American Sports Story

I completely disagree; this series is engrossing. The actor playing Hernandez, a very complicated person, is doing a terrific job and I hope he's remembered at awards time. I just peeked in at Episode 3, curious how they'd tell his story, and I got hooked. I can't remember if he ended up in prison or was killed by someone so the ending's a mystery to me, which makes watching this more compelling. Not all of these made-for-TV bio series are that good (I was very disappointed in the Julia Roberts one which was really quite sleazy and didn't stick to the facts of Martha Mitchell's story), but I give this one an 8 out of 10.

American Sports Story is another scripted anthology series from Ryan Murphy that focuses on sports figures this time. This first season is about the tragic life of Aaron Hernandez and his rise and fall from being an NFL star. It does a good job making you feel empathy for Hernandez for all that he had to go through growing up but it doesn't make you feel any sympathy because he still made his choices. It doesn't take any of the guilt away from Hernandez but shows how the people in his life influenced the man he became. The show also does a good job showing the story from different perspectives of the man Hernandez was. The best part of the show is Josh Rivera portrayal of Aaron Hernandez. He does such a great job. He even looks like him except for being a few inches shorter. I'm looking forward to future seasons from this show.

American Sports Story is a solid spin-off of the incredible series American Crime Story. It's basically the same show. I'm not even sure why they didn't just add this to another season of American Crime Story instead of renaming it. Unlike that show this stars mostly unknown actors who all do a great job portraying their real life counterparts. I see some people are upset because they think the shows goes easy on Aaron Hernandez and blames others for his mistakes. I don't see it that way at all. It shows every despicable thing he's done but there's a reason he ended up becoming the person he is. He had an abusive father, a mom who cared about herself above all others, how he was ashamed he was bisexual and that he had CTE. Those are all facts that led to him becoming who he is. He was not a good person and this shows that. American Sports Story is another compelling show in a long line of them from Ryan Murphy.

Everyone knows that producer Ryan Murphy always does the best work and keeps it real with his series with real life things. And this is another winner for "FX", as the first season of his "American Sports Story" which focuses on the rise and fall of New England Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez. The episodes follow his life as a teen and upbringing in Bristol, CT to the University of Florida as a gator to his drafting into the NFL as a Patriot. The time frame focused on is mid 2000's to 2010's as the series feels real as it relies on interviews, transcripts, and documents, with calls and reporting by the Boston Globe even as Murphy makes it real showing Aaron's drug use, possible bi sexual life, and painful CTE. And actor Josh Rivera really gets into the mind of the character as it was interesting seeing a sports figure challenged battling personal and private demons.

This show isn't as bad as some reviews state. As a football fan it's fun enough to see a lot of familiar characters and programs reenacted the way this show does. Each episode does just enough to entertain the typical murder mystery fans. Character dialogue is pretty grounded and realistic. The actors all do a good job.

Some of the bads would be the unimaginative camera work that comes off cheap and soapy. The pace of the show is a little slow. It's also possible that people familiar with the events that took place in real life will find that this Aaron Hernandez story isn't all that interesting.

Watch it with your wife, watch it with your girlfriend, they'll probably like the show and you can tell them a little about how college and professional teams work this way, and when you shout out the cameos they finally be interested in your knowledge of football.