Will the new series “The D.A.” (9 p.m., ABC) be remembered as a network drama that took on the gritty cable competition, or as this season’s fourth crime series set in L.A. (after “Boomtown,” “Dragnet” and “10-8”) that failed to find a serious audience?

This much is certain: “The D.A.” will have a short run. Only four episodes are scheduled between tonight and April 9. “20/20” returns to its regular time slot on April 16. So, is this a series or a miniseries?

Steven Weber stars in the title role as politically ambitious Los Angeles Dist. Atty. David Franks. Nothing he says or does, or even thinks, is completely separated from his run for governor. This becomes gruesomely obvious after a prospective witness against a Russian mob boss is shot to death in a hotel room along with three members of Franks’ staff. The diligent new assistant D.A. (Bruno Campos) is brought in to handle the investigation and immediately begins stepping on toes — including Franks’.

This being network television, many of the principals are more attractive than the average human being, but that’s a small quibble to make about a show that consistently respects its viewers’ intelligence.

This series’ short “season” is clearly part of a programming vogue inspired by the success of shows like “The Sopranos” that run only 13 new episodes per season. But while HBO can repeat their shows throughout the week and in between seasons, networks only have one shot at success. And, if my mailbag is any indication, many faithful network viewers are growing increasingly cranky about scheduling shenanigans.

Late last year, I received a lot of letters asking, “What the heck is this ‘Line of Fire,’ and where’s my ‘NYPD Blue’?” But by the end of the limited run of “Line,” readers were asking, “What happened to ‘Line of Fire’? I was just getting to like that show!” In copying cable, networks don’t seem to worry about annoying faithful viewers. Did NBC gain viewers with its look at Princess Diana’s tapes, or just help its audience fall out of the habit of watching “ER”? And don’t get me started about the transparently dumb idea of letting “Friends” run two minutes longer.

Tonight’s debut of “The D.A.” is well worth catching. But even if it succeeds, how many aggravated “20/20” viewers will tune in and change the channel?

Tonight’s other highlights

• The NCAA Basketball Tournament (6 p.m., CBS) continues.
• Players and poseurs on “Playing it Straight” (7 p.m., Fox).
• A stranger takes a liking to Jaye on “Wonderfalls” (8 p.m., Fox).
• A rough day for a rookie coroner on “Crossing Jordan” (9 p.m., NBC).