They're flouting TV's law and order. They've disregarded the dramatic form older than Dragnet.

        Dum-de-dum-dum.

        In a TV season crawling with cops — nine of the 35 shows are one-hour detective series — NBC's Boomtown (10 p.m. today, Channels 5, 22) stands out like Andy Sipowicz's balding dome.

        Instead of filming police methodically tracking a crime, from the occurrence to arrest, Boomtown shows us multiple points of view.

        Viewers tonight will see how a fatal drive-by shooting of a young woman provokes a reaction from the first police officers at the scene (Jason Gedrick, Gary Basaraba); detectives (Mykelti Williamson, Donnie Wahlberg); a paramedic (Lana Parrilla); the ambitious district attorney (Neal McDonough); and a newspaper reporter (Nina Garbiras).

        Each act opens with a different character's perception. Think of it as following different branches of a tree extending from the trunk.

        It's an amazing TV achievement, this technique first used in the 1951 film, Rashomon.

        Creator Graham Yost (Speed, Band of Brothers) claims he has never seen Rashomon. (Of course.) He says the inspiration for Boomtown came from HBO's Band of Brothers, the Emmy-winning World War II miniseries.

        “I was researching a battle that took place in Holland, and each veteran I spoke to had a different account of the battle,” says Mr. Yost, whose writing credits include everything from Broken Arrow and From the Earth to the Moon to Hey Dude and Full House.

        “I thought: Wouldn't it be interesting — instead of putting it all together in a chronological, linear fashion — if I just told one vet's story, and then another vet's story, and let the audience put it together?

        “That was not appropriate for Band of Brothers, but the idea stuck with me.”

Strength in cast, writing

        Boomtown works because of the strong writing and equally strong cast. Viewers may feel instantly familiar with the characters from having seen the actors in Brooklyn South (Mr. Basaraba), Ransom (Mr. Wahlberg, the former New Kids on the Block singer), Minority Report (Mr. McDonough), The Last Don and Murder One (Mr. Gedrick) and Forrest Gump and Con-Air (Mr. Williamson).

        Along the way, we learn that Detective Bobby “Fearless” Smith (Mr. Williamson) likes to cross off things from his to-do list; that Detective Joel Stevens (Mr. Wahlberg) has an ill wife; and that the married district attorney (Mr. McDonough) is having an affair with the reporter (Ms. Garbiras from The $treet).

        But Boomtown's greatest asset is that Mr. Yost never lets the gimmick get in the way of telling his story. Despite the multiple points of view, the narrative is as easy to follow as Jack Webb's just-the-facts-ma'am style.

        “In the pilot, the story was a very simple one . . . because I wanted to spend a lot of time introducing these people,” Mr. Yost says.

Tough to keep it going

        After watching the pilot, I was left with two questions: Can I see another one? And can they keep it up week after week?

        The answers: Yes, and no.

        The second episode (next Sunday), about police trying to stop a love-crazed killer, unfortunately doesn't replicate the formula.

        Instead of only showing the point of view of the regular characters, Boomtown shows us the perspective of the killer, his victim, the killer's next target, a car thief and the telemarketer who heard the murder over the phone.

        It's not bad, just different from the pilot's promise.

        There's more confusion than continuity in the second show. But you have to give this police series credit for trying to be different, to get out of uniform.

        Boomtown could go bust, but at least the premiere is great TV.

        And if viewers next week feel they're victims of a bait-and-switch scam, they can always go back to TV's routine police work.

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