American Hostage is the latest “based on a podcast” TV show—and the MGM+ series is like no other true crime adaptation. In an era when true crime stories are played out and overwrought, co-creators Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers have done the unthinkable: they’ve made this one a hell of a lot of fun.
That is conceivably bizarre to say about a series with “hostage” in the title. Yet Ryan and Myers have taken the podcast of the same name and leaned into the absurdities of its story—critically without taking away from the seriousness of the situation. From the pre-credits introduction, they set a tone that’s witty, engaging and surprisingly charming, even as complete chaos unfolds. In late ’70s Indianapolis, Tony Kiritsis (played with earnest, manic energy by The Offer‘s Giovanni Ribisi) is fed up and takes mortgage executive Dick Hall (Kristoffer Polaha) hostage, while pulling beloved local radio personality Fred Heckman (Your Friends & Neighbors star Jon Hamm) into his scheme… live on air.
It’s easy to see why Hamm signed up for this one. American Hostage has the same tongue-in-cheek tone as what Jonathan Tropper established on Your Friends & Neighbors, but the role of Heckman is completely different from Andrew Cooper. And Hamm is perfect in the role, giving the series a grounding force and a central gravitas—not to mention that the Carvana pitchman has the exact right voice to play a radio personality.
While Hamm toplines the series, American Hostage is populated by one of the great pleasures of TV: actors people know, doing things that viewers haven’t seen them do before. Ribisi deserves credit for such a high-energy performance, also knowing when to steal small moments to back off of the edge Tony is constantly on so he’s not just a histrionic antagonist. There’s William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) as Fred’s radio station colleague Ben, and Mireille Enos (The Killing) as Fred’s loyal wife Barbara. As with all other Shawn Ryan productions, every character feels well-developed, no matter how small the part. It’s particularly fun to see Mark McKinney spit out one-liners as the local police chief. And then there’s Polaha, who has to do a lot of acting while limited in one way or another—sometimes without any dialogue at all.
Underneath the entertainment value is another layer to appreciate just from a performance standpoint. Actor-director and executive producer Adam Arkin (who pleasantly turns up on screen in a supporting role) gives American Hostage a unique visual style to match the inventiveness of Ryan and Myers’ scripts. And there’s something else special about the show that so many other TV series get wrong: the underscore is wonderfully subtle, never intruding into major plot points.
But the most impressive thing about American Hostage is the tone. It’s not the first project to take a more light-hearted approach to a true crime plot, and it won’t be the last. Unfortunately, a lot of those aren’t very good, as they lean so far into the comedy that they (and the audience) can lose sight of the facts. Even while American Hostage is having fun, there are genuinely chilling moments—sometimes at the same time. Hamm is wonderful at conveying Heckman’s inner conflict as he finds himself trying to save a man’s life. There’s an element of the undervalued indie film Midnight Caller here, and maybe even a little bit of Network. Viewers won’t forget the show, but they also won’t forget the humanity of it.
The one big “but” present is that MGM+ is billing American Hostage as an anthology series, meaning that it has ambitions to return with a new story. That didn’t work out for Dirty John, and it had mixed results for Landman. Will Ryan and Myers be able to find another true crime case that enables them to keep the great personality that makes American Hostage unique? That’s a question for the future. For now, this is a show that genuinely feels like a roller coaster ride, with the same genuine excitement.
MGM+ has quietly rolled out some fantastic original series recently, with the comedy American Classic and then the crime drama The Westies. It’s clear that the network is doing what so many other brands want to: developing unique original projects with voices that stand out. And while The Westies may have had its ups and downs, being out of control is what makes American Hostage work. Viewers don’t have a clue what’s going to happen; even if you’re familiar with the podcast, you don’t know how Ryan, Myers, Arkin and company are going to pull it off. Get some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the ride.
American Hostage premieres Sept. 20, 2026 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on MGM+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of MGM+.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
