One of the biggest scandals in 20th century American history was undoubtedly the reveal of the affair between President Bill Clinton and his intern, Monica Lewinsky, in the late 90s. The scandal was set to be covered by two TV projects in the not-too-distant future. The first to be announced as scrapped was a season of American Crime Story, and a second has now officially been cancelled: History's The Breach: Inside the Impeachment of Bill Clinton.
The Breach: Inside the Impeachment of Bill Clinton was ordered straight to series back in September 2017. It was slated to run for six episodes as a political thriller. Based on the New York Times best-seller The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton, written by Peter Baker, the series would chronicle a detailed account of the unfolding of the scandal of Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. Viewers would see the story told from both the Republican and Democrat sides of the aisle, the disagreements between White House advisors about how to handle the unfolding scandal, negotiations behind closed doors between Congress and the White House, and the pressure Clinton faced to resign and those around him to push him out.
Basically, the series would have walked viewers through the details of a story many might have thought they already knew concerning the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. Emmy winner R.J. Cutler was on board as writer, executive producer, and director. THR reports that the decision to axe The Breach came some time ago, although the announcement only broke on April 4. The project got far enough into development that a casting search kicked off to find an actor to portray Clinton.
It's not clear at this point why History made the decision to scrap The Breach. If the decision was indeed made a while ago, Ryan Murphy's decision to abandon the plans for a Monica Lewinsky-centric season of American Crime Story wouldn't have made a difference. Perhaps the producers were too frustrated by the inability to find to perfect guy to bring President Clinton to life on the small screen, or perhaps the folks behind the scenes came to the conclusion that a political thriller isn't what's going to fly with viewers nowadays. Whatever the reason, The Breach isn't happening on History anymore.
Ryan Murphy was open about why he scrapped plans to tackle the scandal on American Crime Story. Murphy explained that he felt it was "kind of gross" if anybody tried to tell the story without Monica Lewinsky on board as a producer to "make all the goddamn money." He did make it clear that he'd be on board to produce a season of American Crime Story with her as a fellow producer. Only time will tell if that actually happens.
For what you can watch on the small screen even without any Clinton/Lewinsky scandal-based series on the airwaves, check out our midseason TV premiere guide and summer TV premiere schedule. For other shows that have gotten the axe this season, swing by our rundown of network TV cancellations and renewals.
