The People vs. O.J. Simpson: A Guide for Millennials, From the Kardashians to Faye Resnick
Not all millennials may know that fame for the Kardashians, the reality-TV family Americans love (or love to hate), began 22 years ago with the so-called crime of the century — that is, the televised 1994-5 murder trial of football legend O.J. Simpson, following the grisly deaths of his estranged wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, the 25-year-old waiter Ron Goldman. (Despite ample DNA evidence linking him to the crime, Simpson was acquitted, dividing the country’s reaction along racial lines, but went to prison in 2007 for other crimes and will be up for parole next year.) In an early example of 24-7 reality TV, every single glitzy-smarmy L.A. character associated with the Simpson case became a short-term celeb — including a member of the defense “Dream Team,” the now late Robert Kardashian, who fathered the now famous K sisters with his by then ex-wife, Kris, now Kris Jenner. (The couple was close with Simpson and Brown; it is rumored that Simpson is actually Khloé Kardashian’s father.)
Tonight, FX Network debuts The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Ryan Murphy’s 10-part miniseries — starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J., David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, John Travolta as defense lawyer Robert Shapiro, and Sarah Paulson as lead prosecutor Marcia Clark — that’ll take viewers back into the quintessentially nineties scandal that spawned a million memes before memes were really a thing. If you were too young (or not even born yet) to remember the white Ford Bronco, the Bruno Maglis and “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” then here’s your handy guide to FX’s version of the media circus that ushered in our own age of reality entertainment (and also that highlighted the taupe awfulness of mid-nineties fashion).
