CBS' JonBenét Docuseries Is On Its Way

As the unsolved case gets close to its 20-year anniversary mark, the death of JonBenét Ramsey is on the minds of television producers and viewers alike this fall. A&E's two-hour documentary, The Killing of JonBenét Ramsey: The Truth Uncovered, will premiere on Labor Day 2016 (that's Sept. 5), but when will CBS' JonBenét Ramsey documentary premiere? Fortunately, if you'd like to hear more about the unsolved case, the network's version of it will begin in just a few weeks. The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey will premiere on Sept. 18. According to CBS, The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey "will re-unite original investigators of the infamous case, accompanied by new experts, to re-examine the unsolved case from 20 years ago."

After the Sept. 18 premiere at 8:30 p.m. ET, the second part of the documentary will air on Monday, Sept. 19 at 9 p.m., and the final part on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 8:30 p.m. The CBS version of the recreation of the murder will combine these investigators with all of the physical evidence in order to see if they can possibly piece together exactly what happened to JonBenét and as you can see in the series trailer below, they'll even be recreating the Ramsey house in the process. And while it might be more exciting to imagine that the investigation will uncover new evidence that suggests a new suspect, viewers should go into the series with reasonable expectations. It's more likely that though the experts on The Case Of may have been able to investigate the murder more efficiently and could potentially discover news leads, so much time has passed that it's doubtful they'll be able to find a concrete answer about who killed JonBenét.

By contrast, A&E's The Killing of JonBenét Ramsey: The Truth Uncovered is built around access to previously unknown information and access to the Ramsey family, such as Burke Ramsey's unheard interview tape and a new interview with JonBenet's father. John Ramsey will also go through his diaries at the time with new and old recollections from the tough period in his life in The Truth Uncovered. If CBS' approach is all about the investigators, then A&E's is all about seeing things from the perspective of the victim's family. So while both series are about the same tragedy, they'll have very different takes on the unsolved murder.

It might seem unnecessary to multiple documentaries about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey premiere within a period of a few weeks, but with the different approaches to the long unsolved case, both A&E and CBS' specials should be illuminating for viewers.

Image: CBS