Channel Surfing: Sci-Fi Orders "Caprica," "Eleventh Hour" Keeps Ticking, Davenport and Vance Discover "Flash Forward," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I'm still smarting from the reveal in last night's episode of Gossip Girl just who was involved in that oh-so-predictable accident rather than the, uh, party I'd rather get axed from the series. Sigh.

Better news then for fans of Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica. The cabler has given a series order to spin-off Caprica, which is set fifty years before the action of BSG. Sci-Fi had earlier this year shot a two-hour backdoor pilot for Caprica, which stars Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Paula Malcomson, and Polly Walker, from director Jeffrey Reiner and plans to launch the series in early 2010. Production on twenty additional episodes is slated to begin in mid-2009 in Vancouver. "We want people to come to this who have never heard of Battlestar Galactica," said Sci-Fi president Dave Howe. "I think, because [Galactica's] backdrop was space and spaceships, there was a barrier to entry for some viewers. Caprica has none of that. It's an intense family drama set on an Earthlike planet, in the near future, speaking to a lot of the ethical dilemmas that we as a human race are going to have to face very shortly."

Those of you on the fence about a BSG spin-off that doesn't feature any of the characters you've come to know and love (save a very young Adama), should rest assured that the script--from Ronald D. Moore and Remi Aubuchon--was among the very best that I read this year and perfectly set up this new universe and world order. And after a stunning first act, it would take a heart of ice not to get sucked into Caprica. (Variety)

CBS has ordered five additional episodes for freshman procedural drama Eleventh Hour, making it more than likely that the series will clock in at eighteen installments this season rather than the traditional 22. The Eye is said to be keen to use Eleventh Hour's plum post-CSI timeslot to try out another series, most likely midseason serialized thriller Harper's Island, though CBS could do something quite foolish and shift The Mentalist--this season's only certifiable ratings hit--into that timeslot. But they wouldn't be short-sighted enough to throw off their Wednesday night now that it's clicking, would they? (Hollywood Reporter's Live Feed)

There are no current plans for Wil Wheaton to appear on NBC's Heroes. So says series creator/executive producer Tim Kring, who states ""there is nothing in the works for him at this point – although a bunch of us over here are big fans of his and would love nothing more than to find some part for him." (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Looks like I can take Jack Davenport off my short list for the Doctor at the moment. Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and Jack Davenport (Swingtown) have been cast in ABC drama pilot Flash Forward, which is said to be a possible companion to Lost. (Ideally, though it wouldn't be a companion but rather ABC would air it during Lost's interminable fall hiatus.) The project, from David S. Goyer, Brannon Braga, and ABC Studios, is based on Robert J. Sawyer's apocalyptic novel in which everyone in the world blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds and awakens with a terrifying vision of the future. Davenport will play Lloyd Simcoe, a man trapped in Northern California when the event occurs who attempts to reach his son in a hospital in Southern California. Vance will play FBI Los Angeles bureau chief Stan Wedeck. (Hollywood Reporter)

Could we be getting a Sayid flashback to his childhood on Season Five of Lost? It certainly seems that way as Michael Ausiello has reported that the producers are looking to cast the "roles of a father and his 12- and 8-year-old sons, all of whom, I'm told, will have to be fluent in Arabic. So wouldn't a logical assumption be that the hotheaded dad is Sayid's pop and the older boy, a sensitive type who's painfully aware that he lets down his formidable paterfamilias, is the future assassin himself?" Hmmm, it certain would seem that way, no? (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The second season premiere of HBO's much-awaited comedy Flight of the Conchords will be able to viewed online at FunnyOrDie.Com beginning December 17th, several weeks ahead of its premiere on HBO. In the meantime, you can check out the promo for Season Two here. (TV Squad)

Killer Films has acquired the format rights to Israeli drama series Danny Hollywood, about three investigative journalists who travel back in time to the 1960s where they try to prevent the mysterious death of pop singer Danny Hollywood the day before his wedding. (Hollywood Reporter)

Yes, that was Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin making goo-goo eyes at Chuck Bass at the Snowflake Ball on last night's episode of Gossip Girl. (Los Angeles Times)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Dumps "Single With Parents," "Heroes" Nabs "Everwood" Alum, Van Der Beek and Denman Check Out "Eva Adams," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I definitely felt the lack of Pushing Daisies last night (my Wednesday night cure for any rough week) but I was completely sucked in by the season premiere of Top Chef (airing next week), which had more tension, drama, and pitch-perfect casting in its one-hour running time than the entire last season of Project Runway did.

ABC has yanked midseason comedy Single With Parents off of its schedule. The comedy, from ABC Studios and Kristin Newman, starred Alyssa Milano, Eric Winter, Annie Potts, Beau Bridges, and Amanda Detmer. Decision behind the cancellation (months before it was to launch on ABC) is said to stem from creative differences between the studio and the series' creator Kristin Newman. (Variety)

In other ABC midseason news, the Alphabet has opted to reduce its initial order on two midseason drama series, Castle and The Unusuals. ABC has approached ABC Studios about reducing Castle from 13 episodes to ten and has spoken with Sony about doing the same with The Unusuals (easily the best new series ABC has on offer in midseason). Decision is said to be based on inventory needs rather than creative decisions. (Hollywood Reporter)

NBC's Heroes has cast Justin Baldoni (Everwood) in its next story arc, entitled "Fugitives." He'll play Alex, a surfer from California who works at a comic book store. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Battlestar Galactica returns to Sci Fi on Friday, January 16th but before that, keep your eyes open for a half-hour special entitled BSG: Essential Elements on January 11th at 11 pm and the latest batch of Battlestar Galactica webisodes, scheduled to air during the January 15th telecast of Pitch Black. Meanwhile, Sci Fi will add repeats of Invasion and Moonlight to its Friday night lineup beginning January 23rd. (Futon Critic)

James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek) and David Denman (The Office) have joined the cast of FOX drama pilot Eva Adams, based on telenovela Lalola. Project, from Journeyman creator Kevin Falls and Sony Pictures Television, follows a egocentric sports agent who turns into a gorgeous woman after being the victim of a witch's spell and is forced to endure the same sexist treatment he once dished out. Van Der Beek and Denman will play agents at the firm. (Hollywood Reporter)

A&E is developing paranormal/medical procedural drama Signs & Wonders with executive producer Jed Mercurio (Bodies), Fox Television Studios, and Mandalay Television. Project will follow a psychiatrist who oversees the cognitive sciences research division at a university and leads a team of graduate students in solving bizarre medical mysteries. (Variety)

Executive producer Joel Fields has left Ugly Betty after eight months and has accepted a position on TNT's legal drama Raising the Bar. Fields, brought in to replace Marco Pennette, was hired to oversee the series' transition from Los Angeles to New York and now that stories have been approved by the network for the remainder of the season, his services are considered completed. (Hollywood Reporter)

TV Guide talks Supergirl with Laura Vandervoort who returns to Smallville tonight as Clark's cousin Kara, following a brief stint in the Phantom Zone. (TV Guide)

Bob Balaban will direct Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons in Lifetime biopic Georgia O'Keefe, which will follow the two-decades-long tortured romance between celebrated painter Georgia O'Keefe and photographer Alfred Steiglitz. Telepic is slated to debut in third quarter 2009. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: NBC Looks for Gold with "Jason" But "My Own Worst Enemy" Launch Less than Golden, "Battlestar Galactica," More "Eli Stone," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Wondering where the frak BSG is? Battlestar Galactica will return with the back half of Season Four, the series' final installment, on January 16th at 10 pm. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC has given a put pilot commitment to Jason and the Argonauts, a green-screen drama based on the Greek myth about the quest for the golden fleece from writer/executive producers Josh and Jonas Pate (Surface) and Media Rights Capital. (NBC previously aired a mini based on the myth in 2000.) I'm not quite sure that they should have done so until after they see the numbers from the premiere of Crusoe later this week but there you go. The Peacock landed the project after a fierce bidding war, apparently with FOX. (In other news, MRC received an order for seven additional scripts for its animated ABC comedy The Goode Family and three additional scripts for Lifetime comedy Rita Rocks.) (Variety)

In other NBC news, My Own Worst Enemy didn't exactly take the ratings by storm. The Christian Slater-led drama opened in fifth place among the seven new dramas that launched on the broadcast networks this fall with a 3.0/8 in adults 18-49 and 7.27 million viewers overall, enough to put it in third place in the key demo behind football and CSI: Miami. The series premiere held onto 70 percent of the Heroes audience, the same retention figure as cancelled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (Variety)

ABC has ordered four additional scripts of sophomore drama Eli Stone, which launched its second season last night. The order suggests that studio ABC Studios is happy with the creative direction of the drama. (Hollywood Reporter)

Amy Sedaris (The Closer) has signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television to create, write, and star in an untitled single-camera comedy series project from Worldwide Pants. She'll co-write the script with writing partner Paul Dinello, who will direct should the project get ordered to pilot. (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek will guest star in a November episode of the CW's One Tree Hill. In a weird twist of fate, One Tree Hill films on the very same lot where Dawson's Creek was filmed. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

ABC has given a put pilot commitment to single-camera comedy Made Over from writer/executive producer Caroline Williams (The Office, Miss/Guided) and Warner Bros. Television. Project follows a shallow LA-based comestics executive who "has a crisis of conscience and quits her job," in order to start a consulting firm with a younger woman with very different values than her own. (Hollywood Reporter)

