Serial / Mashable
By all metrics, season 1 of the Serial podcast was one of the most successful podcasts in history. Season 2, however, was pretty much a flop with most people losing interest in Bowe Bergdahl’s story. This isn’t necessarily a ‘Season 3’ announcement, but it’s pretty much the same thing. A new series titled S-Town will launch in March, and it’s coming from the Serial producers and creators (Brian Reed, Sarah Koenig, Julie Snyder).
S-Town will follow the same episodic style of Serial, and similar to Season 1’s storyline the plot of S-Town will focus on a very mysterious murder (actually, it focuses on two deaths). This non-fiction story takes place in a rural Alabama town and it’s set to melt everyone’s minds all across the nation.
In a press release sent out this morning, Ira Glass of This American Life gives a teaser of what we might expect to learn in S-Town. I’d initially had some quotes in here from a Rolling Stone article, but after reading through the actual press release I’ve opted to remove the RS quotes because the release below has has very specific language for intended reasons. So, here’s what Ira Glass has to say about this upcoming project in his own words:
Production of S-Town began when a man reached out to This American Life bitterly complaining about his small Alabama town. He wanted a reporter to investigate the son of a wealthy family who had allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. Brian agreed to look into it. But then someone else ended up dead, and another story began to unfold – about a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure and the mysteries of one man’s life.
“This story takes so many unexpected turns,” says Ira Glass, creator and host of This American Life. “Every episode is a new surprise. Though it’s not really ‘true crime.’ The story has this feeling and mood that’s different from anything else we’ve done. I don’t think people have heard a show like this.”
This sounds like a story this will keep us ALL listening every week. This is the plot that should’ve been the focus of Serial Season 2 after they’d done an unprecedented job of capturing an audience interested in murder mystery stories.
I attempted to listen to Serial‘s Season 2 because the first season was incredibly enthralling, focusing on the 1999 Baltimore murder suspect Adnan Syed and the murder of his on-again-off-again H.S. girlfriend Hae Min Lee. As of as of December 23, 2014 there were over 40 million downloads of Serial Season 1 and that number has certainly grown since then. If you haven’t yet listened to that podcast it’s not too late, and you can download/stream all of the episodes FOR FREE HERE.
S-Town is not being billed as ‘Season 3’ of Serial even though it’s premiering almost a year after Season 2 dropped. However, over on Rolling Stone they have some details pertaining to Season 3‘s plot if you want to read up on those rumors.