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TVWeek, Deadline

New NBC Series to Focus on Famous Murder Case

Apr 7, 2016  •  Post A Comment

On the heels of FX’s successful resurrection of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, NBC is ready to revisit another famous case: the Menendez brothers’ trial for the 1989 shotgun slaying of their parents.

The Menendez case will be the focus of the first installment in the “Law & Order: True Crime” anthology spinoff of the network’s hit “L&O” franchise, with veteran producer Dick Wolf developing the project. Besides creating NBC’s wildly successful “Law & Order” franchise, Wolf has been behind shows including NBC’s “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Med.”

Like FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” which aired its finale this week, the outcome of the Menendez case is well-known. Lyle and Erik Menendez are both currently serving life without parole after being convicted of the killings in 1994. Their case was also the focus of the 1994 TV movie “Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills,” which starred Edward James Olmos and Beverly D’Angelo.

Deadline.com reports that “Law & Order: True Crime — The Menendez Brothers Murders” will launch the new NBC anthology franchise with an eight-episode cycle.

Jennifer Salke, president of NBC Entertainment, said of the Menendez brothers story: “This case captured the public’s attention like nothing before it as it examined taboo issues such as patricide and matricide in gruesome detail, all against a backdrop of privilege and wealth. We will re-create the cultural and societal surroundings of both the murders and trials when people were not only obsessed with the case but examining how and why these brothers committed these heinous crimes.”

NBC’s “Law & Order” franchise is also being spun off into “Law & Order: You the Jury,” a live courtroom docu-drama series from Wolf, which has been picked up by the network and is awaiting a schedule slot.

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