‘Over There’ goes deep into soldiers’ lives

Perhaps everything viewers need to know about “Over There” (10 p.m., FX) can be found in the show’s official title.

In the network’s press materials, it’s known as “FX & Steven Bochco present ‘Over There.’ ” So we already know that the folks behind “The Shield,” “Nip/Tuck” and “Rescue Me” have joined forces with the producer of “NYPD Blue” to make a drama about the ongoing war in Iraq. Attention must be paid.

This being a Bochco production, “Over There” kicks off with a scene of frisky and frantic sex, as a soon-to-depart soldier “embraces” his wife in every room of their small bungalow. Each member of the ensemble cast is seen wrapping up domestic affairs en route to their tour of duty, and then, as in “The Deer Hunter,” they are thrown directly into the line of violent fire.

But at least in “The Deer Hunter” we had long, tedious Eastern European wedding scenes to get to know our characters. In “Over There” it’s a lot more complicated, and a tad more contrived.

In one scene, Bo (Josh Henderson), an eager soldier and former quarterback, asks everyone in his squad where they got their nickname. It’s an awkward bit of small talk to scream over the sound of incoming bullets.

In another scene, Dim (Luke MacFarlane), the squad’s overeducated and edgy college grad, uses a video e-mail to his wife to wax poetic about the nature of war and man’s true savagery.

And speaking of savagery, both Bochco and FX continue to push the envelope with depictions of combat carnage. Some may consider it daring that “Over There” tries to turn an ongoing conflict into TV drama, but Hollywood churned out dozens of war movies while World War II raged overseas.

Of course, those films were reflexively flag-waving and even invited audiences to buy war bonds in the theater’s lobby. The combat aspects of “Over There” take their cue from the 1949 film “Battleground” and focus tightly on one particular unit to show how, in the intimacy of hellish battle, jingoistic nostrums and high ideals give way to a struggle to survive and to save the lives of fellow soldiers.

In future episodes, “Over There” will also focus on the lives of the wives, girlfriends and kids left behind, and the pressure that long tours of duty put on both stable and shaky marriages.

Just as “NYPD Blue” shook up the cop genre with key roles for female officers, “Over There” grapples with a military that is no longer an exclusively male bastion and a war where many casualties occur far from the battlefield.

Boys and toys and the joys of blowing things up loom large in “Master Blasters” (9 p.m., Sci Fi) a mad showcase where it really does take a rocket scientist to compete. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to attach a missile to your La-Z-Boy, then this is the show for you.

Other highlights

The fourth season wraps up for “Average Joe: The Joes Strike Back” (8 p.m., NBC).

Fifty hoofers boogie, oogie, oogie, till they just can’t boogie no more on “So You Think You Can Dance” (8 p.m., Fox). The show has been expanded to 90 minutes.

Members of the musical group TLC travel to New York to find a new member in the new series “R U The Girl with T-Boz & Chilli” (8 p.m., UPN). Perhaps they should join forces with INXS on CBS; at least they have a vowel.

On back-to-back episodes of “Law & Order” (NBC), charred evidence (9 p.m.), and drug test fatalities (10 p.m.).

The teens confront a cliff wall – and their inner demons – on “Brat Camp” (9 p.m., ABC).

New England plumbers continue to moonlight as paranormal detectives in the second season of “Ghost Hunters” (8 p.m., Sci Fi).

Hurley strikes a blow for civilization on “Lost” (10 p.m., ABC).

Cult choice

A student’s lie embroils a school in scandal in the 1961 drama “The Children’s Hour” (5 p.m., Turner Classic Movies), starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner and based on a stage drama by Lillian Hellman.

Series notes

Tommy Hilfiger hosts “The Cut” (8 p.m., CBS) … Two sets of unruly twins on “Supernanny” (8 p.m., ABC) … Slumber party small talk on “One Tree Hill” (8 p.m., WB) … Results are read on “Rockstar: INXS” (9:30 p.m., CBS)

Alyson Hannigan guest-stars on “Veronica Mars” (9 p.m., UPN) … Lois’ sister arrives on “Smallville” (9 p.m., WB).

Group therapy on “King of Queens” (9 p.m., CBS) … Dance fever on “Malcolm in the Middle” (10:30 p.m., Fox) … Mass slaughter at a Brooklyn diner on “CSI: NY” (10 p.m., CBS).