CBS’s vampire series ‘Moonlight’ has a lot of room for improvement

Friday night on CBS features people with unnatural abilities.

There’s a woman who speaks with the dead to lead off the night. There’s a man-child who talks with numbers to end the evening.

So let’s stick a good-hearted vampire in the middle.

“Moonlight” is the story of Mick St. John (played by Alex O’Loughlin), a youngish vampire who uses his special abilities to help people as a private investigator.

While investigating an outbreak of seemingly vampiric murders, Mick crosses paths with Beth Turner (Sophia Myles), a reporter for a sleazy Web site with whom he has a history (even if she doesn’t know it). There’s an attraction, but theirs is a love that cannot be (What can I say? Love bites).

The mystery in the debut episode is rather simplistic, but maybe that’s necessary to weave in all of Mick’s ill-lit back story.

“Moonlight” has to be considered a work in progress, and probably should have been held for midseason. The entire cast except O’Loughlin has changed since May, including some moves behind the scenes. The leads are a blank slate, but Jason Dohring (“Veronica Mars”) is enjoyable as Mick’s mentor, a wealthy hedge-fund trader.

But unless “Moonlight” takes flight quickly up against the critically acclaimed “Friday Night Lights” and the female-skewing rookie “Women’s Murder Club,” it’ll soon be time to put a stake in it, as it will be done.