-ranking woman in the LAPD at the time) who had claimed to have no contact with him when, in fact, she reprimended him for his behavior two years earlier. Thus, this could set up a mistrial which would give the prosecution the chance to overcome their earlier mistakes and convict Simpson.
* HeroicBSOD: In "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia", Marcia finally breaks down after finding out that her asshole first husband has sold nude photos of her to the tabloids.
* HistoricalInJoke:
** The journalists at Shapiro's press conference all have trouble spelling Robert Kardashian's last name.
** The diner staff can't spell Kardashian's surname, either - but they give his family a table with no waiting time because they recognized him from TV. Bob then tries to warn his kids that fame is fleeting, but they don't pay attention to him. You can bet they got the wrong lesson that day.
** Gil Garcetti says he was going to run for Mayor of Los Angeles (with the implication that this won't happen because of the Simpson case being mishandled). Gil Garcetti's son, Eric Garcetti, was elected Mayor in 2013.
** Cochran commits O.J. to fight for his innocence, to remember what his name means to people. Suffices to say, what "O.J. Simpson" meant to people in 1994 is a lot different to what it does in 2016.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The real-life Mark Fuhrman was much more complex than depicted. He indeed had a history of racism, which he himself even admitted to when he checked himself in for rehabilitation, and past acquaintances had complained that he had made racist remarks in the past. However, independent investigations discovered that, after said rehabilitation, he had a dearth of civilian complaints against him; he had successfully partnered with nonwhite cops (including a black female officer intentionally partnered with him to test to see if his racism continued) who considered him a friend and never felt uncomfortable with him; he had been called to Simpson's residence to answer a domestic disturbance call from Nicole and nevertheless did nothing to Simpson, and he had personally taken it upon himself to protect a black female witness who felt endangered (and befriended her as well; she would go on to defend his post-trial character). Even the infamous tapes were a product of him being paid to exaggerate a "police" style of speech. In the series, he's depicted as little more than a remorseless, two-faced racist who outright lied on the stand and ''owned Nazi memorabilia.''[[note]]In real life, to qualify for perjury, the lie has to be about something material to the trial; as many lawyers did not consider the race angle of the trial to be relevant, his lie about the use of the slur was considered by many professionals to not be perjury, as he was rightly embarrassed to admit it in front of a jury with many African-Americans.[[/note]]
* HonoraryUncle: O.J. was this to the Kardashian kids. Robert refers to him as "Uncle Juice". Robert Kardashian himself was one to O.J.'s children, and gets asked in the second episode, "Uncle Bobby, is my dad going to die?"
* HotPursuit: The infamous car chase that preceded the trial itself is dramatized in the second episode. This also counts as an arguable [[InvertedTrope inversion]], given that O.J. is a fugitive from an arrest order for double murder, yet the LAPD is afraid of doing anything beyond driving at a prudential distance, from a car that isn't even going that fast - understandably, because Simpson has a gun to his head and is threatening suicide if they get too close.
* HyperAwareness: It's practically Christopher Darden's superpower.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** Shapiro standing in Ito's chambers in front of Clark and claiming he has no part in turning the trial into a media circus and has never considered "playing the race card..." After an episode and a half of him planning it all.
** Cochran [[NWordPrivileges dropping the N word]] on Darden after two scenes discussing the evil of using it.
* IHaveThisFriend: Robert Kardashian does a version of this in "A Jury in Jail". After the presentation of the DNA evidence, he seriously starts doubting O.J.'s innocence. When O.J. complains that his friends don't visit him anymore, Kardashian says that it might be because of the DNA:
-->'''Kardashian''' I think... I mean, well... one thing they were wondering is about Nicole's blood. How it got in your Bronco.
-->'''O.J.''' How the hell do I know? How the hell do I know, Bobby? The police. Faye's Colombian friends. I don't know.
-->'''Kardashian''' Yeah, but it's everywhere. Nicole's house, the Bronco, your driveway, your socks. It...
-->'''O.J.''' And this is ''them'' asking?
-->'''Kardashian''' Yeah. This is them asking.
* InnocentBigot: Both Shapiro and Kardashian have a few missteps while discussing how O.J.'s innocence is perceived by Downtown black people (who will make up most of the jury). Cochran takes it graciously, but they are the straw that breaks the camel's back and makes him take over as lead attorney.
* {{Irony}}: O.J. was infamous for moving to a wealthy neighborhood and surrounding himself with a predominantly white entourage and was often accused of abandoning the black community. After he was accused of murder, however, it was the black community who rallied around his innocence while most of the white community believed him to be guilty. After he was exonerated, O.J. came home to find himself friendless and hated by his neighbors.
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** When O.J. escapes, Shapiro's main concern is how it will reflect on him.
--->'''Johnnie Cochran:''' ''(watching Shapiro's press conference)'': What a prick. Robert Shapiro is focused on his number one priority: Robert Shapiro.
** Watching O.J.'s Bronco chase carried on national television, Gil Garcetti groans "I was going to run for mayor."
** When O.J. argues to be put on the stand, Cochran eventually believes that he might have a point while Shapiro notes that it is a terrible idea and subsequently wonders if Johnnie is just doing it to spite him.
--->'''Cochran''': Amazingly, this is not about you, ''Bob''.
** Subverted with Cochran in general, who is presented as genuinely believing in O.J.'s innocence, and from his years defending black people in police brutality cases, genuinely holds the ideal that what they're doing in court will be a vehicle for social change. Darden, however, bitterly points out to Cochran that while he is fighting for an ideal it is terribly naïve: he didn't bring social justice to black people everywhere, just one rich and famous one.
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: {{Inverted}}; the Dream Team is smart enough to realize that DNA evidence is going to be a major part of future prosecutions. One of the reasons Dershowitz takes on the case is to establish a template for defending clients when the DNA evidence is against them.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** The prosecution basically acknowledges the defense is right about Mark Fuhrman being a racist and representative of racial problems within the LAPD, while still trying to inform the jury that Fuhrman being a racist does not mean he planted evidence to frame O.J. or that O.J. isn't guilty.
