‘Vice’ producer Mann back with new drama ‘Robbery Homicide Division’ debuts on CBS

Cutting-edge visuals. Pounding music. Setting as a character.

Those are just three signs that Michael Mann has returned to TV.

Producer Mann, known most recently for the film “Ali,” was the driving force behind “Miami Vice,” which remains a touchstone for TV producers more than a decade after it ended. Now he’s teamed up with Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files”) to paint on a new palette – Los Angeles – in “Robbery Homicide Division,” debuting at 10 tonight on CBS.

Heading up this high-profile crime squad is veteran Lt. Sam Cole (Tom Sizemore, “Saving Private Ryan), who combines instinct and intellect to pursue the city’s most complex crimes. Also on his team are Sgt. Alfred Simms (Barry “Shabaka” Henley), who has a droll sense of humor and skill with a shotgun; Detective Sonia Robbins (Klea Scott), a Spanish-speaking investigator who specializes in pathology; and Detectives Richard Barstow (David Cubitt) and Ron Lu (Michael Paul Chan), who come from L.A.’s Hispanic and Asian Gang Units.

The premiere episode shows how “RHD” will work, as the squad investigates a shooting outside a Koreatown nightclub and the massacre of a family in suburban Van Nuys and deduces how the two crimes tie together.

“Robbery Homicide Division” faces stiff competition from the rightfully well-established “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” but deserves to fare better than the aged “20/20.” It’s a dazzling ride.

Also premiering tonight on CBS, at 9, is “Hack,” a story of a fallen man seeking redemption.

Created by David Koepp (“Spider-Man,” “The Panic Room”), “Hack” focuses on Mike Olshansky (David Morse, “St. Elsewhere”), a decorated Philadelphia police officer who is abruptly kicked off the force after he’s caught taking money from a crime scene. He grudgingly begins a new job as a cabbie as a way to make ends meet. He’s estranged from his wife, Heather (Tony winner Donna Murphy) and son Michael Jr., who now wants to be called by his middle name, David.

Examining his own shattered life, Olshansky finds himself drawn into moonlighting as a crime solver to help others in trouble. He calls in favors from his former partner Marcellus Washington (Andre Braugher, “Homicide”) during his investigations. George Dzunda (“Law & Order) is on board as Father Tom Grzelak, Olshansky’s drinking buddy and sounding board.

“Hack” is an incongruous cross between “Dirty Harry” and “Touched by an Angel,” yet still works somehow. Morse has made Olshansky, a flawed man still coming to grips with his life-changing mistake, into a sympathetic character. The rest of a talented cast was underutilized in the pilot, but hopefully will become more prominent in future episodes.

This atmospheric character study is positioned to succeed, up against rookies “That Was Then” on ABC and “John Doe” on Fox and that perennial space-filler “Dateline NBC.” It’s up to its creative team to keep that delicate balance between character and action.

A third show debuting tonight, but not reviewed, is “That Was Then” at 9 on ABC, a “Back to the Future”-style drama.

At 10 p.m. Sunday, NBC offers the most challenging new series of the season, “Boomtown.” This drama by executive producers Graham Yost (“Band of Brothers”) and Jon Avnet (“Uprising”) examines a crime from the points of view of many of the participants, be they cops, suspects, reporters or district attorneys. This results in non-linear story telling, with the same events being seen from many different perspectives.

This ensemble drama effectively uses a large cast of familiar faces, including Donnie Wahlberg (“Band of Brothers”), Mykelti Williamson (“Forrest Gump”), Neal McDonough (“Minority Report”), Gary Basaraba (“Brooklyn South”) and Jason Gedrick (“The Last Don”).

“Boomtown” should present a challenge to ABC’s deservedly established “The Practice.” But it’s TV to which viewers actually have to pay attention, and that will be too much of an effort for the short attention-spanned masses. “Boomtown” probably will suffer for its innovations.

Also premiering tonight on NBC, at 8, is a charming 1960s nostalgia piece, “American Dreams.” It depicts a more innocent time through the eyes of the Pryors, a Catholic family in Philadelphia.

In the premiere episode, daughter Meg (Brittany Snow, “Guiding Light”) fulfills her lifelong dream of dancing on “American Bandstand,” then filmed in Philly. (Not surprisingly, Dick Clark is this series’ executive producer, and “American Dreams” effectively weaves in clips from old “Bandstand” episodes.)

More than just a family drama, “American Dreams” subtly portrays the events and attitudes that led to the social maelstrom that was the ’60s. Jack Pryor watches the effect of these changes on his idyllic family, including eldest son JJ (Wil Estes, “7th Heaven”) resisting his father’s dream of his playing football at Notre Dame; and his wife Helen (Gail O’Grady, “NYPD Blue”) deciding she needs more than just being a mother.

“American Dreams” offers something more to viewers who aren’t seeking comedy on Fox and CBS or treacle on ABC’s “Wonderful World of Disney.” It’s not groundbreaking, but it is well crafted and an enjoyable program for the whole family.