Nathan Fillion and Kristin Lehman partner up in the cross-country race drama Drive.

It could be described as driving in circles.

Or, less charitably, as spinning your wheels.

Scripted TV, which used to inspire reality TV -- i.e. The Real Gilligan's Island -- is now drawing inspiration from unscripted sources.

Hence, we have the thrillingly-addictive Drive, a new hour-long drama summed up as a fictionalized Amazing Race. (We prefer to think of it as the long-overdue progeny of The Cannonball Run and The Game.)

The series, which premiered on CTV on Friday and bows tonight on Fox, concerns an illegal cross-country road race operated by shadowy conspirators whose motives are as muddled as Anna Nicole Smith's sexual history.

Despite the obvious comparisons to the Emmy-winning Race, co-creator Tim Minear says he hadn't seen the unscripted series before putting Drive into gear.

"As we were deep into development, then I went out and picked up some DVDs of The Amazing Race and was completely hooked on it. I would say the way that it influenced us was that you can't compete with that. You can't compete with reality TV and what it does, and particularly when it does it as well as The Amazing Race does ... So we conscientiously tried to avoid doing certain things that they would do on The Amazing Race."

The series reunites Minear with Edmonton-born actor Nathan Fillion, who stars as a man who enters the race to solve the mystery of what happened to his missing wife. Another Canadian, Kristin Lehman, who was born in Toronto and grew up in Vancouver, co-stars as Fillion's racing partner.

Minear and Fillion previously collaborated on the short-lived science-fiction western Firefly.

"Nathan Fillion, he's become a revelation for me again," Minear says. "He was on Firefly for me, and then I watch him in this and I'm just thinking, 'Okay, I thought you were Harrison Ford. Now I think you're Harrison Ford and James Garner put together.' He's just absolutely the quintessential leading man for me."

Fillion spoke similarly well of Minear when Sun Media interviewed the actor at this year's Sundance Film Festival about his forthcoming romantic comedy, Waitress.

"Surround yourself with smart people ... and take all the credit," he said. "That's the secret of my success."

Minear admits he initially didn't spark to Drive's concept when he was approached by his co-creator Ben Queen.

"He came to me and said --actually, he pulled out these old matchbox cars and put them on the table when we met, and he said, 'Here's my idea. It's an illegal cross-country road race with regular people in their own cars.' And I said, 'No. No thanks. I have to go.'"

Eventually Minear realized the seemingly restrictive format actually offered limitless storytelling possibilities. "It could be comic. It could be a thriller. It could be melodrama. It could be all these things with literally any kind of character could exist in this universe ... And that's really what got me excited."

Minear is no stranger to the brand of quirky, acclaimed television that struggles to achieve mainstream success. In addition to Firefly, he also produced Wonderfalls and The Inside. He admits those disappointments have prepared him for the chance Drive, despite its engaging combination of energy and oddness, might also meet a truncated fate. How so? The initial 13 episodes, he says, are designed not to leave audiences in permanent idle -- even if the series doesn't reach its intended finish line. "I'm not planning for failure, but yes, (there is) a fantastic story in (the initial) 13 episodes ... I don't want the audience at the end of the day to feel like they've wasted their time."