LAW & ORDER TRUE CRIME: THE MENENDEZ MURDERS — Episode 101 — Pictured: (l-r) Miles Gaston Villanueva as Lyle Menendez, Gus Halper as Eric Menendez — (Photo by Justin Lubin/NBC)

NBC’s latest addition to the LAW&ORDER franchise comes in the form of a true crime drama series (a la FX’s AMERICAN CRIME STORY) that focuses on the baffling murders of the Menendez parents by the Menendez Brothers in 1989, and the court cases that followed for years after: LAW & ORDER TRUE CRIME: THE MENENDEZ MURDERS.

Here, Edie Falco plays the notorious defense attorney Leslie Abramson, while newcomers Miles Gaston Villanueva and Gus Halper play the brothers (Lyle and Eric).  The first two episodes made available for review follow the immediate aftermath of the shooting through what ultimately led to their arrest, and it plays pretty strictly to what we have all known.  Rich kids kill their parents, pretend they didn’t, and are eventually found out.

Period costuming, music, and production/set design are great. It has a really great cast, and they are playing compelling roles. The show tries to humanize the characters we’ve been hearing about for 30 years, and on some level does succeed, but needs a bit more to get there. All in all, a solid show that has potential to be something more.