She’s a tough-as-nails investigator with a CIA background. She’s a bit of a glamour-puss. And maybe she’s a little nuts. She’s “The Closer” (8 p.m., TNT). Kyra Sedgwick stars in the title role as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, recently imported to the LAPD by Assistant Police Chief Will Pope (J.K. Simmons), who may or may not be her former lover. Her presence results in immediate dissension and turmoil among the ranks.

Her colleagues resent her because she immediately pulls rank on them. But wait, there’s more. In a roomful of donut-crazed gumshoes, she projects the frazzled demeanor of a ditzy college professor. Forever fumbling with her oversized pocketbook and running her hands nervously through her ringlets of hair, Brenda seems more like a driver trying to sweet-talk her way out of a speeding ticket than a lead investigator. And there’s her accent. An Atlanta native, Brenda speaks in a Southern drawl sweeter than a lazy Suzan full of Waffle House pancake syrup. So it’s all the more surprising when she cuts off her fellow officers with the brazen abruptness of a New York lawyer strung out on Starbucks coffee.

Brenda’s discordant personality traits make her a confusing co-worker, an interesting character and a feast for an actress as capable as Ms. Sedgwick. With so much quirky humanity invested in Brenda, it’s a shame that “The Closer” has to open with yet another gross-out shot of a moldy cadaver. As much as a the camera wants to make love to Kyra Sedgwick, it can’t help lingering over a corpse that looks like a pile of steak tartar left in the Mojave. It’s a revolting image that adds little to the story.

Proof that a three-dimensional female character can be “complicated” without being “Ally McBeal,” “Closer” deserves a closer look.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Teens sharpen their No. 2 pencils on “The Scholar” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ Ray Liotta narrates “Inside the Mafia” (8 p.m., National Geographic), a four-hour history of organized crime that concludes Tuesday.

¢ A guest (Jon Lovitz) wants to leave in the worst way on “Las Vegas” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ Killing for custody on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ “Class of … 2006: Stars on the Verge” (9 p.m., Biography) discusses the talents who will fill tomorrow’s gossip items.