D.L. Hughley will host a CNN series. Yes, you read that correctly. (Variety)

Holy Vicky Pollard! Little Britain co-creator/co-star Matt Lucas has joined the cast of Comedy Central's scripted period fantasy comedy Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Firea, which stars Sean Maguire. Also joining the cast: India de Beaufort, Steve Speirs, Kevin Hart, John Rhys-Davies, James Murray, and Marques Ray. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS has signed a deal with Tribeca Prods. to develop three pilots with a guarantee that one of the projects will be ordered to pilot. Under the guidance of Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca is developing its first project an untitled NYC-based one-hour drama to be written by William Monahan (The Departed). Details are sketchy at best but is said to play to Monahan's strengths. (Variety)

Amy Pietz (Aliens in America) will star in Lifetime drama pilot The Amazing Mrs. Novak, based on the UK series The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard, about a supermarket manager (Pietz) who unexpectedly becomes governor of New Jersey. Also cast: Tom Verica and Kristen Dattilo. Project comes from Warner Horizon and Kudos Prods. (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO Films president Colin Callender has left HBO after 21 years at the pay cabler; he'll launch his own entertainment and content company next year. (Variety)

Anna Paquin (True Blood) has been cast as the lead in CBS' telepic The Irene Sendler Story, from Hallmark Hall of Fame. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Jamie Bamber Thinks "BSG" Should Be a Bigger Hit, Product Integration, Ivan Sergei, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I had a fantastically relaxing weekend, between the rain and some quality telly on Sunday night with Skins, Amazing Race, and Mad Men keeping me occupied all evening.

Showtime is developing drama series The Booths, about the dysfunctional relationship between three actor-brothers Edwin, Junius Brutus Jr., and John Wilkes Booth in the years before the latter would assassinate Abraham Lincoln. The brothers were the sons of British actor Junius Brutus Booth and actress Mary Ann Holmes. While there is no writer or production company attached, Kevin Bacon has signed on to executive produce the project. (Variety)

Jamie Bamber says that Battlestar Galactica could have become a mainstream hit like Doctor Who if it had aired on a bigger network platform. "[Battlestar] is only cult because it's been stuck on Sky One and not pushed. In America it's on the Sci Fi Channel, which has a stigma to it. If it was on a mainstream channel it would be as big as Doctor Who or Lost. I take 'cult' to mean not mainstream or readily available." Hmmm, do we agree with his assessment? Sadly, I think that had BSG aired on, say, NBC, it would have been cancelled pretty early on if the numbers didn't match their expectations. (Digital Spy)

Wayne McClammy (the director of such viral videos as the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck love songs that appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show) will direct the pilot for FOX's single-camera space-set workplace comedy Boldly Going Nowhere, from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton. (I read the Boldly script a few months back and, while I am addicted to Sunny, found that it wasn't really too funny.) (Hollywood Reporter)

Ivan Sergei (Charmed) has been cast in the season finale of Lifetime's Army Wives, where he'll play the long-lost nephew of Betty (Patricia French). (TV Guide)

CBS has handed out a put pilot commitment to comedy Big D, from writer/executive producers Jeff and Jackie Filgo (That '70s Show, Old Christine) and Warner Bros. Television, but both the network and the studio are being tight-lipped about the project's premise. (Variety)

NBC is developing drama ICE, about the world of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents with the department of Homeland Security, post-9/11. Writer Joe Carnahan (Dirt) and director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) are attached to the project, which hails from Universal Media Studios. Project should not be confused with AMC's similarly-named but significantly less-capitalized Ice, about the world of diamond dealers in New York City. (Variety)

Felt that Liz Lemon hawking the joys of Diet Snapple on NBC's 30 Rock went a little far in the product placement category? You may not be alone as New York Magazine takes an in-depth look at everyone's least favorite element of television-making, circa 2008: product integration. (New York Magazine)

CBS Paramount Network Television has signed a two-year exclusive overall deal with One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn, under which he will develop new series for the studio. Separately, Schwahn has signed a one-year deal with Warner Bros. Television to keep him as showrunner on the CW drama series (pointing to signs that the netlet will pick up the drama for another season) and has signed a deal with CBS Records to launch his own imprint. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Heroes" Suffers, Lifetime Nabs "Mother" Reruns, "Knight Rider" Reviews, "Doctor Who," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I spent last night watching Fringe (more on that in a bit), catching up on Gossip Girl, and sitting through another dull installment of 90210. At least it took the bad taste out of my mouth from Knight Rider. (Shudder.)

The Season Three premiere of NBC's Heroes (9.9 million viewers, 4.9/12 in adults 18-49) was down 25 percent from its sophomore launch , landing it second in the hour behind ABC's Dancing with the Stars. The slide for Heroes was not unexpected, coming as it did after a season that many fans found creatively lacking and middling and a curtailed season due to the writers strike. (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS will air the original pilot of new drama Eleventh Hour, starring Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton, as its opening installment, after all. The Eye had previously announced that it would wait to air the original pilot of Eleventh Hour ("Resurrection")until later in the season but the network has now reversed its position. (Futon Critic)

Following the news that Rebecca Rand Kirchner (Gilmore Girls) will oversee the writing staff of CW's 90210, studio CBS Paramount has announced that they have signed a two-year overall deal with Kirchner. She will focus her energies on drama 90210 and, in the second year of her deal, develop new projects for the studio. Kirchner previously worked with executive producers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah on Freaks and Geeks. (Hollywood Reporter)

The CW has given a put pilot commitment to drama Light Years, about a teenager who discovers that her birth parents were teens who broke up after a one-night stand that led to her mother getting pregnant... and those teens have grown up to become a bar owner (dad) and a morning radio show host (mom). Project is from ABC Studios, writer/executive producer Liz Tigelaar (Brothers & Sisters), and director/executive producer Gary Fleder. (Variety)

Tigelaar will also write Mystic Confidential.com, about a "small-town blog and how it impacts the way a group of people live their lives." Project comes from writer/executive producer Liz Tigelaar, executive producers Greg Berlanti and Laurence Mark, ABC Studios, and Berlanti Television. (Variety)

Missing Ryan Howard something fierce before The Office returns tomorrow night? The New York Times profiles The Office's writer/actor BJ Novak. (New York Times)

Battlestar Galactica's Mary McDonnell will guest star in an upcoming episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, though there's precious little detail about just what character she'll be playing. (E! Online)

Lifetime has snagged rerun rights to CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother; network--which beat out TBS, ABC Family, and FX for the rights--will launch the series in a weekly run beginning in fall of 2010 but will be able to repurpose two plays a week of the series starting in early 2009. (Variety)

I wanted to write this up but the folks at Sci Fi Wire beat me to the punch: Battlestar Galactica's Paul Campbell--last seen in NBC's short-lived viral series Nobody's Watching--has returned to television, playing yet another character named Billy in NBC series Knight Rider; this time he's a geeky tech with a penchant for porn, Torchwood, and awkward conversations with co-worker Zoe (Cho Smith). (Sci Fi Wire)

Speaking of Knight Rider--which launches tonight--I thought I'd feature some reviews of NBC's newest drama series. USA Today's Robert Bianco describes Knight as "much to despise in Knight Rider, a shockingly incompetent, barely coherent, ad-driven rip-off about a shape-shifting autobot that owes more to Transformers than it does to the cheesy '80s original that shares its name." (Wow.) Los Angeles Times' Robert Lloyd says, "... notwithstanding an ominously dark hole in Mike's memory, the remade Knight Rider is fundamentally of a piece with its predecessor. As drama and as spectacle, and with a remarkable lack of irony, it re-creates the cheesy sci-fi adventure from the 1980s" and that the series is "something for 12-year-old boys (and 12-year-old-boys at heart), undemanding, unsophisticated, no deeper than the thickness of a comic-book page." And Hollywood Reporter's Ray Richmond says of Knight: "Plenty of adrenaline, but a dopey story depletes the tank quickly."

100 lucky families will get the chance to go behind the scenes at Doctor Who and Torchwood as party of a fundraising effort for this year's BBC Children in Need appeal; all they need to is answer one multiple-choice question, which will be announced on the Chris Moyles show on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Wales, and BBC Radio Cymru and will be available at the Beeb's Doctor Who site. "This is so exciting – giving fans the opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at where we film Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures is just brilliant," said Russell T. Davies. "It'll be the perfect opportunity for the whole family to experience something unique and truly extraordinary. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience – and the best thing is that all the money raised will go towards BBC Children in Need." (BBC)

Lauren Ambrose, Adam Kaufman, Susie Essman, Ricki Lake, and Mercedes Ruehl have signed on to star in CBS' new Hallmark Hall of Fame telepic Unorthodox. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK's Channel 4 will cut up to 15 percent of its workforce and slash budgets by $185 million over the next two years; broadcaster has told staff that it plans to cut a maximum of 150 jobs amid what the net describes as "some of the most challenging economic circumstances in its history." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: New Adventures of Old Christine/Gary Unmarried (CBS); Knight Rider (NBC); America's Next Top Model (CW); Dancing with the Stars (ABC); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); America's Got Talent (NBC); 90210 (CW); David Blaine: Dive of Death (ABC; 9-11 pm); 'Til Death/Do Not Disturb (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Lipstick Jungle (NBC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: America's Next Top Model.

