Hairy Happenings at ‘Wolf Lake’

“Wolf Lake” is a creature that won’t die, not quietly anyway.

The quirky werewolf tale, which underwent a metamorphosis at the hands of CBS before its brief run last fall, has resurfaced on UPN, which airs the first of six new episodes at 9 tonight (along with a quick recap of the earlier shows). Officially, the latest cross-channel maneuver by Viacom, parent of both networks, provides prime-time filler for the next few weeks. But if “Wolf Lake” scares up enough viewers, it could be picked up for a longer run.

This rain-soaked mystery has yet to match the bleak wit or eerie allure of “Twin Peaks,” but it has a charm of its own, thanks to an unusual premise and a strong cast.

Lou Diamond Phillips plays Seattle cop John Kanin, whose search for his then-missing girlfriend, Ruby Cates (Mia Kirshner), led him to a remote hamlet where a clan morphs between wolf and human form. A power struggle among these so-called shape-shifters resulted in several unsolved slayings.

Things get hairier tonight when the local sheriff, Matt Donner (Tim Matheson), investigates the death of Ruby’s bigwig dad, Will Cates. Suspects include brash entrepreneur Tyler Creed (Scott Bairstow), who wants to become leader of the shape-shifting pack, and the coy widow Vivian Cates (Sharon Lawrence). But half the fun of a show like this is that everyone seems a tad devious, including Donner’s sullen daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and her mystical biology teacher (Graham Greene).

When Donner is ambushed and shot, Kanin steps in to investigate. Meanwhile, Ruby, hoping to quell the feud that claimed her father’s life, weds Creed in a devilish pact.

Apparently, there still is no crime in Seattle for Kanin to worry about, which is one of many leaps in logic “Wolf Lake” requires. Yet it avoids the worst crime in prime time: dullness.