August and September are boom times for true crimecrime
the true crime that's worth your time
Note: Typically, we’re proud to send the entire Best evidence article to your inbox — but as today’s dispatch is heavy on the trailers, you might want to click through to read anyway.
Any fears that interest in true crime is dropping should be allayed this month, as there's a wide-ranging list of shows dropping in the next few weeks. It's hard to keep track, even for us! Here's a roundup of the shows (and one podcast) dropping this month and early next that we're the most interested in, hopeful for, or are most ready to cock a brow at.
Untold
Netflix
8/20-9/3
Netflix sports series Untold isn't always true criime, but with an ostensible interest in "returns with three new stories, "pulling back the curtain on epic tales from the wide (and wild) world of sports," you can see why the two genres intersect. The episode that drops on August 20 is entitled "The Murder of Air McNair," so we'll claim that one, and August 27th's episode on the Michigan college football sign-stealing scandal also feels like fair true crime game.
Face to Face with Scott Peterson
Peacock
8/20
I talked about this one a couple weeks ago, and I'll note again that getting the first on-camera interview with convicted murderer Scott Peterson since 2003 is a legit coup. That the Los Angeles Innocence Project has taken on his case is also news that makes this show feel relevant. This is a weird one for those of us in the Bay Area, as his guilt has always been presented to us as indisputable. I'm definitely curious to see if there's enough new evidence to justify a examination of the case.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice System
All the usual podcast places
12 eps rolling out weekly as of 8/22
The venerable fictional procedural brand continues its move into nonfiction with this podcast, which per a reblogged press release is part of a four season deal. Host is former Brooklyn homicide prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, who created the Anatomy of a Murder podcast and hosts ID show True Conviction. This season will cover 1970s-era Mafia activity in New York, which is hardly the most timely topic. This sounds more like a jaunt through history than a revelation-packed investigation, but there we go.
Cursed Gold: A Shipwreck Scandal
NatGeo
8/22
Welcome to my favorite title on this list! "Cursed gold" is fun as hell to say, especially in a Scooby Doo voice. Do it now, you'll see what I mean! Anyway, this three-part BBC Studios docuseries has a nice logline I'm gonna cut and paste for you instead of sullying with my rewrite.
[Cursed Gold] tells the true story of maverick scientist Tommy Thompson and his resourceful team who stunned the world in 1989 by recovering three tons of gold from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean from the famous 1857 shipwreck, 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 infamous fugitive and, ultimately, lands him in a prison cell.
It's based on Gary Kindler's 1998 bestseller Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, which I am almost positive I bought for my dad that Christmas. (The whole thing is very Dad.) If I sound stoked about this one, it's because I am! CURSED GOLD!
Worst Ex Ever
Netflix
8/28
This three-parter follows the same general structure as the studio's Worst Roommate Ever, and I'll admit I went into it with skepticism — but I'm midway through and I have been pleasantly surprised. I'm going to have a full piece on this for you next week, so i'll leave it at that for now.
Killer Lies: Chasing a True Crime Con Man
Hulu
8/29
This National Geographic/New Yorker Studio collab is about Stéphane Bourgoin, the so-called serial killer expert who wasn't. It's based on a 2022 report from the NYer on how a group of amateur sleuths unmasked him. It's played at some doc fests to positive response, so this feels like it might be a winner.
Gary
Peacock
8/29
I had to double-check our spreadsheet when I saw Sarah had added this to our list — though listeners of the Extra Hot Great know her deadpan "different strokes" sound drop all too well, why is she putting a show about Gary Coleman in our true crime content spreadsheet? I had forgotten that his 2010 death was initially characterized as "suspicious," and apparently, folks are still relitigating that via documentary (but not in the courtroom). Your interest in this is probably predicated by your age and investment in 1970s sitcoms.
How (Not) to Get Rid of a Body
Investigation Discovery
9/4
How many watchlists did I just get added to by googling that phrase, then googling again with "ID" added? Probably all of them! Anyway, this show doesn't have a trailer yet, but here's hoping one is released before I get hauled off by the cops. The series, per Deadline, is about "the lengths killers have taken to get away with murder. Each episode reveals never-before-seen material and recounts tales of criminal masterminds who go to great lengths and efforts to concoct plans to dispose of their victims. However, the country’s top detectives are hellbent on solving these crimes and bringing them to light."
Cabin in the Woods
Investigation Discovery
9/9
This series "explores crimes that take place in remote cabins around the country. It includes investigative elements in a true crime-meets-true horror fashion." I don't feel great about how loose they seem to be with blurring the fact and fiction line, do you?
The Real Murders on Elm Street
Investigation Discovery
9/9
Wow, maybe I spoke too soon. This series, which has yet to release a trailer, is six episode long, and each "will examine a murder investigation that occurred on one of the many Elm Streets across America." I do not know that this is a gimmick I