# American Crime (2015)

> An anthology drama in which each season dissects a different American crime and the racial and institutional forces around it.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/54239

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 29
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: John Ridley
- Network: ABC
- Cast: W. Earl Brown, Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Penelope Ann Miller, Elvis Nolasco, Caitlin Gerard, Trevor Jackson, Joey Pollari
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3488298/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: serious, bleak, tense, contemplative

## What critics say

Viewers rate the anthology highly for its serious, socially charged treatment of the American justice system, with each season's self-contained story drawing strong praise.

## Synopsis

American Crime (2015-2017) is an American anthology crime drama created by John Ridley for ABC. Across three seasons spanning twenty-nine episodes, each season builds around a different crime and its aftermath, following a new cast of characters rather than a single continuing story. Felicity Huffman and Timothy Hutton anchor the cast in the sprawling run, with Huffman playing Barb Hanlon and Hutton playing Dan Sullivan, while Elvis Nolasco, Penelope Ann Miller and W. Earl Brown appear in recurring roles across the seasons. The engine of each season is a case that pulls in families, police officers, lawyers and neighbors, so that a single act of violence ripples into questions of loyalty, class and race. The approach is serious and deliberately unhurried, with a probing, morally tangled tone and courtroom and interrogation scenes that expose how easily guilt is assigned. Set in contemporary American towns and cities, the show frames its stories around the criminal justice system as a whole. Viewers who appreciate the raw social commentary of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, the anthology structure of Fargo, or the institutional scope of The Wire will find resonance here.

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