** While Shapiro seems mostly concerned with his image and political connections in Los Angeles, his concerns that the trial (and Cochran's focus on race in particular) might spark riots or other violence are very well-founded just a few years after Rodney King and the LA Riots.
* KnightTemplar: Johnnie Cochran cares less about proving O.J.'s innocence and more about proving the LAPD's racism and corruption, no matter the consequences. He even calls a press conference to essentially try to instigate rioting unless the Fuhrman tapes were released.
* LaymansTerms: The DNA expert on Dershowitz's team has difficulty explaining the DNA analysis like this, so instead the defense focuses on the ''probabilities'' of the test being correct.
* LetMeGetThisStraight:
** Shapiro gets one near the start of the series, just as he's becoming aware of the details of the case.
--->'''Robert Shapiro''': Okay, let me get this straight. You're saying...that the homicide detective who discovered all the evidence on O.J. Simpson hates black people?
** Later, in "A Jury in Jail", it becomes apparent that one of the jurors omitted to tell the court that she had previously made an accusation against her husband after being physically abused. Clark and Cochran get into an argument, with Clark saying that she should be dismissed for lying during the trial, and Cochran stating she should be kept because of it being a misunderstanding. This prompts Judge Ito's response:
--->'''Ito''': All right, so let me get this straight. The defense is arguing to keep a victim of domestic abuse, and the People are arguing to dismiss her? Somehow, I get the idea, if this juror were white, we'd be having a different conversation right now.
* LonelyAtTheTop: After the verdict, O.J. is a free man again, but his neighbors hate him, it's implied that his family are probably going to go back to their own lives soon, and Bobby, one of his few real friends, wants nothing more to do with him. As the finale wears on, he looks increasingly less jubilant.
* LowerDeckEpisode: "A Jury In Jail" looks at the trial from the perspective of the jury and how they're affected by the trial dragging on for months, unable to watch TV or read newspapers, see their families only once a week and the pressure of putting up with this circus.
* MakeTheDogTestify: {{Parodied}} by Kardashian when he jokes that the Akita that found the blood is the prosecution's main witness.
* ManlyTears: Cochran begins to cry at the post-verdict victory party, when he sees a live broadcast of Creator/BillClinton talking about the case and discussing how black and white citizens need to understand each other better.
* MaritalRapeLicense: One of the black female jurors is excused after it comes to light that she failed to mention that she had previously accused her husband of rape. In a desperate bid to prevent her dismissal, Bailey argues that at the time her accusation was filed, a man could not be charged with rape if he was married to his accuser. Ito and Marcia don't take this well-''at all'' (even if, strictly speaking, Bailey's point about why she didn't ''formally'' press charges against her husband at the time was entirely accurate).
* MeaningfulName: Mark ''Fuhr''man, secret racist and collector of "UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[ThoseWackyNazis memorabilia]]".
* TheMillstone: Shapiro's only useful contributions to The Dream Team are turning the case into a media circus and suggesting the LAPD only targeted Simpson out of racism (and then later saying the case will never be about race). He commits blunders that compromise the defense, suggests throwing the case at one point, and gets in childish fights with Cochran and Bailey.
** However, after four straight episodes of mistakes and completely losing O.J.'s confidence, he makes a comeback in a big way, coming up with the strategy of having O.J. try on the gloves.
* MistakenForRacist:
** The photographers of TIME Magazine decide to portray O.J. in shadow to depict him as a figure of tragedy. Unfortunately, most people interpret this as them deliberately darkening his skin out of the belief that a darker-skinned person is more likely to be guilty, feeding into the defense's plan to claim that the police framed O.J. because he was black.
** The prosecution team invites Christopher Darden in because they fear this happening to them.
* MoodWhiplash: Christopher Darden gives a devastating TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Johnnie Cochran, telling him that his victory does absolutely nothing to combat racism in the police force and only proves Cochran's ability to twist the system. Smash cut to: Johnnie walking into a wild victory party at his office.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** In "Jury in Jail", Robert Kardashian finally starts doubting O.J.'s claims of innocence. Unfortunately for him, by that point, they're several months into the trial, and there's no way for him to duck out without completely destroying his career and making (or so he feels) it certain that O.J. will be convicted.
** He finally loses it in the finale, "The Verdict", and vomits in an empty washroom at the courthouse after the verdict is read. Soon afterwards, he dissolves his friendship with O.J. before leaving.
** Robert Shapiro, in some ways. He is the one that specifically comes up with the idea to play the "race card", that Simpson was framed just for being a successful black celebrity, and also directly injected the story into the mass media. Later, Shapiro is bluntly criticized that because of this, if they lose the trial, there's going to be another large-scale race riot which might ''dwarf'' the Rodney King riots, many people will die, and it will all be on his head. Shapiro becomes genuinely horrified, then desperately pulls a 180 turn, denying he ever suggested the trial was about race, wearing a police solidarity pin, etc. Of course, he's not so much horrified that people might die as he's frightened that people will accurately think it's his fault, and his career will be ruined.
* NewscasterCameo: Larry King plays himself in the "Larry King Live" scenes.
* NiceGuy: Robert Kardashian joins the Dream Team because he sincerely wants to help his friend.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Darden pushes over and over for Simpson to try on the gloves over Clark's constant objections, demands in court that Simpson do so... and they don't fit.
* NothingButHits: The many hits from 1994/1995 heard during the series include Music/AboveTheLaw's "Black Superman," Music/MichaelBolton's "Said I Loved You... But I Lied," The Music/BeastieBoys' "Sabotage," Music/IceCube's "Bop Gun (One Nation)," Folk Implosion's "Natural One," Music/{{Seal}}'s "Kiss from a Rose," Music/{{Portishead}}'s "Sour Times" and Coolio's "Fantastic Voyage." A flashback to O.J. during happier times a couple years earlier is set to "Everybody Dance Now."
* NWordPrivileges:
** Johnnie Cochran has them. And he uses them in [[PrecisionFStrike the most hilariously derisive way possible.]]
** Bailey invokes the trope during "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" while having drinks with Cochran and his associates. While discussing how to handle Fuhrman, he deliberately drops the word, evoking an uncomfortable reaction from the others (with Carl E. Douglas looking particularly angered by it). He then immediately reassures them of his reasoning for it, pointing out how it's the most powerful word in the English language, and how it's the perfect way to make Fuhrman look prejudiced against black people.
* OhCrap: Occurs at numerous points.
