‘Wonderland’ has strong cast, promise

Those who like their dramas black and white should stay away from “Wonderland.”

This murky new series, which debuts at 10 tonight on ABC, focuses on the lives of several doctors manning a New York City hospital’s psychiatric and emergency programs. So being set in the world of the diseased mind already makes it more challenging than many of today’s dramas, particularly those on network TV.

Leading those on staff in Rivervue Hospital’s psychiatric department are Dr. Robert Banger (Ted Levine, “Silence of the Lambs”), who heads up the forensic pyschiatry department while he struggles to cope with the breakup of his marriage. Dr. Neil Harrison (Martin Donovan, “The Opposite of Sex”), who also specializes in forensics, is dealing with the fears and joys of impending fatherhood. His wife, Dr. Lyla Garrity (Michelle Forbes, “Homicide”), leads a critical response facility for people suffering psychiatric emergencies. Others on staff include a commitment-phobic womanizer (Why are there no female commitment phobes?) and a single father.

“Wonderland” is the creation of Peter Berg, former star of “Chicago Hope” and promising art-film director. That would explain all the jittery, handheld camera shots a la “Homicide,” which are tempered just enough to be stimulating, not distracting.

The drama boasts a strong cast, led by Levine, whose workaholic Banger is a loving father in danger of losing his two boys. Donovan’s Harrison seems straight-laced and sturdy, but he could blow at any time. Forbes’ Garrity is trying to overcome her pregnant body and live up to the superwoman myth.

The message of “Wonderland” seems to be “physician, heal thyself,” as the shrinks absorb lessons from the patients around them. After all, it’s a thin line between intense and insane.

The series is itself like its characters. It too needs to lighten up and not be so damn serious. So far, the patients themselves have been the comic relief, a bad idea in these enlightened times. It lacks the texture found in such newcomers as “City of Angels” and “The Beat.” Although promising, “Wonderland” is going to take time to find a better sense of balance.