American Sports Story

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.

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.

This is wonderfully done TV show about the Aaron Hernandez story. We've seen the plot written and discussed many times many ways, but not like this. This show goes deeper into the family, deeper into what made Aaron Aaron. Some of it may be embellished, but what fiction isn't? It's not considered a biography so there is room to be creative. The cast is great too. From seeing some of my All Rise folks, to the main stars, they execute in a way that even Bill Bellichick (spelling) could appreciate. So far episode 8 is the best of them all, but each one builds on each other. I can't wait to finish the season out .

I was pleasantly surprised I didn't think that this would be as good as it was. My heart bleeds for Aaron after watching this he was a terribly tortured soul. Prior to this I thought that he was just an arrogant jerk. Being molested as a kid really set his tragic life on the path that it went down. Not to say that he was totally innocent and as a man he had choices but choose the wrong paths. It is so sad that such a talented guy ended up like he did. Family was definitely dysfunctional and his dad was crazy. His poor brother was full of envy I just hope that he found his self obviously it was not a football career.