The Thing About Pam - What We Know So Far

True crime continues to be a hot topic, with new podcasts and TV shows being developed all the time, introducing fans of the genre to dark and chilling cases that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. The genre has gotten so popular over the last several years that Hulu has even developed a scripted comedy in which three true-crime fans start their own podcast after someone is murdered in their building.

NBC and its many connected properties are no stranger to true crime either. Now the broadcast network that brought us "Law & Order True Crime" is tackling another dark and twisted story that captivated the nation. The new limited series "The Thing About Pam" is based on the popular 2019 "Dateline" podcast of the same name, which remains one of the most downloaded podcasts on iTunes. It told the story of the murder of Betsy Faria, who was found dead by her husband, Russ Faria, just after Christmas in 2011. He was wrongfully convicted of her death before a second trial overturned his conviction and a new suspect, Pam Hupp, came to light.

As news about "The Thing About Pam" begins to trickle out, we're on high alert, gathering up each scrap of new evidence to piece together everything you need to know about the upcoming series, including when you might finally be able to watch it. Here's everything we know about "The Thing About Pam" so far.

"The Thing About Pam" is based on existing material from the podcast — itself coming on the heels of several episodes of "Dateline" that examined the stranger-than-fiction case. But the limited series is still in the early stages of development. News first broke of the show, which will be written by Jessika Borsiczky, back in February 2021. At the time, it was announced that the show had been given a six-episode, straight-to-series order (via Deadline). 

Unfortunately, no timetable was set for when we might actually see the show. However, given what we do know about the series based on when the announcement was made and the casting news that is now coming out, it seems likely that we could see "The Thing About Pam" sometime early next year. As soon as we have more concrete information for the release date, we'll update this story, so be sure to check back often.

When news of the limited series broke, it was announced that Academy-Award-winning actress Renée Zellweger had signed on to the show to play the lead role of Pam Hupp, who in real life has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Betsy Faria (she maintains her innocence). It will be her first TV role since her turn in the 2019 Netflix series "What/If." Prior to that, she had not acted on television since 2001, when she voiced a character in one episode of "King of the Hill."

In August 2021, Deadline reported that "Jupiter's Legacy" star Josh Duhamel would appear opposite Zellweger in the show as Joel Schwartz, the defense attorney for Betsy's husband, Russ Faria. As it stands, no one has been cast in the roles of Betsy or Russ Faria, or of Betsy's daughters from a previous relationship. As the series gets closer to filming, we'll likely learn more as the cast begins to fill out.

The plot of "The Thing About Pam" follows the twists and turns of the deeply upsetting case of the murder of Betsy Faria, who was battling terminal cancer at the time of her death. Just after Christmas in 2011, Betsy's husband, Russ, returned home to find his wife had been stabbed multiple times. He was quickly arrested and charged with her murder. Hupp, Betsy's co-worker who had pointed the finger at Russ during the investigation, testified against him in court in November 2013, and he was convicted by a jury and sentenced to life in prison.

In 2015, Russ' conviction was overturned and he was found not guilty during his retrial. At the time, his attorney, Joel Schwartz, had pointed the finger at Hupp, noting that she stood the most to gain from Betsy's murder. Then, in 2016, Hupp was charged with the murder of Louis Gumpenberger. According to NBC News, investigators believed he was lured into Hupp's car under the pretense that she was a producer for "Dateline." She was eventually sentenced to life in prison for Gumpenberg's murder, which led prosecutors to reopen the Betsy Faria case.

According to court documents obtained by "Dateline" in the summer of 2021, when Hupp was charged with the first-degree murder of Betsy, the deceased had made Hupp the beneficiary of her $150,000 life insurance policy just four days prior to her death. Hupp never gave any of the money to Betsy's daughters as she had asked. The documents also revealed that Hupp was the last person to see Faria alive, having taken her home from her chemotherapy treatment that day.

Given that this is an ongoing case following the charges brought against Hupp in July 2021, it's unclear just how much of the story will be told in "The Thing About Pam," but based on what we already know, it's likely that the series is going to be a darkly chilling tale.