11 popular podcasts that inspired TV shows, from “American Sports Story ”to“ The Dropout”

Our favorite tales of murder, vanishings, and the supernatural, adapted for the small screen.

Like any other storytelling art form, podcasts have quickly become popular source material for adaptation. Whether it be fascinating true crime series or cleverly written fictional miniseries, the world of podcasting has exploded with gripping stories that practically beg to be visualized on television. TV adaptations of podcasts such as Homecoming, Dr. Death, and Dirty John have attracted the likes of Julia Roberts, Joshua Jackson, and Connie Britton, bringing to life the memorable figures that first captivated our imaginations.

Read on for EW's list of the 11 biggest TV show adaptations of podcasts.

Homecoming

A radio play in the form of a podcast, Homecoming follows Heidi, a caseworker at an agency dedicated to rehabilitating former soldiers. But as she grows close to a patient, she begins to suspect the facility has sinister motives. The podcast was created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, and stars Oscar Isaac and Catherine Keener. The psychological thriller was adapted into an Amazon Prime Video series, starring Julia Roberts, Stephan James, Sissy Spacek, and Bobby Cannavale. The small-screen version, on which Horowitz and Bloomberg also served as showrunners, was directed by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail. —Justine Browning

The Dropout

Produced by ABC News and hosted by Rebecca Jarvis, The Dropout podcast follows the fascinating saga of Elizabeth Holmes, the biotech entrepreneur who founded the blood-testing company Theranos and was later found to have exaggerated claims of its effectiveness and defrauded investors. With Holmes' distinctive voice and her rise and fall as a disgraced self-made billionaire, it was inevitable that Hollywood would seize the opportunity to adapt her story, and Hulu used The Dropout podcast as the basis for its 2022 limited series of the same name. Amanda Seyfried won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her committed portrayal of Holmes. —Kevin Jacobsen

Related: Bad Blood and Beyond: All the Elizabeth Holmes projects you can watch and listen to

Dr. Death

The operating room was the grisly stage where more than 30 doomed patients fell prey to the murderous hands of sadistic Dallas surgeon Christopher Duntsch. During an 18-month spree of botched operations, Duntsch maimed, paralyzed, and killed patients in his care. Dr. Death (presented by the team behind Dirty John) searches for answers to the gruesome occurrences and exposes the flaws in the medical system that allowed Duntsch to carry out his crimes. Peacock adapted the podcast as an anthology series, starring Joshua Jackson as Duntsch in season 1 and Édgar Ramírez as thoracic surgeon Paolo Macchiarini in season 2. —J.B.

Dirty John

Unraveling a remarkable true story, the investigative journalism podcast Dirty John is hosted by Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard and explores the relationship between Debra Newell and her seemingly perfect new husband, John Meehan. Through interviews and testimonies, the podcast pieces together a chilling tale of coercion and control that builds to a shocking climax. As part of a new anthology series, Bravo brought Dirty John to TV in 2018, with Connie Britton and Eric Bana starring as Debra and John.

There was a second season of the Dirty John TV series — based on the real divorce of Betty and Dan Broderick (Amanda Peet and Christian Slater) and Betty's double homicide of Dan and his second wife (Rachel Keller) — but that was adapted from Bella Stumbo's book Under the Twelfth of Never, not the flagship podcast. —J.B.

Related: How Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story creator crafted a marriage horror story

The Thing About Pam

What exactly is "the thing about Pam?" Dateline NBC explored this in a series of episodes in the mid-2010s, investigating businesswoman Pam Hupp's involvement in the 2011 death of her friend Betsy Faria. Dateline then launched a podcast called The Thing About Pam in 2019, which was adapted to a six-episode miniseries in 2022 starring Renée Zellweger as Hupp. Dateline's investigation is woven into the narrative of the series, with Keith Morrison providing narration. —K.J.

Lore

The folklore that has spawned some of the world’s most nightmarish tales comes to life in Lore. The audio program vividly illustrates the darker side of history in a format inspired by the campfire storytelling experience. Created by Aaron Mahnke, the podcast was adapted into a two-season anthology series for Amazon Prime Video. Developed by The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, the series blends documentary footage with cinematic reenactments. —J.B.

WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork

Wondery's six-part podcast series WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork delivers on the promise of its juicy title. Telling the story of Adam and Rebekah Neumann as they create the shared space company WeWork, the series delves into its initial meteoric rise and its stunning collapse following revelations about its business practices. Apple TV+ adapted the podcast to an eight-episode limited series called WeCrashed starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as the Neumanns. —K.J.

The Shrink Next Door

The Shrink Next Door is all about how a psychiatrist can abuse their position for their own personal gain. Host Joe Nocera noticed the peculiarities of his Hamptons neighbor, psychiatrist Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf, and soon found a history of manipulation between him and a patient, Martin "Marty" Markowitz, whom he systematically exploited for his money. Apple TV+ turned the hit podcast into a 2021 miniseries starring Paul Rudd as Herschkopf and Will Ferrell as Markowitz. —K.J.

Serial

The podcast that helped rejuvenate radio programming and ignited a new fanbase for the medium, Serial first delved into the case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of the murder of Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee in 1999. Hosted by journalist Sarah Koenig, the show’s episodes have been downloaded more than 300 million times. Subsequent seasons explored the case of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier charged with desertion after being freed from Taliban captivity, the cracks in the Cleveland court system, and the history of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

In 2019, HBO released the four-part documentary series The Case Against Adnan Syed, inspired by Serial, which shed new light on the story as Syed awaited the new trial he was awarded in the wake of the podcast’s release. He was ultimately released from prison in 2022, but his murder conviction still stands as Maryland's highest court has ordered a new hearing, per the Associated Press. —J.B.

Comedy Bang! Bang!

Comedy Bang! Bang! is as irreverent and silly as its name suggests. The podcast — which has been ongoing since 2009 — features host Scott Aukerman interviewing guests (some real, some made-up characters played by comedians) with a decidedly comic bent. This lent itself naturally to a TV talk show format, which aired on IFC from 2012 to 2016 and featured all manner of absurdity you could previously only hear in podcast form. —K.J.

Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.

The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team investigates the tumultuous life of Aaron Hernandez in Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc., a nine-part podcast released in 2018 by Wondery. Charting Hernandez's rise from star NFL player competing in the Super Bowl to his murder conviction and suicide just a few years later, the podcast explores his internal demons and the various forces at play that led him down a tragic path. Ryan Murphy and his producing team adapted the podcast for the first season of FX's American Sports Story, subtitled Aaron Hernandez. —K.J.

Related: How Josh Rivera tackled the 'daunting prospect' of playing Aaron Hernandez in American Sports Story

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.