Battlestar Galactica

Check out this charming video from inde darlings and Battlestar Galactica fans the Old 97’s, which features Number Six Tricia Helfer as the unattainable object of geek desire.

“Dance With Me” is a geek fantasy, with the guild-obsessed main character kicking booty throughout a curiously empty yet overstaffed nightclub looking for the real-life version of his favorite cylon.  All while wearing a “Frack Me” tee, of course.  Oh, and the guy has an inhaler.

The best line is at the beginning:  “Dude, I’m telling you, I am the only level 30 alchemist in the entire guild.”  Anybody know what game he is talking about, by the way? 

The song has been described as a “spontaneous tango spread across the floor of a dusty Texas bar” and it is crazy catchy.  Tricia looks amazing, of course, in a yellow chiffon mini dress which swings with her movements.  If you are a Tricia fan, or even if you are not, the clip is worth a gander. 

According to Tricia’s official site, she is friends with the bands lead singer Rhett Miller which is how the combination came about.  And Rhett apparently likes to return the favor and promote BSG as well, even when he isn’t asked about Tricia.  But relax, shippers:  they are both happily married to other people. 

The professional joining has paid off, however, as the video has gotten positive attention and is apparently now in the rotation on VH1.  It was also fairly popular on YouTube for a while, and will hopefully gain more momentum over the summer.

Memorial Day Weekend is the official start of summer, and for the second year in a row we are celebrating with the Battlestar Galactica Swimsuit Edition of WatchingBSG.  Last year’s edition was one of my first posts after I took over this blog, and given the amount of traffic I still get from that picture of Jamie Bamber in the towel it is only appropriate that we do it again in Summer 2008.

There were plenty of images to choose from this year, because scifi stars and skin magazines have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for decades.  Long before Jane Fonda put on her famous bikini for Barbarella, the women of pop culture’s more geeky fascinations have been willing to bring in new fans by plying old poses.  And by old, I mean the “oldest profession” … but that does not mean we don’t like to look anyway.

As with last year’s swimsuit editions, volume one and volume two, not all of these outfits are technically swimwear … but given the skin and the sex appeal involved I am pretty sure you won’t mind too terribly much.  If you are offended, or if you love it, please do not hesitate to post below.

This year’s edition features Battlestar Galactica Cylons Grace Park, Lucy Lawless, Michael Trucco, and Tricia Helfer … and fleet pilots/Cylon speculation favorites Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, and Tahmoh Penikett.  We also have Gaius Baltar follower and religious cult member Keegan Connor Tracy, in all of her bikini glory.

This weekend Canada celebrates the Leo Awards, the event that celebrates outstanding work in British Columbia film and television.  While Battlestar Galactica is not nominated (anybody know why?  I assume it does not qualify for some reason), two of its stars are up for two awards in the acting categories.

Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) is nominated for his performance in Normal and Tricia Helfer (Number Six) is nominated for her dominatrix role in Walk All Over Me.  Both films received several nominations, and are supposed to be worth checking out.

Callum and Tricia’s acting categories will be presented tomorrow night at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Keep your fingers crossed they win - or at least show up for the party!   Hopefully both stars will attend, in which case I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Edit: Tricia and Kandyse McClure (Dee) will be presenting, so come back here in a few days for an update.

Tricia Helfer was in New York this past weekend for the NBC Universal Experience, a party held at Rockefeller Center in celebration of the network’s upcoming shows.  The Universal Television family of networks includes the SciFi Channel, home of Battlestar Galactica.

Upfronts parties are not only a celebration of new and returning network shows, they are also an opportunity for large advertisers and influential media buyers to party with the eye candy that stars on the show.  Given that underlying purpose it is no wonder Universal chose Number Six to represent the BSG cast and crew.  Well, that and Tricia is reportedly very nice and charming in person - even among the many stars in attendance, we have no doubt Tricia could hold her own.

Other celebrities in attendance included Brooke Shields of Lipstick Jungle, Ali Larter from Heroes, Tina Fey of 30 Rock, Zachary Levi of Chuck, Alison Sweeney of Days of Our Lives and The Biggest Loser, Jenna Fischer from The Office, Jane Krakowski from 30 Rock, Minka Kelly from Friday Night Lights, Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order: SVU, Kathy Griffin from My Life on the D List, Jimmy Fallon (who will be replacing Conan O’Brien), various Trumps, Sam Waterson from Law & Order, Tim Gunn from Project Runway, and many many others. 

