‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’: Can You Stream the New Show About the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal?
The new season of FX’s true crime anthology series American Crime Story is taking a closer look at one of the most notorious political scandals of all time. Impeachment: American Crime Story explores then-president Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to his 1999 impeachment trial.
‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ premieres September 7 on FX
Impeachment: American Crime Story premieres Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
The show stars Beanie Feldstein as Lewinsky. Sarah Paulson plays her friend Linda Tripp, the woman to whom Lewinsky confessed her affair. Tripp secretly recorded her conversations with the younger woman. She then gave the tapes to independent counsel Ken Starr (played by Dan Bakkedahl).
Clive Owen plays President Clinton and Edie Falco plays Hillary Clinton. Annaleigh Ashford portrays Paula Jones, who claimed that Clinton sexually harassed her when he was the governor of Arkansas. Other Impeachment: American Crime Story cast members include Billy Eichner as online sleuth/gossip monger Matt Drudge and Cobie Smulders as conservative pundit Ann Coulter.
Impeachment focuses on the scandal from the perspective of three of the women involved: Lewinsky, Tripp, and Jones. Lewinsky, now 48 and an activist and public speaker, is a producer on the series. It’s based on the book, A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President, by Jeffrey Toobin. (Toobin’s book on the O.J. Simpson case was the inspiration for the first season of American Crime Story.)
You’ll have to wait to stream ‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’
Impeachment: American Crime Story has 10 episodes, which will air weekly on FX. Usually, FX shows stream the next day on Hulu, but that’s not the case for this series. Instead, it will be available to watch on Netflix sometime in 2022, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That’s thanks to the prolific producer’s earlier $300 million deal with the streaming service.
What reviewers are saying about ‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’
So, is Impeachment: American Crime Story worth watching? So far, it hasn’t earned the same positive reviews as The People vs. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
Variety said the Impeachment takes “itself too seriously to be camp, but not seriously enough to avoid some of TV’s most obvious traps” and criticized it for clunky, obvious dialogue and Paulson’s “caricature” of Tripp. IndieWire said the show suffered from “staged recreations, showy casting, and lack of insight” that made it “feel like a tardy version of Saturday Night Live.” However, several reviewers praised Feldstein’s portrayal of Lewinsky, with Collider saying “she makes Monica feel believable” and adding that “a great deal of Impeachment proves to be truly engrossing.”
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