For years, Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order” series, especially the original, have been making a ratings killing with thinly veiled recreations of real-life cases.

Producing a new series about real-life cases was a natural next step for Wolf.

“Crime & Punishment” (co-opting a Dostoyevsky title automatically gives it heft), premiering at 10 p.m. Sunday on NBC, follows the prosecutors of the San Diego District Attorney’s office as they prepare for, then argue, cases.

Most of the action takes place in the courtroom, captured by three hidden cameras. There’s also effective behind-the-scenes segues that illustrate the decision-making process the deputy district attorneys follow.

Gratifyingly, “Crime & Punishment,” as designed by Wolf and Academy Award-winning documentarian Bill Guttentag, actually works well. It delivers compelling drama that proves truth is truly stranger than fiction.

Does TV need another real-life series about, well, crime and punishment? Not really. But at least Wolf and company have shown how things should be done with their bracing new series.

Tonight’s other new series has its origins in the mind of Bangor author Stephen King.

His novel “The Dead Zone” already was adapted as a well-received 1983 film starring Christopher Walken, and now it’s back as a TV series, also debuting at 10 p.m. Sunday on USA.

The TV version stars Anthony Michael Hall, who last worked regularly in 1980s teen films. He’s aged well, and is likeable as high-school science teacher Johnny Smith. As readers of the novel know, Smith wakes up with extraordinary psychic powers after six years in an accident-induced coma.

The first episode is basically exposition, focusing on Johnny’s life and the people in it. Then it’s on to the special effects, as Johnny has prophetic visions whenever someone touches him. While it’s intriguing, the trick will be making it remain interesting week after week.

“The Dead Zone” is being adapted by Michael Piller, co-creator of perhaps the strongest of the “Star Trek” series, “Deep Space Nine.” If anyone can add depth to an existing basic concept, it’s him. That will be the biggest challenge to face, or the show will end up in “The Cancellation Zone.”