TV Shows Based on True Stories
ALL TRUE STORY TV Shows
While most people are familiar with Lifetime made-for-TV movies, many don't realize that quite a few of their favorite TV shows are also based on true stories. This includes Boardwalk Empire, Orange is the New Black, Deadwood and The Goldbergs, to name a few. Here, we not only research such TV shows, we also explore various history-based components of some of the most popular TV series, answering many questions that you've probably wondered at one point or another. Oh, and we also research made-for-TV movies based on true stories. Tune in and enjoy.
The Right Stuff
How accurate is this Disney+ TV adaptation of Tom Wolfe's book about John Glenn and the space race?

Mrs. America
Hollywood finds the villain in conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, but is it the truth?

Tiger King
This wildly popular Netflix documentary tells the at-times exaggerated story of big-cat zoo operator Joe Exotic.

For Life
How much of the ABC TV series For Life is rooted in fact?

When They See Us
The Netflix miniseries presents a searing tale of racial injustice while distorting the truth.

Chernobyl
Does this HBO miniseries about the Chernobyl disaster deliver a heavy does of fiction or fact?

The Act
How accurate is this story of a mother who keeps her daughter captive by fake illnesses?

I Am the Night
A ruined reporter helps a young woman investigate the mystery of her birth, but how much really happened?

Waco
Authorities lay siege to religious leader David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound in 1993.

The Crown
Meet the real people behind more than 16 characters from the Netflix series and find out how much is fiction.

Entourage
Meet actor Mark Wahlberg's real-life posse who inspired the Entourage TV show characters.

Texas Rising
Does Texas Rising retell or rewrite the rise of the Texas Rangers?

Bessie
Queen Latifah portrays bisexual blues singer Bessie Smith, who rose to fame in the 1920s.

Manhattan
We compare the Manhattan TV show to real life at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project.

The Goldbergs
Meet the real-life Goldbergs and learn how much of the show is true.