With narrative-driven podcasts like Homecoming, Limetown, Wolverine: The Long Night, Serial, Crimetown, and Dirty John amassing huge audiences, one thing is clear: we love to get into a good story that delves into the details.

Vancouver’s Chris Kelly and Pat Kelly of Kelly&Kelly are taking this formula and adding a funny twist with their podcast This Sounds Serious. The duo has teamed up with Castbox and long-time collaborator Peter Oldring (This Is That, Dexter Guff Is Smarter Than You) and Dave Shumka (Stop Podcasting Yourself, Our Debut Album) to create a scripted comedy series that moves beyond parody by telling a gripping serialized story with rich characters.

The top-notch cast includes: Peter Oldring, Lauren Ash (NBC’s Superstore), George Basil (HBO’s Crashing), Gary Anthony Williams (Curb Your Enthusiasm), and Paul F. Tompkins (There Will Be Blood, Bobs Burgers, Comedy Bang! Bang!) and is narrated by Carly Pope (Arrow, Suits, Elysium). 

“We’re super excited to be working with Castbox to get this show out to millions of listeners. Our number-one goal is to create a podcast that delivers big on both story and laughs,” says cocreator Pat Kelly, “and we see This Sounds Serious as an ongoing series that can take on a new genre each season.” 

Season one—titled This Sounds Serious: The Case of Daniel Bronstadt—will tackle the mystery/crime genre as it follows an investigative journalist who is trying to uncover the mysterious death of an identical twin, and it promises to be both captivating and humorous. 

The ever-busy Kelly&Kelly are also in postproduction on their This is That video series for CBC and are in preproduction for a new TV pilot, Human People.

The first episode of This Sounds Serious debuts today (May 1). This and subsequent episodes will be available through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio.