Ryan Murphy Says ‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ Release Date Isn’t Locked

Elaine Low

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“Impeachment: American Crime Story” may not necessarily be released in September 2020 as previously announced, creator Ryan Murphy indicated to a New York Times reporter, expressing surprise that there was controversy over the timing of the FX series.

“I was a little shocked at the idea that a television miniseries could change the future of our country,” said Murphy, according to the Times’ John Koblin, who tweeted out quotes from Murphy that did not make it into a Thursday story on “The Politician.” “But I have to say I really do understand peoples [sic] sensitivities and I feel like that was just a placeholder to us and we’ve not committed yet on when we’re going to release it.”

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According to Koblin, Murphy said he has a busy year of filming coming up and the September premiere “is not set in stone.”

The timing of “Impeachment” landed FX chairman John Landgraf in hot water last month, with TV critics and journalists asking the network head at the Television Critics Assn. press tour about his decision to premiere the show in the middle of the presidential election cycle. The release date raised eyebrows among those who believe that the show, which tackles the Monica Lewisnky scandal and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, could potentially impact the outcome of the 2020 election between President Trump and the Democratic nominee.

“If you saw the way that story was covered at the time, you will see that the way we perceive many aspects of it, but particularly the women, the female characters, has really been transformed by the period of time, the #MeToo movement,” Landgraf said at TCA in August.

FX and Murphy’s representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.

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