On tonight's episode ("Fierce Eyes"), the models must wear blindfolds while practicing their runway walks (that should be amusing) and are then tasked with posing with their eyes during a photo shoot.

9 pm: Project Runway on Bravo.

Season Five (the final season on Bravo) of Project Runway continues tonight. On tonight's episode ("Rock n' Runway"), the contestants are tasked with designing outfits using musical inspiration from guest judge LL Cool J; Jerell considers sabotaging Suede; Jerell AND Korto consider sabotaging Kenley, who breaks down during judging.

Channel Surfing: Starbuck is "Lost and Found," Paul McGann NOT headed to "Doctor Who," Hugh Laurie, and More

Good morning and welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

In her first television role since the end of Battlestar Galactica (hitting small screens in 2009), Katee Sackhoff has signed on to star in drama pilot Lost and Found for Dick Wolf at NBC. Project, from writer/executive producer Chris Levinson, revolves around NYPD detective Tessa Cooper (Sackhoff) who is forced to solve John and Jane Doe cases after she finds herself rubbing her bosses the wrong way. Sackhoff's attachment lifts the cast contingency on the project, which was ordered to pilot last month. (Hollywood Reporter)

FOX has signed a new deal with Gordon Ramsay that will keep the chef at the network for several more years and includes an agreement to produce two more editions of Hell's Kitchen, another season of Kitchen Nightmares, and a third series (likely based on Ramsay's Channel 4 series Man Camp, about a boot camp for men worried by how feminine they're becoming) and a special in which at-home viewers will be able to cook alongside Ramsay. (Futon Critic)

Hugh Laurie has become one of the highest paid actors on television, signing a new deal with Universal Media Studios to continue starring on FOX's House through the 2011-12 season, in a deal said to be worth more than $9 million a year (or $400,000/episode). (Hollywood Reporter)

HBO has ordered a pilot script for an untitled drama series about a Florida golf pro who is forced to enter the witness protection program from writers/sports columnists Carl Hiaasen and Mike Lupica. (Variety)

BBC has denied tabloid reports that Paul McGann, who played the Doctor in a 1996 made-for-TV movie and a series of audio adventures, had been cast in one of the four upcoming Doctor Who specials expected for 2009. The Beeb has categorically denied the story, which ran in The Sun: "There is no truth to the story at all," said a spokeswoman. (Digital Spy)

Wondering how Jason O'Mara felt, being the only cast member to stick around after ABC axed the original pilot for Life on Mars? Find out in this interview. (Los Angeles Times)

BermanBraun has hired Gene Stein as its head of nonscripted programming while Matt Hanna, who had been overseeing the development slate, will focus on overseeing the series that the production company produces through its deal with Thom Beers' Original Prods. (Variety)

In other executive shuffle news, Maria Grasso has left Lifetime and to join cabler OWN:The Oprah Winfrey Network in a top development role, reporting to Robin Schwartz. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); America's Toughest Jobs (NBC); Friday Night SmackDown! (CW; 8-10 pm); 2008 ALMA Awards (ABC; 8-10 pm); Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (FOX)

9 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); Dateline (NBC; 9-11 pm); Don't Forget the Lyrics (FOX)

10 pm: NUMB3RS (CBS); 20/20 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

Um, I think I'll just go out instead...

Channel Surfing: "24" Shutdown, "BSG" Cast Revealed for Prequel Movie, "Project Runway" Delayed, "Doctor Who," and More

Good morning and welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Production will shut down on 24, whose seventh season has been delayed since last January due to the writers strike, for more than two weeks beginning September 15th. The reason behind the enforced break? 24 executive producer Howard Gordon was reportedly displeased with the direction of the last six episodes of the season. During their time off, scripts will be written in order to change the season's direction, with production set to resume by October 9th. (Variety)

More on that 24 shut down: ""We had a couple of scripts that we weren't happy with," said Howard Gordon in an interview. "We just couldn't get this direction to work, and we found another one that we liked better, so we wound up retooling it [...] The only, only, only concern at all is getting it right. Our feeling was this: We're so happy with what we've done so far, and to the extent that we had that luxury [of time], we said, 'Why not make it as good as we could?'" (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

SCI FI has revealed the cast of its Cylon-centric two-hour untitled Battlestar Galactica event. Suiting up for the prequel feature-length special are Edward James Olmos, Michael Trucco, Aaron Douglas, Dean Stockwell, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Callum Keith Rennie, Rick Worthy, and Michael Hogan. Project is written by series co-executive producer Jane Espenson and will be directed by Edward James Olmos. Battlestar Galactica's final season, meanwhile, will resume in January. (TV Guide)

Jamie Bamber (BSG), Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who), Bradley Walsh (Coronation Street), and Harriet Walter (Doctors) will star in the British version of Law & Order for ITV, which is being overseen by Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall. (Digital Spy)

CBS has ordered a pilot for multi-camera family comedy The Karenskys, about a woman's return to her large, eccentric, and very ethnic family after her husband takes a gig in her hometown. Project, from writer/executive producer Linwood Boomer (Malcolm in the Middle) was originally set up at CBS ten years ago. Boomer will executive produce the pilot, from Universal Media Studios, along with Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. (Variety)

ABC has given a thirteen-episode order to comedy In the Motherhood, based on the online series starring Chelsea Handler, Leah Remini, and Jenny McCarthy about three women whose trials and travails are based on the stories of real mothers from across the country. Handler will return to star in the linear comedy, with Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) and Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) in talks to join her. (Hollywood Reporter)

Season Six of reality competition series Project Runway, which jumps networks from Bravo to Lifetime after the current season ends, has been delayed until January 2009. Season Six was originally meant to launch on Lifetime this November. "With this move, the series will resume its traditional cycle of two seasons per year," said a Lifetime spokeperson. "We look forward to ringing in the New Year by giving Project Runway loyal fans a superlative season six with Heidi, Tim, Nina, and Michael. The new date and time will be announced soon.” (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

NBC has ordered a Muppets Christmas special entitled Letters to Santa: A Muppets Christmas, which will feature guest stars Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Sirico (The Sopranos), Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter) and Madison Pettis (Cory in the House), as well as the entire Muppet gang. (Hollywood Reporter)

Wondering what the hell The CW's head honcho Dawn Ostroff is thinking? Look no further than this interview, in which she answers ten questions about 90210, low ratings, and, well, the netlet's failures. (TV Week)

Little Britain USA, which launches on HBO on September 28th, will air this autumn on BBC One. I've seen the first three episodes and they definitely pack a comedic punch, BTW. (BBC)

Catherine Tate, John Simm, and Bernard Cribbins are allegedly returning to Doctor Who next season as part of the casts for the four specials planned for 2009. According to The Sun (so take it with a huge ball of salt), Tate will reprise her role as former companion Donna Noble, Simm will return as The Master, and Cribbins will again play Wilf, Donna's grandfather. (Digital Spy)

Tom Sizemore has been cast in Starz's drama series Crash (based on the feature film) in the recurring role of Detective Adrian Cooper, an unorthodox cop who is investigating a police-involved shooting. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Lost" Resurrects a Dead Character; Some Life Still Left in Rob Thomas' "Good Behavior," and More

Good morning and welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Everyone wanted to talk about yesterday's announcement that ABC had picked up five series (three dramas and two half-hour comedies) and had seemingly passed over Rob Thomas' Good Behavior (based on the Kiwi series Outrageous Fortune). But there's still hope for the Catherine O'Hara-led dramedy. ABC says that it hasn't yet made a decision on Good Behavior, half-hour comedy Never Better (starring Damon Wayans), or the untitled legal drama from David Hemingson (the script of which I quite enjoyed)... and it still has yet to screen Prince of Motor City and Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas. Keep your fingers crossed, Rob Thomas fans. (Variety)

SPOILER ALERT! Lost will resurrect--for one episode, anyway--one of its dead characters, likely as a flashback, vision, or ghostly apparition. And, no, it's not Artz. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Why does Battlestar Galactica seem to be gaining in viewer popularity even as its Nielsen ratings seem to be plummeting? (Associated Press)

Survivor fans will have to wait a week for the launch of Survivor: Gabon -- Earth's Last Eden. CBS has delayed the start of the latest Survivor iteration for a week, shifting the premiere to September 25th.

CTV has renewed cop drama Flashpoint--starring Enrico Colantoni, Hugh Dillon, and Amy Jo Johnson--with new episodes to appear sometime in 2009... but CBS, which airs the series in the States, has only committed to one season of the drama thus far. (The Globe and Mail)

A stack of casting notices: Megalyn Echikunwoke (The 4400) has been upped from recurring status to series regular on CBS' CSI: Miami, where she plays medical examiner Dr. Tara Price; Jill Flint (Six Degrees) has been cast in USA's dramedy pilot Royal Pains opposite Mark Feuerstein; Anjelah Johnson and Juliette Goglia will co-star in the untitled Dave Caplan comedy pilot for TBS with Valerie Bertinelli; and Jared Kusnitz and G Hannelius will appear in the CW's Media Rights Capital comedy Surviving Suburbia as the kids of Steve (Bob Saget) and Anne (Cynthia Stevenson). (Hollywood Reporter)

Marvel superheroes are hitting the small screen... in Japan, at least. The comic book publisher has signed a deal with Madhouse to create several series based on their popular stable of superheroes, the first four of which will launch in 2010. Characters, such as Wolverine and Iron Man, will be tweaked with new looks and histories that touch upon Japanese culture and history. (Variety)

Mario Lopez will host live music competition series MTV's Top Pop Group on, well, MTV. Series is set to launch on Thursday, September 11th, though you can catch a casting special on August 28th. (Futon Critic)

Lifetime has ordered three unscripted programs for daytime: 20-episode half-hour cooking series Mom's Cooking (launching in December as a strip); five half-hour episodes of Lisa Williams, featuring the famous psychic in a reformatted version of Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead to launch as a week-long special event in October; and Fat Friends, a docuseries launching in January that follow a group of five California friends as they try to lose weight together before one of their number gets married. (Hollywood Reporter)

Fremantle has signed a two-year overall deal with America's Got Talent executive producer James Sunderland to continue in his current role on the NBC reality series and develop original series for the distributor. He's also developing the untitled Osbourne family variety series for FOX. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); America's Got Talent (NBC; 8-10 pm); Smallville (CW); Wipeout (ABC); House (FOX)

9 pm: Big Brother 10 (CBS); Reaper (CW); Wanna Bet (ABC); House (FOX)

10 pm: CBS News: Democratic National Convention (CBS); Dateline (NBC); Vote 08 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8:40-9:20 pm: Gavin & Stacey on BBC America.

If my gushing review of this bittersweet (yes, it's literally bitter AND sweet) comedy wasn't enough, why not tune in yourself to see just how wonderful the brainchild of writer/co-stars Ruth Jones and James Corden really is? On tonight's series premiere, Gavin and Stacey finally plan to meet face to face in London after months of phone conversations and their best friends Smithy and Nessa tag along to provide moral support.

10 pm: Million Dollar Listing on Bravo.

I can't look away, no matter how hard I try...

Channel Surfing: "Stargate Atlantis" to End, Joel Silver Setting Up at HBO, "90210" Marathon, and More

Good morning one and all and welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. (Yes, the weekend is just within our grasp.)

Stargate Atlantis will wrap its run on Sci Fi when the fifth season concludes in January, but the cabler has ordered an untitled two-hour telepic that will air sometime in 2009, following the series finale. An official press release from Sci Fi is said to be forthcoming. (Multichannel News)

Joel Silver is back in television news headlines again (he's said to be in discussions with creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell about a possible feature version of Veronica Mars): he's optioned Arthur T. Vanderbilt II's 1989 family history "Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt," about the famous clan's 20th century saga as they deal with "declining fortune, extravagances and social-climbing instincts." Silver plans to adapt the book into a possible series for pay cabler HBO; he and Jane Semel would executive produce the one-hour drama, with Jim Solomon (The Practice) writing and executive producing. (Variety)

ABC Studios has bought an autobiographical script from Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith (Legally Blonde, House Bunny) which it will develop with McCullah Lutz and Smith on board to write and executive produce, should the project get ordered to pilot. Deal came after a recent Los Angeles Times article detailed their work method, which can involve champagne and therapy, and pilot will revolve around their friendship, partnership, and adventures in Hollywood. (Hollywood Reporter)

Newsarama has sat down with Battlestar Galactica executive producer David Eick for a chat about what's to come for BSG and spin-off Caprica. And, yes, there will be more Battlestar webisodes. (Newsarama)

And, speaking of interviews, Joss talks Dollhouse, why the dolls' sleeping units shouldn't resemble coffins, and more. (Philadelphia Daily News)

Sophina Brown (Shark) has been cast as a series regular in CBS' crime procedural NUMB3RS, where she will play Nikki Betancourt, a street-savvy ex-LAPD officer with a law degree to boot who joins the team as their newest agent. (TV Guide)

And Battlestar Galactica's Mark Sheppard (whom you might also remember from Firefly) has confirmed that he will appear in several episodes of Dollhouse in early 2009. (SyFy Portal)

Cabler SOAPnet will be airing a 24-hour marathon of Beverly Hills 90210 starting at Midnight, Monday, September 1st, featuring 24 pivotal episodes of the series--including the pilot--in advance of the CW's launch of 90210 the following evening.

Lifetime has ordered six episodes of docuseries Blonde Charity Mafia, about three twenty-something socialities in Washington D.C. who are frequent faces on the fundraiser circuit. Series, produced by PB&J Television, is set to start production next month but the cabler has not issued an air date yet. (Variety)

Eddie Cibrian (Ugly Betty) has been cast in a three-episode arc on USA's The Starter Wife. Cibrian will play a detective investigating Molly (Debra Messing). No word on what this means about his role as Coach Diaz on Betty, though Cibrian was only secured to appear in four episodes this season... (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Finally, the New York Times has a fascinating article about diversity casting in television and how the Disney Channel and ABC (both owned by Disney) seem to be at the forefront of this trend. (New York Times)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: "Gossip Girl," MGM Investigates World of "Jonas Moore," and More

Good morning and welcome to your Wednesday television briefing. I was up late last night watching the first three episodes of next season's Gossip Girl and my brain is still filled with Hamptons-based intrigue (though if I hear someone use the word "Duchess" one more time, I think I may have to slap them) and I was up all night improbably wondering how school-age Vanessa managed to bypass zoning regulations at Rufus' gallery. But more on Gossip Girl at later time...

FX has announced that The Shield will end its run on November 25th. The cabler is set to launch the seventh and final season of The Shield on September 2nd and will air a host of programming around the final season, including retrospective material about the seminal series and a roundtable discussion with the cast and crew, to be hosted by Elvis Mitchell. (Variety)

NBC Universal has acquired a 100% stake in British television production company Carnival, which has produced such dramas as Hotel Babylon, The Grid, Poirot, and Jeeves and Wooster. Move comes as the studio looks to broaden its scope by expanding into international production and it has a mandate to double international revenues by 2010. Once the deal is completed, the company will be absorbed into NBC Universal's international production division, headed by Angela Bromstad.

FOX has scheduled a 25-minute "preview" episode of new reality series Hole in the Wall, immediately following the 90-plus minute series premiere of J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci's new drama Fringe, which will air with limited commercial interruptions as part of FOX's "Remote-Free TV" initiative. Move comes as FOX execs looked at alternative ways to fill the 25-minute space following Fringe's launch (they considered airing a fall season preview); meanwhile, Hole in the Wall, which is based on a Japanese game show format, will air its first full-length episode on Thursday, September 11th. (TV Week)

ABC is airing a Supernanny spinoff, entitled Supermanny, as a backdoor pilot this fall; pilot features a concept similar to the original tough-love series, only with Chicago child therapist Mike Ruggles lending a hand instead of the original Jo Frost. Supermanny special--produced by Ricochet--will air during Supernanny's fall timeslot of Fridays at 9 pm. (Hollywood Reporter)

ITV will produce--along with Lionsgate Television and Ish Entertainment--a British format of Paris Hilton's New Best Friend, the original of which is set to air Stateside on MTV on September 30th. Deal is a rare one in that it is a sale of a US format to a foreign network with the same star attached. ITV has also licensed the MTV version but it's unclear whether any US network has acquired the UK version to boot. (Variety)

MGM has optioned digital graphic novel The Many Worlds of Jonas Moore (which stars Colin Salmon as the titular hero), with aims to adapt the material into a possible television series. Project, which is written/directed/produced by Howard Webster, is about an alternate world where the British Empire never ended and America is merely a virtual world on a global gaming network. But when Jonas Moore, a character created by the network's founder, becomes self-aware, he goes on the run and sets off a rebellion in multiple virtual worlds. (Hollywood Reporter)

Battlestar Galactica writer Michael Angeli says that the series' influences are broader than the average viewer might think and the writing team typically draws on classical literature, Westerns, and history when researching a script. "Those have struggles of obsession, survival and possession, which we feel is what the show is really about," said Angeli. "If we go to the Bible, a Western or the transcripts of the trial for Saddam Hussein--which we did at the end of Season Three--we can look for cultural differences, questions of race, gender, class, conspicuous consumption and sex. We like to touch on the idea of what it means to be human." (Variety's Award Central)

Former One Day a Time star Valerie Bertinelli has been cast as the lead in the untitled Dave Caplan comedy at TBS, where she will play a woman who struggles to support her family and keep her family's lumber business afloat when her husband walks out on her. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Greatest American Dog (CBS); Summer Olympics (NBC); America's Next Top Model (CW); Wife Swap (ABC); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious (CW); Supernanny (ABC); Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Primetime: Crime (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

9 pm: Project Runway on Bravo.

Season Five (the final season on Bravo) of Project Runway continues tonight. On tonight's episode ("Good Queen Fun"), it's a blast from the past as Season Four's Chris March returns for a challenge in which the designers need to create an outfit for a group of drag queens.

Sci Fi Lifts Veil of Secrecy on "Battlestar Galactica" Two-Hour Event

Sci Fi has finally gone ahead and announced the Battlestar Galactica two-hour "event" that it had been dancing around the past two months without officially confirming a concept, air date, or cast. (Just don't call it a two-hour movie; it's an "event" apparently.)

BSG writer/co-executive producer Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) will pen the script for the BSG two-hour event (ahem) and BSG cast member Edward James Olmos will direct. The still-as-yet-unnamed event is scheduled to air sometime in 2009, after the conclusion of Battlestar Galactica's fourth and final season which will air its final ten episodes in 2009 as well. (So still no air dates there either. Pity.)

On board to star so far: Dean Stockwell, Michael Trucco, and Aaron Douglas, with others to be named at a later time. I wouldn't be surprised if Olmos pulls double duty on the event and makes an appearance as well and I'd expect to see another Cylon turn up as well. My guess is Rick Worthy, who plays Simon... and likely Grace Park, who plays Boomer/Athena, given Aaron Douglas' appearance (if you remember, their characters were romantically involved).

So what's it about exactly and does it, like Battlestar Galactica: Razor before it, take place in the past? Yes, indeedy. Here's what the official press release had to say:

"Starting before the events of the miniseries, our story focuses on familiar characters including Cylon Number One, known as Cavil (Stockwell), Resistance Leader Sam T. Anders (Trucco) and Chief Galen Tyrol (Douglas). In the beginning, the Cylons had a plan, but it didn't account for one thing: survivors. During the chaotic aftermath of the destruction, two powerful Cylon agents struggle with plots and priorities on the human ships that got away, and among the resistance fighters who were left behind."

Production on the two-hour event is slated for the end of the summer in Vancouver and, following the model established by Battlestar Galactica: Razor, a DVD will be released shortly after the event airs on Sci Fi.

Stay tuned.

Stardust: The Cast and Crew of "Battlestar Galactica" Talk Beginnings and Endings

If there's one constant about Comic-Con from year to year, it's that the panel for Battlestar Galactica is always a huge draw.

This year was no different, though I did enjoy last year's "Women of Battlestar" panel a hell of a lot more, though this year's panel--moderated by potty-mouthed Kevin Smith, at least afforded a sizable number of laughs. Much of the panel was devoted to the cast, including Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer, Michael Trucco, and James Callis, remembering their favorite moments over the past few seasons as creators Ronald D. Moore and David Eick teased the audience with a few morsels about what's to come in the final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica, slated to air early next year.

Of course, there almost wasn't going to be a final ten episodes. Production on the second half of BSG's final season was interrupted last winter by the writers strike, which shut down production and left the cast wondering whether or not they'd ever return to the series' Vancouver set... or if that midseason cliffhanger--in which the crew of Galactica and their Cylon allies discovered Earth--would instead act as the de facto end for the series.

To illustrate what I mean, I'll turn to Eick and Moore themselves to explain:

"We knew we had to end the midseason [finale] with something," said Eick. "We argued about whether to reveal that Baltar was the Fifth Cylon or-- wait a minute!"

"The end of the first half was almost the end of the show, because of the writers' strike," continued Moore. "We were all, well, that would kind of suck: They get to Earth and it sucks. Thank you! Goodbye!"

"There's a fair amount of what do we do next?," said Moore. "And then the story continues in unexpected ways. There's a tremendous amount of upheaval. It's not really the most happy-go-lucky ten episodes we've ever done... which I'm sure doesn't come as a surprise."

"Lee gets really fat this time," joked Eick. (The less said about that fat suit from the New Caprica days, the better, in my book.)

The big question everyone wanted answered was, of course, the identity of the Final Cylon. But Eick and Moore weren't talking. "I can tell you," said Moore, "it is someone you've seen." (Fans, start your theorizing now.)

One of the more interesting sidenotes was a discussion by James Callis about how he approached the role of Gaius Baltar. "In an American story, the bad guy gets more tail," said Callis. "When you're preaching that you love god, can you be a complete nymphomaniac on the side? Does that make you less spiritual? It took me three years to work that out. There are so many people who have goodness in their heart, but they're obsessed with something. One particular thing. These last few reasons, I've found that Gaius makes peace with himself on that." He later went on to say that guilt plays a major role in the construction of Gaius' psyche; after all, he was indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people.

Like Callis, Katee Sackhoff also found it difficult to come to terms with the inner conflict of her character, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. "It's nice, I guess, to be a role model," mused Sackhoff. "It's a little scary at times. I hope that people teach their children to take Starbuck's bad and throw it away, the drinking a lot and sleeping around. Use protection. I'm just rambling, because I have no idea to answer that question. There's a fine line we've tried to walk with her, where she's very good at her job, and then there's a fine line of turning her into some kind of superhero. There's a fine line of what's realistic and what's not."

Tricia Helfer, meanwhile, has had the distinction of playing what seems like "96 characters" (at least, according to Smith) on the series. Helfer said that it was an actor's dream to be able to perform that many different roles, let alone all on the same series. (See: Caprica Six, Natalie, Gina, Head Six, etc.)

Jamie Bamber, meanwhile, praised the series' "gender blindness." "The show is groundbreaking in many areas," said Bamber, "especially the way it deals with gender. The men and women on the show shower together, fly together, and still sleep together. It doesn't matter."

As for the reveal about the identities of the Final Four Cylons last season, Eick admitted that he and Moore had wavered about who would be included in that group and whether or not it would be Anders or Gaeta. (Curious.)

Michael Trucco, however, was stunned by the revelation that Anders was a part of this group and is just happy to be a part of the series. "It was like winning the lottery," said Trucco, who recently filmed a comedy pilot called Man of Your Dreams for NBC, of landing the role. "It was a dream job. I stuck around, and at the end of Season Three, they give me a script that says you're a Cylon and I'm, like, fucking wow. Guess I'll be around for a while. Aaron Douglas [who plays Tyrol] was the first one to tell me. He was, like, dude dude dude, you heard? We're gonna be Cylons. And I was like, shut up. They don't even know my name on this set. They're even calling me Steve."

So what are the cast members' most memorable kick-ass moments from the run of the series?

"When I came on the show," said Trucco. "My Mexican standoff with Helo and Sackhoff."

Bamber loved the pullback reveal of Earth while Callis absolutely loved the dark humor-laden scene between Adama and Tigh in which they discuss a "paper shortage."

"When Galactica fires its cannons," admitted Sackhoff. "They're really neat. My other one has to do with guns as well: the Mexican standoff with Trucco reminded me. When Helo and I rescued Anders, our stunt guy gave me two machine guns and says, 'You can have two machine guns,' and I'm, like, awesome." (Trucco chimes in to correct her, saying that the prop guy didn't hand Sackhoff two guns, she demanded two guns.) She also recounted a story about when the director told Tahmoh Penikett (Helo) to stop acting like a girl during a gunfight scene.

"I got to shoot some guns," said Helfer. "Finally. James and I, we started the first scene of the miniseries having sex and we finished the main shooting with shooting." Callis concurred: "Filming the end of Battlestar was like being in Apocalypse Now," he said. "It was frakking awesome."

"It's hard to pick one," said Eick. "Hard to identify one as the best. For me, the most memorable moment was watching Starbuck and Number Six pound the entire living shit out've each other for an entire act at the end of Season One... They wouldn't kiss, though, no matter how much I begged them."

So what can we expect for the big wrap up at the end of Battlestar Galactica? "The ending is an ending," teased Bamber. "It's utterly sublime and a perfect way to finish the show. It took me by surprise. I remember the final read through was a disgraceful exhibit of tears and lower lip quivering as we got to the end. It does everything justice."

Joining the panel late, Tahmoh Penikett added, "The final two episodes are perfect. There's a lot of closure to a lot of the storylines, but there are still some questions, which are the way that things should be."

So say we all.

Revelations (and Some Answers!) on the Season Finale of "Battlestar Galactica"

For the naysayers out there who said that the Colonials wouldn't reach the promised land until the very end of the series, there's a bit of egg on your face now that the pseudo-season finale ("Revelations") showed them doing just that, way ahead of schedule.

Of course, this being Battlestar Galactica, the revelation that a joint human-Cylon task force would be able to crack the code and find the way to Earth (using a series of clues left by whom exactly?) had its own unique twist: once they reached the blue planet, they discovered that it was nothing but a smoldering nuclear wasteland, possibly destroyed decades earlier. The sight of human standing next to Cylon as they wandered aimlessly through the charred (and radiation rich) ruins of an Earth building was haunting and mysterious; never did I think that we'd see Six and Tigh standing side by side (as she lovingly touches him on the shoulder, no less) or D'Anna sharing the same space with Roslin and Adama. And poor Kara looked heartbroken as she surveyed the surface of the planet she had fought so hard (risking even her sanity) to find.

This to me is not only very interesting but significant. Someone went through all of the effort to pull Starbuck out of the timeline, faked her death (or let the Colonials think she was dead), brought her to Earth (which wasn't destroyed), and then placed her back in the timeline just as the fleet arrived at the nebula, outfitting her with a near perfect copy of the Viper she was flying when it exploded, seemingly killing her. Hmmm. This Viper doesn't have a scratch on it yet has the identical Colonial registry as Starbuck's Viper; it seems to be the very same vehicle and everyone from Chief on down the line has checked it out thoroughly... yet suddenly the Four sleeper agent Cylons aboard Galactica get a weird sonic message and they find themselves drawn as by an invisible thread to the Viper. And somehow Starbuck manages to find something unusual... a hidden signal received only by this particular Viper that displays a Colonial transmission from Earth. Just why did someone go through all of this trouble just to get the humans to arrive on Earth (too late, perhaps?) if there was nothing there but charred rock?

As always in Battlestar Galactica, it's a matter of being careful what you wish for. I'm very excited and intrigued to see what happens next as the primary dual missions of the series (fight the Cylons to keep the human race alive and find Earth) have been rendered pretty darn useless by the events of the last few episodes. The destruction of the Cylon Resurrection Hub (in last week's brilliant and gripping episode scripted by Jane Espenson) puts the Cylons and humans on almost equal ground: they're now both mortal. Each life counts for something and each death is a reminder that the darkness is just around the corner for each of them. As for them reaching Earth, I wonder what Pythia said they'd find there once they arrived. The dying leader did lead them to the blue planet but the prophecies don't say anything about what to do next.

So where will the final ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica take us? My guess is that the fragile human/Cylon alliance will be tested by this shocking turn of events. Both races have been on a quest to find Earth, aided by the Final Five, and will have to deal with the fallout that help hasn't arrived in the form of the thirteenth colony. I think they'll try to work together to solve the mystery of just what happened to the planet: was it destroyed in the same Cylon attack that destroyed the Colonies or did Brother Cavill's forces get there before them and wipe it from the stellar maps? And they'll have to deal with Cavill's forces eventually. No way will he take the destruction of the Resurrection Hub lightly and, while many thousands of his models (along with the others) were destroyed during the attack, there have got to be other copies out there waiting to pay the rebels and the humans back for their assault.

As for the Final Five, I think it incredibly fascinating that the four known models came from Earth. Were they born there in conventional means? I've long thought that these Cylons were unique in that their experiences were unique: birthed as a single model and not a production line, they experienced life in a linear fashion, aging as the humans do with no ability to download to a new host body. I'm curious to know what their buried memories of Earth are and how they'll be significant in determining the next move for both peoples. Do they stay and try to build a new civilization together, aware of the risks and sacrifices necessary to do so after their botched attempt at occupation on New Caprica? Can the humans really ever forgive the Cylons for the destruction of the Twelve Colonies? Is anyone ever able to forgive a nation for genocide?

Speaking of forgiveness, I can't help but wonder whether Roslin will keep Baltar's crime to herself now that she saved his life. She was tempted to let him die after his injury (silly him for unburdening himself and telling her that he gave the Cylons the access codes that led to the destruction of their home worlds) but in the end "forgave" him for his sins and proved that all life, no matter how reckless and foolhardy, is worth saving.

As for the fleet, they'll also have to forgive and adapt to the realization that four of them (not to mention four people closest to the human leadership) were actually Cylons from the start. The depth of Adama's feelings of betrayal when he learned that Tigh was "one of them" was an astonishing and heartrending sight as he drunkenly smashed the mirror in his cabin and was reduced to a keening, sobbing wreck on the floor as Lee had to cradle him and comfort him. It was an interesting subversion of their normal relationship, with Lee the one to provide clarity and strength to his father. I thought it was a telling display of how far his character had come since the start of the series that Lee remained so poised and in control in the face of such chaos, able to make the difficult decision (remember his guilt over shooting down the Olympic Carrier?) and roll that hard six. It's a feeling that erased my distaste for Lee during his, um, fat days as the flabby and unsympathetic Commander of the Pegasus.

I was happy to see that Tigh remained ever the pragmatic soldier, even in the face of possible airlocking; willing to sacrifice himself to save the fleet from nuclear attack by D'Anna's rebel forces, he proved in no uncertain terms that actions do make the man more than anything else. Tigh might not be human (or is he something more than both human and Cylon?) but he proved without a doubt where his loyalties lie. Michael Hogan has transformed the curmudgeonly Tigh into something approaching a true hero, albeit a tragic one at best, and his performance in the finale as he comes to terms with his need to reveal his true self to Adama, his friend of thirty years, was absolutely riveting to watch.

Ultimately, a fantastic halfway point for the final season of Battlestar Galactica and a cliffhanger ending that will have me guessing about what happens next for the long months ahead until Sci Fi brings the series back for its final ten episodes early next year. I'm already deliriously anxious to see what happens next so the wait is likely to be as excruciating for me as it is depressing knowing that the series' ending is so very, very near.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: The Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); American Gladiators (NBC); Gossip Girl (CW); The Bachelorette: DeAnna Tells All (ABC); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/Rules of Engagement (CBS); Nashville Star (NBC; 9-10:30 pm); One Tree Hill (CW); The Bachelorette (ABC); House (FOX)

10 pm: CSI Miami (CBS); Dateline (NBC; 10:30-11 pm); The Mole (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Gossip Girl.

Looking to relive the freshman season of the teen soap? On tonight's repeat episode ("Victor/Victrola"), Nate worries that his dad has some kind of drug problem, Nate considers investing in a burlesque club, and Jenny uncovers a secret her parents were working hard to protect her from and tells Blair that Nate isn't over Serena, a revelation that leads her into the arms of Chuck Bass.

10 pm: Weeds on Showtime.

In the fourth season premiere of Weeds ("Mother Thinks the Birds Are After Her"), Nancy, Andy and the kids, still on the lam after she burned down their house, head to the beach, where they are reunited with their grandfather (guest star Albert Brooks) and Nancy learns that some problems are inescapable.

10:30 pm: Secret Diary of a Call Girl on Showtime.

On the first episode of this effervescent British import, we're introduced to twenty-something Londoner Hannah (Billie Piper) who goes by the nom de plume Belle in her career as a high-priced call girl; watch what happens when she inexplicably falls for a client.

Baby Mamas: Of Infants and Offspring on "Battlestar Galactica"

Now I'm confused...

Much debate has been made in recent months about Battlestar Galactica's Sharon "Athena" Agathon and Helo and their half-human/half-Cylon daughter Hera. Hera has been the subject of several visions, prophecies, and now, in light of Athena's paranoid kidnapping scenario by the "Natalie" Six, the motivation for Cylon-on-Cylon murder. (Side note: how sad was Natalie's death as she gripped Doc Cottle's hand and envisioned the deep forest before dying?)

Over the past two seasons, Hera has been the source of much conflict, confusion, and worry, not to mention providing a temporary cure for Laura Roslin's cancer, thanks to her regenerative blood. Hera was also ground zero at a major Colonial conspiracy and cover-up by Roslin, Adama, and Doc Cottle to pretend that Hera died in childbirth; after lying to Athena and Helo, they shuttled her off to an adoptive mother and had her raised as a human child on New Caprica... only to see her taken by the enemy during their final stand against the Cylons.

But here's where I am confused: why is Hera considered to be so special when it seems that Cylon offspring seem to be popping up all over the place now on Battlestar Galactica?

After all, there's been another human-Cylon baby aboard Galactica for quite some time now in the form of Tyrol and Cally's baby Nicholas. (Granted, no one other than poor, doomed Cally knew that Tyrol was one of the Final Five Cylons, but still.) While the nature of the Final Five Cylon models is still under serious scrutiny (such as what they really are), there's no denying that one of them fathered a child with a human.

And now for the clincher: we found out on this week's episode ("Sine Qua Non") that Caprica Six is pregnant... with Colonel Tigh's baby. Or so it would seem. We're certainly told that Tigh is the father, he's been spending more and more time with the Six (with the cell cameras off, no less), and well he doesn't do anything to dispute the charges. To me, this is a very interesting development in a season filled to the brim with them. After all, Tigh's status as one of the Final Five means that this might be the very first Cylon-Cylon offspring in existence.

The significance of the discovery with the humans and Cylons (A) launching a joint offensive to destroy the Resurrection Hub, ending the Cylon's innate "immortality" and (B) inching closer towards finding Earth isn't lost on me. After all, one major tenet of the Cylons' plan was to figure out how to procreate (it was Sharon's mission on Caprica to ensnare Helo and force him to fall in love with her) and attempt to produce offspring with the humans. And, while we haven't seen any of the Cylon females' backs glow recently (remember that little trait?), it seems as though they may have started a new generation that is blending together the genetic codes of both human and Cylon forebears.

Do these offspring represent a new chapter in the history of both races? Or are their harbingers of doom? Will Caprica Six give birth to something altogether new and different (the final model, perhaps?) and will we see Tricia Helfer trade in her slinky black prison wear for maternity garb and a prosthetic tummy? Discuss.

Casting Couch: Walker Flies to "Caprica," Sackhoff Sews Up "Nip/Tuck" Role, Estes Heads to "90210"

Lots of casting news today, on the first Monday after the network upfront presentations.

First up, Sci Fi managed to close the deal on Polly Walker for their two-hour backdoor pilot Caprica, a prequel to their own series Battlestar Galactica. Astute readers of this site will know that I first reported that an offer was out to Walker (Rome) a few weeks ago. Walker will play Sister Clarice Willow, the secretive high priestess/headmistress of the exclusive Athena Academy, a private polytheistic school that Zoe Greystone (Alessandra Toreson) and her friends attend.

I think the casting of Walker is absolutely brilliant for this role and she'll definitely bring something unexpected to the table. Plus, I'm happy she's sticking around in the States after the cancelation of Cane. Walker joins Eric Stolz, Esai Morales, and Paula Malcomson in this spellbinding two-hour backdoor pilot project from executive producers Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, and Remi Aubuchon and director Jeffrey Reiner.

