True-crime fans rejoice as new episodes of Forensic Files II are coming to a screen near you this month.
CNN Productions, Inc. has renewed its format rights license with Medstar, the long-running series producer of the show, through 2024. As part of the renewal pact, eight new half-hour episodes of Forensic Files II will air on HLN, debuting on Sunday, July 31, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Forensic Files II has been airing on HLN since Feb. 2020—and it is the network’s highest-rated original series to date. The original Forensic Files series created by Paul Downing ceased production in 2011.
In preparation for the new episodes, HLN will air a Forensic Files “Mega Marathon,” starting July 18 at 11 a.m. ET, where episodes of the legacy Forensic Files series will air from the beginning.
In addition to that, on Sunday, July 24, and Sunday, July 31, HLN viewers can catch up on previous episodes of Forensic Files II beginning at 12 p.m. ET.
In a Variety interview, Nancy Duffy, svp of program development for CNN and executive producer of the Forensic Files franchise, said that the series fared well in both linear showings—and on the streaming platforms owned by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.
Duffy said that with the new episodes, they did not want to reinvent the Forensic Files series. Still, they made some upgrades with regards to how it was shot—which was in 4K—and “some of the bells and whistles that TV now uses, but we do keep very strictly to the format,” she added.
Acclaimed film, stage and TV actor Bill Camp will once again narrate this series, which will also stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com and CNN OTT and mobile apps under “TV Channels” or CNNgo where available.