Erik Menendez's Television Privileges Are Limited but He Absolutely Loves Reality Television

One would think that after spending a few decades in prison, an incarcerated individual might gravitate toward comedy. In a situation that is undoubtedly stressful most of the time, blowing off some steam via a good laugh would be a welcome change. Of course, laughs are probably hard to come by in a place like the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving out life sentences.

Obviously, prison isn't great, though there are ways to make the time spent there more palatable. In June 2024, Lyle graduated from the University of California Irvine's in-prison bachelor's degree program. There was even a lovely graduation for him and 22 other men to mark the occasion. Beyond bettering one's self, you can just relax. For example, Erik loves watching television and even has a few favorite shows. His tastes are kind of surprising.

An audio conversation with Erik dating back to 2021 was uploaded to the @lesfleurz TikTok account. In it he chats about what is available in prison, in terms of television stations, and what he likes to watch. First and foremost, they can't watch anything on cable. For the youth reading this, cable networks are things like HBO or Showtime. So if you're wondering who Erik's favorite Game of Thrones character is, he has no idea.

Unless something has changed since this conversation was recorded, it stands to reason that streaming services are also not available. This means the Menendez brothers probably don't have Netflix and definitely did not watch Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Any opinions the brothers have about that series are probably based on what they were told by others.

So, what can they watch? Erik says they are relegated to the classic networks like NBC, ABC, and CBS. With that in mind, he revealed that his favorite programs are either dramas or reality competition series. "I really like The Masked Singer," he said with a hint of excitement in his voice. He also said he liked American Idol and had been watching it since it started but admitted that he had kind of fallen off. Hey, we get it! It's not the same without Simon's brutal opinions.

Erik's wife, Tammi Menendez, runs a YouTube channel where she uploads phone calls from Erik. In one from February 2021, he described what life in prison was like. It's a question he gets often and was happy to answer. He was sure to point out that in describing prison, he can only speak about where is incarcerated, of course. "What I can tell you is there's a lot of concrete, a lot of steel, there's a very stark look to prison," he said. However, his prison is trying to make things more colorful.

He was involved in painting and mural projects that were meant to "brighten things up." Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic did change things for a while, including wearing masks in prison, which he understood. "People can't separate in prison," he explained, "so preventing the spread of COVID-19 was very important." For a while, a lot of the programs were shut down.

Despite the restrictions, Erik said people in prison love to cook and they'll make a big spread whenever they can. He was also involved in a beautification project that he was "really excited about." Erik and Lyle both wrote proposals that involved getting inmates involved in growing gardens. It hadn't happened yet, but he was "excited about the possibility of being able to grow the grass here."