It is both difficult to watch, as well as review, television programming that is supposed to remind you of a life so influential to the world that you dare not forget it. Lately, heart-wrenching bio-pics have suddenly become commercialized instead of the normal processed and overdramatic antics we've been accustomed to. Case in point, the actualization of Matthew Shepard's life into a made-for-TV pseudo-documentary has become a race between two competing networks banking on sizable ratings instead of reiterating the truth.

Last Saturday, HBO premiered "The Laramie Project" exactly one week before this Saturday's "The Matthew Shepard Story" on NBC. Neither movie chooses to focus on Matt as the central figure, but rather explores the lives of those on the periphery of his shocking death. Whether or not this shift in attention will be more acceptable to audiences is unclear, but in watching both movies it is clear that we will never know exactly why such a senseless crime occurred.

"The Matthew Shepard Story" begins with the gruesome act committed against 21-year-old Matt (Shane Meier) by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in an expansive field in Laramie, Wyo. in 1998. A year later, Dennis (Sam Waterston, "Law and Order") and Judy (Stockard Channing, "The West Wing") Shepard are agonizing over an official statement they are to give to the jury condemning McKinney to death after he is found guilty of Matt's murder. (Henderson pled guilty and was given a life sentence.) The Shepards have been apart for some time as Dennis lives in Saudi Arabia, while Judy travels around the country speaking about her son. The marriage is definitely strained, yet there is no evidence that the audience should be worried about an imminent divorce. Flashbacks fill the screen as each parent remembers a portion of Matt's life during the time he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality and find some acceptance in the world. In the end, the Shepards agree to ask the judge to grant McKinney consecutive life sentences, deciding not to combat hate with hate.

Although the subject matter is particularly compelling, the movie is not. It refuses to acknowledge any real heartache, only filling us with visually stimulating vignettes that are extremely out of place. Executive producer Goldie Hawn has said that she hopes the movie will open hearts, but the only understanding in the film is for the complications Matt's life made on his parents. Focusing solely on the parents' perspective makes any effort to sympathize with Matt's lonely journey through life difficult.

"Project" also asks us to understand Matt's life through others, this time through the observations of the people of Laramie. In an amazing feat, the movie captures both horrifying and hopeful views of life after Matt. These emotional criticisms are what NBC is lacking. Instead they highlight their dismal stock of miniseries that have plagued the peacock network for years. Sadly, the Emmy-nominated Channing and Waterston fail to live up to their acting status, actually overrun by newcomer Meier.

The crime was horrific, brutal and unforgettable. Unfortunately, "The Matthew Shepard Story" is truly forgettable.