Speaking of the Twelve Colonies, Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff has been cast in a recurring role on FX's Nip/Tuck, where she will play a doctor who challenges the authority of Sean (Dylan Walsh) in a four-episode arc this season. Good to see that Sackhoff won't be taking time off after the final season of BSG finishes shooting at the end of June.

Over at the CW, 90210 finally has its father figure in Rob Estes (Melrose Place), who has joined the cast as Harry Mills, the pater familias and new principal at West Beverly High School. His character will be married to Lori Loughlin's Celia, a former Olympic medalist, and is the prodigal son to Jessica Walter's aging actress Tabitha Mills.

With the deal closed on Estes, casting on the Beverly Hills 90210 spin-off series--set to launch this fall on the CW--is finally completed.

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); American Gladiators (NBC; 8-9:30 pm); Gossip Girl (CW); Dancing With the Stars (ABC); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/Rules of Engagement (CBS); Dateline (NBC; 9:30-11 pm); One Tree Hill (CW); The Bachelorette (ABC; 9-11 pm); House (FOX)

10 pm: CSI Miami (CBS)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Gossip Girl.

The freshman season of the naughty teen soap concludes tonight! On tonight's season finale ("Much 'I Do' About Nothing"), Blair comes to Serena's defense and faces off with Georgina Sparks (Michelle Trachtenberg); Lily prepares for her wedding but can't stop thinking about Rufus; and Serena finally tells Dan what's really going on with her.

One Will Be Revealed: Guessing at The Final Cylon Model

Four have been revealed. One remains hidden.

One of the more intriguing plot threads throughout Battlestar Galactica's four season run has been the mystery (and the audience conjecture) surrounding the final five models of the Cylon.

While four of those models were tantalizingly revealed at the end of last season--stripping away the veneer of humanity from sleeper agents Colonel Tigh, Tory, Anders, and Chief Tyrol--one model still remains torturously hidden from view.

This week's episode of Battlestar Galactica ("Faith") gave us a tantalizing clue about the final five's origins as the hybrid tells Kara (besides for the fact that she is the harbinger of doom for humanity and will bring them to their end) that the final five came from Earth, from the planet of the thirteen tribe of humanity. It's an interesting twist, especially as the music that awakened them from their sleeper state was Earth music, something they had heard from their childhoods (Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower").

This to me is pretty darn shocking as I've been thinking for a while now that the Final Five don't seem to be Cylons in the general sense. We've yet to see them interact in any meaningful way with machinery (though Anders was poised to place his hand into the operating goo about the base star) or indeed do anything that indicates that they are anything but human. Yes, Tory did seem to be preternaturally strong when she flung Cally across the airlock (and Gaius noted her strength during one of their trysts), Chief Tyrol seemed to heal pretty quickly from those blows to the head from Cally, and Anders was scanned by the Raider and recognized, but other than that they do appear to be human. Tigh's eye never regrew itself and they appear to age as normal humans would. In fact, Tigh has known Adama for decades, a fact that has yet to be clarified, given his status as a Cylon sleeper agent.

If these five are in fact from Earth, I still maintain that they were seeded into the timeline at different points in order to be aboard the Galactica when it entered the nebula. In fact, I think that there's someone or something that is pulling their strings for a greater purpose than just to spy on the fleet.

I raised a point last week that these four Cylon sleeper agents all played major roles in the human resistance movement on New Caprica during the Cylon occupation. If so, then my guess for the final Cylon model would have to be among others who also held major responsibility during this conflict. Kara is too much of a red herring and, while she must play a pretty spectacular role in the dark days ahead, she can't be the Final Model.

Which leads me to poor Felix Gaeta.

Gaeta played a pivotal role in Gaius Baltar's cabinet during the Cylon occupation on New Caprica but he was also a double agent for the human resistance, secretly passing them messages and classified intelligence without any one within the Colonials aware of his identity.
Like Athena and Anders, he somehow ended up on Kara's mission aboard the Demetrius in search of the fabled blue planet... and wound up getting injured (possibly mortally) when Anders shot him for attempting to spin up the FTL drive to return to the fleet against Kara's orders.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I think he's the final Cylon. He seems to be in the right places at the right time, has access to Kara, Adama, and Baltar at various times, played an influential (if furtive) role in the resistance, and Ander's attack seems to have put the spotlight on him in a way we haven't really seen during the series so far. Of course, that assumes that he'll survive the shooting, but Tigh lived through far worse (Cylons are notoriously resilient and tenacious) and lived to tell the tale, albeit with only one eye.

What do you think? Who is your best guess for the identity of the final Cylon and why? And who do you hope definitely isn't a sleeper agent?

On the next episode of Battlestar Galactica ("Guess What's Coming to Dinner"), Laura Roslin faces some new challenges as the Colonials form an alliance with rebel Cylon forces to unleash a devastating attack upon the Cylon Resurrection Hub.

Casting Couch: Universal Media Studios Casts Wide Net on Several Series

Just a day before network upfront presentations are scheduled to kick off, there has been a flurry of casting activity here in Hollywood.

Boston Legal's Saffron Burrows has joined the cast of NBC's drama series My Own Worst Enemy, starring Christian Slater and Mike O'Malley about a well-mannered family man Henry, whose alter ego Edward is a spy and all-around international man of mystery. Burrows will play Norah, Edward's girlfriend and Henry's psychiatrist.

Production on the first episode is slated to get under way soon. My Own Worst Enemy, from Universal Media Studios and writer/executive producer Jason Smilovic (Kidnapped), was ordered to series in April off of the pilot script; no pilot was shot.

Frances Fisher (In the Valley of Elah) has come aboard an eight-episode arc on the next season of Sci Fi's drama Eureka, where she will play Samantha Thorne, a corporate fixer assigned to clean up the mess at Global.

In a major casting coup, indie actor extraordinaire Eric Stoltz will join the cast of Battlestar Galactica spin-off prequel Caprica.

He'll play Daniel Greystone, the deeply flawed human creator of the Cylons, who finds himself in a moral battle with Joseph Adama (Esai Morales), the conflicted attorney father of the future Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos).

In the two-hour backdoor pilot, Stolz's character will be married to surgeon Amanda (Lost and Deadwood's Paula Malcomson); their daughter Zoe will be played by relative newcomer Alessandra Toressani.

Speaking of Caprica, executive producer David Eick will take over as showrunner on NBC's drama The Philanthropist--which itself was also, like My Own Worst Enemy, ordered to series directly off script--following the departure of Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, who had conflict with the network about the tone of the series: they wanted escapism, Fontana and Levinson gritty realism.

Either way, Eick definitely has his work cut out for him.

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); American Gladiators (NBC; 8-10 pm); Gossip Girl (CW); Dancing With the Stars (ABC; 8-9:30 pm); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/Rules of Engagement (CBS); One Tree Hill (CW); Samantha Who? (ABC; 9:30-10 pm); House (FOX)

10 pm: CSI Miami (CBS); Medium (NBC); The Bachelor: London Calling (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Gossip Girl.

The naughty teen soap continues tonight with a brand new episode! On tonight's episode ("Woman on the Verge"), Serena falls back into her old ways after revealing to Blair the real reason she left Manhattan; Blair, Nate, and Chuck must put aside their conflicts in order to help Serena, who is too ashamed to tell Dan what is actually going on; Rufus' band reunites for a gig at Rolling Stone-sponsored concert and he's surprised when Lily shows up, especially as it's the same night as her wedding rehearsal dinner.

Starbuck Takes the Road Less Travelled on "Battlestar Galactica"

Frak. I've gotten a lot of comments and emails from you all asking me why I haven't been discussing the latest season of Battlestar Galactica.

Was it because I haven't been enjoying this season? Or that it's become overtly religious in nature? Hardly, on either account. In fact, I've found myself completely enthralled by Battlestar Galactica, now in its fourth and final season, that I find it hard to stomach the wait, week to week, to find out what exactly is going on with the characters.

As for the allegations that this season's religious focus has been off putting, I couldn't disagree more. Religion has always played a major role in the mythology of the series, with its focus on a shadow war between the old gods of the humans and the Cylon's singular deity. Additionally, Battlestar has always worked best as a metaphor for the human condition, no matter what the era or planetary location. As it delves into the complex relationship between politics and war, so too does it investigate the link between war and religion. It only makes sense that, when faced with the survival of the human race, many of those men and women would turn to religion for comfort... and that Gaius Baltar would be there to manipulate and take advantage of the situation.

The transformation of Baltar from canny Cylon collaborator (responsible for the destruction of the Twelve Colonies) to political figurehead on New Caprica to war criminal and finally to Messianic figure has been not only warranted but damn impressive to watch. Now in his new role of proselytizer of the "One True God" (pushed along, of course, by the Six and Baltar in his head), he truly believes he is bringing salvation to the masses, telling them that God loves them because they are each of them perfect. Is it the only way that he too can survive by believing the word he is preaching?

In this week's episode of BSG ("The Road Less Travelled"), I was floored by the beauty and elegance of the scene between Baltar and Tyrol. After assaulting Baltar during a prayer meeting, Tyrol is on the brink of suicide; he has lost everything that made him human, from his wife Cally to the illusion that he was a member of the race he's been fighting to protect. Baltar wanted to shake his hand, to extend himself to his spiritual brother and makes a point to visit Tyrol in the barracks, reaching out to him even as Tyrol doesn't utter a single word. I was immensely moved when Tyrol does extend his hand to Baltar, especially given their history together.

