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ELVIS BY THE PRESLEYSLadies and gentlemen, here he is: the genuine article, the real American idol.

Earlier this week, CBS spent four hours trying to capture the appeal, artistry and impact of Elvis Presley in a two-part movie starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the King of rock 'n' roll.

Tonight at 8, in half that time and using real people and footage instead of actors and sets, the network's "Elvis by the Presleys" does a much better job.

Often, when family members are involved in a dramatized or documentary tribute of a famous personality, the results are diluted, if not beyond belief, then at least without proper perspective. (Think Frank Sinatra or Michael Jackson.) With Elvis' wife and daughter, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley, both taking part in "Elvis by the Presleys," you'd be justified in expecting a dull, sanitized whitewash.

It's anything but.

Producer Scott Lochmus and director Rob Klug encourage the Presley family and others to tell the full story of Elvis Presley - not just his rise to fame and the triumphant 1968 comeback TV concert that framed the "Elvis" miniseries, but his subsequent Vegas career and television special, his drug addiction, even his divorce and death.

There are memorable snippets from press conferences ("Why do you think you've outlasted every other entertainer?" "I take Vitamin E" wink , and from his movies and concerts, and great helpings of home-movie footage and personal footage.

Most important, though, are the generous samplings from Presley's electrifying TV specials, including his "Aloha" Hawaii concert from 1973.

In addition to other clips from those televised concerts, "Elvis by the Presleys" presents four full-length, unedited performances. The two from 1968, "Trying to Get to You" (Elvis in black leather, in the round, as the original "Unplugged" star) and "If I Can Dream," are particularly powerful. They're all you need to see, and hear, to understand why Elvis was such a big deal.

"I'll die defending him and his legacy," Priscilla says at the close of this two-hour documentary, "because he deserved it."

So long as she and others continue to find venues for broadcasting his music and concert footage, no other defense is necessary.