The NBC limited series The Thing About Pam, starring Renée Zellweger, concluded its run on Tuesday, April 13, but has clearly made its mark for the network as its top-rated new series of the 2021-2022 season.
The show centers on the 2011 murder of State Farm employee Betsy Faria, which resulted in her husband Russ’s conviction, although he insisted he didn’t kill her and was later exonerated. This brutal crime set off a chain of events that would expose a diabolical scheme deeply involving Pam Hupp (Zellweger).
The series premiered in March and its opening episode performed decently with a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demo and 2.79 million viewers. Since then, the episode jumped up to a 4.24 in the demo and tallied 14 million viewers – a 5x audience increase – across live, delayed and digital viewing, according to the network. The company also said that the pilot marked NBC’s best digital launch ever.
The Thing About Pam has seen its in season average rating grow from 0.34 to 1.69 in L+7 viewing – a 393% increase. In that same metric, the series saw 10% weekly growth in viewers from the third episode to the sixth.
The Thing About Pam has also had a positive effect on Dateline, specifically on the episode that featured real life figure Pam Hupp, who inspired the series. Per NBC, the Hupp-centered Dateline installment delivered 5.7 million viewers, the largest for the series in two years. The same episode also grew in L+7 performance.
The limited series also featured Josh Duhamel, Judy Greer, Katy Mixon, Glenn Fleshler, Gideon Adlon, Sean Bridgers, Suanne Spoke and Mac Brandt.
The Thing About Pam is executive produced by Renée Zellweger, Carmella Casinelli, showrunner Jenny Klein, Mary-Margaret Kunze, Scott Winant, Jessika Borsiczky, Liz Cole, Noah Oppenheim, Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold and Mary Lisio. Blumhouse Television, NBC News Studios and Big Picture Co. produce.
