‘Close to Home’ follows well-worn path

During the first couple of minutes of “Close to Home” (10 p.m., CBS), we’re shown a good-looking mother with her adorable baby, then a slow-motion view of fire trucks racing past idyllic neighborhoods on their way to a horrific conflagration.

Then it’s back to Madonna and Child and then cut to fireman prying off the bars of a basement window, allowing folks to escape just before the house explodes.

It’s domestic bliss versus suburban tragedy. And that’s basically all you need to know about “Close to Home.”

Jennifer Finnigan (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) stars as Annabeth Chase, a hotshot prosecutor with a perfect conviction record who happens to be the mom on display in the opening scenes. She’s back to work for the first time since having her bundle of joy. She doesn’t even get through the lobby doors before a million “mommy track” issues arise and get handled with sledgehammer subtlety. (Or is that Jerry Bruckheimer subtlety?)

She lobbies to get a small fridge in which to store her breast milk, complains about being passed over for a promotion, and chafes under the leadership of her new boss (Kimberly Elise), a careerist harridan with no sympathy for Annabeth or her hormones.

Approximately eight seconds later she gets a dark assignment – prosecuting a mother who set the fire described above, presumably with the intent of killing herself and her children. Annabeth’s boss cynically assumes that with her new mother status, she will feel particularly passionate about a woman who would bring harm to her brood.

But Annabeth soon discovers a few more wrinkles to the story and pursues justice while juggling domestic duties.

Besides Finnigan’s fresh face and it’s Indianapolis setting, “Close to Home” offers little new to the courtroom genre. Viewers accustomed to the twists and turns of “Law & Order” will find the road here as predictable as the Indy 500.

Perhaps the greatest mystery is why CBS canceled “Judging Amy” to make room for this.

“Frontline” (9 p.m., KSPS) looks back at “The O.J. Verdict” 10 years to the day after it was rendered.

Producer Ofra Bikel refers to the case and its conclusion as “a perfect storm” of celebrity, racial attitudes and the news media out of control. Ted Koppel seems sheepish about how many times “Nightline” covered the case but adds that their ratings went up by more than 10 percent every time they did.

But most of “The O.J. Verdict” is about race and how blacks and whites greeted the outcome with very different reactions.

The New Yorker’s legal writer, Jeffrey Toobin, is still appalled by defense lawyer Johnny Cochran’s use of “the race card.” Former CNN reporter Marc Watts, who is black, dismisses such arguments.

“Whites who said it’s not a trial about race speak that way because they haven’t been on the receiving end of injustices at the hands of a white person,” Watts says.

Other highlights

Caroline Rhea hosts “The Biggest Loser” (8 p.m., NBC).

Major League Baseball divisional playoffs (5 p.m., Fox).

Lorelai reaches out to Rory on “Gilmore Girls” (8 p.m., WB).

“Nova” (7 p.m., KSPS) explores the wreckage of the Japanese battleship Yamato, sunk in 1945.

Phil Keoghan hosts “The Amazing Race Family Edition” (9 p.m., CBS).

Earl tries to make up for fixing a high school football game on “My Name is Earl” (9 p.m., NBC).

Mackenzie considers her choices for vice president on “Commander in Chief” (9 p.m., ABC).

Fewer than 2 million people watched the debut of “Sex, Love & Secrets” (9 p.m., UPN). That’s too bad. A show this awful demands to be seen at least once.

A child’s cry for help on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10 p.m., NBC).

Kelly’s trial gets under way on “Boston Legal” (10 p.m., ABC). Heather Locklear guest-stars.