New True Crime for August and September 2024

Any fears that interest in true crime is waning should be put to rest this month, as there's a long list of shows coming out over the next few weeks. It's hard to keep track, even for us! Here's a roundup of the shows (and one podcast) coming out this month and early next year that we're most interested in, most hopeful about, or most likely to raise an eyebrow about.

Untold
Netflix
20.8.-3.9.

Netflix sports series Untold isn't always true crime, but with an obvious interest in “returns with three new stories,” “pulls back the curtain on epic tales from the wide (and wild) world of sports,” you can see why the two genres overlap. The episode coming out August 20 is titled “The Murder of Air McNair,” so we'll claim that one, and the August 27 episode about Michigan college football's sign-stealing scandal feels like a fair true crime game, too.

Face to face with Scott Peterson
peacock
8/20

I talked about this a few weeks ago, and I'd like to reiterate that it's a real coup to get the first on-camera interview with convicted murderer Scott Peterson since 2003. The Los Angeles Innocence Project's taking on his case is also news that gives this show relevance. It's a strange proposition for us in the Bay Area, as his guilt has always been presented to us as indisputable. I'm certainly curious to see if there's enough new evidence to warrant an investigation into the case.

Law & Order: Criminal Justice System
All the usual podcast locations
From August 22nd, 12 episodes will be released weekly

The venerable fiction crime brand continues its foray into nonfiction with this podcast, which is part of a four-season deal, according to a reblogged press release. It's hosted by former Brooklyn homicide prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, who created the “Anatomy of a Murder” podcast and hosts the ID show. True convictionThis season will focus on mafia activities in New York in the 1970s, which is hardly the punctual Topic. This sounds more like a foray into history than an investigative investigation, but that's the way it is.

Cursed Gold: A Shipwreck Scandal
NatGeo
22.8.

Welcome to my favorite title on this list! Saying “cursed gold” is fun as hell, especially in a Scooby-Doo voice. Do it now and you'll know what I mean! Anyway, this three-part BBC Studios docuseries has a nice logline that I'll cut and paste for you rather than sully it with my rewrite.

[Cursed Gold] tells the true story of maverick scientist Tommy Thompson and his resourceful team who amazed the world in 1989 when they recovered three tons of gold from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean from the famous 1857 shipwreck of the SS Central America. The three-part series follows the 30-year story of adventure, deception and personal turmoil that takes Tommy from celebrated explorer to notorious fugitive and ultimately lands him in a prison cell.

It is based on Gary Kindler's 1998 bestseller A golden ship in the deep blue seawhich I'm pretty sure I bought my dad this Christmas. (This is very fatherly.) If I sound excited about it, it's because I am! DAMN GOLD!

The worst ex ever
Netflix
28.8.

This three-parter follows the same general structure as the Studio The worst roommate everand I admit that I was skeptical about it – but now I'm in the thick of it and I've been pleasantly surprised. I'll have a detailed article about it for you next week, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Killer Lies: On the hunt for a true criminal con artist
Hulu
29.8.

This collaboration between National Geographic and the New York studio is about Stéphane Bourgoin, the so-called expert on serial killers who was not one. The film is based on a report by NYers about how a group of amateur detectives unmasked him. The film has been shown at a few documentary film festivals and received positive feedback, so it could be a winner.

Gary
peacock
29.8.

I had to double check our chart when I saw Sarah had added this to our list – while Extra Hot Great listeners know her dry “Different Strokes” sound all too well, why is she including a show about Gary Coleman in our chart of true crime content? I had forgotten that his death was initially labeled “suspicious” in 2010 and people still seem to be renegotiating that in documentaries (but not in the courtroom). Your interest in this probably has something to do with your age and your interest in 1970s sitcoms.

How to (not) get rid of a body
Investigation investigation
9/4

How many watchlists did I just get put on when I googled that phrase and then googled it again and added “ID”? Probably all of them! Anyway, there's no trailer for this show yet, but I hope one comes out before I get picked up by the cops. The series, according to Deadline, is about “the lengths killers will go to get away with murder. Each episode reveals never-before-seen footage and tells stories of criminal masterminds going to great lengths to hatch plans to dispose of their victims. But the country's best detectives are hell-bent on solving these crimes and bringing them to light.”

Cabin in the forest
Investigation investigation
9/9

This series “explores crimes that take place in remote cabins across the country. It has elements of investigation in a true crime meets true horror kind of way.” I don't like how loosely they seem to take blurring the line between fact and fiction, do you?

The Real Murders on Elm Street
Investigation investigation
9/9

Wow, maybe I spoke too soon. This series, for which there is no trailer yet, has six episodes and each “will investigate a murder that took place on one of the many Elm Streets across America.” I don't know if I can get excited about this gimmick!

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