** When Clark and her aide watching a focus group watching the arraignment, every black person thinks Simpson is innocent.
** Both prosecution and defense are joined in disbelief and anger when Faye Resnick's book is released, as each side knows it can affect jury selection in bad ways and bring up a poor view of the victims.
** Clark and Darden's expressions when the gloves (which Clark thought would be the slam-dunk) don't fit Simpson in court.
** In "Jury in Jail", the entire jury wear black to protest their treatment and the deputies being swapped. Both the prosecution and the defense panic at this, as this show of solidarity and empathy for law enforcement throws out whatever idea they had about who would vote guilty or not guilty.
* OneSteveLimit: {{Averted}} - ''Robert'' Shapiro and ''Robert'' Kardashian (both of whom went by the nickname "Bob" in real life) were both significant figures in the proceedings, so changing their names for the series would be out of the question. More often, Shapiro is referred to as "Bob" and Kardashian as "Bobby," with a little "Rob" thrown in for the latter as he's being [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness introduced in the first episode]]. There was actually a third Robert on the defense team in real life (Robert Blasier) but he didn't get depicted in the series.
** There's also the young Robert Kardashian Jr., who goes by "Rob" in real life. One episode has his father referring to him as "Bobby."
* OnlySaneMan:
** Marcia sees herself as the only person on the case who cares about the integrity of the trial and is upset by it becoming a media circus.
** Shapiro ends up becoming one for the defense. He's the only one who openly objects to bringing race into the case, and realizes they are fighting an uphill battle proving O.J.'s innocence and keeps insisting a plea bargain is their best option.
* OutOfFocus: Robert Kardashian is a prominent character in the first three episodes but barely appears in the next three. He regains focus near the end of the series as it starts to dawn on him that O.J. might actually have killed Nicole.
* PassThePopcorn:
** Episode 2 has many people reacting like this to the Bronco chase. There's even a scene showing Pizza Hut running out of cheese from their increased orders.
** Lampshaded in episode 6, when NBC preempted their entire daytime schedule for the trial, after ABC did the same thing. An NBC executive even called the trial a better daytime soap opera than the ones they got.
-->'''Mechanic''': They should bring Kato back on the show. He was so great.
* PeriodPiece: Of TheNineties, complete with approximate recreations of fashion and technology of the time.
* PetTheDog: In "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia." Ito, who previously disparaged Marcia after seeing her new haircut, sees her breaking down the next morning as a result of the nude photo leak and the personal problems she's facing, and decides to dismiss everyone for the rest of the afternoon.
* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Marcia Clark has never heard of O.J. Simpson.
* PrecisionFStrike:
** Courtesy of Marcia Clark at the end of the third episode, upon learning that Johnnie Cochran has joined the Dream Team.
--> "Johnnie Cochran. Mother''fucker''."
** Also in the fourth episode, when Shapiro gets angry at Bailey for repeating insults about him on TV (ostensibly to debunk them):
-->'''Bailey:''' All that sniping in the media that says Bob Shapiro is in over his head, Bob Shapiro is an empty suit, Bob Shapiro can't handle a case of this magnitude. Well, that twaddle is truly unfortunate.
-->'''Shapiro:''' ''(at the TV)'': Well, then don't say it, asshole. Fuck!
** In episode five, after thoroughly shutting down Darden's attempt to have "the n-word" banned from use during the trial, Cochran has a condescending, off-mic remark for Darden himself:
--> "Nigga, please."
** In the seventh episode, Cochran finds out that somebody managed to locate his first wife and his mistress, and they've put the two of them on a show together, which causes him to scream out, "FUCK!"
* ProductPlacement: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. The cheese scene happened in reality, but to Domino's Pizza. Domino's refused to be featured, and Pizza Hut took its place without paying or being paid a dime.
* PromotedToScapegoat: In "The Race Card", Cochran orders Douglas to claim a procedural mistake [[TheMillstone of Shapiro]] as his own, just to throw a curve ball at the prosecution team. [[DidntSeeThatComing It causes Hodgman a heart attack.]]
* PyrrhicVictory: While O.J. is acquitted, the finale makes it clear that he has become a pariah in the eyes of many, with Robert Kardashian, arguably his biggest supporter at the start of the case, breaking off all ties with him following the verdict.
* RaceTraitor:
** O.J. and Darden get accused of it; the former for moving to a largely-white neighborhood, the latter for serving under a white woman and helping prosecute a black man.
** In "Jury in Jail", juror Armanda Cooley is accused by her fellow black jurors of being too friendly with the white deputies.
* RageBreakingPoint: When the question on whether or not to release the Fuhrman tapes to the public comes up Darden finally snaps, calling out the defense for turning the trial into a media circus, even almost assaulting them, and Ito for allowing them to do it. Clark backs him up and they both dare Ito to charge them with contempt. Luckily, Darden calms down enough to offer an apology to avoid being arrested.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: In "Jury in Jail", Deputy Adam is portrayed as going way out of his way to accommodate the jurors, even as they squabble with each other. Armanda also says that he let her use the phone after curfew to talk to her family. When he's rotated out in favor of some less friendly deputies, even the jurors who've been shown to dislike him protest it.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** In "Manna from Heaven", Darden delivers a furious speech to Cochran after the latter gleefully uses the threat of more riots to pressure Ito into releasing the Fuhrman tapes.
*** He also gives a blistering one to Marcia Clark, who ignored his pleas to not put Fuhrman on the stand.
** Cochran gives an equally intense one in "The Race Card" where he calls Darden out for insulting the jury by claiming they cannot handle hearing racial epithets uttered in court.
** After Ito rules the vast majority of the tapes inadmissible as evidence, Cochran holds a press conference and calls him out on suppressing vitally important evidence to the case.
** After Simpson is found not guilty, Cochran talks of it being a great thing for black people. Darden rips into him that he has done nothing to help their race but in fact hurt it as he's simply helped a rich man get away with murder. History indeed proved Cochran was wrong
* RecognitionFailure: In a defining moment from the pilot, Clark is the only character that does not immediately recognize O.J. Simpson's name.
* RefugeInAudacity: "Conspiracy Theories" focuses on this as the defense try to bring up theories on the killers like Columbian drug dealers. When Clark scoffs at how outrageous they are, Darden tells her the jury will listen as it sounds far more exciting than a simple domestic dispute gone wrong.
-->'''Darden''': People like stories. It helps them make sense of things.
** When a black man at a bar says he thinks O.J. was framed, Clark points out the ridiculously complicated lengths the cops would have gone to to frame him, risking their careers on framing when they didn't even know who the victims were yet, and asks the man if that's really plausible. The man's reply: "Maybe." They laugh about it.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: When O.J. runs away after threatening to kill himself, Kardashian, for some reason, breaks to his family that he probably did. After much crying, they learn this wasn't the case. The TV stations also air specials during the chase that look like they are mourning his death (one even ending with the legend ''O.J. Simpson: 1947-1994'').
* RightForTheWrongReasons: Darden doesn't want the n-word to be uttered during the trial, as he knew Fuhrman had allegedly said it in the past. He says that it will taint the jury away from rational thought and make the trial about race and a potential frame up conspiracy. He is shamed by Johnny Cochran for alleging blacks can't hear the word and be rational. However, later on, Fuhrman perjures himself about having used the word in the past. When that lie is revealed, he goes on the stand again and takes the 5th on every question asked. This spreads a lot of doubt to the jurors about O.J's guilt, and makes the trial about race. Darden's fears come true, but it was more because of Fuhrman lying than the n-word itself.
* RunningGag: Nobody knows how to spell/pronounce "Kardashian". '''Yet.'''
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: O.J. bails out once he learns that he's going to be charged with Nicole's murder, and threatens to [[DrivenToSuicide shoot himself]] just before doing so.
* SequelHook: After the verdict is read and O.J. is acquitted, Fred Goldman and his family walk back to their car and listen to the radio for a few moments. After Kim shuts off the radio in anger, they sit silently for a few moments and she then asks her father (who is silently angry) "What are we going to do now?", hinting at the civil trial that would eventually take place a few months later in Santa Monica.
* SheCleansUpNicely: {{Subverted}} with Marcia Clark. After she's constantly criticized in the media for her "dowdy" appearance, she goes to a stylist and gets a new haircut. But it doesn't look any better, and the mockery continues.
* ShipTease: With Marcia and Chris Darden in "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia".
** This continues in "Conspiracy Theories", where Marcia and Chris go away on a trip and very nearly sleep together while drunk.
* ShoutOut: In "A Jury in Jail", the sequestered jury can't watch outside TV, so they're limited to renting movies and television that came out before the trial started. Moreover, they can only choose one thing at a time which they watch as a group, so they have to vote on what to rent. This leads to a heated argument, as all of the black jurors want to watch ''Series/{{Martin}}'', but all of the white jurors want to watch ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. The black jurors can't stand ''Seinfeld'', however, causing the tall one to shout, "Seinfeld ain't about ''nothing''!"
* TheSlacker: Kato Kaelin.
* SoapboxSadie: Johnnie Cochran is not above feigning outrage, but his anger over the LAPD's systemic racism is completely genuine. He is so busy proselytizing over police brutality and racial profiling that it arguably distracts him from the actual case, and he has to be reminded more than once that his job is not to prosecute the LAPD, it's to defend O.J. Simpson.
* SpannerInTheWorks:
** In "100 Percent Not Guilty", Faye Resnick, one of Nicole Brown Simpson's ditzier friends, decides to cash in on her friend's murder by publishing a racy "tell-all", much to the horror of both the defense and the prosecution teams.
** In "The Race Card", Shapiro forgets to tell the prosecution about 12 of the defense's witnesses. It is an easily solvable mistake, but Cochran decides to let it stand as a way to put pressure on the prosecution, and this infuriates Hodgman so much that it ends causing him a heart attack in the courtroom.
** O.J. himself. From threatening suicide when he faces prison without bail to jumping on the Bronco and [[DisproportionateRetribution getting enraged in public when Darden sits on a bench in O.J.'s garden]], just as his lawyers are trying to convince the jurors that he is a model citizen, are just some of the instances where he nearly destroys his case by himself.
** In "A Jury in Jail", one of the jurors, Tracy Hampton, accuses the deputies of racism in hopes of being excused for jury duty. With the jury pool already dwindling, Judge Ito promises to swap out the deputies if Tracy agrees to stay on... which ends up pissing off the other jurors, because the replacement deputies turn out to be less accommodating, and suddenly the court has a minor revolt on its hands. Realizing that everyone will hate her when they find out the role she played, Tracy fakes a complete nervous breakdown so that she'll be excused.
-->'''Armanda Cooley:''' That's one way to do it.
** Both Cochran and Clark try to stack the deck by disqualifying jurors who they believe are more, or less, likely to convict. The sequester is so long and brutal, however, that the jurors start showing up wearing all black in protest. Each side realizes that their jury strategy is now completely blown, as this show of solidarity upends all of their assumptions about how individual jurors will vote.
** In "Manna from Heaven", a failed screenwriter in North Carolina reveals that she has tapes that prove that not only did Mark Fuhrman conceal his history of racism from the court, but he also has a grudge against his captain... who, it turns out, is Judge Ito's wife, creating the prospect of a mistrial.
* TakeThatUs: When the Dream Team is told the history behind the Fuhrman tapes: they were recorded by a female scriptwriter who was researching a police drama script she as trying to pitch to major California studios. No one was willing to buy her script, however, so she eventually moved back to North Carolina to teach a scriptwriting class at a local college. All of Simpson's defense lawyers at the meeting are overjoyed that the tapes exist, but Scheck remains visibly confused, and then asks how someone who couldn't write a successful screenplay is now charging other people money for scriptwriting lessons - eliciting a groan from the rest of the room. The writers on ''American Crime Story'' were clearly poking fun at themselves.
* TemptingFate: Having prepared extensively, Clark eagerly states that there's nothing Cochran can throw at her that will surprise her. Cochran immediately proves her wrong by petitioning the court to allow him to introduce a defense witness early, thus killing the prosecution's momentum.
** Also, when she hears of Simpson buying the pair of gloves with blood on them, Clark declares "those gloves are our conviction."
* ThisIsGoingToBeHuge: Marcia's "the gloves will give us our conviction." Not quite.
* ThrowingTheFight: Shapiro is infamous for getting more settlements than winning cases and it is obvious ([[BadLiar despite his claim to the contrary]]) that he doesn't believe O.J. is innocent. His proposal to have O.J. plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter earns him a demotion in favor of Cochran.
* TokenMinority:
** In-universe, the fear of appearing to be a white prosecution team out to convict a black man results in the DA's office inviting Christopher Darden to join them. The episode ends with O.J. wondering aloud "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny When did they get a black guy?]]". Then it's deconstructed when Darden confides in Marcia that being accused of this implies that he has no ability as an attorney himself, and that he "stole" the spot from a worthier person, just like how he was treated 20 years before when his classmates assumed he only got into college thanks to affirmative action. Later, after a (thoroughly avoidable) disaster for the prosecution, Darden explodes at Marcia for treating him like a token and not listening to him.
** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]], and then [[DefiedTrope defied]], when Bill Hodgman points that they don't have a single white guy in the jury ([[JustifiedTrope the most likely demographic to find O.J. guilty]]):
-->'''Hodgman''': Wouldn't it be nice to have a white guy? I'm a white guy. We live in Los Angeles, too.
-->'''Clark''': We cannot be so hung up on skin color.
* TraumaCongaLine: Marcia herself gets this in the sixth episode, aptly titled "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia." The brief moment of happiness the prosecution has questioning and later disproving Rosa Lopes' testimony is squandered by the fact that Marcia is fighting a battle with her ex-husband over control of their children, and when she attempts to liven up her appearance (by going to a hairdresser and getting a perm), she's disparaged by ''Ito'', learns that everyone is insulting her appearance, and then discovers that her first ex-husband has leaked nude photographs of her to the tabloids. It gets so bad that she ends up [[HeroicBSOD crying on the floor of her office]].
* TwoScenesOneDialogue: "The Race Card" juxtaposes the prosecution and defense teams as they discuss their strategy for the upcoming trial.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Clark dismisses the Dream Team as a bunch of egotists who will implode, not understanding they know how to play the media game a lot better than her.
** Also, Shapiro assuming he's lead attorney all the way through and unprepared for how Cochran is able to sway O.J. into making him lead instead while Shapiro was on vacation.
* VersusTitle: ''The People'' '''''v.''''' ''O.J. Simpson''.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: Robert Kardashian vomited in the men's room after the verdict was read.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: All over the place. Robert Kardashian becomes convinced of O.J.'s guilt throughout the course of the trial and can no longer stand to be in the same room as him by the last episode. Bob Shapiro and F. Lee Bailey go from long-time friends and colleagues to sniping at each other in the press and bickering face-to-face. And Johnnie Cochran and Chris Darden's friendliness and mutual respect disappears as the trial devolves into a referendum on race relations.
* WhamShot:
** In "The Race Card", Fuhrman says he collects World War II memorabilia, mostly medals. The final shots of the episode show him standing before his display cabinet which contains a Nazi medal.
** The famous scene of O.J. trying on the gloves, and holding up his hands to show they don't fit. Downplayed as anyone familiar with the real case knows it's coming, but it still fits in-universe as drastically shifting the tone of the trial.
* WhatTheHellHero: In "The Dream Team", Kris calls Robert out on supporting O.J., and tells him that the latter is obviously guilty.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The closing of the final episode showed the fates of the key players during the trial, noting that O.J. was sent to prison in 2008 on an unrelated charge, and ends with a tribute to Nicole and Ron.
* TheWhitestBlackGuy: O.J. was often accused of cutting himself off from the black community and had very little interest in African American culture. This is best exemplified in "A Jury In Jail" where the juror vote between watching ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' and ''Series/{{Martin}}'' with all the black jurors voting for ''Martin''. The scene then cuts to O.J. telling his friends about his favorite episode of Seinfeld and how he thinks Kramer should have his own spinoff.
-->'''Black Neighbor''': O.J. is local! He went to Galileo High!
-->'''Darden''': So what? O.J. never gave back. Well, you see any parks around here named for him? Any children's centers? See, now Jim Brown cared about black people. He was an activist. He spoke up. Once O.J. made his money, he split and never came back. He became white.
-->'''Black Neighbor''': Well, you got the cops chasing him. He's black now!
* WorthyOpponent: By the end of "Jury in Jail," Marcia and Cochran seem to recognize each other as this.
* YouAreNumberSix: The jurors are only referred to by their numbers, which Tracy Hampton (AKA Juror 452) does not like.
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: Several scenes in the early episodes emphasize Robert Kardashian's family, including his ex-wife Kris and their four children, to the point that it seems like an AuthorTract on the pitfalls of fame and fortune. Early on, the kids can be seen cheering for the father when he reads O.J.'s suicide note during the first press conference, clearly unaware of the gravity of the situation. In "The Dream Team", when Robert takes the kids to a local restaurant for brunch, they marvel at how the family is getting preferential treatment and approving looks from the diners despite Rob's attempt to dissuade them with a speech on how fame can be fleeting.
* YourCheatingHeart: Cochran's first marriage fell apart because he cheated on his wife and had a son out of wedlock. Much to his horror, the press manages to find both his first wife and his mistress.
* YourCostumeNeedsWork: In a hilarious RealLife instance, some viewers failed to realize that the actor playing Larry King in the fourth episode was actually Larry King playing himself. [[SubvertedTrope They generally complimented the show for its effects and/or characterization, though]].
* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Happens multiple times, as the case was infamously Stranger Than Fiction:
** When Kardashian shows Shapiro the suicide letters that O.J. gave him right before the ongoing Bronco chase, Shapiro is how shall we say...baffled, at the wildly discordant tone of its contents:
--->'''Shapiro''': Jesus Christ...Who the hell signs a suicide note with a smiley face?!
*** Simpson signed the note "O.J." and put two dots and a semicircle in the "O" to make it a smiley face. In case you were wondering, no, this isn't just how Simpson normally makes his signature in autographs.
** When a female juror is discovered to have once been the victim of domestic abuse years before, Clark wants her dismissed. Bailey tries to argue that in 1988, when the crime took place, a husband legally couldn't be found to have raped his wife. Even Ito just stares at him in utter disbelief and disgust.
--->'''Clark''': You just said that. ''Out loud.''
** Ito, Darden, Cochran and Shapiro are all shown completely shocked when the jury reaches a verdict in only four hours.
--->'''Shapiro''': They've discussed this case less than any person in America.

