The thumping disco music that opens the first episode of 'Law & Order: Los Angeles' (10PM ET Wednesday, NBC) is meant to remind you that this is not your father's crime procedural.

Well, actually, it is your father's crime procedural. But this is a 'Law & Order' that has heard of Facebook and TMZ.

In fairness, other editions of the cop-lawyer warhorse have dabbled in topical events and trendy ideas (or ideas that were trendy a while ago). But, as was the case with the mothership of the franchise, this West Coast 'Law & Order' works best when it gives its able cast knotty dilemmas to play.

The case in the 'LOLA' premiere isn't particularly impressive, though it demonstrates the competence and consistency that has allowed the 'L&O' brand to last for two decades. It concerns a theft ring that is targeting the young, heedless and famous, and the ideas that it touches on -- reality TV is sometimes scripted, people will do anything for fame and stage parents aren't always great role models -- will come as no surprise to anyone who has been within 10 yards of a tabloid in the last decade.

Still, the mechanics of the story hum along smoothly and detectives Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) and T.J. Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll) are a moderately interesting pair. Ulrich brings an appealing warmth and humanity to what could be a bloodless role, and if Winters and the acerbic Jaruszalski aren't necessarily an all-time great 'L&O' duo, the fact is, the show doesn't need them to be that. It needs those actors to come across as good, dogged cops, and they do that just fine.

The best 'L&O' cases present the cops and lawyers with hard decisions and surprising developments, but the only truly unexpected development in the show's pilot was a seamy reference to a sex act that made the proceedings feel a bit gamier than they already felt. And I don't particularly mind when 'L&O' does ripped-from-the-headlines celebrity stories, but only if the episodes arrive at conclusions that are more interesting than the ones on display in Wednesday's outing.

The second case is much more effective, and it even brings in elements of Winters' personal life -- a case his wife, an ex-cop, had worked is re-investigated and causes political problems for both the police department and the District Attorney's office. The dependably excellent Jay Karnes ('The Shield,' 'Burn Notice') plays a lawyer, and it's worth noting that there are fine guest performances in the 'LOLA' pilot as well from Jim Beaver ('Deadwood,' 'Supernatural') and Mira Furlan ('Lost,' 'Babylon 5'), among others.

But all in all, the show is most effective when it's not only supplying a well-acted, clockwork story, but asking whether the people involved got -- or dispensed -- real justice.

When Rene Balcer took over the 'L&O' mothership in 2007, the show began to display an intelligence, thoughtfulness and creativity that it had lacked for some time. Balcer is the showrunner for 'LOLA,' and the Oct. 6 episode, which concerns a perp who is also something of a victim, feels a lot like a story that would have been told on his 'L&O' watch. It not only contains a few well-crafted twists, it gives excellent material to Ulrich and Terrence Howard, who plays Deputy District Attorney Jonah Dekker (Howard alternates with Alfred Molina, who plays DDA Ricardo Morales). Howard seems a little stiff in his early scenes, but his courtroom moments and his conversations with LA's District Attorney (Peter Coyote) are often compelling.

If 'LOLA' pursues the kind of intriguing case seen in the Oct. 6 episode, which is tied to the history of Los Angeles but not necessarily a tale of starlets gone wrong, it'll be worth keeping on the Season Pass list. There's something reassuringly timeless about the 'Law & Order' formula, especially when the 'L&O' machine produces a solid and unpredictable story that puts a good cast through their paces.

There's life left in this relocated franchise, as long as 'LOLA' doesn't become too enamored of the fame game.



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