Cable's Spike TV has given the green light to its first original drama series, picking up 13 hours of "Blade" for a summertime premiere.

The show, based on the Marvel Comics character-turned-movie franchise, is scheduled to premiere in June with a two-hour pilot. Kirk "Sticky" Jones ("Over There") takes over the title role, a half-human, half-vampire "daywalker" who protects the human race from vampires, from Wesley Snipes, who played Blade in three films.

"We're extremely pleased with the pilot for 'Blade,' which delivers a thrilling action-adventure for its built-in fan base as well as a character-driven drama filled with heart-pounding tension and suspense," says Pancho Mansfield, who oversees original programming for Spike.

David S. Goyer, who wrote all three "Blade" films and directed the third installment, co-wrote the pilot with comics author Geoff Johns. Both will continue their involvement with the series.

Goyer told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour earlier this month that the series will, of necessity, be more character-driven than the movies and will also delve into the "inner workings and machinations" of the vampire underworld.

"In a weird way, it's kind of like a 'Wiseguy' with vampires," Goyer said then. "Blade realizes at the beginning of the pilot that he's not making much headway just sort of hacking and slashing, that he needs to know more about their inner workings and the hierarchy. And that's kind of what the TV show is."

The series also stars Jill Wagner ("Junebug"), Neil Jackson ("Alexander"), Jessica Gower and Nelson Lee (USA's "Traffic").