Crime dramas celebrate brain power

NEW YORK -- Who'd a-thunk it? The "idiot box" is celebrating brains!

Sure, TV drama is largely the province of pugilists, enforcers and Romeos.

But step aside, boys; make room for TV's nerd herd! This new breed gets the job done by using their bean. They save the day, then go home alone.

A trend-in-the-making began two years ago with the CBS whodunit "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Las Vegas forensic sleuth Gil Grissom approached each case with clinical dispassion. The clues (fiber, dirt, a decomposing corpse) held the answer to each puzzle, as he was forever preaching to his staff: Just open your eyes and receive them.

As played by series star William Petersen, Grissom is engaging but, at heart, a misanthrope. His preferred companions aren't people, but facts, and his command of them is encyclopedic.

A wonkfest led by an anti-social know-it-all? "CSI" was the 2000-01 season's unexpected new hit.

Then, last fall, Grissom was joined in prime time by Detective Robert Goren of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (seen on NBC, with repeats on cable's USA).

As a member of the NYPD Major Case Squad, he has plenty of contact with living, breathing suspects.

Even so, Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) isn't what you'd call a people person. For him, it's all about the mind: outpsyching his opponent, especially in the interview room.

For instance, while questioning one murder suspect, Goren brazenly slices his own hand with a pocketknife, flaunting his wound as the suspect passes out.

"An involuntary reflex, common in 10 percent of the population," Goren matter-of-factly explains to superiors. Which clears this suspect: The killer likes cutting up his victims.

Breath of fresh air

The success of these two dramas was, well, a no-brainer.

Following in a tradition of mind-over-matter crimefighters such as Lt. Columbo, the new wave took rational techniques to a new level -- and the timing was ideal.

In an era defined by truth-telling-as-waffling (when the simplest answer might depend on what the meaning of "is" is), "CSI" and "Criminal Intent" were a breath of fresh air as they championed unconditional truth.

Now "CSI" is spinning off another weekly hour of relief, "CSI: Miami." It premieres on CBS Sept. 23.

And look for "John Doe," which premieres on Fox Sept. 20. Its title character (played by Dominic Purcell) recovers from a near drowning to realize he knows just about everything -- "from the exact ingredients in a box of Apple Jacks to the mating rituals of a Quagga zebra," he marvels.

The one thing he doesn't know: Who he is.

Clearly, being smart can come in handy. But it isn't always easy. As he discovers the extent of what he knows, John Doe feels possessed by his knowledge, rather than the other way around.