If a single pop culture moment defined the last year, it had to be Netflix's Making A Murderer. The true crime documentary about Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey's alleged murder of Teresa Halbach has become one of the streaming service's most talked about shows, with fans clamoring for a follow-up. Although a second season is definitely on the way sometime this year, it seems that it won't be ready until series creators Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi are willing to release it. Netflix Vice President of original content Cindy Holland explained:
The story is still ongoing, so you will see new episodes coming sometime this year as this story continues to unfold. We don't know when for sure new episodes will be coming. Laura and Moira are (in Manitowoc) shooting regularly and working on what the right story is to tell in the next set, so we're deferring to them on when it will be ready. Very few people inside of Netflix actually know the details of what we're getting because we're wanting to keep it really under wraps and it is an ongoing case so we're trying to be sensitive to that.
Cindy Holland recently spoke to USA Today about the current status of Making A Murderer's second season, but her comments don't provide us with too much concrete information about the future of the series. All she was able to confirm is the fact that new episodes are going to debut within the year. Progress is being made on the production side, but shooting an ongoing story in real time presents its own set of challenges. The first season of the hit documentary series had the advantage of flying under the radar, which meant that Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi could take their time on the show. Now that the true crime series has become a genuine success, all eyes are on them to follow it up with something equally compelling.
Of course, we shouldn't expect the second season of Making A Murderer to feel identical to the original installment of the series. Moira Demos herself recently came out and admitted that the creative team behind the show would have to pursue a different means of telling Steven Avery's story in Season 2. They focused on on decades worth of material in the first season, and now it's all about everything that has happened since Season 1.
Even though the second installment of Making A Murderer is still probably a long way off, its impact on pop culture remains as powerful and poignant as ever. The series is partially responsible for the recent true crime genre boom, and many well-known pop culture institutions -- such as The Simpsons and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia -- have already committed to making their own respective spoofs of the series. We will likely see that trend continue once Season 2 debuts and the hype continues over the course of the next year.
We will bring you more updates about the second season of Making A Murderer as new details become available to us; expect new episodes to debut on Netflix before the end of 2017. For now, make sure to take a look at our comprehensive midseason premiere guide for more information related to all of the most highly anticipated spring television debuts.
