So when Moonlight returns to the CBS lineup this Friday night at 9 -- a repeat of the crucial January hour where hero Mick feels close to being mortal again (setting up four fresh episodes starting April 25) -- fans of broody blood-drinker Alex O'Laughlin and his ruthless "older" pal Jason Dohring don't need to panic. But they might want to tune in anyway.

That's because contemporary vampires, werewolves and their otherworldly compatriots do have a lousy track record in TV series renewals. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are the exceptions to the rule -- and one could argue these WB cult faves survived mostly because they aired on a startup "fifth" (and then "sixth" network in the case of Buffy) network thrilled to make a buck on smaller audiences hitting just the right (youthful) demographic for advertisers. (Yes, I know, both shows could be deeply poetic and profound and just plain fun -- but networks are not known to give a flip about such ephemera.)

ABC's Dark Shadows gothic daytime soap back in the 1960s stayed afloat for much the same reason. A rabid cult for its noir-ish vampire/ghost tales was enough to keep the low-budget serial airing five years on a then-lagging network without much else to offer. (NBC's 1991 nighttime revival barely lasted two months.)

But beyond that? Even Darren McGavin's now-classic and then-critically-admired supernatural mystery Kolchak: The Night Stalker lasted only the single 1974-75 season on ABC. (The network's 2005 remake didn't get nearly that far.) Ditto Fox' raved-about 1987 half-hour Werewolf, a moody trip with hottie John J. York. And then there was 1990's syndicated campfest Dracula: The Series. Surely you (don't) remember that. And 1979's NBC serial The Curse of Dracula with Michael Nouri. Of course, Adrian Paul's Highlander did manage to remain immortal for six syndicated seasons, thanks not only to its devoted cult following but also to the financial fact it was a Canada/France co-production. And the dark vampire cop saga Forever Knight survived four seasons, bouncing from CBS late-night (pre-Letterman), to syndication, to cable's USA Network, filmed on a cut-rate budget in Canada.

What fate awaits its current spiritual successor, Fox' midseason entry New Amsterdam? That New York-shot tingler about an immortal detective (played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) just finished its truncated first season, having quietly amassed legions of swooning female fans who provided higher ratings than the network's already renewed Prison Break. Turns out even premium channel HBO sees life in the undead genre. Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball is producing the fall series True Blood, with Anna Paquin as a psychic waitress falling for vampire Stephen Moyer in rural Louisiana. (Paging Anne Rice . . . No, wait, it's based on author Charlaine Harris' "Southern Vampire Mysteries.")

As for Moonlight, CBS delayed the series' post-writers strike return so it could run fresh episodes through the May sweeps. That's a show of faith, not desperation. Maybe the network sees what it once had in another supernaturally star-crossed Friday night affair -- Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990), where urban tough-cookie Linda Hamilton fell for gallant tunnel-living lion-man Ron Perlman. Women flocked to its unique romantic adventure mix, crossing contemporary reality with exotic chivalry.

Moonlight now gets the chance to be prove itself just as bloody successful.