It was definitely a night to see and be seen, so kudos to Tricia for landing an invite to that glitterati party.  In addition to starring in BSG, Tricia will have a significant story arc on USA this summer when she plays a CIA handler on Burn Notice.

Tricia Helfer loves cats.  So it should be no surprise that she appears in the latest campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and pleads with her fans to treat their cats, and all animals, with dignity and respect. 

The new campaign is called Be An Angel for Animals, and it features various beautiful stars with their furry friends.  Tricia’s costar for the shoot is a handsome male named Mr. Nix, who is lucky enough to be Tricia’s costar at home as well.  Tricia has six cats in all, and has appeared in cat lover magazines as well as Playboy and Maxim.  Mr. Nix is a rescue cat, in keeping with PETA’s campaign to encourage people to rescue animals rather than purchase them from pet stores or breeders.

“I really just thought that this campaign ‘Angels for Animals’ is something that I feel is a good message to get out there,” Tricia said.  “That they are part of the family and you should treat them as part of the family.”

The site for the Angels for Animals campaign also includes some new video footage of Tricia taken at the photo shoot, and Tricia’s candid plea for people to treat animals more kindly.  She states that wearing fur is “ridiculous” and expresses her dismay that her home country of Canada still allows the clubbing of baby seals.

“I just don’t think you should ever hurt an animal,” Tricia says.  “You wouldn’t do it to you, so why would you do it them?  They’ve got little souls, and little hearts, and little minds, and they are precious.”

Tricia also offers her opinions about how Number Six would handle animal cruelty:

“She’s physically very strong, so she would probably smash someone’s head into the wall,” laughs Tricia.  “She would probably do to them what they were doing to the animal.” 

This is not a new cause for Tricia, who has been donating the proceeds from TriciaHelfer.com to animal causes for years.  She also auctions off rare finds from the BSG photo archives and donates the proceeds to cat rescues and other animal related charities.

The promotions for the Be An Angel for Animals campaign include giveaways for the first three seasons of Battlestar Galactica on DVD, as well as a DVD of the movie Razor.  If you would like to enter click the link above, which will also tell you more about PETA and how you can get involved if you feel inclined.

Reviews have Al Pacino’s new movie 88 Minutes have been savagely negative, but there is one reason for Battlestar Galactica fans to go see it anyway: it features a “naked and limber” Leah Cairns. So if you liked that sports-bra strip poker scene with Racetrack and Anders in “Six of One,” then this may be the movie for you.

TV Addict got a serious scoop this week that includes serious Caprica spoilers, including some an excerpt from the words written for Joseph Adama in the current version of the script.

TVByTheNumbers.com has the ratings for the first three episodes of Season Four of Battlestar Galactica, which are looking pretty good all things considered.

Tricia Helfer (Number Six) and Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) are both nominated for Leo Awards this year. Callum is nominated for the ensemble drama Normal, while Tricia is nominated for her well-reviewed dominatrix heist movie Walk All Over Me.

Callum will be answering forum questions about his movie Snow Cake in connection to the launch of the First Weekend Club, a DVD club for fans of movies made in Canada.

Brent Spiner, aka Data of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Nicki Clyne had a cute exchange at FedCon last weekend:

Brent Spiner (STTNG): “I just wanted to say how proud I am of the work we do on Battlestar Galactica.” (Note: he’s not in the series and apparently doesn’t even know it)

Nicki Clyne (BSG): “It is so much fun working with Brent Spiner, the show wouldn’t be the same without him.”

Len Neighbors has posted volume three of So Say We All: The Battlestar Galactica Blog Carnival. Most of the posts focus on last week’s episode, “The Ties That Bind” and include serious spoilers so do not click through if you have not seen the episode yet.

If you have seen the episode, be sure to check out the latest strip from webcomic Frakking Toasters, which accurately displays a lot of fans’ feelings about Cally Tyrol. Thanks to Jatg of Battlestar Blog for the head’s up.

If you have not seen the beach-bunny-in-leather-styled photos of Tricia Helfer, Katee Sackhoff, and Grace Park in this month’s Interview magazine yet, then FashionArtEdit is happy to help you out.

This is an interesting list of twenty moments where Battlestar Galactica characters have contemplated suicide.

