At the center of the Conrad Murray involuntary manslaughter trial is the planned concert series the late Michael Jackson was working on in hopes of mounting a major career comeback.
VH1 is giving the documentary film that revolves around Jackson's concert preparations -- "Michael Jackson's This Is It" -- a very timely broadcast premiere Monday night.
Read more: Conrad Murray Jury Reaches Verdict
Released into theaters four months after Jackson's June 25, 2009 death, "This Is It" earned more than $260 million worldwide, as fans of the King of Pop flocked to catch a glimpse of his final near-performances, a series of rehearsals for the "This Is It" London concerts.
Jackson performs his own hits and Jackson 5 numbers -- everything from "Beat It" and "Man in the Mirror" to "I Want You Back" and "I'll Be There" -- via a series of rehearsals with his band, sound checks, dance run-throughs and vignettes.
The film opens with a text intro: "For the fans."
And given that a verdict in the Conrad Murray trial came in today, the VH1 broadcast is a good chance, for fans and curious Jackson watchers, to leave the scandals and legal issues behind and focus wistfully on what might have come from the star's London shows.
"Michael Jackson's This Is It" airs Monday at 9/8c on VH1.
