American Crime Story

[scarlet]

Feb 17, 2016 11:42:05 GMT -4 @highondegrassi said:

his defense team replaced all the pics of OJ with white people with pics of him with various black people to make them believe he was heavily involved in the Black community

If prosecutors pulled shady shit like that, a defendant would have an excellent chance of winning a new trial on appeal. But if defense attorneys do it and the defendant is acquitted, it has to be water under the bridge. Normally a judge should be the one who keeps attorneys from "cheating" at trial, but from what I remember, Judge Ito was so concerned with his celebrity persona that it was impossible for him to make sound decisions.

Marcia said that the lawyers walked through the house before the jury was allowed in and when she saw what had been done she called for an immediate hearing, which they had on the front lawn. She argued that if, per the prosecution, they wanted the jury to see the house as it was the night of the murders, then show them what it looked like then, not this new version. And she lost the argument.

[Atreides]

Feb 10, 2016 2:01:35 GMT -4 laboria said:

For those that remember it and watch this mini series, how accurate it is? I know the chase was shown on live national tv, but were all these lawyers (Shapiro, Cochran, prosecutors) also on national TV or was it only in LA? People watching knew he was suicidal, with a gun? Black people back then thought he was a wannabe white sell out(I'm Black, but the only thing I knew about OJ pre murder was Hertz, Naked Gun, and former football player)? Not having seen the chase, I thought it was just a live feed, no commentary.

I was about 15 or so when all this was happening. It was non-stop coverage and I was in Canada. Everything was shown to the public and everyone involved with the trial became famous (or infamous). CNN basically covered this 24/7 and got huge ratings. There were all these tabloid TV shows on at the time like Hard Copy and A Current Affair that just went to town. The trial itself was televised, so this real-life circus was more entertaining than Days of our Lives or Y&R. On the afternoon of the verdict, they actually stopped classes in my high school and wheeled in TVs so we could watch it live. Crazy but true!

[save lilo!]

This is my favorite show right now, hands down.

Ross probably insisted on having some family scenes so he had screen time.

I also love all the ugly 90s ties, the golf polos, Marcia's hair. And I need more Kris because I love her outfits!

[FotoStoreSheila]

Feb 6, 2016 16:54:12 GMT -4 tortuga said:

Watching this on OnDemand. It's not the shit show I was expecting.

Me, too. And me, too. It's actually pretty good. And it's how I remember it playing out. Sarah Paulson is particularly good. And I'm enjoying John Travolta's performance. Other than the weekly bits of shade being thrown at the Kardashians (I wish Murphy had left out extraneous Kardashians), this is really well done.

[Deleted]

I was pregnant at the time, and watched it all in real life. It was the perfect storm. A huge amount of physical and damning circumstantial evidence, a popular and likeable sports celebrity, and a city that was raw from a history of LAPD abuse and Rodney King. An urban black jury that should have been rich white men (OJ's social equals) And for the cherry on top, throw in Mark Fuhrmann even involved on the periphery to drive this titanic case to the depths of the ocean.

Overall, this show isn't as heavy handed as I thought it would be, John Travolta notwithstanding. Cuba Gooding's appearance and voice blow my suspension of disbelief in all his scenes. Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey is borderline because he has done so many musicals and comedies. His face shines through.

When there was nothing else to say, people would glom on to Marcia Clark's appearance and smoking all the time.

[laboria]

Last night's episode:

I feel like there was a lot of behind the scenes things being shown, so no surprise I did not know about it.

1. Was the jury selection shown on TV? I feel like I remember the OJ trial stuff being on for over a year (because I am a soap watcher, I thought they were off air for that long), but they mentioned that the jury needed to be sequestered for (only) six months. Was else could have been on?
2. I did not know that Faye Resnick "wrote" a book, let alone one that came out before the trial even started. What was she thinking?
3. Did not know Ito's wife was a cop. Was there something between her and Furman? Was it known at the time?
4. Was it known that Marcia was a chain smoker? That people didn't like her?

Had not realized until last week's episode that Darden was a late addition, and added because he is black. Did not know about the infighting on the Dream Team; I never knew Shapiro was ever lead. Every time I caught something about the trial, I saw Cochran. The one thing I saw, the verdict, Shapiro looked disgusted. I thought it was because he believed OJ was guilty, but maybe it was because he wasn't the one that "won." They always seemed to be doing press conferences, according to the show.

I stated that I was in college at the time this happened. Each episode I am surprised at how much I was aware of although I never watched the trial, or anything they were on. Like I know all of the major players. However, I'm also surprised at what I was not aware of. The commentary and press conferences during the chase still blows my mind. Also, people involved were doing cable shows and press conferences several times daily it seems.

[Baby Fish Mouth]

Faye Resnick was clearly in it for the fame and money. I love how Connie Britton is playing her.

Judge Ito never should have been on the case, being married to a cop. His wife signed a "no conflict of interest" form when it was clear that she knew Detective Fuhrman well enough to have a conflict of interest.

I don't remember seeing Marcia Clark smoking, but she was definitely a tabloid target and I can't believe the prosecution didn't do a better job in selecting a jury.

[forever1267]

I'm pretty sure that Ito's wife and Fuhrman knew each other, and that will, um,

SPOILER: Click to show

came out in the trial.

(SPOILER for True Events in the Past.)

I do remember people thinking and saying that Marcia Clark seemed so hellbent on convicting O J, who still at the time was the football hero and the Hertz Commercial Guy and one of the members of The Naked Gun series, and opinions were still divided on whether he did it or not. They were so absolutely sure this was a slam dunk, Dream Team or not, based on the evidence.

That final walk through into the court of the Dream Team to the rap song was hilarious.

"My son's murder is a footnote" was so absolutely true.

[mandasant]

The Fred Goldman scene was heartbreaking. It brought me back to how emotional he was during the trial, and how Ron's murder really was "a footnote". Very sad. The actor portraying Fred really captured the anguish the Goldmans were going through.

[scarlet]

Feb 24, 2016 21:00:25 GMT -4 mandasant said:

The Fred Goldman scene was heartbreaking. It brought me back to how emotional he was during the trial, and how Ron's murder really was "a footnote". Very sad. The actor portraying Fred really captured the anguish the Goldmans were going through.

Couldn't agree more. I got tears in my eyes. The actor played the anguish so well.