BY DAVID KRONKE >TV CRITIC

Fans of Amanda Tapping's Samantha Carter of "Stargate SG-1," a role she played for more than a decade, may not recognize her at first in "Sanctuary."

She's hidden under a dark wig and speaks with mannered elocution in the cadences of a British accent if not quite the accent itself.

(Oddly enough, she was born in England, but grew up in Canada.)

Tapping's trying to expand her acting chops while holding on to her fan base, a fairly savvy move. Unfortunately, "Sanctuary" isn't an inspired enough vehicle to serve her well.

The computer-graphics-heavy "Sanctuary" features Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, who oversees a gothic fortress that shares its name with the title. Her mission is to protect what she calls "abnormals" - mutants, monsters, aliens, what have you - from the world at large, and vice versa.

You're forgiven if you detect whiffs of "Men in Black," though the show boasts little of that film's verve or wit, preferring a somewhat lugubrious tone instead. What little comic relief there is - from her attitudinal daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup, also burdened with an obvious wig job) and her quippy tech assistant Henry (Ryan Robbins) is light indeed.

Tonight's two-hour premiere focuses on Helen's efforts to recruit Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), a police forensics psychiatrist, to her cause. "I'm someone who has chosen to embrace the full spectrum of our reality," Helen portentously informs Will, rather than just come clean with her role in dancing with the creepy-crawlies.

Will has bogeymen of his own he's staring down, but proves resistant to Magnus' invitation. Way too many premiere episodes of new shows focus on a character opting whether to take on a new assignment, but most of them at least manage to have their protagonist make that inevitable decision in 30 or 60 minutes, not two hours, and few involve a heartfelt soliloquy in front of a "monster" that's intended earnestly but is actually just laughable.

Helen has secrets of her own, such as her connection to John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl, playing a sinister character who conveniently enough looks sinister), who seeks to breach Sanctuary's borders. Eventually, the show's mash-up of sci-fi conventions may coalesce into something unique, but tonight's episode suggests that day is far away.

David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com

www.insidesocal.com/tv/

review>

SANCTUARY  2 1/2 stars

>What: "Stargate: SG-1's" Amanda Tapping stars as a scientist who protects "abnormals" from the world - and vice versa.

>Where: Sci Fi Channel.

>When: 9 pm Friday. Repeats at 11 p.m.

>In a nutshell: Too derivative to appeal to many viewers beyond die-hard sci-fi fans.