It premieres tonight on MGM+, and the strangest parts of it really happened in Indianapolis in 1977. Here is the true story, and how to watch.
The eight-episode thriller opens with two episodes at 9 p.m. ET Sunday. Hamm plays Fred Heckman, a real Indianapolis radio newsman.
On Feb. 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis took his mortgage broker, Dick Hall, hostage in Indianapolis. The standoff ran nearly 63 hours. Ribisi plays Kiritsis.
Kiritsis called the radio station again and again, often live on air. Joe Cobden plays Jerry Morris, the manager weighing what airing him would cost.
Cunning plays Ibby, wife of the man being held. Her scenes are where the series digs into the gender politics of a 1970s newsroom and household.
Enos plays Barbara Heckman, Fred's wife, whose home absorbs the crisis. She led AMC's The Killing and ABC's The Catch.
William Jackson Harper plays Ben Hairston, the newsman who asks whether Heckman has stopped covering the story and become part of it.
Jonathan Tucker plays FBI Special Agent Cormac McNally, one of the officials trying to end the standoff without anyone getting hurt.
After nearly 63 hours, Kiritsis surrendered and Hall walked out unharmed. Ribisi and Tucker are shown here at the show's Toronto premiere.
Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield, built the series with Eileen Myers from the American Hostage podcast. The two wives' friendship is their invention.
American Hostage streams on MGM+, which is $7.99 a month as a Prime Video channel with a seven-day free trial. Season 1 runs eight episodes.