CBS air their Menendez film in two part miniseries
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from May 1994.
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Anyway, that maxim holds true in the world of TV movies when it comes to watching "Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills," airing on CBS in two parts on Tuesday, May 24, and Wednesday, May 25.
Viewers may recall that Fox beat CBS in the race to get a movie based on the Menendez court case on the air.
For those cave-dwellers who haven't heard by now. Beverly Hills, Calif., brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in August 1989.
They might have gotten away with the perfect murder if certain facts about the case (namely a sobbing confession by Erik) hadn't been brought to light by the boys' psychologist, Dr. Jeremy Oziel.
The ensuing court cases charged the brothers with their parents' murder. The boys' defense claimed that they did so out of fear for their own lives, citing years of sexual molestation by their father.
Both cases ended in mistrials. So Fox got their movie, "Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders," on the air first, which was no small feat, considering they crammed the film's production into 10 days.
And just like the turtle that took its time getting to the finish line, "Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills" shows that patience and persistence are more important qualities than flash and dazzle.
The major difference in quality between the two movies can be summed up in three words: Edward James Olmos.
In the role of Menendez patriarch Jose, Olmos shows a depth (and to some degree a humanity) that was dreadfully lacking in James Farentino's hypermonstrous interpretation of the. character in the Fox film.
Viewers are given a better understanding of Jose's burning, if sometimes ridiculous, ambition for success.
"Killing" also focuses less on the sexual side of the alleged abuse and more on the rigorous demands Jose made of his offspring.
Other movies on TV this week include Carol Burnett and George Segal in "Seasons of the Heart," on NBC Sunday, May 22.
Monday, May 23, Farrah Fawcett plays a prostitute chosen to be "The Substitute Wife" on NBC, and "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman" makes it network premiere on Fox.