A second season is going to detail the murder of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace committed by Andrew Cunanan in 1997, starring PenelopeCruz as Donatella Versace.

** In one scene Johnnie Cochran gives an inspiring speech to OJ. Mentioning a great game OJ had against the Atlanta Falcons in 1978, where OJ was so good it inspired Johnnie to continue practicing law. OJ remarks "yeah, I even scored a touchdown in that game." Juice's real life stats for that game: five carries for 15 yards, and no touchdowns.

** Mark Fuhrman seems outwardly nice and polite, to both white and black co-workers. However, something seems slightly...off, in how his responses are delivered, especially when speaking with Darden. It's enough to fool Clark and the other white members of the prosecution team, who don't believe Darden when he emphatically tries to convince them that as a black man, he can sense that Fuhrman is lying. Unfortunately, they don't believe Darden... and they learn too late that Fuhrman isn't just racist, he's what even Clark describes as one of the most vehement racists on the ''planet''.

A second season, reportedly dealing with events in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina, is in the works. Both Gooding and Travolta have expressed interest in taking part (not as their season one roles, obviously). Creator/AnnetteBening will portray Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco.

[[AdoredByTheNetwork It has already been renewed for a third season]], which is reportedly going to detail the murder of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace committed by Andrew Cunanan in 1997, as well as a fourth season detailing Bill Clinton's sex scandal during his tenure as President of the United States.

