Boomtown's Big Fall Changes

Despite its memorable characters, intriguing stories and terrific acting, NBC's cop show Boomtown looked headed for doomtown. Happily, the Peacock has given the critical fave a second season and a new time slot — Fridays at 10, starting Sept. 26. This spot was long home to Law &#038 Order: SVU, which dominated the night. "Moving to Fridays helps a lot," executive producer Graham Yost tells TV Guide Online. "It's a more crime-friendly spot."

Perhaps too friendly. CBS's crime show The Handler with Joe Pantoliano could prove tough competition. And what about Boomtown's occasionally perplexing multi-perspective storytelling? "Our feeling is that Fridays at 10, people are already a bit looped," Yost says, "so they'll be able to figure out the show fine. They're already seeing things non-linearly."

But it's not all in the timing. "Sometimes, shifting points of view can stop the action," he concedes. "If the only person whose point of view I care about in this story is Joel's (Donnie Wahlberg) or David's (Neal McDonough), then by all means, that will be their story." But fans of complex writing needn't fear. Discovering a shifting truth will "still be a driving point of view."

This season's emphasis will be squarely on law and order. Say bye-bye to Andrea, that pesky journalist. And Theresa the EMT (Lana Parilla) is now a police rookie. "It was too tough" getting them into the action each week, explains Yost.

Of course, when your show's in trouble, casting some sexy mamas is always a good gambit. There's Vanessa Williams, for one. In at least 10 episodes, she plays a tough detective prone to bossing Joel and Fearless (Mykelti Williamson) around. Then there's the can't-miss girl-on-girl action. Rebecca DeMornay and Kelly Hu play a couple of sapphic safe-cracking cop-killers in an early-season arc. They're very bad girls. And that's a good thing.

Speaking of same-sex loving, Yost says no matter what we think, Tom (Jason Gedrick) is not gay. "I can understand why people have questioned that. He's not as hard-assed masculine as some of the others. But my feeling is, he's a womanizer." If you say so...