WITH seasons two and three of FX anthology “American Crime Story” already in the works, showrunner Ryan Murphy is eyeing the franchise’s future beyond that.

    Murphy has set his sights on exploring the Monica Lewinsky scandal for a subsequent season of the franchise. To that end, Murphy and “American Crime Story” producers Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions have optioned author Jeffrey Toobin’s 2000 best-seller “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President” as source material. Toobin’s book “The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson” served as the inspiration for the Emmy-winning first season of the anthology. Toobin was deeply involved in the first season and served as a consultant to the writing staff.

    Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Murphy and producers are fast-tracking the drama and already are meeting with actresses to portray Lewinsky and colleague Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded Lewinsky’s conversations about her alleged affair with then-President Bill Clinton. Lewinsky claimed to have intimate relations with Clinton between November 1995 and March 1997. The scandal and its repercussions included impeachment hearings.

    The news comes as “People v. O.J. Simpson” has become a breakout ratings and critical hit for FX and as true-crime-inspired series continue to be hot among broadcasters, cable, premium and streaming services following the success of other shows such as HBO’s “The Jinx,” Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” and more. NBC also is plotting its own true-crime anthology with Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order: True Crime,” whose first season focuses on “The Menendez Brothers.” CBS, meanwhile, is developing a Patty Hearst project, and even popular podcast Serial is in development at “People v. O.J.” producers 20th Century Fox TV, via its Fox 21 banner. For its part, Netflix is revisiting “Making a Murderer” with an additional episode order as other nets plot forays into the Waco and Chandra Levy cases, among others.(SD-Agencies)