20/20: THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS; BECOMING BARBIE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of news magazine programs. In the first segment, Barbara Walters interviews Erik and Lyle Menendez about the murder of their parents. The segment begins with a brief background of the murder and the brothers' two murder trials, including clips from their first trial in 1992. In the first public interview since their conviction, Walters speaks with the Menendez brothers at the Los Angeles County jail about the following topics, among others: their first thoughts upon hearing the guilty verdict; the importance of staying together when they move to a state prison; their opinions on the media's portrayal of them; whether they feel remorse; the reason they first pretended to be innocent; the way that therapy and jail have changed them; their responses to others who claim to have been abused; the kind of mail they receive; assertions that Erik is gay; the concept of "abuse excuse"; their relationships with their parents; their motivations for murdering their parents; and alternative resolutions to the family problems, given another chance. The second segment focuses on a forty-year-old woman, Cindy Jackson, who has had extensive plastic surgery designed to resemble the popular doll, Barbie. Jackson speaks with reporter Bob Brown about the following topics: the twenty-two elective surgical procedures that cost approximately $100,000; her belief that she will be treated better and be more successful if she has the right look; her desire for the glamorous life, represented by the fictitious life of Barbie; her response to the feminist outcry against her actions; and men's reactions to her new look. The segment includes comments from one of Jackson's plastic surgeons, Dr. Edward Latimer Sayer; clips from facial reconstruction performed in an operating room; and a clip from a Barbie doll commercial. The program concludes with a preview with Ted Koppel on upcoming features on "Nightline."
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Marc Haas and Helen Hotze Haas Foundation, 1998.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: June 28, 1996 Friday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:40
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:44822
- GENRE: News magazine
- SUBJECT HEADING: Child abuse; Murder; Surgery - Cosmetic; Surgery, plastic; Toys
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1978-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Courage Under Fire" feature film
- TV - Commercials - "Multiplicity" feature film
- TV - Commercials - "The Nutty Professor" feature film
- TV - Commercials - AFLAC insurance
- TV - Commercials - American Express financial service
- TV - Commercials - Dannon yogurt
- TV - Commercials - Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing
- TV - Commercials - KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce
- TV - Commercials - Kleenex Cottonelle bath tissue
- TV - Commercials - L'Oreal cosmetics
- TV - Commercials - Lincoln automobiles
- TV - Commercials - MCI Telecommunications
- TV - Commercials - Maalox antacid
- TV - Commercials - Red Lobster restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Sprint Telecommunications
- TV - Commercials - U.S. Postal Service
- TV - Commercials - UPS parcel deliveries
- TV - Commercials - Visa credit cards
- TV - PSA - American Heart Association
- TV - PSA - Earth Share/Ad Council
- TV - Promos - "20/20"
- TV - Promos - "ABC Wide World of Sports"
- TV - Promos - "NYPD Blue"
- TV - Promos - "The Bureau"
- TV - Promos - "The Marshal"
- TV - Promos - "This Week with David Brinkley"
- TV - Promos - "Where Are My Children"
- TV - Promos - "Whispers in the Dark"
CREDITS
- Martin Clancy … Producer
- Joe Pfifferling … Producer
- Hugh Downs … Host
- Barbara Walters … Host, Interviewer
- Bob Brown … Reporter, Interviewer
- Erik Menendez … Guest
- Lyle Menendez … Guest
- Cindy Jackson … Guest
- Edward Latimer Sayer