Serial-Inspired HBO Series Can Restore Genre’s Reputation
HBO dropped the first trailer for “The Case Against Adnan Syed,” a four-part true crime docuseries set to premiere this spring.
When the first season of Serial rolled out in October of 2014, no one could have predicted the impact it would have on pop culture. In one fell swoop, Sarah Koenig (a former reporter for The Baltimore Sun) and her This American Life team legitimized podcasting and jump-started the true crime genre to a place it had never been. Experienced journalists, online sleuths, and others in between began tearing through old cases in Serial‘s wake, all hoping to capture the magic that Koenig and company found in Adnan Syed’s case.
Not surprisingly, major-market newspapers had the most audio success post-Serial; the Cincinnati Enquirer had a critical triumph with Accused while the Los Angeles Times captivated millions with Dirty John. The latter gained a buzz so big via audio that it wound up as a Golden Globe-nominated TV series.
Like the big-time newspapers, major networks and streaming platforms dominated true crime on the screen. Netflix had a Serial-sized win with Making A Murderer, as well as critical acclaim for The Keepers, Wild, Wild Country and numerous others.
More success stories brought more and more fly-by-nights, though, leaving us with a genre full of mediocre cases, mediocre storytellers, weak production and oversaturation. You need to have a home run case and solid production value to win in this niche; the true crime fanbase is too smart to be fooled. Bigger, smarter companies usually figure out the equation, it’s just a matter of sifting through the junk to find quality content.
Luckily, the biggest and smartest company — HBO, of course — is coming out with something to give the genre a much-needed jolt. Even more, the project will feature material that’s very familiar.
On Wednesday, HBO put out the first trailer for The Case Against Adnan Syed, a four-part series that builds off Koenig’s extensive work from five years ago. The docuseries, which will bring the case up to date, is set for a spring release.
It seems like everything has come full circle with this project — Koenig started the craze with her podcast and now HBO plans to swoop in and give the genre a title they can hang their hat on. It’s been a while since true crime has actually had a true classic, in my opinion, so someone needs to step up.
The Case Against Adnan Syed can definitely be that classic: HBO is great in this genre (see: The Jinx) and folks are thirsty for more of the Syed case after five years away. That said, folks wanted more Making A Murderer last year and it didn’t live up to expectation.
In sports, coaches often get fired after consecutive losing seasons. In entertainment, people just stop watching and/or listening. If the true crime genre follows their Making A Murderer flop with one from mighty HBO, the bubble could officially burst.