Proof that TV writers are never afraid to take an original idea and run it into the ground can be found on tonight’s “ER” (9 p.m., NBC). Events on this evening’s installment of the medical soap opera will unfold in reverse order. The show begins just as the bingeing Balkan, Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic), survives a late-night car crash. The rest of the hour retraces the events that lead to his crackup.

As a plot device, the reverse-chronology gimmick has gotten a good workout lately. Director Christopher Nolan used it in the critically acclaimed 2001 drama “Memento.” And “Seinfeld” fans may recall a backward-running episode about a trip to a wedding in India. The first, and to my mind, best use of this technique was Harold Pinter’s play “Betrayal,” which dramatized an adulterous affair in reverse sequence, from bitter breakup to first stolen kiss. Jeremy Irons, Ben Kingsley and Patricia Hodge starred in the 1983 screen adaptation.

• Is “Will & Grace” (8 p.m., NBC) moving out of Manhattan? Well, at least half of the tandem will be crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Last week NBC announced that Grace would be setting up house in Brooklyn with her new husband (Harry Connick Jr.) in several episodes scheduled for 2003. Patricia Arquette has been cast as her new wacky neighbor, described as a “bohemian masseuse.” Excuse me, but NBC already has one “bohemian masseuse” on its Thursday night lineup, and that’s Phoebe on “Friends.” Surely somebody could have dreamed up something more original. On tonight’s “Will & Grace,” an extra ticket to “The Nutcracker” sends Grace into a tailspin of indecision.
• The new cable series “Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of Dayle Hinman” (8:30 p.m., Court TV) follows real-life criminal profiler Hinman as she recalls some of her toughest cases. Her impressive resume includes investigations on cases including O.J. Simpson, Ted Bundy, Aileen Wuornos and the Gainesville (Fla.) student murders. “Body” begins in the Florida Keys with the murder of Michael McIvor and his pregnant wife, Missy. After a brief check into Michael’s past, police immediately suspected a drug deal gone wrong. But Hinman’s examination of the forensic evidence shows why she suspected that Missy and not Michael was the real intended victim.

“Body” has all the twists of a “CSI” episode, but without that show’s glossy production values or morbid shots of autopsies, body parts and cadavers. “CSI” fans should like “Body of Evidence,” but then again, “CSI” fans are probably watching “CSI.” Court TV should reschedule this half-hour series.

• A three-minute novelty song from the 1980s becomes the basis for the 2000 one-hour animated Christmas special “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” (7 p.m., WB). It’s about 57 minutes too long.

Tonight’s other highlights

• A beauty pageant turns deadly in the 1999 comedy “Drop Dead Gorgeous” (7 p.m., Fox) starring Kirsten Dunst and Kirstie Alley.
• Karl’s escape plan may expose the island to the outside world on “Dinotopia” (7 p.m., ABC).
• “Biography” (7 p.m., A&E) profiles actor Billy Barty.
• A shopkeeper and his daughter disappear on a walk to school on “Without a Trace” (9 p.m., CBS).
• Scheduled on “PrimeTime” (9 p.m., ABC): the D.C.-area snipers’ youngest victim.

Series notes

Monica fears that Chandler may be spending the holidays with an attractive colleague (Selma Blair) on “Friends” (7 p.m., NBC).

J.D. embarks on a new romance on “Scrubs” (7:30 p.m., NBC).

Weird Christmas ads from around the world on “The Best Commercials You’ve Never Seen” (8 p.m., ABC) … Dylan dislikes Jake’s condescending attitude on “Good Morning, Miami” (8:30 p.m., NBC) … Improvisations on “Jamie Kennedy Experiment” (8 p.m., WB).