The premiere of the new Greg Berlanti (Dawson’s Creek, You) docuseries, entitled Helter Skelter: An American Myth, has been delayed by its premium network channel EPIX, according to Deadline. The docuseries is to be composed of six episodes covering the life and exploits of the cult leader Charles Manson in addition to featuring interviews with some of his Manson Family members. This program was originally intended for a June 14 premiere and would have aired around the fifty-year anniversary of Manson’s most infamous act of the brutal murders of actress Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojtek Frykowski, Steven Parent, and Abigail Folger, EPIX pushed back its release due to the history behind Manson and his cult following paired with the on-going Black Lives Matters peaceful protests after the wrongful death of Geroge Floyd by the Minneapolis PD. Manson’s ideologies and plans reflected the idea of starting a race war that he would call Helter Skelter.
Helter Skelter is executive produced by Berlanti himself in addition to Sarah Schecter (Arrow), and Eli Frankel (Way Out West) along with producers such as Lesly Chilcott (Academy Award winner for her role in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth). This docuseries is not the first instance of the television or film coverage of Manson and his Manson Family. He, along with members of his family such as Tex Watson (portrayed by Christopher Backus, My Fair Lidy) have been featured in the second season of the Netflix original thriller series Mindhunters, portrayed by Damon Herriman (Justified). Furthermore, Herriman reprised this portrayal of the cult leader in Quentin Tarantino’s (Pulp Fiction) most recent film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Currently, EPIX has yet to provide any details on when the new premiere date will be. Check out the trailer below: