‘American Hostage’ Trailer Sees Jon Hamm Navigate a Crisis!! Check It Out!!

Jon Hamm is thrust into a crisis in the new series American Hostage. The Your Friends and Neighbors star plays a local radio host who gets caught in a life-or-death situation in the new trailer for the series. American Hostage will debut with a two-episode premiere on September 20, exclusively on MGM+.

American Hostage is based on the scripted podcast of the same name, which also starred Hamm and debuted in 2022. The podcast and the series are adapted from actual events; in 1977, Tony Kiritsis, a down-on-his luck car salesman in Indianapolis, saw a potential real estate deal go up in smoke. Blaming his mortgage broker, Richard O. Hall, Kiritsis took Hall hostage and made numerous calls to a local radio station, broadcasting his demands. The incident was also dramatized in the 2025 film Dead Man’s Wire.

In the trailer, Hamm plays Fred Heckman, a host on Indianapolis news station WIBC. He’s a pillar of the community, a dedicated family man, and the most trusted newsman in Indianapolis. That’s probably why he gets a call from Kiritsis (Giovanni Ribisi, Sneaky Pete), who has a 12-gauge shotgun pointed at the head of the unfortunate Hall (Kristoffer Polaha, Jurassic World Dominion). Kiritsis wants his story heard, and he’s turned to Heckman to do it, putting him in a bind; if he doesn’t agree to it, Kiritsis will kill his hostage…and if he does agree to it, Kiritsis might do it anyway, live on the airwaves. As his producer (William Jackson Harper, The Good Place) tries to handle the situation and his wife (Mireille Enos, For All Mankind) frets, Heckman goes on the air…fully aware that by covering this story, he is becoming the story.

Who Are the Creatives Behind ‘American Hostage’?

American Hostage is co-created by The Night Agent‘s Shawn Ryan and Eileen Myers; they also executive produce, alongside Hamm, Sharon Hoffman, Connie Tavel, Marney Hochman, Shawn Christensen, Gabriel Mason, Jen Roskind. Adam Arkin (Poker Face) and Nina Lopez Corrado (The House of the Dragon) executive produce and direct the series. It also features Jonathan Tucker (I Will Find You) and Kat Cunning (The Deuce) in supporting roles.