`DAY' AFTER `DAY,' HIS LIFE JUST SUCKS.

Byline: David Kronke Television Critic

Much has been made at this point of this season's glut of tightly serialized series. Most of them, despite largely laudatory reviews, have failed miserably, and for good reason: Viewers simply don't have the time to keep up with the intricate particulars of their tightly coiled plotlines.

Even ``Lost,'' the current frontrunner of the genre, has lost a full 5 million faithful viewers from last season. Before recently disappearing until next year, it relinquished its time slot's ratings dominance in the past two weeks to CBS' ``Criminal Minds,'' and now passes its beleaguered baton to ``Day Break,'' an admittedly compelling drama that suffers from the fact that it demands even greater viewer attention to its particulars.

Taye Diggs stars as L.A. detective Brett Hopper, who wakes up one morning in the bed of his girlfriend Rita (Moon Bloodgood) and goes about his business until he discovers that he has been framed for the murder of an Assistant District Attorney. He struggles through the system, beaten down by conspirators, and then, awakens, again, in the bed of his girlfriend.

Yes: It's ``Groundhog Day'' all over again, and again, as Brett desperately attempts to discover who's behind his betrayal, and also to save the lives of those who might be claimed in the conspiracy to frame him.

Hopper's problem is that although he awakens each day with the memory of his previous days -- and the beat-downs of the previous days intact on his increasingly battered body (by season's end, he'll no doubt be reduced to ribbons when that digital alarm clock hits 6:18 a.m.) -- none of his friends or enemies suffer from such anomalies.

Hence, he must embark anew each day to attempt to convince his friends, lover and enemies of what he has learned of the sinister conspiracy of which he himself has precious little information.

Of course, there are all sorts of boxes-within-boxes plot machinations -- Hopper's sleeping with the ex-wife of his bitter ex-partner (Adam Baldwin), who's gunning for him; his current partner (Victoria Pratt) is in trouble with internal affairs; his sister (Meta Golding) is being simultaneously abused by her husband and stalked by those framing him. And that's just the beginning.

It's kind of a cool conceit, if one can get past the whole ``Groundhog Day'' thing. Given how intricate the story line is, it might be helpful for ABC to offer an online map/timeline charting where Hopper and other characters have been and what they've done at each hour as each episode progresses.

Still, by next week, the story allows flies into the narrative ointment, as something this tightly wound yet cranked out on a network drama's unforgiving schedule invariably must.

Ultimately, ``Day Break'' is an inventive idea undone by broadcast networks' creative limitations, the notion that every story must last five years rather than five weeks.

David Kronke, [phone]

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DAY BREAK - Two and one half stars

What: Taye Diggs stars as a cop framed for murder who has the chance to exonerate himself when he lives the same day over and over -- or, more colloquially, ``The Fugitive'' meets ``Groundhog Day.''

Where: ABC (Channel 7).

When: 9 tonight.

In a nutshell: A compelling miniseries unfortunately stretched out over the course of a regular TV series.

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Photo:

Taye Diggs finds each day's painful events repeating themselves, and getting worse, in ``Day Break,'' co-starring Moon Bloodgood.