Talk about a cultural phenomenon! Serial, the NPR podcast that captivated adult audiences and sparked national interest, has trickled down to the kid market.
Through its first season, which ran in 2014, reporter Sarah Koenig reignited investigations into the 1999 case of Hae Min Lee, a high school senior who was found dead one month after disappearing, with ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed sentenced to life in prison for her murder. To this day, Syed has maintained his innocence, and since the conclusion of the podcast has been granted a retrial. The question that kept listeners begging for more: Did Syed murder Lee, or was he wrongly convicted?
Since a murder case might be a little scary for children, TV’s longest-running children’s animated series, Arthur, is exploring investigations in a more kid-friendly manner as the show celebrates its season 20 premiere on Monday, October 10.
In this adorable sneak peek exclusive to Us Weekly, everyone’s favorite childhood aardvark is enlisted by best friend Buster Baxter to come up with an idea for a podcast of his own. In jumps Arthur’s annoying yet surprisingly lovable little sister, D.W., with a great idea: “Do a story about the biggest cereal thief in the world!”
D.W. insists Arthur has been stealing her Puffy Unicorn Crunch cereal, while Arthur (much like Syed) maintains his innocence and insists he was eating Oatie Rings.
Buster is impressed with the case’s mystery, suspense and weird characters and comes up with the perfect name for his podcast: Cereal!
So, did Arthur steal D.W.’s cereal? We’ll have to watch to find out!
Arthur returns to PBS on Monday, October 10.