Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as Henry VIII and Natalie Dormer is Anne Boleyn in a scene from Showtime's "The Tudors."

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LOS ANGELES — Showtime is in the business of going to extremes, with suburban moms selling pot, Tudors having sex and a cop moonlighting as a serial killer. The cable network, long a distant second-place finisher to HBO, has sparked attention. And, as HBO declines after the "Sopranos" run, Showtime's extremes are paying off.

The network has confirmed its commitment to original series, with upcoming shows in the same extreme (sexy, violent, profane) mold:

● "Nurse Jackie," starring Edie Falco, is a dark half-hour comedy about a talented but flawed nurse — she has a harried personal life and a reliance on pain pills — working in a New York hospital.

● "United States of Tara," from Steven Spielberg, concerns a wife and mother of two with dissociative identity disorder, played by Toni Collette.

● "Lock 'n' Load," a six-episode hidden-camera reality show set in a gun shop in Englewood, Colo., will surreptitiously observe various people exercising their right to bear arms. There's a shooting range in the basement.

Two more 13-episode seasons of "Weeds" are in the pipeline. So are two more seasons of the British hooker comedy "Secret Life of a Call Girl." Ditto two more of "The Tudors."

A spinoff of "The L-Word" by creator Ilene Chaiken and based on one of the show's characters is expected at the end of the series' run in 2009. (The network isn't saying which character will be showcased.)

With its Emmy nomination for "Dexter," which benefited from the double (and edited) exposure on CBS, Showtime is clearly on a roll.

At sister company CBS, last year's failed fit of wild experimentation (remember "Viva Laughlin"?) has led to a more ordinary bunch of pilots this year. Police procedurals will be the order of the fall.

Replacing William Petersen on "CSI" is a top priority. He leaves after 10 episodes of the new season, to be replaced by a yet-to-be-cast scientist who is aware his DNA fits the profile of a serial killer.

There will be more cop shows, with twists, coming in September. Simon Baker and Rufus Sewell are enticing leads in two of them, more exotic than the usual CBS hero.

"The Mentalist" stars Baker ("The Guardian") as a cop who used to be a phony TV psychic but is actually just a good observer of humanity. The producer says viewers will be able to follow along and pick up clues, but the pilot used some trickery — information that seemed only knowable to the lead character — that could prove aggravating.

"The Eleventh Hour," from Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Shakespearean actor Sewell, toys with science to solve crises. Can't help but think of it as "Fringe"-light, dwelling on science, but not the paranormal kind that J.J. Abrams' Fox hour will dish.

In comedy, too, CBS is going back to basics. "Worst Week" is considered the network's best hope for bolstering its sitcom stable. Based on a British comedy, "The Worst Week of My Life," this one stars Kyle Bornheimer as an affable guy who continually messes up in front of his girlfriend's parents. Yes, a one-joke show, but the characters are good, notably Kurtwood Smith ("That '70s Show") and Nancy Lenehan as the parents.