It’s been a few months since we heard about Amanda Knox (the American woman who was accused, convicted, and later acquitted of murdering her roommate in Italy), and even longer than that since a dramatized version of her life story was used to entertain TV viewers. In 2011, Lifetime aired the weirdly named Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy, but that was made long before her ordeal was truly over. That means the time is right for Amanda Knox’s story to return to TV screens—or at least a story that is heavily inspired by her story, because that way nobody has to pay anybody.
ABC Family seems to agree with us, because it has just given the green light to Guilt, a new one-hour drama pilot that Variety describes as being “about an American abroad in London who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her roommate.” Sound familiar? Well, it shouldn’t, because this is legally distinct from the Amanda Knox story—in theory. Guilt is being billed as a mystery show, with the idea being that the week-to-week stories will involve uncovering new twists to the central murder plot. “Viewers will question whether she’s a naive, young girl whose poor decisions are being magnified under the ruthless British tabloids or a sociopath who actually killed her friend,” as Variety puts it, which really makes it sound like it’s about Amanda Knox.