Created by producers David Milch ("NYPD Blue") and Anthony Yerkovich ("Miami Vice"), "Big Apple" (9 p.m., CBS) recycles many familiar clichof the cop genre. CBS shows a lot of gumption taking on "ER" with this drama. The gritty Gotham beat has hardly been its strong suit. Remember "Turks"? "Dellaventura"? "Falcone"? "Brooklyn South"? I didn't think so.
Ed O'Neill does have some appeal as the ever-angry Detective Mike Mooney. Much like Andy Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue," he's a tough professional with 20/20 gut instincts. He bristles at paper-pushers who cramp his style.
The hook of "Big Apple" is the fouled-up intersection of competing law enforcement agencies. Gone are the days of simple cops and robbers. Now you have Mooney and his young partner Detective Vincent Trout (Jeffrey Pierce) trying to investigate the murder of a stripper in a posh apartment. But they step on the toes of a local FBI agent running a sting operation on the Russian mob. To keep things from getting too messy, the local Feds deputize Mooney and Trout.
With a strong lead-in from "Survivor" and the surging "CSI," we should expect a longer shelf life for "Big Apple."
Tonight's other highlights
A surprise visit from Lorelei's ex on "The Gilmore Girls" (7 p.m., WB).
A stranger (William Holden) shakes up a small town in the 1955 adaptation of the William Inge drama "Picnic" (7 p.m., AMC).
Painter and film director Julian Schnabel ("Before Night Falls") appears on "Conversations in World Cinema" (7 p.m., Sundance).
Left for dead, a woman with two bullets in her head becomes a key witness on "CSI" (8 p.m., CBS).
A rape victim (Patricia Wettig) seeks justice in the 1992 drama "Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story" (8 p.m., Lifetime).
Romano declares war on Benton on "ER" (9 p.m., NBC).
Series notes
Another torch to be extinguished on "Survivor" (7 p.m., CBS) ... On back-to-back episodes of "Friends" (NBC), worries about weight (7 p.m.), and Joey's fling bonds with Rachel and Monica (7:30 p.m.) ... James Brown hosts "The World's Funniest" (7 p.m., Fox) ... On back-to-back episodes of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" (ABC), antics at a singles bar (7 p.m.), and hospital hip-hop (7:30 p.m.) ... Wrestling on "WWF Smackdown" (7 p.m., UPN).
Grace mulls an indecent proposal on "Will & Grace" (8 p.m., NBC) ... The skinny on Shirley and Squiggy and other revelations on "Truth Behind the Rumors" (8 p.m., Fox) ... Regis Philbin hosts "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (9 p.m., ABC) ... A mirror-smashing break-in on "Charmed" (8 p.m., WB).
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