If you’re looking for a series that boldly straddles the line between comedy and genre, that show may just be Future Man, which starts on Hulu Nov. 14. Josh Hutcherson of The Hunger Games plays a janitor by day/gamer by night who is recruited to travel through time to prevent the extinction of mankind.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg executive-produce. So does Ben Karlin, who said Future Man is far more than a spoof of time-travel fantasy. “We really take the genre part of it quite seriously,” he said.

The Future Manbrain trust has been wracking their brains, trying to come up with a TV series that balances comedy with genre elements, such as stunts and special effects. “I don’t think, in the history of half-hour television, anything like this has been attempted before,” Karlin said.

Formerly of The Daily Show, Karlin produced the cancer comedy film 50/50 with Rogen and Goldberg, and said the trio has made a habit of reading each others’ stuff. Karlin had a development deal with ABC that he describes as “challenging and frustrating.” Future Man is way more in his wheelhouse than broadcast comedies.

Hulu’s big win at the Emmys, with The Handmaid’s Tale snagging best drama, makes it a more attractive destination for producers. “It’s really nice to be able to come on after that,” Karlin said.

Touching quite a few different emotions than Future Man, Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders starts on SundanceTV Nov. 18. It is directed and produced by Joe Berlinger, and is an homage to Truman Capote’s iconoclastic 1966 bestseller In Cold Blood. “I’ve always been obsessed with his book,” Berlinger said. “It’s the first time I read a required book for school, then went back and read it again and again.”

Related > TCA17: Cable Nets to Deliver More Arresting True-Crime Shows

Berlinger, whose films include 1992’s Brother’s Keeper, about an alleged murder in central New York, said In Cold Blood motivated him to be a filmmaker. “I consciously try to evoke, in filmic terms, what Capote did in his book,” Berlinger said.

Cold Blooded is an intriguing close-up of both the Clutter family and the murderers, who met in prison. Berlinger said it took a lot of convincing for remaining members of the family to help out. The hustle paid off. “The family contributed photos and diaries that no one has seen before,” he said.

Watch SundanceTV's 'Cold Blooded' Trailer

Berlinger said he believes Serial, Making a Murderer and the rest of today’s true-crime standouts owe the same debt he’s paying. “They all trace back,” he said, “to an explosion called In Cold Blood.”

Beverly Hills--A handful of cable networks held court with TV writers through the presentation of several true-crime-themed shows during the cable portion of the Television Critics Association summer press tour last week.

Networks showcased new scripted shows or documentaries that ressurected high-profile, sensational crimes ranging from the 1970s hunt for New York City serial killer David Berkowitz (Investigation Discovery’s Son of Sam: The Hunt For A Killer) to the 2002 abduction of teenager Elizabeth Smart (Lifetime’s original movie I Am Elizabeth Smart). 

The shows continue a trend led by several recent true crime-themed TV projects surrounding the 1995 O. J. Simpson murder trial and the 1996 murder of JonBenét Ramsey that have corralled viewers by retelling sensational crime stories for a new generation of viewers that may have heard about the events but don't know all of the sordid details.

“I think (ESPN’s O.J. Simpson: Made In America) was really a game changer in terms of really giving some context to the time the crime happened and fitting that crime within the larger context of what’s going on in the culture,” Joe Berlinger, director/executive producer for Sundance TV’s Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders told TCA writers.

The Cold Blooded special, airing later this fall, looks back at the 1959 murder of four members of the Clutter family in a small Kansas community. The crime was at the center of Truman Capote’s 1966 book In Cold Blood, which arguably gave birth to the true-crime genre.

Another true-crime show profiled at TCA, Discovery Channel’s eight-part miniseries Manhunt: Unabomber chronicling the 1990s hunt for domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski, drew more than 1 million viewers in its Aug. 2 premiere on a network known more for unscripted fare like “Shark Week” programming and Naked and Afraid than for its scripted projects.

Lifetime’s original movie I Am Smart -- debuting in November -- throws a wrinkle into the genre in that the survivor of the crime, Smart herself, serves as narrator for the film, providing a unique perspective surrounding events that captivated the country 15 years ago.

Smart's abduction is even more terrifying and harrowing in her own words. She told a riveted audience of TV critics that she struggled with reliving her experiences through the film. “I was very proud of (the movie), but I hate it at the same time,” Smart said.

As headline-grabbing as these events were back in the day, Son of Sam: The Hunt For A Killer contributor Dr. Scott Bonn argued at TCA that these events would have become even more infamous had they happened in today’s social media-obsessed world.

“If this case happened today, God forbid …  it would be the biggest crime story in the history of the world, without a doubt,” Bonn said.