So many of the crime dramas on the air today follow the work of cops and prosecutors. ABC's "In Justice," previewing at 10 p.m. Sunday before moving to its regular 9 p.m. Friday time slot, instead follows investigators working for the National Justice Project.

Each week, charismatic attorney David Swain (Kyle MacLachlan) watches in awe, and with some jealousy, as a team led by former cop Charles Conti (Jason O'Mara) delves into the cases of men and women who may be wrongly convicted.

"Pass," Swain says upon hearing a case he doesn't want the group to take. "Gang bangers are bad news. Judges hate them. ... No death row [cases] unless he's Nelson Mandela."

Even bleeding hearts have to prioritize, it seems.

In Sunday's preview of this perfectly adequate drama, the team investigates the case of a woman who was convicted of murdering her father. Even her brother believes she committed the crime and refuses to speak to her. But through their investigative efforts -- one line of inquiry involving background noise during a 911 call is a little much to swallow -- they begin to see mistakes made by the woman's original lawyer that open new possibilities for proving her innocence.

"In Justice" does a better job than some crime dramas in creating characters with unique personalities (Conti and his ex-wife remain civil and are working to have their marriage annulled in the Catholic church), and at least this is not another "CSI" clone (cough, "NUMB3RS").

ABC has chosen to debut "In Justice" with an episode other than the pilot, which will air next Friday. Sunday's episode probably is the stronger hour from a pure storytelling perspective, but the pilot offers more set-up and better explains how the NJP functions.

'Scrubs' in (finally)

NBC returns medical comedy "Scrubs" to its schedule Tuesday, airing back-to-back episodes from 9 to 10 p.m., and executive producer Bill Lawrence is pleased.

"No show has a better lead-in than itself, so the best show to pair 'Scrubs' with is 'Scrubs,'" Lawrence said by phone earlier this month. "I would have preferred to be on for a couple months by now, but this doesn't feel like the booby prize. Maybe I'll have a different tune once we start going."

Lawrence correctly notes that in NBC's depressed ratings state, no time slot would be Shangri-la, so going up against Fox's "House" and ABC's "Commander in Chief" is no more daunting than to be part of NBC's Thursday night comedy block opposite "Survivor" or "CSI."

"The biggest panic for me is whether the core audience that used to follow us around -- will they find us? This is our sixth or seventh time slot in four years," he said. "I'm hoping for the best."

Lawrence hasn't been the only one missing "Scrubs." Fans, who long ago learned not to trust TV networks with their favorite series, started Web sites in support of the show (including www.supportscrubs.com). Lawrence appreciates their support, even when fans catch mistakes that the writers don't notice.

"We had a joke in the fourth year where Sarah Chalke talked about how she hates cats and cats hate her, and after that there were about 20 postings [online] saying that in the first year she said she loved cats," Lawrence said. "None of us [on the writing staff] remembered it. But people out there are that savvy and tuned in with specific shows."

"Scrubs," which follows the lives of medical residents led by J.D. Dorian (Zach Braff), has never been a ratings smash, but it's always had a loyal following, critical acclaim and decent ratings.

Lawrence is satisfied to occupy that place in the TV universe.

"Shows right now seem to have this weird giant mass appeal, like 'Lost' or 'Desperate Housewives' or 'Seinfeld' or 'Friends,' or they have a cult following that is loyal, like 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' or 'Arrested Development,'" he said.

That Lawrence is aware of the pop culture landscape isn't something one can take for granted among people who work in TV, especially show runners.

"The coolest thing about this writing staff is that everybody is a fan of television," Lawrence said. "I was at one of those Hollywood speaking events where a lot of the television creators said they don't watch TV. It made me want to throw fruit at them."

This season on "Scrubs," Lawrence said, the student-teacher dynamic between Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and the younger characters is changing.

They're now at the same level he was at when the show started, so new still-younger interns and residents will come into the hospital to work under them.

"The student becomes the teacher, and we play comedy off that," he said.

Presuming the ratings are decent in 2006, Lawrence thinks "Scrubs" will eke out one more season.

"Odds alone, not even going by quality, there's only one guaranteed returning comedy [on NBC] and that's 'My Name Is Earl.' I hope they bring back 'The Office,' but 'Will & Grace' is ending, and what are the odds of new [midseason] shows hitting? As long as we keep our core audience and critical respect, the odds of bringing us back for another year are pretty good."

In Tuesday's season premiere, J.D. turns 30, runs a triathlon and reinvigorates his friendship with ex-girlfriend Elliott (Chalke), who reveals her wildest sexual fantasy, in which she's "an apple slut."

Later this season, an episode directed by Braff will include a homage to "The Wizard of Oz," and Jason Bateman of "Arrested Development" will guest-star as a patient who's also a domestic ostrich farmer.

"There was an attitude of, 'If we're not going to be on the air, let's take this a little bit further and lean into the turns,'" Braff said in a recent teleconference. "The scripts were more surreal and crazy. ... This fifth season is more amped up than the show ever was."

'Pasadena' on SOAPnet

SOAPnet, which aired the canceled Fox drama "Pasadena" this fall, will air a marathon of the entire series Monday, 11 a.m. to midnight. SOAPnet is not carried on Comcast; it's Channel 118 on Adelphia, Channel 262 on DirecTV and Channel 188 on Dish Network.

TV Q&A

The TV Q&A takes a break this week for the holidays but will return next week.