On the lighter side, check out this bizarre 2006 clip of Nicki Clyne donning elf/alien ears as part of the web series Tiki Bar TV.

The cool Cylon photo above is courtesy of Mechazilla, the obsessive fan collector’s site. Speaking of courtesy, I sincerely appreciate everyone being patient with me this week while I have been posting sparsely and falling behind, we had a family medical emergency and I have been spending a lot of time with doctors who are (probably) not Cylons.

Tonight is a new episode of Battlestar Galactica … if you watch the preview above and can’t wait for it to come on the air, then there will be plenty of chances to watch the episode today on the SciFi Channel web site.  I don’t know about you, but I definitely plan on checking Nicki Clyne’s blog this weekend because it looks like she has a major role in this episode.

Hulu has a new clip of various Battlestar cast and crew members talking about the end of the series, which is available below, but I would not watch it if you are actively avoiding spoilers.

There are still a few more hours to leave your questions for Michael Trucco (Anders) and Rekha Sharma (Tory) over on the scifi.com forums.  The chosen questions will be answered via video blog, in a continuation of the series of video blogs that the SciFi Channel has been releasing for Season Four of Battlestar Galactica.

If you did not get to attend the amazing concerts this weekend featuring Bear McCreary’s Battlestar music, there are plenty of recaps to be found around the Internet.  The Hollywood Reporter had high praise for the show, and anointed Bear McCreary’s blog “one of the best in the business.”

The Boston Herald has a new interview with Tricia Helfer, where she talks a bit about the final Cylon and how Head Six was her least favorite version of Six to play in Season Four.

Check out this enjoyable list from Lisa Paitz Spindler of thirteen enjoyable things about Battlestar Galactica.  Meanwhile Gaius Baltar makes this list of Top Ten Screen Traitors, and rightly so. 

And speaking of lists, Mary McDonnell and Michelle Forbes are rightfully included on Maureen Ryan’s list of amazing actresses who look their age and still look beautiful.  There have been several articles written this week about how the Hollywood obsession with plastic surgery is harming the audience’s ability to connect with certain characters and shows.  While it is not easy to make fun of someone’s efforts to improve their appearance, I am glad critics are finally speaking up about the fact that too much plastic surgery can actually harm the audience’s ability to care about a main character … it is hard to worry too much about plastic, after all.

Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer joined William Shatner on Jay Leno’s couch last night as a guest on The Tonight Show, giving a fun and funny interview and deftly balancing Jay and Bill’s competitions for her attention. 

She also flirted with Jay a bit, acting hurt that he did not remember their kiss from last fall’s Harley Davidson Love Ride event.

“You know you are giving me a complex, because most boys that I kiss remember me …” 

Tricia also discussed her happy marriage, her Harley, her Playboy spread, and a bit about Battlestar Galactica but nothing that even casual fans have not heard before.

Tricia did not discuss her big news from last week, her one year holding deal with Fox Television.  The network will cast Tricia in a new show, probably a drama, but no additional details are available at this time.  It’s bittersweet news as Fox is not knowing for keeping new shows very long, but Tricia is a phenomenal actress and the more people who get to discover that the better.

Tricia Helfer is going to be on The Tonight Show this Friday, April 11, 2008. She will also be on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson next week, on April 15.  Fans of Six, set your TiVos!

TV Guide talks about season four of BSG in its latest issue, labeling the final journey of the fleet as a Cylon-apalooza.  The accompanying story contains some minor spoilers about what is in store for the first ten episodes of this season, and much speculation about the final model.

When the Wired story on season four resurrected Aaron Douglas’ old vow to never utter “frak” on camera, the good fans at the Chief’s Deck went back and busted the boy for the potty mouth he really is … and then redeemed him shortly after, pointing out the related quote was from Season One and the Chief did not start throwing frak around until Season Two.  Good detective work, folks, especially considering The Chief bellows BSG’s signature curse word twice before the opening credits in the season four premiere.

Scott Ian from Anthrax has posted his thoughts on “He That Believeth In Me” over on his new, official BSG blog on SciFi.com.  It’s a very enjoyable post, although I got stuck on the phrase “If I’m wrong, hire Apollo to sue me.”  I know the Colonial culture is eroding with each passing soul, but surely they still require someone to have a bit of formal legal training before they take on clients?  Or perhaps since there is still no money it does not matter either?

