AMC Networks’ SundanceTV has just announced the commission of its first true crime franchise, True Crime Story. It will focus on telling a wide variety of true crime stories from unique perspectives. The first series will be It Couldn’t Happen Here. Hosted by Hilarie Burton Morgan, It Couldn’t Happen Here will premiere Thursday, September 9 on SundanceTV and AMC+. The series will be a total of six, one-hour episodes.
In It Couldn’t Happen Here, life-long small-town community member and advocate Hilarie Burton Morgan visits different small towns in an effort to shine a much-needed light on the unique ways in which crime impacts rural communities and their judicial systems. Too often the heartbreaking events in these towns are largely overlooked because they lack the national media platforms and advocacy resources found in larger cities. In each episode, Hilarie hears the facts of the case from family members and local insiders in an attempt to understand the challenges the community faced investigating the crime, learn the lasting impact the crime has had on the fabric of the town, and ultimately call attention to where justice currently stands. Hilarie embraces these communities, where many know not just the victims, but the perpetrators and those who enable them.
In a press release, Burton Morgan said, “Advocating for small towns has been the primary focus of my adult life, whether it’s fighting for mom and pop shops, or public schools or facilities like Astor Services. I believe deeply in the value of these small communities. Last year, my husband and I were able to team with the AMC family to shed light on a number of the struggles our community was facing during Covid, as we had local friends and neighbors from the Hudson Valley on as guests for our show Friday Night In with the Morgans. Continuing my relationship with the AMC family at SundanceTV and digging deeper into the issues that are specific to small towns is a mission that I’m honored to be part of.”
The actress is also the author of The New York Times best-selling book The Rural Diaries and runs the production company Mischief Farm with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan. She is best known for her role as Peyton Sawyer on One Tree Hill and recently reunited with her co-stars to launch a podcast called Drama Queens. Other notable credits include The Walking Dead, Friday Night with the Morgans, Council of Dads, Lethal Weapon, White Collar, and Grey’s Anatomy.
