Big Apple Article 12

What's new on TV

Big Apple

Time: 10 tonight.

Channel: CBS.

Star: Ed O'Neill, David Strathairn, Titus Welliver, Michael Madsen, and Donnie Wahlberg.

Synopsis: This new drama from David Milch ("NYPD Blue") is about "the complex dealings" between the police department (O'Neill's a seasoned detective), the FBI (Strathairn and Welliver are agents), and organized crime in New York City. (Madsen plays a bar owner and FBI informant; Wahlberg is his protege.)

Is it worth watching? Yes. It's great-looking, darkly compelling, and well-acted. But the pilot, at least -- about the police investigation into the murder of a young woman -- is very hard to follow. Milch needs to connect a few more dots for viewers.

(VIRGINIA ROHAN, North Jersey Media Group)