Adama and Roslin shippers are very happy about this episode, especially due to the background photograph that is clearly visible in this screencap up on Battlestar Blog.  Warning, do not click through if you have not seen the episode yet!

Leo Chiang, the tattooed pilot from Galactica’s reserves, may not have been there for the big battle in “He That Believeth In Me” … but he did get to eat some great food after wrapping The Day The Earth Stood Still.  Check out Leo’s pics from the party, which were kindly posted on his blog.

Just in case you have not seen it yet, here is a clip of the Top Ten List from last week’s Late Show With David Letterman entitled “Top Ten Reasons to Watch The New Season of Battlestar Galactica.”

Each number on the list was recited by a member of the BSG cast, appearing in their character’s costume, which added to the fun.  The actors and actresses on the list were, in order of appearance, Aaron Douglas, Lucy Lawless, James Callis, Grace Park, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, Mary McDonnell, and Edward James Olmos.

If you don’t have the time or the technology to watch the clip, a text version of the List is below … it was a lot of fun, even if the audience did not seem to truly “get it.”

Number Ten, Chief Tyrol:  “In the dramatic season opening episode, we save fifteen percent by switching our insurance to Geico.”

Number Nine, D’Anna Biers:  “You’ll find out who’s in the hatch, and who gets off the island - crap, wrong show.”  In my opinion Lucy did a pretty good job with this one, which was awkward to read … and she did not even blink when Dave mispronounced her name “Diana.”

Number Eight, Dr. Baltar:  “My character creates his own line of Honey Roasted Space Nuts.”

Number Seven, Lt. Sharon Valleri:  “What else are you going to do, read a book?”

Number Six, Number Six:  “There’s a good chance you get to see me naked.”

Number Five, Col. Saul Tigh:  “There’s a good chance you’ll see me naked.”  Be sure to watch Tricia crack up behind him during the deadpan delivery.

Number Four, Captain Lee Adama:  “New FTL drives will allow the colonial fleet to better adjust to gravitational variations and achieve maximum superluminal travel to outrun the pursuing Cylon basestar - I don’t know what the hell I am talking about.”

Number Three, Starbuck:  “We engaged in a life and death battle against evil robots … you know, same $&#@ as last year.”

Number Two, President Laura Roslin:  “I take on the most challenging task of my political career - doing a lame top ten list on a third rate talk show.”

Number One, Admiral William Adama:  “Watch me lead us into war against the Cylons, without an exit strategy.”

As promised, here are some more photos of various Battlestar Galactica stars at the SciFi Channel Upfront party that was held last week in New York.

Edward James Olmos, Jamie Bamber, Katee Sackhoff, Tricia Helfer, James Callis, Grace Park, David Eick, Aaron Douglas, Michael Hogan and many others were on site for the festivities, which were held at the MorganLibrary on March 18, 2008.

Jamie Bamber wore yet another dashing suit, and Mary McDonnell once again proved she looks gorgeous in gold.  Aaron Douglas channeled his inner hipster with a striped on striped ensemble, and Grace Park looked great in a sapphire dress.

While both Tricia Helfer and Katee Sackhoff wore the traditional little black dress, both actresses stood out with their choices of accessories.  Katee has a known preference for solid colors, but she broke out of the mold a bit by wearing gold shoes below her black skirt. Tricia was typically statuesque, wearing accessories that emphasized her body rather than her clothes.

Other SciFi Channel stars in attendance included Stargate’s Amanda Tapping, Eureka’s Salli Richardson, Jordan Hinson, and Erica Cerra (who is also known for her multi-episode role as Maya on BSG), and many others.  Network president Bonnie Hamer was also at the event.

The big news from last week’s upfront was the announcement that Ms. Hamer had finally agreed to Caprica, the prequel series that is described as “Dallas in Space.”  Watch this blog for more information on that new show in the weeks and months to come.

The luck of the Irish spilled over a couple of days, as we are lucky enough to get to see these fun photos outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York where the cast of Battlestar Galactica taped a Top Ten list for the Late Show With David Letterman. 

Today we bring you a few more pictures of the cast in New York, both before and after their appearances on the show.  The picture at the left shows BSG stars Grace Park, Katee Sackhoff, and Tricia Helfer after their appearance on the show. 

Tricia had initially arrived in full Six gear, wearing the white wig and red dress, and Grace entered the building in her fleet uniform.  Katee appears to have arrived in civilian clothing, much like Jamie Bamber who wore a dashing suit.

