NBC’S ‘CRIME STORY’ : GRIT AND GRIME SERIES FINDS ITS NICHE

There’s a new cop in town. He is rough on women, tougher on his men and a regular Frankenstein when it comes to the crooks.

He wears a dark hat, pulled down slightly to cover his sinister eyes, a dark suit, and a dark tie, loose at the neck. His mustache shades his emotions so that a smile looks like a snarl. His gun smells of sulfur from too much action.

The name is Lt. Mike Torello, the beat is the Chicago street in the 1960s and the show is “Crime Story,” (NBC, Fridays, 10-11 p.m.).

In many ways, “Crime Story” is the most daring new show of the season. In the premiere, Torello and his cops on the Major Crimes Unit chased down a gang that pulled the shotgun trigger as often as you would buy a quart of milk. The crooks were hard-core and violent and so were the cops on their trail--so violent that it was difficult to determine who wore the white hats.

The high level of violence caused some controversy in these days when network television seems to have mellowed and returned to good old family values.

In fact the American Federation of Police complained that “Crime Story” was demeaning to the cops on the street because it portrayed police as being just as bad as the crooks.

But Michael Mann, the producer who bears responsibility for both “Miami Vice” and “Crime Story,” is not one to follow the pack, nor is he one to back down from a vision just because of a little heat.

NBC became No. 1 by taking a few chances, putting on shows that could be called “different,” like “Miami Vice,” and sticking with them when the chips were down. “Crime Story” fits the mold. NBC was so confident about “Crime Story” that it made it the linchpin of the critical Tuesday lineup, a night populated by nothing but new NBC shows.

But “Crime Story” was failing in its mission. Its grit and grime were in stark contrast to the suave sexy stuff being offered up at the same hour by ABC’s “Moonlighting.” Something had to happen.

The show was moved from Tuesday night to Friday night after “Miami Vice,” a spot where it belonged in the first place. “L.A. Law,” NBC’s critically acclaimed new series about a Los Angeles law firm, was moved from Friday to NBC’s blockbuster Thursday night, and “Hill Street Blues” was fed to the dogs by being moved from Thursday to the old “Crime Story” spot on Tuesday.

That NBC would be willing to sacrifice a long-running, Emmy-stacked hit like “Hill Street” for an unknown entity like “Crime Story” explains how much the NBC honchos believe in the show.

“The biggest assets of this show are (NBC Entertainment President) Brandon Tartikoff and Michael Mann, our writers and our crew,” says Dennis Farina, the ex-Chicago cop who plays Lt. Torello. “Brandon would say don’t worry about it. Michael would say, we’re going to fix things, don’t worry about it. We’re not worrying.”

Originally, “Crime Story” was to be a continuing crime saga, a 22-hour novel for television, that began in Chicago in the 1960s and moved rapidly to Las Vegas in the 1970s, tracing the growth of three main characters: Torello, attorney David Abrams and mobster Ray Luca.

Each episode would not necessarily be a self-contained, one-hour TV story--no beginning, middle and end required each week. With the poor ratings, that idea has changed as well.

The stories are more compact and self-contained, and it was decided to spend more time in 1960s Chicago, where the cops were tough, the streets seethed with grime and the cars had fins.

But beginning in January, “Crime Story” moves to Las Vegas, where Luca, the street punk who became a shrewd mob boss, has set up shop.

Dennis Farina, the ex-Chicago cop who plays Torello, is ready for the change.

“Everything that we did in Chicago as a police unit, and Luca did as a hood, is much bigger now,” said Farina in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. “We’re playing for the big stakes now. He’s moving up. We have to move up in order to stay with him and try to make a case against him and send him away.”

So the midnight black look and feel Mann created for Chicago will now blend with the dazzle of Las Vegas. It will be interesting to see how Mann handles it.

Despite the low ratings for the fall, Farina and the cast feel optimistic about the show’s chances in the new time slot, and it’s with good reason. It’s not too shabby to have Tartikoff in your corner, and Mann behind the camera.

But there is also the good omen.

The night Farina arrived in Las Vegas to begin shooting, he and a few members of the cast hit the town for dinner, dice and blackjack.

“And I won,” Farina said.