What's better than one season of fictionalized true crime? Well, more than one season, of course. Paramount+ clearly wanted in on the action that Ryan Murphy's been peddling all along, and is launching its own true crime anthology series. As it turns out, that JonBenét Ramsey series Melissa McCarthy is working on is the first installment of this anthology, tentatively titled Unspeakable. According to a press release, the show will delve "into some of the nation’s most heartbreaking and gripping unsolved crimes."
The first season, Unspeakable: The Murder Of JonBenét Ramsey follows McCarthy and co-star Clive Owen as Patsy and John Ramsey, "exploring their unbreakable partnership and the complex dynamics of their marriage and parenting," per the synopsis. "It delves into how they crafted a narrative of a perfect, privileged life for themselves and their children—a facade shattered by tragedy one Christmas night in 1996."
True crime television has pretty much always been in fashion, but you could argue we're in a boom at the moment. Obviously Murphy has practically made it his own cottage industry (Monster, American Crime Story, an American Sports Story that's also about crime), but pretty much every major streamer has gotten in on the game. HBO's always had them, Netflix dabbles, and Hulu has become a big player, as well. The genre is so prevalent there's a budding subgenre of parodies about people really into true crime, like Peacock's Based On A True Story or Hulu's Only Murders In The Building (in which McCarthy has guest starred). But Paramount+ had yet to really get its foot in the door, despite having an audience that definitely likes crime (we're talking about the home of Criminal Minds: Evolution, after all).
And so, Unspeakable. The first season is currently in production under showrunner Richard LaGravenese (Behind The Candelabra) and executive producer Anne Sewitsky (Presumed Innocent), who is directing four of the eight episodes. In addition to McCarthy and Owen, the series also stars Emily Mitchell, Garrett Hedlund, Alison Pill, Shea Whigham, Owen Teague, Clifton Collins Jr, Rory Cochrane, Chris Bauer, Angus Caldwell, Will Patton, John Billingsley, Jeremy Bobb, Jaime Ray Newman, Josh Stamberg, and guest star Margo Martindale.
