Gimlet Media Drops 'Mystery Show' Podcast

Dropped By Gimlet

The long delay of the second season of GIMLET MEDIA's podcast "MYSTERY SHOW" has finally been explained by host/producer STARLEE KINE, who posted on the show's Facebook page on THURSDAY (10/6) that GIMLET dropped the show in APRIL.

"In APRIL, GIMLET let me go," KINE wrote. "This came without warning while I was in the midst of working on the second season. I’d been having trouble figuring out the new season – second seasons can be tricky – and so I'd gone away, to work on an episode. I didn't make as much progress as I had hoped, but the season was starting to take shape. The day I returned, ALEX BLUMBERG told me the show was unsustainable. I was out. I lost my staff, my salary, my benefits, my budget and my email address. MYSTERY SHOW is the only show this has happened to at GIMLET. Just a few months prior, iTunes voted it Best Podcast of the Year.

"Since then, I’ve been working every day to figure out a new plan for the show. I have things in the works but nothing I can announce just yet. And listen, I know the lack of updates has been maddening. I know how frustrating it has been to go to the MYSTERY SHOW accounts and be greeted with silence. You guys are so patient, so loyal and it’s pained me not to be able to say anything until now. Frankly, I was at a loss as to what to say. But the time has come to let you in on what’s been going on, to solve this one mystery for you while I work to solve even more.

"MYSTERY SHOW is my heart and soul. I've never enjoyed working on anything more. I couldn’t ask for better listeners, better sleuths, better humans. I look forward to opening a new case soon. Thank you."

For its part, GIMLET responded with a post on its website saying, "MYSTERY SHOW is an ambitious production and STARLEE has an uncompromising vision for the show, which is what makes it so great. However, these factors combined make MYSTERY SHOW unsustainable to produce and publish on a consistent basis, and therefore GIMLET will no longer produce new episodes of MYSTERY SHOW. We are in discussions with STARLEE to reach an agreement where she may produce MYSTERY SHOW independently of GIMLET."

And BLUMBERG posted an audio statement calling KINE an "original" but said that "certain things that simply need to remain private, but I can tell you I'm really, really sad, and I wish STARLEE all the best."

« see more Net News