Actor Jon Hamm has said his new MGM+ series American Hostage, based on a 1977 hostage crisis in Indianapolis, carries themes that feel unexpectedly relevant to today's politically fractured climate. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at TIFF, Hamm suggested the story's central tension, a man feeling let down by the "American Dream" and taking drastic action, echoes contemporary feelings of being overlooked or unheard, while co-creator Shawn Ryan drew parallels between the show's portrayal of trusted journalism and today's fractured, low-trust media landscape.

The series stars Hamm as Fred Heckman, a respected Indianapolis radio reporter drawn into negotiating after Tony Kiritsis takes a mortgage broker hostage and demands airtime on Heckman's programme. Hamm compared the case's media impact to later "local story goes national" moments such as the O.J. Simpson car chase and the Patty Hearst kidnapping, arguing it marked an early example of news being shaped for maximum sensational impact. Co-creator Shawn Ryan noted that, unlike today's era of declining trust in journalism (which Gallup polling shows is at record lows), Heckman's era treated news as something "sacred". American Hostage, co-created by Ryan and Eileen Myers, premieres on MGM+ on 20 September.