Renee Zellweger will headline and executive produce new limited series The Thing About Pam, according to Deadline. NBC has greenlit the limited series with six episode straight to series order according to Deadline. The series will be the two-time Oscar winner’s broadcast debut.
The Thing About Pam is a collaborative production between Blumhouse Television, NBC studios and Zellweger’s Big Picture Co. Based on the real life story behind the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria, which was featured on Dateline NBC.
“The twists and turns of this saga are truly stranger than fiction, and in the hands of this incredibly talented artistic team, this series will bring a completely new perspective to a story that has already captivated millions.” said Chairman of Entertainment Content at NBCUniversal, Susan Rovner, according to Deadline.
Jessika Borsiczky (House of Lies) serves as writer and showrunner for the series. Borsiczky most recently wrote, executive produced, and directed Netflix’s new dramedy Sex/Life. She has also executive produced and directed season 4 of Hulu’s unReal, in addition she is credited as a consulting producer on Netflix’s On The Verge according to Deadline.
The Thing About Pam series is based on the murder of Betsy Faria, which resulted in her husband Russ’ conviction. Insisting he was not responsible for the murder of his wife, his conviction was overturned as examination of vicious crime uncovered secrets and exposed a diabolical scheme deeply involving Pam Hupp, the role that Zellweger will play.
“As someone who hasn’t missed an episode of Dateline in 10 years, what immediately stood out to me about Pam from other true crime stories is that while on its surface it has all the twists and turns of a thrilling whodunit murder mystery, it’s really a character story at its heart that reflects in a profound way the American landscape back to us,” Borsiczky said. Via Deadline.
The Betsy Faria case was examined over the course of several episodes of Dateline, so much so, it became one of the most popular topics to ever air on the news special. In 2019, it became the subject of NBC News’ popular Dateline podcast The Thing About Pam, which remains one of the most downloaded podcast on iTunes according to Deadline.
“Similar to our acclaimed and award-winning crime series such as The Jinx and Sharp Objects, we see this opportunity to fuel viewers’ appetites for strong and compelling stories,” said Jason Blum, CEO and founder of Blumhouse. “This opportunity to build a powerful, scripted franchise and work with the incomparable Renée Zellweger in her first starring role on broadcast TV, with a writer as gifted as Borsiczky and adapting material from the treasure troves of Dateline in partnership with our friends at NBC, is unparalleled. I couldn’t be more proud of the Blumhouse team for bringing it to fruition. Via Deadline.
Zellweger has been nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning the coveted statue for the first time in 2004 for her Supporting Actress role in Cold Mountain. She won again in 2020 for her Lead Actress role in the film Judy. Known for her movies, the five time Golden Globe award winning actress has only previously starred on TV in the 2019 Netflix anthology series What/If. It was on this set she met The Thing About Pam showrunner, Borsiczky who directed an episode according to Deadline.