Can a drama have too much talent? Will audiences follow a complex series of overlapping tales? How dark can characters get before audiences stop caring? The new series “Smith” (9 p.m., CBS) inspires all of these questions and more. But it may require repeat viewings to get clear answers.

Ray Liotta (“Goodfellas”) stars as Bobby Stevens, the ringleader of a group of professional thieves. Bobby passes as a regular guy with a 9-to-5 job and a couple of cute kids. At first, we’re not even sure whether his wife, Hope (Virginia Madsen, “Sideways), is aware of his job or part of his facade. But before long, we discover that her life has some complications of its own.

Bobby’s team consists of crack thieves with some serious social problems. Simon Baker (“The Guardian”) is Jeff, a cold-blooded sharpshooter. Recently sprung from prison, Tom (Jonny Lee Miller) still has a thing for Annie (Amy Smart), the group’s master of disguise and distraction. And Bobby reports to a shadowy female crime boss named Charlie (Shohreh Aghdashloo). Viewers may recall her from her stellar performance on “24.”

Over the course of the pilot, we get to see a major heist from several perspectives. Bobby’s meticulously planned robbery of a Pittsburgh museum goes according to plan until shots are fired and a rushed escape becomes necessary. Good guys and bad guys fall to gunfire. The police come in and label their suspect “Smith,” and a season-long cat-and-mouse game begins.

If this all sounds familiar, it is. This summer, FX aired the six-part drama “Thief,” starring Andre Braugher as a heist mastermind distracted by domestic woes. But while that series concentrated on the close and even claustrophobic relationship between father and stepdaughter (Mae Whitman), “Smith” is quite literally all over the place, hopping from character to character and city to city in its first hour. It doesn’t help that some of the major players are distinctly unpleasant. It’s one thing for Jeff to assassinate the two surfer bullies who cross his path, but when he mistreats a pet cat, I can see viewers reaching for their remotes.

Tonight’s other season premieres

¢ The team finds Gibbs difficult to replace on “NCIS” (7 p.m., CBSV).

¢ Off to Pakistan on “The Unit” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ A kidnapper nabs a member of the major-case squad on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (8 p.m., NBC). This is the new night and time for “Intent.”

¢ A rape victim may be linked to a terror investigation on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Daniel Post (Michael J. Fox) stands trial for trying to procure a human organ on “Boston Legal” (9 p.m., ABC).

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ A patient begs for euthanasia on “House” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ Asian mobsters take a hit on “Standoff” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ “P.O.V.” (9 p.m., PBS, check local listings) profiles “Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela.”

¢ “REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (9 p.m., HBO) includes a chat with Danica Patrick; a profile of a homeless soccer team; a look at obese high-school football players; and a 1985 Major League drug scandal.