Heroes And Zeros

When I first heard that "Blade" was being remade into a TV series, I had a pretty lukewarm reaction to it.

I wasn't a huge fan of the comics and moderately enjoyed the first two movies (I have yet to see the third). I was worried it would be either a mindless action-fest, or a darker "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ripoff.

Happily, "Blade" (Wednesdays, 10 p.m., Spike-TV) hasn't been either and is something of a pleasant surprise. The series takes place in modern Detroit, where we focus on Blade's (Kirk "Sticky" Jones, doing a decent job in taking over for Wesley Snipes) quest to destroy vampires. Rather than just focusing on Blade's hunting, which would get dull real quick, the series spends a good deal of time delving into the world of vampires, centering on the elegant villain Marcus Van Sciver, who has presented a public persona of rebuilding Detroit while secretly plotting the downfall of the ancient, pure-blood vampires.

The series also spends a good chunk of time looking at Blade in his formative years and how he got to where he is today. Co-created by movie helmer David S. Goyer, "Blade" might be worth a look.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" which airs again tonight on Sci-Fi (9 p.m.) Think "The Apprentice" with Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee in the Donald Trump role, and a mentally deficient, powerless X-Men in the contestant roles, and you have a basic idea of what it's all about.

That said, it's also one of the funniest (largely unintentionally) hours on TV as we see the would-be heroes constantly fail at trumped up challenges designed to test whether they have a hero's attributes. (Common sense is one they all seem to lack for a start).

The contestants auditioned in home-made costumes and what-were-they-thinking personas — Fat Momma, Cell Phone Girl, etc. Fans of the animated series "The Tick" may remember the classic episode when The Tick and Arthur teach a Superhero 101 class with equally lame superhero concepts.

TONIGHT'S BEST BET: I didn't catch "The Ron Clark Story" when it aired Sunday on TNT, but it has gotten a lot of positive buzz and had very strong ratings. It is being rerun twice tonight on TNT, at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Also, tonight is the season-finale of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," one of TV's funniest shows (FX, 10 p.m.).