The breakout success of Sarah Koenig podcast Serial spurred many a follow-up rumor, from an American Crime Story season, to continued speculation on the announced Season 2 subject, but as is often the case, the truth is far stranger. Phil Lord and Chris Miller have optioned Serial for a new scripted TV series, with a unique take on the concept.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Koenig herself and the This American Life team will act as producers on the Fox 21 TV Studios series, which will pitch to cable networks after assembling core writers. Rather than adapt the Adnan Syed case that captivated Serial listeners however, the TV series would chronicle the experience of making the podcast.

Say Fox 21 representatives of the project:

From the very first week of Serial’s release last fall, everyone at Fox 21TVS was obsessed with the podcast. One year later, thanks to the incredible passion of Chris and Phil, who flew to New York and shared their vision with Sarah, Julie [Synder], Alissa [Shipp] and Ira [Glass] for what the series could be, we’re moving forward on this exciting project.

What you have here is a ‘once every ten years creative storytelling phenom’ with a ‘once in ten years take’ with a ‘once in twenty-five years creative team.’ We are confident we’ll attract a spectacular writer and look forward to pitching it to outlets very soon.

Adds Serial’s Julie Synder:

Chris and Phil take an unexpected approach to telling stories and that is so appealing to us at Serial. They experiment. They don’t mimic formulas. Developing a show with them is exciting because we feel like we speak the same language, only they’re smarter than us.

Lord and Miller have their hands in just about everything these days, including Last Man on Earth for TV, and Star WarsHan Solo prequel, though Serial certainly ranks as an unexpected choice. In the meantime, Season 2 of the hit podcast is rumored to explore Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, an Army soldier who disappeared during Afghanistan deployment, and ended up a prisoner of the Taliban.

Still, does a Serial series centered on the concept of the podcast itself sound worthwhile?

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