Ryan Murphy Sets 'American Sports Story' and 'American Love Story' at FX; 'Crime Story' Season 4 to Focus on Studio 54

TCA 2021: Season 1 of ”Sports Story“ will focus on Aaron Hernandez, while first season of ”Love Story“ will follow JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette

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Ryan Murphy is expanding his “American Story” universe with two new spinoff limited series, “American Sports Story”and “American Love Story,” and development on a Studio 54-themed fourth season of “American Crime Story,” FX revealed Friday ahead of its virtual panels at the Television Critics Association press tour.

The first season of “Sports Story” will focus on Aaron Hernandez, while the debut installment of “Love Story” will follow John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.

Both series will be produced by “AHS” studio 20th Television and FX Productions and executive produced by Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.

See the descriptions for the two new series below, provided by FX:

AMERICAN SPORTS STORY 

American Sports Story is a scripted anthological limited series focusing on a prominent event involving a sports figure and re-examines it through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives.  

The first installment of American Sports Story is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc from the Boston Globe and Wondery. The limited series charts the rise and fall of NFL superstar Aaron Hernandez and explores the connections of the disparate strands of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide, and their legacy in sports and American culture

Stu Zicherman (The Americans) is the writer and Executive Producer and Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall and Brad Falchuk are Executive Producers.  Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy of Wondery (Dr. Death) are Executive Producers alongside Executive Producers Linda Pizutti Henry and Ira Napoliello of The Boston Globe. 

Murphy is represented by CAA and Craig Emanuel of Paul Hastings. 

Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and Color Force are represented by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham. 

Zicherman is represented by UTA, Mosaic and McKuin Frankel 

AMERICAN LOVE STORY 

American Love Story is a scripted anthology series of sweeping true love stories that captured the world’s attention.  The first installment depicts the whirlwind courtship and marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.  What started out as a beautiful union for the young couple, widely regarded as American royalty, began to fray under the stress of the relentless microscope and navel gaze of tabloid media. The pressures of their careers and rumored family discord ended with their tragic deaths when his private plane crashed into the ocean on a hazy summer night off the coast of Massachusetts.  Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and Alexis Martin Woodall are Executive Producers of American Love Story.   

And here’s the synopsis for the potential fourth season of “Crime Story,” which would come after the upcoming third season, “Impeachment,” set to debut Sept. 7.

STUDIO 54: AMERICAN CRIME STORY (in development – working title) 

Studio 54: American Crime Story is currently in development as the potential fourth installment of the award-winning hit limited series franchise, American Crime Story. The story tells the saga of Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager who in 1977 turned their midtown Manhattan disco into an international mecca of nightlife for the rich and famous and commoners alike—renowned for its lavish parties, music, sex and drugs. With Rubell and Schrager’s meteoric rise came their epic fall less than three years later when the impresarios were convicted of tax fraud. 

The third and next installment of ACS, Impeachment: American Crime Story, premieres on Tuesday, September 7 at 10:00 p.m. E/P on FX.  Impeachment: American Crime Story is a limited series examining the national crisis that led to the first impeachment of a U.S. President in over a century. It tells this story through the eyes of the women at the center of the events: Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein), Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) and Paula Jones (Annaleigh Ashford). All three were thrust into the public spotlight during a time of corrosive partisan rancor, shifting sexual politics and a changing media landscape. The series shows how power lifts some and disposes of others in the halls of our most sacred institutions. 

Impeachment:  American Crime Story is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Sarah Burgess, Alexis Martin Woodall, Sarah Paulson, Brad Falchuk, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski and Michael Uppendahl. The series is produced by 20th Television and FX Productions. 

The first two installments of American Crime Story, The People v. O.J. Simpson (2016) and The Assassination of Gianni Versace (2018), collectively received 41 Emmy nominations and won 14 Emmy Awards, both winning the Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series.  The show has also won AFI, Critics Choice, DGA, Golden Globe, Peabody, PGA, SAG, WGA and Television Critics Association awards with The People v. O.J. Simpson winning Program of the Year in 2016. 

“American Sports Story” and “American Love Story” join a lineup of Murphy-created “American Story” titles that currently includes “Horror Story,” “Crime Story” and the new “AHS” spinoff series, “American Horror Stories.”

“When Ryan Murphy came to us with these two spinoffs and the stories for American Sports Story and American Love Story, we immediately jumped at the opportunity,” John Landgraf, chairman of FX, said in a statement Friday. “What began with American Horror Story has spawned some of the best and most indelible programs of our generation, most notably American Crime Story which created a beautiful partnership between Ryan, Brad, Nina and Brad. Their alchemy and the way in which they construct these stories is done with such care, such clarity and such dimensionality that creates the magnificence that is The People v. O.J. Simpson, The Assassination of Gianni Versace and Impeachment.  We can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Dana Walden, chairman of entertainment at Walt Disney Television, added: “More than a decade ago, Ryan Murphy expressed interest in expanding the ‘American Horror Story’ model to be able to tell different ‘American’ stories, which have long captivated so many of us.  It was a brilliant idea.  Adding these new installments to the franchise will enable Ryan, Brad, Nina and Brad and their talented teams to tackle riveting stories outside of the horror and crime genres. This group has done a truly amazing job of examining situations we think we know everything about and making us realize that there was so much more there than what we had been told.  Many of us at 20^th Television, FX and FXP have worked together on this franchise since the very beginning and it has been a privilege.  It’s been an incredible partnership and collaboration and we’re looking forward to these new chapters.”

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