It's that shared history that's interesting to me. All four of the newly revealed Cylon sleeper agents played crucial roles in the human resistance force back on New Caprica: Tyrol, Anders, and Tigh all were leaders within the movement and Tory worked closely with Roslin as well. Is that a coincidence that all four would actually be Cylons? Were they seeded there for that express purpose? Or were they rebelling against their true nature from the start? And what do we make of the tortured relationship between Caprica Six and Saul Tigh, who keeps envisioning his dead wife Ellen rather than Six? Curious.

On the other side of the universe, the Cylon themselves are splintering, finding themselves enmeshed in a deadly civil war. I was stunned to see Natalie remove the chips that had sublimated the free will of the Centurions... a move which led to out and out war when she ordered them to fire upon Brother Cavill, Doral, and Simon. (And how creepy is it that Boomer is sleeping with Brother Cavill? Shudder.) I was less surprised that Cavill wouldn't take this sitting down and engineered an ambush for Natalie's base star, attempting to kill them all outside of range of the nearest Resurrection Ship.

Meanwhile, Starbuck and her crew have been in search of Earth, a mission based on faith as much as Baltar's. While Starbuck's memories of the blue planet grow dimmer, there's mutiny breaking out among the crew of the Demetrius. I for one am glad to see that things aren't all sunshine and roses for these guys, pushed to the limit before the arrival of Leoben. She has assembled an interesting crew, especially as one of her members is a human-loyal Cylon (Athena), another is a Cylon sleeper agent (Anders), and somewhere on her ship may just be the first (but not the only) Cylon-human child, Hera. (Just where is Hera, one reader asked me; I'm hoping Athena and Helo looked into child care before departing on this likely suicide mission.)

Over the past few weeks, Kara has turned into a prophet, albeit a scary-looking, stringy-haired obsessive working off of little sleep these past few months; that she's compelled to find Earth by a series of inexplicable visions makes her a worthy counterpoint to Baltar. How far will she go to find Earth? And what lines is she prepared to cross--collaborating with the enemy, sacrificing her crew--in order to achieve that goal? And, even better yet, what will they find when they finally do get there?

It's not to say that this season hasn't been without its flaws. I haven't really been enjoying Lee's storyline this season, a departure in that the former Viper pilot has become a politician relishing in his new ability to rile up cancer-riding Laura Roslin by stirring up trouble in the Quorum. I get that Lee's stance at the end of last season, defending Baltar during his trial, left him with nowhere to go but I have a hard time believing that Lee would become so righteously indignant and give up flying for fighting for his constituents. Lee just doesn't seem like a politician to me and this storyline doesn't completely ring true, a real shame as Jamie Bamber is a fantastic actor who should be doing more on this series.

Alas, it's a rare misstep for a series as taut and challenging as this one. I'm incredibly intrigued by the Cylon Civil War storyline and by Leoben's request for a truce between his people and the humans. I'm beginning to think the best shot either of them has for survival is to stick together, especially if Kara Thrace really is the harbinger of death. Ultimately, I'm concerned that what will be waiting for them when they finally do reach Earth will be far worse than either race imagined. Then again, with Battlestar Galactica, it's always best to be careful what you wish for.

Next week on Battlestar Galactica ("Faith"), the crew of the Demetrius debates whether to accept Leoben's truce; Kara reaches the wounded Cylon Base Star, where she comes face to face with their hybrid who tells her that she will be the downfall of the human race.

Six of One: "Battlestar" Vixen Tricia Helfer Signs with FOX

Tricia Helfer is moving from Sci Fi to FOX.

The Battlestar Galactica beauty, who plays Cylon model Six (in a series of stunning red garments, electric blue dresses, and black prison garb), has signed a talent holding deal with the network.

Under the terms of the deal, Helfer will star in a series project for FOX, most likely a drama.

While most projects at FOX have either already been shot or are prepping, there are a few current pilots that would be a good fit for Helfer. I could see her broadening her appeal with a turn in mystery procedural Telling Lies (aka Untitled Sam Baum) or the currently casting thriller Inseparable, starring Toby Stephens as a paralyzed forensic detective who has an alter ego who is a dangerous criminal.

Then again, Kevin Reilly has announced that he'll be ordering a whole slew of pilots this summer, which will shoot far in advance of next May's upfronts, so there may be another project out there that will be lucky enough to land Helfer.

Helfer, who served as the host for the first season of Canada's Next Top Model, was cast last year in the FOX drama pilot Them for director Jonathan Mostow; there she played a member of an alien scouting group living on Earth. The pilot was rolled over to this development season and ultimately terminated. She currently appears in the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica on Sci Fi and will be seen on the big screen in the upcoming indie Walk All Over Me.

In other FOX news, Lost writer/executive producer Jeff Pinkner has signed on as showrunner on the highly anticipated fall drama Fringe, from executive producers J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman.

Pinkner is, of course, no stranger to the Bad Robot family of series. In addition to writing and producing duties on Lost, he also worked with Abrams on seminal ABC series Alias.

Talk Back: "Battlestar Galactica" Season Four Opener

Whew. It's been difficult NOT talking about those plot twists in Battlestar Galactica's stunning fourth season premiere ("He That Believeth In Me"), thanks to that pesky non-disclosure agreement I signed with Sci Fi.

Now that the episode aired on Friday (and, if you didn't watch it, shame on you for missing one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking series on television), we can talk specifics, so I am curious to see what some of your theories are about Starbuck's seemingly apparent return from the dead.

While Kara herself discusses all of the possible theories about her resurrection (clone, Cylon, brainwashed), there are a number of interesting clues that point to a larger conspiracy here. Her Viper isn't the one that she flew out into the maelstrom with in the first place; the part numbers are correct but the Viper doesn't have a single scratch on it and looks like it just came right off of the factory floor.

Which means someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble to set up Kara's return to the fleet, reconstruct her Viper down to the part numbers (who other than the flight crew had access to those facts), and then set her back among them after showing her Earth. It's that Earth bit that worries me as well; Kara says that she's seen the blue planet and knows how to get them there. Every jump further away from Earth is making her head hurt. But in BSG: Razor, the Hybrid is very clear about the prophecy: that Kara Thrace is a harbinger of doom for the human race. Hmmm. So what if getting to Earth isn't such a good thing after all, then? What if it's exactly what the Cylons want?

I'm also concerned that there are some space/time continuum elements at work here as well; last season showed the possibility that the avatar posing as Leoben, whom Kara was speaking with back in the episode "Maelstrom," had the ability to fold time onto itself, granting Kara the ability to reach closure with her dead mother by sending her back into the past for one final dialogue. (Either that, or they were able to make use of the Cylons' projection technology.)

"All this has happened before, and will happen again."

It's that oft-spoken line that makes me question whether Kara was plucked from her Viper moments before it exploded in the maelstrom and seeded into a later point in the timeline. For Starbuck, only a few hours have passed since she entered the maelstrom, while for the rest of the crew, several months have passed since her death. So is this the real Starbuck, just pulled out of the current timeline, shown Earth, and then sent back to a later point? If so, why send her back now? Why fake her death? What was gained by this little act of smoke and mirrors? And what has changed since then?

As for that last question, it's no coincidence to me that Kara's return happens at nearly the exact same time as the awakening of four of the final five Cylons, each sleeper agents within the Colonial Fleet. While I think she's a red herring for the crucial final model, I do think she's connected to these Cylon agents and her return was planned for specifically this key moment. And for what happens next, that's anyone's guess.

How great was it to see Lee's reaction to Starbuck being alive? And the notion that, no matter what she ends up being, Kara is back in his life and that's what matters. Pity the same can't be said about Anders; I was chilled by Kara's comment that if she found out that Anders was actually a Cylon she'd blow his head off. Telling words coming from her and a sign that Anders isn't very likely to confess these Cylon feelings he's feeling inside to her anytime soon...

So what are your thoughts about Kara's return? And your predictions about the dark days to come? Talk back here.

Next on Battlestar Galactica ("Six of One"), Starbuck desperately wants to convince the others that they are going the wrong way, but is the answer really pulling a gun on your cancer-ridden president? Meanwhile, the Cylons learn that the Final Five are in the Colonial fleet and there's conflict brewing among the Cylons, some of whom want Cavil to stop lobotomizing the Raider ships. Just what does this signify? Find out Friday night.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad (NBC); Gossip Girl (CW); Dancing With the Stars (ABC; 8-9:30 pm); House (FOX)

9 pm: Deal or No Deal (NBC); One Tree Hill (CW); Samantha Who? (ABC; 9:30-10 pm); New Amsterdam (FOX);

10 pm: CSI Miami (CBS); Medium (NBC); The Bachelor: London Calling (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Gossip Girl.

It's another chance to catch up on the teen soap. On tonight's repeat episode ("School Lies"): the kids break into the school swimming pool and someone nearly drowns; Dan and Serena find themselves at odds over the gang's pact to protect the mastermind behind the party a secret; Vanessa's documentary project captures proof of Blair of Chuck's tryst; Lily debates whether or not to tell Rufus how she feels about him.