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American drama anthology television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American Sports Story is an American sports drama anthology series developed by Stu Zicherman, who also serves as an executive producer alongside Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy, Linda Pizutti Henry, and Ira Napoliello. The series serves as the fourth installment in the American Story media franchise, and is broadcast on the cable network FX.
| American Sports Story | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Stu Zicherman |
| Starring |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Editors |
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| Running time | 42-52 Minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | FX |
| Release | September 17, 2024 – present |
| Related | |
| American Story | |
The first season, titled American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, is focused on the rise and fall of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, and premiered on September 17, 2024.[1]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by [11] | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "If It's To Be" | Carl Franklin | Stuart Zicherman | September 17, 2024 | 0.273[12] |
| 2 | "Consequences, with Extreme Prejudice" | Carl Franklin | Ryan Farley | September 17, 2024 | N/A |
| 3 | "Pray the Gay Away" | Paris Barclay | Chelsey Lora | September 24, 2024 | 0.207[13] |
| 4 | "Birthday Money" | Paris Barclay | Ryan Farley & Chelsey Lora | October 1, 2024 | 0.140[14] |
| 5 | "The Man" | Maggie Kiley | Domonique Foxworth & Liz Tuccillo | October 8, 2024 | 0.184[15] |
| 6 | "Herald Street" | Maggie Kiley | Matthew Hodgson | October 15, 2024 | 0.158[16] |
| 7 | "Dirty Pain" | Steven Canals | Lee Edward Colston II | October 22, 2024 | 0.190[17] |
| 8 | "Odin" | Steven Canals | Hadi Nicholas Deeb | October 29, 2024 | 0.153[18] |
| 9 | "What's Left Behind"[19] | Jennifer Lynch | Hadi Nicholas Deeb & Stacey McCormack | November 5, 2024 | TBD |
| 10 | "Who Killed Aaron Hernandez?"[20] | Michael Uppendahl | Stuart Zicherman & Tracey Scott Wilson | November 12, 2024 | TBD |
On August 13, 2021, it was announced that FX had ordered a new spin-off limited series American Sports Story. The series, which is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. from The Boston Globe and Wondery, focuses on the rise and fall of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez.[21] Specifically, the series explores the disparate strands of Hernandez's identity, his family, his career, his suicide and their legacy in sports and American culture.[22]
By January 2023, John Landgraf stated that the series was "heading toward production" as there was a "fairly complete set of scripts" from Stu Zicherman, although no premiere date was set.[23] In November 2023, it was reported that Josh Andrés Rivera, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Lindsay Mendez, Tony Yazbeck, Jake Cannavale, and Catfish Jean had joined the cast.[2][3][6][7][9]
Principal photography began on April 3, 2023, in Jersey City, New Jersey.[24] Filming was suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike,[25] and resumed in December. Filming continued further in March 2024 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.[26]
The first season premiered with its first two episodes on FX on September 17, 2024.[27] After the two-episode premiere, the series was released one new episode weekly leading up to the finale in November.[28] New episodes of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez were made available to stream on Hulu after the 10 PM FX premiere on Tuesdays.[29]
American Sports Story debuted at No. 1 on Hulu’s "Top 15 Today" list on its first full day of release and remained on the list for ten consecutive days as of October 1, 2024, alongside other television series made by Ryan Murphy, including Grotesquerie and Doctor Odyssey.[30]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of American Sports Story has an approval rating of 70% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critical consensus states, "American Sports Story dramatizes the tragic case of Aaron Hernandez with slick efficiency and some debatable insinuations about his motivations, with Josh Rivera's terrific performance giving the sad saga a compelling core."[31] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[32]
American Sports Story garnered attention after a scene featuring Laith Wallschleger as Rob Gronkowski went viral on social media.[33][34] This was notably observed on "NFL Twitter," where the clip was shared by NFL writer Dov Kleiman and others.[35] The comedic exchange between Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez led to widespread sharing and commentary online.[36] Gronkowski acknowledged that Wallschleger, who serves as his body double in various projects, effectively embodied his persona in a manner that aligned with the style of the series.[37]
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