NBC has ordered eight episodes for scripted anthology series Law & Order: True Crime with the first installment being titled The Menendez Murders. Additionally, Rene Balcer (Law & Order) has signed on to serve as showrunner.
The first installment of the anthology series will focus on brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 1996. The brothers, who were 21 and 18 years old at the time of the murders, were tried separately but eventually convicted in a third trial after no verdicts were rendered in the first two trials because of hung juries.
Executive producers for the new scripted series include Balcer, Dick Wolf, Peter Jankowski and Arthur W. Forney. Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment will produce.
"Rene is one of the creative foundations of the Law & Order brand and we couldn't be in better hands for True Crime with Rene and Dick at the helm," said Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment.
"Rene and I have been working together over the past three decades and he is one of a handful of truly great showrunners with whom I've worked," said Dick Wolf. "Law & Order won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series under his watch."
