The new sports crime series from Ryan Murphy has become a streaming hit. The prolific creator and mega-producer has a long history on the small screen, going back to the teen drama Popular which aired on The WB in the late 1990s and into the 2000s. He then moved on to Nip/Tuck, which ran from 2003 to 2010 on FX. However, Murphy became one of television’s most well-known names with the one-two punch of Glee and American Horror Story in the early 2010s.
Murphy continues to be a prolific producer, and 2024 has proven to be an exceptionally busy year for the creator. He has procedural dramas on broadcast television, with the 9-1-1 shows and Doctor Odyssey, both of which he co-created. And on streaming, thanks to an exemption in his deal with Disney’s 20th Television, he is allowed to continue work on his existing Netflix shows like Monster season 3 while also developing new series for ABC, FX, and Hulu. One of those dramas, for FX and Hulu, has now found a new life.
American Sports Story Is A Hit On Hulu
The Show Focuses On Aaron Hernandez
According to Collider, the crime drama American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez is currently the No. 1 trending show on Hulu. This comes nearly two months after the show debuted in September, with a 74% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it happens as the series is preparing to air its final episode on November 12. Murphy executive produced the anthology, though it was developed by Stu Zicherman.
The first installment of American Sports Story consists of ten episodes. It is based on the Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez podcast and the Football Inc. podcast, centering on the rise and fall of Aaron Hernandez (played in the series by Josh Rivera). It explores his identity and family, his career, and his tragic end. The anthology garnered mixed reactions, with praise for the performances but criticisms over how the story was told and its focus.
What Does The New Success Mean For American Sports Story?
Subscribers Might Have Been Looking To Binge
In a sign of how streaming has altered viewership habits, it could be that many subscribers were looking to binge the Aaron Hernandez adaptation at their own pace. That is understandable, given the difficult real-life subject matter of American Sports Story, which deals with murder, family strife, and questions that are difficult to answer.
Source: Collider