Vampires & 'Aliens'

It's obviously a self-fulfilling prophecy, but successful TV networks, like successful sports teams, tend to do what they do well. It's when they get away from that and start wanting more that success can turn to failure.

That's the danger CBS is courting this fall as the so-called Tiffany Network, which has led the way in overall viewership for years, goes courting younger viewers with more "edgy" shows meant to generate "buzz."

The risk lies in CBS getting away from what it does well by making shows that violate the comfort level of its old audience, while still coming off too tame for more daring viewers. That's the pitfall in front of "Cane," which debuted earlier this week, and it is almost certainly the fate destined for "Moonlight," CBS' new vampire series debuting at 8 p.m. today on WBBM Channel 2.

It's not as if CBS hasn't been down this road before. "American Gothic" was good and edgy but died a quick death after one season a decade ago, and more recently "Wolf Lake" didn't even last that long, airing on CBS for barely a month before being jettisoned to its old United Paramount Network sibling.

What's more, "Moonlight" seems instantly derivative, as its shamus vampire mirrors the premise of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off "Angel." And as vamps aren't normally seen in mirrors, that makes "Moonlight" a poor reflection of a better show.

Creativity would seem to be a persistent problem for "Moonlight." The show also cribs Hearst College from "Veronica Mars," as well as its co-star Jason Dohring, who turns up as the creepy vampire equivalent of his old cretin Logan.

Yet it would be one thing if "Moonlight" stole from the best and made it its own. What it does instead is steal other shows' lifeblood and water it down -- and as any vamp can tell you, that's no way to improve the flavor.

Alex O'Loughlin is Mick St. John, "turned" (into a vampire) by his fiancee 60 years ago. They came to a parting of the ways 40 years later, when she kidnapped a girl, and he committed himself to saving the child. That led to a career protecting humans from the dark side in the guise of a private investigator.

Yet who should turn up now but the same little girl, fully grown into Sophia Myles' bodacious blond Internet reporter Beth Turner. Mick finds himself drawn to her, protective of her, attracted to her, but never mind the incestuous hints in their relationship; this is the forbidden love between human and vampire, after all, so a 65-year age difference means nothing.

Mick narrates a voice-over in typical noir fashion, and says gruff things like, "I work alone," but he's fairly believable even when he's slightly over the top. Beth, however, goes even higher, without really committing herself to camp. She's one tick shy of Darren McGavin's Kolchak in "The Night Stalker," saying things like, "A girl's dead. This is an important story."

That's the problem with "Moonlight" in general. It can't take its vampire premise quite seriously, but it won't commit to camp, and it lacks the playful, self-deprecating wit of a Joss Whedon. It's a mutant vampire series, and in the long run I don't think it's going to fool anybody.

Contrast that with the CW, the hybrid network made last year from the merger of UPN and Warner Bros. Both those "netlets" created their fair share of quirky, playful comedies, but none of them really succeeded -- up until the humble hit status attained by Chris Rock's "Everybody Hates Chris."

Now the CW tries to create a sympathetic running mate for "Chris" with "Aliens in America," a new comedy debuting at 7:30 p.m. Monday on WGN Channel 9. It's about a loser nerd in a Wisconsin high school and the Pakistani Muslim exchange student his family adopts in a misguided attempt to grant him some cool cachet.

It sounds silly, I know, but with Dan Byrd playing the loser Justin and Adhir Kalyan as the exchange student Raja, "Aliens" comes off as sweet, knowing and disarmingly funny. Amy Pietz is the ferociously protective mother, Franny, and while she initially resists Raja (she had more of a Swedish studmuffin in mind), she comes around in a very mommish way. Scott Patterson, promised a gig by CW execs after "Gilmore Girls" went under, adopts a nasal delivery to play the cheapskate Wisconsin dad, and Lindsey Shaw is the fantasy-object sister, Claire.

They have a wonderfully wacky interplay reminiscent of the dysfunctional family in the WB comedy "Maybe It's Me," but that's probably not what the CW wants to hear. "Maybe It's Me" was sweet too, but just too off-kilter to achieve mainstream success. Now the CW is doing what it does well -- perhaps too well.

Yet "Aliens" hints at a darker sense of humor hidden beneath its placid Midwestern facade, never more than when Raja returns from his first day of class. "What is wrong with the people of your high school? They are like wolves," he says. "And what is Fudge Pakistan?"

If "Aliens" can keep drawing on natural Midwestern mendacity like that without losing its sweetness, it will be an able classmate for "Chris." If not, it can join "Maybe It's Me" -- and the soon-to-be-un-undead "Moonlight" -- on the ash heap of TV history.