Serial is back with a third season and here's what it's all about.

Popular podcast Serial is coming back this month with a third season – but fans of the groundbreaking first season may find themselves a little disappointed.

That’s because Serial Season 3, which will begin dropping into subscribers’ feeds from 20 September, won’t follow a possible wrongful conviction – or even a soldier’s time in Taliban captivity.

This season, the trailer revealed this week, will give listeners insight into the goings-on inside a  “typical American courthouse” as host Sarah Koenig follows cases of a Cleveland court.

“Serial is heading back to court. This time, in Cleveland. A year inside a typical American courthouse. This season we tell you the extraordinary stories of ordinary cases. One courthouse, told week by week,” the synopsis reads.

And while we’re sure this latest reincarnation of the This American Life spin-off is going to incredibly well-produced and insightful, it’s just not as exciting as some fans had hoped.

Just listened to the @serial trailer for season 3 and I’m not impressed. The criminal justice system has been beat to death. In fact, I’m listening to a podcast now about a trial that I can barely get through. What a buzz kill topic. Was season 1 an anomaly?

— Brandy (@leveecranes) September 6, 2018

Most, however, were thrilled to learn a new season was dropping and weren’t fazed by the direction shift.

Just listened to the trailer and am SO excited for @serial Season 3. Will be a great way to make it through my training runs for this fall’s half marathon!

— Sarah Burns (@Sarah_R_Burns) September 6, 2018

In case you missed the phenomenon that was Serial Season 1 – the podcast single-handedly responsible for getting thousands of people into podcasts – it centred around the 1999 murder of a Baltimore teenager.

The 2014 series explored Hae Min Lee’s murder and questioned whether her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed, who was jailed for her murder, was really the culprit.

Season 2 garnered a “meh” response from many fans, who really weren’t interested in looking into how and why US soldier Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban while serving in Afghanistan.

Creator Sarah Koenig hopes listeners of Season 3 will be as fascinated as her by the inner-workings of the US criminal justice system.

She told Elle Magazine that Season 3 was “very close to my heart”.

“The stories are really good, and we’re really excited to tell them to people. Then again… if you’re looking for a murder mystery, this is not it.”