** While the show has many other minor departures and alterations from its source material, "The Run of His Life" by Jeffrey Toobin, one of the more major ones may very well be the portrayal of Robert Kardashian. The show depicts him as a well-meaning, slightly naive and [[ConflictingLoyalty morally conflicted]] [[TrueCompanions True Companion]] of Simpson's, while Toobin in his book views Kardashian as a frantic, obsessive sycophant clinging to media attention out of envy for his ex-wife's Kris Jenner's success in the media. Of course, others have also taken issue with Toobin's book and argued that many of the details in his book are flat out wrong (including members of the prosecution team). The basics of Kardashian's character arc, coming to doubt Simpson's innocence during the trial and their friendship dissolving afterwards, are undoubtedly true. So this is one instance where the TV adaptation may actually be more true to real life than the source material was.

** In one scene Johnnie Cochran gives an inpiring speech to OJ. Mentioning a great game OJ had against the Atlanta Falcons in 1978, where OJ was so good it inspired Johnnie to continue practicing law. OJ remarks "yeah, I even scored a touchdown in that game." Juice's REAL LIFE stat line for that game: 5 carries for 15 yards and NO touchdowns.

** Mark Fuhrman seems outwardly nice and polite, to both white and black co-workers. However, something seems slightly...off, in how his responses are delivered, especially when speaking with Darden. It's enough to fool Clark and the other white members of the prosecution team, who don't believe Darden when he emphatically tries to convince them that as a black man, he can sense that Fuhrman is lying. Unfortunately, they don't believe Darden...and they learn too late that Fuhrman isn't just racist, he's what even Clark describes as one of the most vehement racists on the ''planet''.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The real-life Mark Fuhrman was much more complex that depicted; while he indeed had a history of racism, which he himself even admitted to when he checked himself in for rehabilitation, and past acquaintances had complained that he had made racist remarks in the past. However, independent investigations discovered that, after said rehabilitation, he had a dearth of civilian complaints against him; he had successfully partnered with nonwhite cops (including a black female officer intentionally partnered with him to test to see if his racism continued) who considered him a friend and never felt uncomfortable with him; he had been called to Simpson's residence to answer a domestic disturbance call from Nicole and nevertheless did nothing to Simpson, and he had personally taken it upon himself to protect a black female witness who felt endangered (and befriended her as well; she would go on to defend his post-trial character). Even the infamous tapes were a product of him being paid to exaggerate a "police" style of speech. In the series, he's depicted as little more than a remorseless, two-faced racist who outright lied on the stand[[note]]In real life, to qualify for perjury, the lie has to be about something material to the trial; as many lawyers did not consider the race angle of the trial to be relevant, his lie about the use of the slur was considered by many professionals to not be perjury, as he was rightly embarrassed to admit it in front of a jury with many African-Americans.[[/note]] and ''owned Nazi memorabilia.''

* JerkassHasAPoint: The prosecution basically acknowledges the defense is right about Mark Fuhrman being a racist and representative of racial problems within the LAPD, while still trying to inform the jury that Fuhrman being a racist does not mean he planted evidence to frame O.J. or that O.J. isn't guilty.

* AmoralAttorney and RulesLawyer: The Dream Team consists of these (except for Robert Kardashian, who genuinely believes that O.J. is innocent and wants to help him because they are friends; and to an extent Johnny Cochrane, who is also truly convinced O.J. is a falsely accused black man, but is totally willing to use every trick at his disposal in what he sees as the just cause of proving him innocent).

* BadassBoast: When Shapiro attempts to convince F. Lee Bailey that he should take the case ''pro bono'' in order to "reintroduce [him]self to the public, Bailey gives a beautiful response:
-->''I don't need reintroducing. I'm ''F. Lee Bailey.

** Even after Cochran's coaching, the defense later decides they can't possibly put O.J. on the stand in his own defense, because in a mock cross-examination when he is directly asked about the ''confirmed'' incidents in which he beat his wife to a pulp, he ''very poorly'' tries to wave them aside as harmless bickering.

** In "100 Percent Not Guilty", Robert Shapiro tries to convince F. Lee Bailey to defend O.J. ''pro bono''. Bailey responds by conspiring with Johnnie Cochran to let Cochran take over.
** In "Jury in Jail", the Dream Team is shown to be mortally terrified of one of the alternate jurors - a little old white lady who has spent the whole trial quietly sitting and taking very thorough notes. They've even nicknamed her "The Demon". At the end of the trial, she indeed turns out to be one of only two jurors to initially vote "guilty" - though its not because she is white or a woman (at least officially). She tells the other jurors that she voted "guilty" specifically because she took thorough notes - and thus focused on the facts instead of the defense's appeals to emotion, which she feels couldn't easily explain away the ''mountain'' of evidence against Simpson.

** The families of Nicole and Ron thoroughly believe O.J. was guilty and received no justice for the murder of their loved ones (though in the latter case, the Goldmans are seen thinking about pursuing additional criminal action, a nod to the eventual civil trial that would take place later).
** Johnnie Cochran goes all in on the OJ case in an attempt to demonstrate his societal worldview to a public audience. In this, he succeeds, not just in getting OJ found to be not guilty but (as the ending suggests) starting a fundamentally important conversation about America's failures on race. This is pretty sweet, but the bitter part comes beforehand, when Chris Darden criticizes Cochran after the verdict for attatching undue importance to the OJ verdict while less fortunate black Americans will continue to suffer. Darden ends up being pretty much VindicatedByHistory.

** In one scene Johnnie Cochran gives an inpiring speech to OJ. Mentioning a great game OJ had against the Atlanta Falcons in 1978, where OJ so good it inspired Johnnie to continue practicing law. OJ remarks "ueah, I even scored a touchdown in that game." Juice's REAL LIFE stat line for that game: 5 carries for 15 yards and NO touchdowns.

* AmoralAttorney and RulesLawyer: The Dream Team consists of these (except for Robert Kardashian, who genuinely believes that O.J. is innocent and wants to help him because they are friends).

The first season, titled ''The People v. O.J. Simpson'', covers the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial that spanned eleven months between 1994 and 1995. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Simpson himself, while the cast is rounded out by Creator/SarahPaulson as Marcia Clark, Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Creator/JohnTravolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, Selma Blair as Kris Jenner (formerly Kardashian), Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey, and Billy Magnussen as Kato Kaelin.

** When a black man at a bar says he thinks O.J. was framed, Clark points out the ridiculously complicated way the cops would have gone through to frame him, risking their careers on this when they didn't even know who the victim was yet, asking him if that's really plausible. The man's reply: "Maybe." They laugh about it.

* InnocentBigot: Both Shapiro and Kardashian make a few missteps while discussing how O.J.'s innocence is perceived by Downtown black people (who will make up most of the jury). Cochran takes it graciously, but they are the straw that breaks the camel's back and makes him take over as lead attorney.

* InnocentBigot: Both Shapiro and Kardashian have faux-pases while discussing how O.J.'s innocence is perceived by Downtown black people (who will make up most of the jury). Cochran takes it graciously, but they are the straw that breaks the camel's back and makes him take over as lead attorney.

* ForgottenFallenFriend: Fred Goldman, Ronald Goldman's father, tearfully tells Clark that the media is completely focused on O.J. and Nicole and his son "is a footnote to his own murder."