Sunday's Best Bets on TV

Summer Olympics closing ceremony (7 p.m., NBC): The ratings have been in the stratosphere. The drama has had us welded to the edge of our sofas. (Thank you, Mr. Phelps). And the wall-to-wall coverage has been absolutely eye-boggling. But all good things must come to an end. Tonight, we bid farewell to Beijing with the men’s volleyball final, followed by what should be a rousing send-off.

“Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (9 p.m., USA Network): In the season finale, Detective Goren has to find out how his brother is connected to a murder.

“Generation Kill” (9 p.m., HBO): The war-themed miniseries “Generation Kill” wraps up its riveting seven-week run as the Bravo Marines arrive in Baghdad where they encounter all kinds of problems they weren’t trained to handle.

“S.I.S.” (10 p.m., Spike TV): A policeman who falls on hard times ends up working with an elite team of crimebusters who get no credit for their deeds.

“Mad Men” (10 p.m., AMC): The exceptional second season of “Mad Men” continues with an episode that has Don again dealing with thorny issues between a TV comedian and the man’s wife. Meanwhile, Joan finally finds the perfect secretary for Don.

“Z Rock” (11:30 p.m., IFC): A comedy called “Z Rock” is the latest series to occupy that overcrowded TV limbo between reality and freely scripted fiction. (Should we maybe term this genre “freeality”?)

But it comes to us on cable’s IFC, a channel for cineastes and other people who know what “cineaste” means, so any series it offers instantly commands more respect than a real-but-make-believe affair from, say, Kathy Griffin or Scott Baio, whose resident networks (Bravo and VH1, respectively) inherently caution a viewer to beware.

The premise of “Z Rock” is simple (not really). Playing themselves (sort of), brothers Paulie Z and David Z as well as friend Joey Cassata make up the actual Brooklyn-based rock band Z02, which on the series is struggling to make a name for itself, a record deal and money.

These lovable TV characters share a hard-partying, libidinous streak that sometimes sabotages their musical pursuits.

Another source of comedy: To make ends meet, the lads collectively live a second life as the Z Brothers, a Wiggles-style band playing children’s birthday parties (and butting heads with their relentless rivals on the kiddie-band circuit, Kidtastic).

Lynne Koplitz plays Dina, high-rev manager of this band with an identity crisis.

On the first episode, Dina has booked the boys for a birthday party hosted by the child of Harry Braunstein (guest star Greg Giraldo), a psychopathic music titan who, if he likes what he hears, could sign the band to a rich contract.

Meanwhile, Joan Rivers guests as Dina’s standup comic aunt, who’s interested in booking the band as her warm-up act.

Can Z02 escape the lucrative world of kiddie gigs (and those kiddies’ sexy moms) and land success as true rock gods?