My favorite (non-movie) pop culture of 2016!

5.) The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story 

It’s tempting to think that “O.J.: Made in America’s” deep dive rendered Ryan Murphy’s miniseries from earlier in the year obsolete. And yet, rather than cancelling each other out, the two work as fascinating complements, shedding light on different facets of the story and giving us a bigger picture about something we thought had already been reported to death.

In Murphy’s 10-episode miniseries, O.J. (a fantastic Cuba Gooding Jr.) is pushed to the side in favor of spending time with the lawyers who would be at the center of this circus. In each episode, he pushes in on different aspect of the trial, whether it’s the sequestered jurors, Johnnie Cochran’s decision to play the race card or, in the best episode, letting a never-better Sarah Paulson humanize Marcia Clark. In the process, Murphy and his directors cleared plenty of room for nearly every actor to give some of the best performances of their careers, from John Travolta’s bizarre take on Robert Shapiro to Courtney B. Vance’s Cochran, who’s overflowing with misguided passion. But the best work was done by Paulson and Sterling K. Brown, as Chris Darden, who both brought dignity and humanity to individuals who became punch lines after the trial.

“The People vs. O.J. Simpson” could have been a tawdry, campy and tasteless joke. Instead, every episode was riveting, tragic and absurd. Like “Made in America,” it shined a light on one of the most notorious and bizarre moments in American history and reminded us that its tendrils are still flowing through our culture today.

The People vs. OJ Simpson is available to purchase in a variety of formats and is rumored to be coming to Netflix in 2017.