‘American Hostage’ Is Now Streaming: The Wild True Story Behind Jon Hamm’s MGM+ Thriller

If you thought television had already found every unbelievable true-crime story possible, MGM+ would like a word. American Hostage, starring Jon Hamm and Giovanni Ribisi, has arrived, and the story behind the eight-episode psychological thriller is one of those cases where learning that it actually happened makes everything sound even more ridiculous.

The new series takes viewers back to Indianapolis in 1977, when radio journalist Fred Heckman unexpectedly found himself at the center of a terrifying hostage situation. Hamm plays Heckman, while Ribisi portrays Tony Kiritsis, the man whose dispute over a real-estate deal escalated into a 63-hour standoff involving a hostage, a sawed-off shotgun and live radio. Every part of that sentence somehow belongs to the same story.

What Is American Hostage About?

On February 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis entered the Indianapolis office of mortgage broker Richard “Dick” Hall, played in the series by Kristoffer Polaha. Kiritsis believed he had been financially wronged in connection with a 17-acre commercial property that was facing foreclosure, and his response was extreme: He abducted Hall after wiring a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun to his neck.

Kiritsis then demanded access to Fred Heckman, who was the news director at Indianapolis radio station WIBC-AM. Heckman was already a trusted local journalist, reportedly known as the “Walter Cronkite of Indianapolis,” but nothing in the usual job description for a radio newsman could have prepared him for what happened next. Kiritsis wanted his grievances heard on the air, forcing Heckman into the unusual position of covering a major news story while simultaneously becoming part of it.

The crisis stretched for 63 hours as Heckman repeatedly communicated with Kiritsis, sometimes while those conversations were being broadcast. Instead of simply reporting developments from a safe distance, Heckman became an important connection between the hostage-taker and the outside world. Kiritsis eventually surrendered and released Hall alive. And suddenly whatever happened during your last stressful day at work doesn't seem quite as bad.

Jon Hamm Has Actually Told This Story Before

American Hostage isn't Hamm's first time stepping into Fred Heckman's shoes. The actor previously voiced Heckman in the 2022 scripted podcast American Hostage, which dramatized the same case and later won Best Scripted Podcast at the 2023 Signal Awards. Hamm remained attached when the story made the jump from audio to television and also serves as an executive producer on the MGM+ adaptation.

The television series was co-created by Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers, with Sony Pictures Television producing. Ryan and Myers expand the story into eight episodes, turning the infamous standoff into a character-driven thriller that examines Heckman, Kiritsis and the people pulled into their orbit.

The supporting cast includes Polaha as Dick Hall, Mireille Enos as Heckman's wife Barbara, William Jackson Harper as Ben Hairston, Jonathan Tucker as FBI Special Agent Cormac McNally and Kat Cunning as Ibby Hall.

A Hostage Crisis Playing Out in the Media

What makes the American Hostage story particularly fascinating nearly 50 years later is the role the media played in the crisis. Today, we're accustomed to major events unfolding almost instantaneously through television, livestreams and social media. In 1977, having a hostage-taker use live radio to communicate directly with the public created an entirely different situation for journalists and law enforcement.

That tension appears to be at the heart of the MGM+ series. Heckman has to navigate his responsibilities as a journalist while dealing with the reality that the man on the other end of the telephone is holding someone's life in his hands. It's an ethical and personal nightmare wrapped inside a true-crime story, and one that feels surprisingly relevant in an era when the line between covering an event and becoming part of the event can disappear very quickly.

When and Where Can You Watch American Hostage?

American Hostage consists of eight episodes, with the first two episodes launching September 20 on MGM+. Subsequent installments are scheduled to arrive weekly, with the season finale set for November 1. The first two episodes are titled “My Town Indy” and “McMahon, Martinis & Madness.”

The series is also getting a solid early reception from critics. As of September 20, American Hostage holds a 90% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes from its first 10 reviews. That's still a relatively small group of reviews, but between Hamm and Ribisi facing off, the unusual role of radio journalism in the story and a real-life case that already sounds like somebody's over-the-top television pitch, American Hostage certainly has our attention.

Because seriously, a man kidnaps his mortgage broker, puts a shotgun around his neck and then demands airtime from the local radio station? Whew. Sometimes the writers' room really can't compete with real life.