While you can’t see it in the photo to the left, Katee has a giant animal print bag on her arm that is even larger than Tricia’s chic black bag in this photo.  If anyone knows who makes the bag please let me know, as I have already had a couple people ask.

Also if anyone was at the taping, I would love to know the story behind the photo of Nicki Clyne, who plays Cally Tyrol.  It looks like she is doing a curtsy, but perhaps this is some sort of sobriety test parody?  Either way, the photo begs for some context!

There are more photos of the various Battlestar Galactica stars in before and after garb below, and of course be sure to check out yesterday’s post for more images.

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After taping their appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman yesterday, Battlestar Galactica sirens Katee Sackhoff, Tricia Helfer, and Grace Park got all dressed up to party with the SciFi Network at the official upfronts party in New York.

The big news from today’s upfronts is that the rumors about Caprica being greenlit have turned out to be true!  As always, the folks over at GalacticaSitRep.com have the scoop. 

Apparently the show will launch with a two hour movie this fall, Battlestar Galactica style, with the option to become a longer series.  The plan to delve into life on Caprica fifty years ago and explore the origins of the Cylons is still in place.

Photos from tonight’s party are still being posted on our wire company’s web site, as the party was tonight at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. 

Be sure to check back soon for more photos of the ladies from the event, and of Edward James Olmos.  Hopefully some of the other cast members who were on Letterman will be featured in the photos as well.

Check out these adorable pictures of the cast of Battlestar Galactica as they enter the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York to tape the Top Ten List for tomorrow night’s Late Show with David Letterman tribute. The list will be BSG-themed, with each cast member reading one of the lists’ famous one-line jokes.

The photo above shows BSG stars Michael Hogan (Col. Saul Tigh), Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar), and Aaron Douglas (The Chief) outside the famed theater. We also see a grinning Grace Park (Sharon “Athena” Agathorn) entering the theater in her BSG uniform, while Jamie Bamber is wearing a suit - a contrast that is consistent with the fourth season promotional photos (as well as some of the early spoilers).

Some of the pictures showed Aaron Douglas and Michael Hogan in uniform as well, while Edward James Olmos (Admiral Bill Adama) wore a Battlestar Galactica pullover and many of the other stars wore street clothes. Whether those photos were taken before or after the show was filmed, however, is not always clear.

Below is a collection of photos from outside the theater, including a great photo of Edward James Olmos & Michael Hogan, and a shot of Katee Sackhoff (Kara “Starbuck” Thrace) carrying a ginormous zebra striped bag over her shoulder while signing autographs for fans. Tricia Helfer arrived in full Six regalia, including her famous white wig and killer red dress.

There is also a cuddly photo of Aaron Douglas with Nicki Cline, who plays his wife Cally. Nicki was not among the cast members listed by the SciFi Channel as appearing on the Late Show, so it is not clear if she was there to cheer on the cast or if she is making a surprise appearance.

In an interesting coincidence, Rainn Wilson from The Office was also on the scene at the same time as the BSG cast. Could the list contain a “Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica” reference?

Big news for Battlestar Galactica fans:  new and sexy photos of Tricia Helfer, Katee Sackhoff, and Grace Park will be in the April 2008 issue of GQ. 

Tricia fans will also want to pick up a copy of the April 2008 issue of Paw Prints magazine, as the animal loving actress appears with her cats in its pages … or if you prefer a less wholesome look, Tricia will be on the cover of the U.K. version of FHM that month as well.

Tickets are on sale for Bear McCreary’s potentially legendary concert at Los Angeles’ Roxy Theatre.  The one-night-only event will feature the vocalist from the show’s version of “All Along the Watchtower” that was featured in the show’s Season Three finale.  Members of the cast and crew will also be present, although no names have been released yet.  It’s no secret that the music is one of the reasons that Battlestar Galactica is so haunting, so don’t miss your chance to hear it live and conducted by Bear himself.

The folks behind The CKR Files have been busy accumulating every bit of press by or about Callum Keith Rennie, including an entertaining interview from 2001 where he says “Sex” in response to “What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday.” 

On a more human note, they also posted a cool excerpt from an interview where Hugh Dillon credited Callum with giving him some courage - and his car - when the actor was trying to decide whether to go to the Sundance Film Festival for what would turn out to be an award-winning performance in Down to the Bone.