A pile of lies and murder is on the way thanks to the upcoming NBC limited series, The Thing About Pam. A highly anticipated new show starring two-time Academy-Award winner Renée Zellweger in the titular role, she completely transforms into the main character as she plays a conniving, possibly deadly, Midwestern woman. Covering both the initial grisly murder and the aftermath which involved courtroom battles, copious amounts of soda, and even more murder, here’s all the information you need in order to watch The Thing About Pam.
Related:'The Thing About Pam': Release Date, Trailer, Episode Details, and Everything You Need to Know
Where and When to Watch The Thing About Pam
The Thing About Pam premieres on NBC on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at 10 p.m. E.T. If you’re unable to tune in at 10 p.m. on Tuesday nights, don’t worry. The series will also be made available to stream on the Peacock streaming service as new episodes come out each week. Episodes will also arrive on Hulu after airing on NBC. If you miss an episode on NBC or do not subscribe to Peacock or Hulu, the episodes can be purchased through iTunes and Amazon.
How Many Episodes Does The Thing About Pam Have?
The limited series will be released in a weekly fashion with a total of six, hour-long episodes. The first episode is titled, “She’s a Good Friend,” and will be directed by Scott Winant. The series will then conclude on Tuesday, April 6, 2022 on NBC. Once it’s all finished airing, The Thing About Pam will remain on Peacock where it can be watched all the way through.
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Is The Thing About Pam Based on a True Story?
Yes, The Thing About Pam is based upon the life of Pam Hupp, a middle-aged Missouri woman involved in various murder cases beginning with the death of her close friend, Betsy Faria. In 2011, Faria was found murdered in her Missouri suburban home. Stabbed multiple times in gruesome fashion, the police instantly grew suspicious of her husband Russ Faria despite their lack of evidence and the overwhelming indications that her friend Pam was lying.
What followed was a wild chain of events as Russ was tried and convicted of murder and sent to prison even though he vehemently denied committing the crime. In the meantime, Pam continued to live freely and comfortably despite being the last person to see Betsy alive while also spreading her own web of lies to avoid suspicion. Originally the subject on the NBC Dateline episode, "The Thing About Pam", the show eventually dedicated a whole podcast series to the confounding case in 2019 also entitled, The Thing About Pam. Diving in deep to explore all aspects of the murder and Pam’s strange demeanor, the NBC series will bring all the shocking elements to life.
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Watch the Trailer for The Thing About Pam
The most recent, full-length trailer for The Thing About Pam was released on February 25 and it's just the starting point for all the madness and mayhem that the show will present. Revealing a nearly unrecognizable Zellweger as Pam with a big cup of soda always in hand and a smirk plastered to her smug face, she breezes in and out of courtrooms and crime scenes with an air of confidence that is hard to fathom.
The first full-length trailer introduces the whole slew of real-life people who were instrumental in contributing to the messy case, with greedy lawyers, clueless cops, and co-conspirators all playing a hand in arresting the wrong man. But most importantly, the trailer teases how Pam uses her charm to manipulate the cops and turn the narrative away from herself and towards Betty’s widower, Russ. Insinuating that he had intentions of killing her long before he found her dead, Pam never falters as she weaves a growlingly strange story with the ease that only a compulsive liar can have. The series will take a darkly comedic approach to the tragic murder that's exemplified throughout the various trailers as Pam’s lies begin to pile up in astounding fashion. Getting more far-fetched with outlandish claims that will leave you dumbfounded, Pam is the star of her own, bizarre story in The Thing About Pam.
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Who's In the Cast of The Thing About Pam?
Zellweger is spearheading the cast as Pam Hupp, with the use of prosthetics giving her the appearance of her real-life subject. Zellweger has often gone through major transformations in her acting career, most recently for her 2019 Oscar-Winning performance as Judy Garland in Judy.
The supporting cast features actors playing all the real-life men and women involved with the case, and there are several other stunning transformations on display in the various trailers and posters courtesy of striking wigs and make-up. Judy Greer co-stars as Leah Askey, the lawyer determined to convict Russ Faria, who is played by Glenn Fleshler.
Katy Mixon is featured as the deceased Betsy Faria, and wig-wearing Josh Duhamel portrays Russ Faria’s lawyer, Joel Schwartz. Schwartz seems to be one of the few people able to spot Pam’s various cons and inconsistencies within her story, and the trailer finds him doing everything within his power to prove that his client is innocent of the crime. The cast is rounded out with Mac Brandt as Detective McCarrick, Gideon Adlon as Mariah Day, Sean Bridges as Mark Hupp, and Susanne Spoke as Janet Faria.
Should You Listen to the 2019 Dateline Podcast before Watching the Series?
The smash-hit 2019 podcast The Thing About Pam is an addictive, six-part Dateline NBC podcast that covers everything about the initial Betsy Faria murder case and all the additional crimes and investigations that follow. Dateline host Keith Morrison narrates the series with his signature bass voice and each episode clocks in at around 30 minutes as it provides unfiltered access to the case. It’s not necessary to listen to the podcast before watching the upcoming limited series, but if you want to feel prepared for all the twists, turns, and cliffhangers that the show will be sure to exhibit, it may be helpful to listen to the podcast first.
Dateline has followed the Betsy Faria murder case since 2011 and the podcast supplies various real-life interviews between Pam and law enforcement as she's interrogated, and also unveils interviews with the widower Russ Faria, lawyer Joel Schwartz, and the other men and women involved in the case. It’s a fascinating podcast that unfolds in real-time as the case gets more dangerous, and if the idea of having to wait weekly to find out what’s going to happen next on the show is too hard, the podcast is a great place to start in preparation for The Thing About Pam. Furthermore, if the podcast alone is not enough, the television series Dateline aired the 90-minute episode, “The Thing About Pam,” back in 2019 which also covered the crime in-depth, and it’s available to watch on both Peacock and Hulu.
