The O.J. Simpson murder case has become the latest to get the reality TV treatment.
“Is O.J. Innocent? The Missing Evidence” is a six-part docuseries that began airing Sunday on Investigation Discovery.
More than 20 years after Simpson was found not guilty of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, pop culture remains fascinated with the case.
There have been other projects in the past year tied to it, including the critically acclaimed FX limited series, “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and the documentary, “O.J.: Made in America.”
The Investigation Discovery program, which is executive produced and narrated by actor Martin Sheen, is based on the work of private investigator William C. Dear, who wrote the 2012 book “O.J. Is Innocent and I Can Prove It.”
So far the new series has some viewers riveted.
In it, Dear has teamed up with LAPD forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie and Rhode Island police Sgt. Derrick Levasseur to reinvestigate the case.
Fans will recognize Levasseur from another reality show — the police officer won season 16 of the CBS reality series, “Big Brother.”
Levasseur explained to the Hollywood Reporter why he wanted to be involved in the Simpson project.
“One of the big things around this case is that there were a lot of accusations regarding the police,” he said. “People said their investigation was lacking and that they made a lot of mistakes and that was a big reason why O.J. Simpson was acquitted.”
Levasseur said he expects not everyone will be happy about the show.
“It’s a very sore subject for certain people, and it’s very touchy,” he said. “I expect that there will be some scrutiny behind it, especially the people that we investigate.”
A similar series ran into some legal trouble taking on another high profile murder case.
CBS recently encountered a lawsuit for similarly “naming” a potential suspect in a high-profile murder case. Burke Ramsey, the now 29-year-old brother of slain child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, filed a defamation suit against CBS and several others in December.
Ramsey is accusing the network, a production company and a group of contributors to “The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey,” of falsely accusing him of his sister’s murder. The four-hour miniseries aired in September.
“Is O.J. Innocent? The Missing Evidence” runs through Tuesday.
