The Sundance Channel goes its own way most of the time, outside the boundaries of "regular" TV. They're taking it to the limit right in the heart of this fall's premiere week, with a "docu-series," Brick City.

The five hours, tonight through Friday from 10 to 11 p.m., have drawn a lot of critical attention, with TV Guide's Bruce Fretts calling Brick City the best new show of the fall, "the ultimate reality show."

Executive produced by Forrest Whitaker, the series takes an insider's look at Newark, N.J., where idealistic Mayor Cory Booker, (Stanford, Yale Law, Rhodes Scholar) and his administration work to turn around what has historically been known as one of the worst cities in the United States. ("God bless Camden" is one of their mottoes.) But there are personal stories, too, including the Blood gang member who finds herself pregnant with the child of her Crip boyfriend, named Creep.

As they say, you can't make this stuff up, though David Simon came awfully close with The Wire, and Brick City plays a bit like a cross between that show and a news documentary. Not for everybody (a lot of 'em have to watch Jay Leno these days at 10 p.m.), Brick City is that TV rarity that's good and good for you.

And Sundance isn't completely daffy, even if it did decide to program against the new fall broadcast shows. Each episode repeats following its premiere at 1 a.m. Set you TiVo's (or whatever you're recording with these days) accordingly.