On Tuesday, FX announced that the highly anticipated third season of Ryan Murphy’s critically acclaimed anthology series American Crime Story would hone in on the impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton. The first installment, The People v. O. J. Simpson, debuted in 2016 to plenty of praise and popularity. Its follow-up, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, arrived last year to much of the same. Impeachment, which will premiere in a year’s time, may end up doing the same.
That’s because the new season, which was written by Sarah Burgess and is being executive produced by Monica Lewinsky, will focus not on the Clintons or any of the other (mostly male) political figures who frequented the limelight, but the women whose stories were a major part of it. That’s why the three chief cast members are Sarah Paulson, Beanie Feldstein and Annaleigh Ashford, who are playing Linda Tripp, Lewinsky and Paula Jones, respectively. Production is slated to begin this February.
“FX’s American Crime Story franchise has become a cultural touchstone, providing greater context for stories that deserve greater understanding, like the O.J. Simpson trial and saga and Andrew Cunanan’s tragic crime spree, which concluded with the assassination of Gianni Versace,” FX Networks chairman John Landgraf said in a statement. “Impeachment: American Crime Story will likewise explore the overlooked dimensions of the women who found themselves caught up in the scandal and political war that cast a long shadow over the Clinton Presidency.”
Burgess adapted Impeachment from Jeffrey Toobin’s book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President and is slated to premiere Sunday, September 27th, 2020 on FX.
