'BOOMTOWN' DELIVERS MORE THAN THE AVERAGE COP SHOW.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

``Boomtown'' is the cop drama for jigsaw-puzzle lovers.

Created by screenwriter Graham Yost (``Speed,'' ``Band of Brothers'') and directed by Jon Avnet (``Fried Green Tomatoes,'' ``Uprising''), ``Boomtown'' emerges as the season's new cop show for viewers who actually prefer to pay attention.

Borrowing its structure - which is age-old but still seems fresh on network TV - from Akira Kurosawa's ``Rashomon,'' the show each week presents a crime and its resolution from multiple perspectives - the cops, the perps, the victims, the district attorney, a journalist, those caught up in the undertow of the crime and so on - sometimes solving the crime before the emotionally resonant details are served up. Casual viewers may be confused or alienated, but those who follow along closely stand to be richly rewarded for their efforts.

In addition to the intriguing story structure, Yost has also created a few compelling characters. The best is Neal McDonough's politically motivated District Attorney David McNorris: His piercingly angry blue eyes only begin to suggest the menace that lies beneath; next week, he has a show-stoppingly terrific scene that both explains his past and reveals the violence that lies beneath his character. He wonders of his crass fixer of a father: ``Other than a nicer suit, am I just like him?'' Less compellingly, and more dubiously, McNorris is cheating on his wife with a newspaper reporter, Andrea Little (Nina Garbiras), who rebels against her privileged family.

Almost as intriguing as McNorris is Detective Joel Stevens, well-played by former New Kid on the Block Donnie Wahlberg. Stevens is a soulful, empathetic and idealistic cop who conceals the depth of his family woes from the force. Mykelti Williamson ably portrays Stevens' partner, ``Fearless'' Bobby Smith, and Gary Basaraba plays beat cop Ray Hechler, who is beleaguered by good intentions but a decided lack of political savvy that has doomed him from career advancement.

Tonight, a school shooting plays out in ways both unexpected and drearily familiar; McNorris' adeptness at surviving within the system and the depth of resentment that inspires is hinted at. Next week, misdirection is the order of the day as a murder victim initially seems to be the man cuckolding another man; the reality is more complicated and twisted. Yet another future episode recalls the O.J. Simpson trial in its depiction of a wealthy man's manipulation of the system to avoid prosecution; cops flirt with circumnavigating the law to bring him to justice.

``Boomtown'' doesn't manage to exploit the rich, multicultural panoply of life in L.A. as adeptly as another new cop show, ``Robbery Homicide Division,'' but its stories are more compelling and dimensional. Its characters, too, are more complicated and fully realized. It's easily the most ambitious new series of the underachieving new fall season, but even if it emerged among a more competitive crop of shows, it'd still be a genuine keeper.

BOOMTOWN - Three stars

What: Cop drama exploring crimes from multiple perspectives, from the investigators to the crooks and everyone along the sidelines.

Where: NBC (Channel 4).

When: 10 tonight.

In a nutshell: Smart, ambitious series that actually bothers to demand attention from its viewers, which it fully deserves to receive.

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NBC's ``Boomtown'' views crime in L.A. through the perspectives of its characters.