‘Cult” is one of the strangest creations to come tumbling out of the network TV machine in a long time. It’s freakishly different, like a Siamese twin M&M or one of those potato chips shaped like Elvis’s face. The new CW drama is a meta-thriller about the rabid, violent fandom of a show-within-the-show, also called “Cult.” In other words, “Cult” is about the cult of “Cult.” Yeah, it’s a bit Escherian. If the real CW show “Cult,” about the cult of “Cult,” develops its own cult, then heads may begin to explode.

“Cult” is the second recent series about the dangers of “following” with too much fervor. In “The Following,” a serial killer slavishly worships Edgar Allen Poe, and now he leads his own vicious society of kooks awaiting his orders. On “Cult,” which premieres Tuesday night at 9 on Channel 56, the fanbase of the show “Cult” study their beloved series for hidden instructions, and some of those fans are now missing. When former reporter Jeff Sefton (Matt Davis) realizes his fanboy brother has disappeared, he and one of the show’s assistants, Skye Yarrow (Jessica Lucas), investigate.