When folks look back at our current television culture, they may remember it as a time of craps tables and cadavers. According to my unscientific survey, half of our new shows seem bent on making us see dead people in various stages of decomposition while the other half want to promote gambling and extol the hip attractiveness of casino culture. “CSI,” television’s most popular show, manages to do both!

“The Takedown” (9:30 p.m., Court TV) falls into the latter category. On this new series, a team of expert cons will attempt to beat a Lake Tahoe casino with quick hands, studied diversions and a pair of magnetic dice. In true “Ocean’s Eleven” style, the team operates against a ticking clock and in full view of a team of casino security agents armed with surveillance cameras, high-tech gadgets and burly bouncers trained in the rougher art of persuasion. With all of the nail-biting on display here, there’s plenty of time to plug the casino – mention its name, show its swanky locale and even display its sign. On future episodes, “The Takedown” team will use its skills to confront martial artists and a corrupt hustler running a pool hall.

¢ And while we’re on a Nevada theme, “Reno 911!” (9 p.m., Comedy Central) enters its third season. The absurd “Cops” parody picks up from last season’s cliffhanger, with the Reno cops de-deputized and sent to prison. This season will see the introduction of a new female officer, Deputy Cheresa Kimball (Mary Birdsong); a possible SARS outbreak; a sting operation on a hot-tub franchise; an assignment to safeguard Liberace’s piano; and a very surprising marriage proposal.

Other highlights

¢ A phone call from Rome on “Gilmore Girls” (7 p.m., WB).

¢ A plague in a baby ward forces House to play God on “House” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ Game Three of the NBA Finals (8 p.m.).

¢ Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (9 p.m.): a man’s legal and emotional nightmare begins when his wife and daughter vanish.

¢ Spurned by his family, a gay black man finds solace in studying the life of a Harlem Renaissance writer in the film “Brother to Brother” on “Independent Lens” (9 p.m., PBS).

¢ A youth, missing since the 1980s, is discovered on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).