TCA THE BUZZ FROM THE TV PRESS TOUR CRIME ON THE RISE AT CBS.

Byline: David Kronke

Anthony Zuiker, creator of CBS' ``CSI'' franchise, has suffered for his art. Before the show began, he did research, accompanying a Las Vegas investigation unit to a crime scene when one of the cops put him to work crawling about a motel floor looking for bodily fluids.

``I lifted the bed skirt - two eyes, a woman was hiding underneath the bed. (She) scratched my face - (I) jumped up like a cat,'' Zuiker remembers. ``I said, 'I'm just the writer, man. I'm just the writer!' ''

Critics may carp about the number of police procedural shows on the broadcast networks these days - CBS has eight hours of prime-time cop series alone - but audiences scarcely seem to mind; most of the programs are highly rated and, critics notwithstanding, pretty consistently watchable.

CBS introduced two successful new crime procedurals last season - ``CSI: Miami'' and ``Without a Trace,'' both from Jerry Bruckheimer Productions - and is premiering three more in September. ``Cold Case,'' also from the Bruckheimer stable, stars Kathryn Morris as a Philadelphia detective who burrows into old unsolved crimes. ``The Handler'' stars Joe Pantoliano (``The Sopranos'') as the head of an elite FBI undercover squad. And ``Navy NCIS'' (its alphabet-soup title changed three times since the day it was announced) is a spinoff of CBS stalwart ``JAG,'' with Mark Harmon and David McCallum investigating crimes that take place within the military.

Obviously, the phenomenal success of ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (itself a sexier variation of NBC's ``Law & Order'' franchise) has inspired the imitators, but is there a limit to the number of crime procedurals viewers want to investigate?

``We were asked that question last year, and a year later we have 'CSI: Miami' and 'Without a Trace' standing tall,'' notes CBS CEO Les Moonves, appearing at the Television Critics Association's semiannual press tour. ``We think we have a couple more very special shows - yes, they are procedural dramas, but each one of them is different. You know, when you see among the top 10 shows three 'Law & Orders' and two 'CSIs,' there's obviously an appetite for these shows.''

On the other hand, Zuiker, who has been asked by CBS to consider another ``CSI'' spinoff, does fear procedural saturation. ``That's always a concern,'' he says. ``We sort of very politely used the '(Who Wants to Be a) Millionaire' example of something that's on every night, then once it runs its course, people are scrambling. We do not want to close 'CSI' and dilute the franchise. We are not greedy people.''

Pantoliano, whose ``Handler'' has met with positive critical buzz, admits that with so many cop shows on the air, ``You know, it's impossible to reinvent the wheel, but I think we have a pretty good time doing it. The cool thing is that (my supporting cast has) to change every week. They're playing different characters every week. They're going undercover and they're chameleonlike. It's like I'm (Bob) Fosse, and they're my dancers.''

``Cold Case,'' likewise, is looking like a hit, particularly given its time slot, Sundays after ``60 Minutes.'' While most crime procedurals are ensemble dramas, ``Cold Case'' focuses on a single character, Morris' Lily Rush.

``It's a great opportunity to see a woman like this on TV,'' Morris enthuses. ``She's not one-dimensional. A lot of times, the fine, crafted roles are saved for the guys. I felt she wasn't perfect - she wasn't, you know, 'Murder, She Wrote.' She wasn't a really super-tough lady cop - she was all of those things, and I was very excited to see this type of role on television.''

Jonathan Littman, an executive producer on all of Bruckheimer's CBS series, admits that all of the shows share a certain house style involving high-end production values that he thinks grab viewers' attention.

``It's very cinematic,'' Littman says. ``A lot of people we work with are from features, from special effects, (and it's) just the way we shoot our film. We do a lot more extreme wide shots. We try to really give a sense of scope and size. The theory has always been in our company that people watch television with their thumbs, and they click very quickly around the dial. And you have to capture them with a look that's really distinctive and looks like nothing else on TV - and then get them to stay with the story.''

Chris Haddock, creator of ``The Handler,'' says his show hopes to grab viewers by diving headlong into the action rather than setting up mountains of exposition.

``Basic rule of writing: Get into the scene at the last possible moment - and get out as quick as you can,'' Haddock says. ``When you're doing something like a procedural, which there are so many turns on it that have been done already, I was just looking for a way to stumble into a unique sort of format where we could just cut to the good bits, just trying to get something with pace and keep (Pantoliano's character) juggling. I wanted a character that was a street guy that was a vest-pocket kind of thing - he just had something else going on in every pocket.''

As for Pantoliano, best-known for playing bad guys and supporting roles (most recently, he received an Emmy nomination for losing his head to Tony Soprano on ``The Sopranos''), starring as the hero of his own cop show: ``I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, it's about ... time!''

THE ANTI-HYPE

Fat chance

David E. Kelley's new character-based drama, ``The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.,'' stars Randy Quaid, XXXXX, John Carroll Lynch and Chris Penn as middle-aged brothers in a small New England town trying to make sense of their lives and their wives, played by Mare Winningham, Elizabeth McGovern and Ann Cusack. Given such concerns, it could probably play only on CBS.

``In the original script, it said, 'Three brothers, 40 and fat' - that was, I think, the second line of the script, and Fox called me up and said, 'Clearly you're not looking to write a Fox show,' Kelley remembers. ``And it was true. I think they passed after they read '40 and fat.' ''

``In spite of the fact that they weren't looking for young, handsome leading men, David was willing to cast me in the part,'' jokes Lynch, who adds, ``This show is like 'Bonanza,' except instead of Adam and Little Joe, we just have Hoss, Hoss and Hoss.''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Moonves: CBS chairman is on the case.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

(2) John Carroll Lynch, right

Box:

CBS's 2003-04 schedule