Last year, "Serial" premiered and it was a game-changer in the entertainment industry. "Serial" started as a spinoff of NPR's "This American Life," and it investigates a real-life case over the course of a season. Sarah Koenig, the host and producer, said that "Serial" covers all the basics: "love and death and justice and truth. All these big, big things."
The runaway success of the first season made the studio green-light a second and third season right away, and the second season is set to start airing soon.
A new season will bring a whole new dynamic to the show. There will be a new case to solve, and perhaps the show will even be making the move from podcast to broadcast.
"Serial" performed extremely well as a podcast, but will that translate to screen?
According to Deadline, Chris Miller and Phil Lord have optioned the rights to translate the investigative storyline into primetime. According to their proposals, the television show would focus on the making of the podcast and focusing the investigation.
However, part of the allure of "Serial's" first season was its intimacy. Listeners had to completely trust themselves with Koenig. Without visuals, we had to let her set the scene. She immersed us in the crime. Listeners had to become detectives and try to solve the case in real-time with Koenig.
In television, viewers rely on visuals clues instead of picturing the entire scene unfolding. Viewers cannot see past what is fed to them, but by shutting off this sense we make our mind but together the pieces.
Last season, "Serial" investigated the death of 18-year-old student Hae Min Lee. Lee disappeared on January 13, 1999 and was found and identified February 9. Lee's ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was arrested and charged with her murder. Syed's first trial ended in a mistrial but was then re-tried and convicted of first-degree murder following a six-week trial.
Syed was given a life sentence, but following "Serial's" airing in February 2015, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals allowed Syed to appeal his conviction. Syed filed on the grounds that his attorney did not provide adequate counsel by failing to seek a plea bargain. The Court is also announced that there would be a three-judge panel to determine if new evidence could be submitted. The new evidence is a witness, Asia McClain, who claims to have an alibi for Syed during the time of death.
"Serial" is in part responsible for the Court's new opinion. Koenig was able to uncover evidence that was previously unknown during the original trials. Koenig concluded the season by saying from a legal perspective she would have acquitted Syed.
For the upcoming season, there have been many reports that it will focus on the Bowe Bergdahl case. Bergdahl was a sergeant in the United States Army who disappeared in June of 2009. In 2014, the United States made a trade for Bergdahl's return from the Taliban. In exchange for Bergdahl's return, the United States released five Taliban members that were held at Guantanamo Bay.
The decision received a lot of scrutiny from the public, and on March 25, 2015, Bergdahl was charged with one count of desertion another count of misbehavior before the enemy.
Koenig and another producer were both present at Bergdahl's preliminary hearing leading to speculation that it would be the focus case of an upcoming season.
While it is still to be seen how the television component will affect "Serial's" success, it sure that whatever case they choose will keep us all waiting for more.
