For those seeking their costume-drama fix since “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” went off the air, UPN offers a passable alternative.

Like “Dr. Quinn,” “Legacy,” which premieres at 8 tonight, is more soap opera than true Western. The series was created by executive producer Chris Abbott, who was also co-executive producer for “Dr. Quinn,” which CBS canceled this spring in hopes of drawing more male viewers with its chop-shtick replacement, “Martial Law.”

“Legacy,” set in the bluegrass hills of post-Civil War Kentucky, follows the proud, close-knit Logan clan, to the accompaniment of more than a wee bit of Celtic music. Patriarch Ned Logan, played by Brett Cullen (HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon”), is a widower and horse breeder who believes in the “legacy” passed down by his Irish ancestors — to build a foundation for his family while giving others less fortunate a chance to better themselves.

His children, played by unknowns, are an attractive if cliched lot. Eldest son Sean (Grayson McCouch) must choose between a forbidden love and engagement to a vacuous but wealthy debutante. Clay (Jeremy Garrett) is the younger, hot-tempered son (that’s original). Lea Moreno plays older daughter Alice, who was forced by her mother’s death to assume a maternal role in the family. She’s busy making eyes at the family’s recently adopted street urchin, Jeremy (Ron Melendez). Then there’s younger daughter Lexy, the most willful and often wisest of the clan, whose mother died when she was born.

The debut episode plays like a Chinese menu, with one subplot from Column A, one from Column B and one from Column C. The horse racing subplot has a prized filly winning a local race and heading to the Kentucky Derby until a dreaded accident. The teen-age street waif has to decide whether to stay amid hostility or strike out into the unknown. Sean has to decide which woman he wants to be with, then deal with the fallout. Then there’s the mysterious fire in the barn.

Even though it’s hardly groundbreaking, “Legacy” does stand a chance of survival up against such comedic crap as “Two of a Kind” and ‘”Living in Captivity,” although NBC’s “Trinity” will offer a similar concept (a sprawling Irish family in modern-day Hell’s Kitchen) when it finally debuts later this month. But unless it comes out of the gate fast, “Legacy” is likely to be put out to pasture.