American Hostage Lands Sunday on MGM+
Jon Hamm is back on live radio, and the caller has a shotgun.
American Hostage lands on Sunday, September 20 on MGM+, opening with two episodes. The eight-part run is an anthology series, meaning each season is designed to tell a standalone story, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The new season dramatises a crisis in 1977 in Indianapolis. It is based on the first season of the American Hostage podcast from Criminal Content. It was created by Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers.
Hamm plays Indianapolis radio host Fred Heckman. Giovanni Ribisi plays Tony Kiritsis, the armed man at the centre of the standoff. The cast also includes Mireille Enos as Barbara Heckman, William Jackson Harper as Ben Hairston and Kristoffer Polaha as hostage Dick Hall.
The set-up arrives live on air. In the trailer, Kiritsis calls into Heckman's call-in show to announce he has a shotgun aimed at a man's neck, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Heckman stays on the line. The conversation becomes the negotiation.
For viewers, this means a short, closed story. Eight episodes. One incident. No homework required from an earlier season.
The release is straightforward. In the United States the series premieres exclusively on MGM+. In Canada it premieres on Crave, according to Deadline. MGM+ released the official trailer, key art and new images on August 10, 2026, and confirmed the two-episode launch for September 20, via its press site.
The launch follows a festival stop. Myers, Ryan, Hamm and Ribisi appeared at THR's TIFF Studio at the 1 Hotel in Toronto. Speaking there, Hamm said American Hostage feels "very relevant" to the "current political climate," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What makes this stand out is the room where it happens. Not a police cordon. A radio studio, with a host, a caller and everyone listening in.
