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.

If you have already seen Friday’s amazing Battlestar Galactica episode, The Hub, then you might enjoy this humorous YouTube clip based on the episode. I know I did! If you have not already seen The Hub, however, do NOT click this link as you will definitely be spoiled!

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.

Looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift for your favorite BSG fan?  Check out this mint-condition Battlestar Galactica lunch box, which comes with the thermos and depicts the classic Cylons going to war on the lid.

The set is available from a company in Great Britain that sells childhood collectibles, and the current price is approximately $154.47 USD (not including shipping).  If that is a bit out of your budget, then they also sell the thermos separately for approximately $40.00 USD. 

And if that is still too pricey, you can always check out some of the tees that have been featured as the BSG T-Shirt of the Week.  Paul at ToyBender has several interesting posts on BSG toys as well, on the off chance that your recipient would prefer something he can hold instead of something he can wear. 

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.

There is so much news going on right now, I don’t know where to start!

First of all, there will (probably) be two more Battlestar Galactica telemovies, but very few details are available yet.  They will be about events that have happened in the past, like Razor, but what events and who they will focus on is largely still a mystery.  I will definitely have more details in the weeks and months to come, but for now let’s just enjoy the news that more BSG is on the horizon.

Next, Ron Moore has a new interview with Wired magazine that contains this disturbing quote:

Wired: Since then, have you written yourselves into any corners?

Moore: Some of that is happening right now as we wrap up the show. It’s like, OK, what did that mean, exactly? How do we get out of this?

Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary has a long post about “Gaeta’s Lament,” the song that is very important to Friday’s episode.  He also confirms that this song, and many of the other ideas that have worked their way into this season, were ideas that were formed during after hours of drinking.

Katee Sackhoff has been cast as a doctor on a four-episode story arc of the bawdy plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck.  If you have seen that show, you know that Katee’s extensive experience doing sex scenes on Battlestar may come in handy.  Unless, of course, sister guest star Morgan Fairchild beats her to it.

The first United States promo for Life on Mars is out, and you can see a brief glimpse of Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen at the 2:06 minute mark.

Michelle Forbes brought her sexy self to the season finale of Lost, playing a pivotal role in the Oceanic Six story line.

Be sure to look for Callum Keith Rennie (Leoban) in the recently released trailer for X-Files 2: I Want to Believe.

There’s a lot more to cover, but we have time to catch our breaths as there are two weeks before the next episode.  If you are looking for something to help you pass the time, check out this “Faith” recap quiz over at GeekSugar.

Not a Cylon-style dream vision, but a new role that involves viewing things from behind the camera … instead of in front of it, where the two actors usually find themselves when it comes to Battlestar Galactica.

In the next year there will also be ten new BSG mini-webisodes, and they will be directed by Jamie Bamber (Lee “Apollo” Adama) and James Callis (Gaius Baltar).  Each actor will direct five episodes each, and it is not yet clear if they will share the same plot line of if the webisodes will be dealing with separate times and characters.

Jamie talked about the project a wee bit when he was a guest on the ShaunOMac show Friday night, but for the most part details on this are TBD. 

By the way, I was a guest on Shaun’s show last night and we had some interesting discussions with callers about the way the season is developing … and that infamous Last Supper photo.  You can listen to recordings of both shows on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Oh Hulu, why have you forsaken us?  For weeks now you have faithfully shown us the new Battlestar Galactica episodes, and now you have taken away the light.  You leave us in darkness, waiting for the moment when you choose to share BSG with us again.

Is it a Fleet approved torture technique, taking away our BSG just when we have allowed ourselves to become dependent on you?  Or perhaps Leoban schooled you to find our weakness and exploit it?

Either way, you leave us without Guess What’s Coming to Dinner for far too long.  Sure, you posted a new schedule, but can we trust you now?  Has our relationship been ruined?  Or can you regain our trust and our faith?

“Guess What’s Coming for Dinner Part 1″
Airs 5/16/08 - Available on Hulu 5/25/08

“Guess What’s Coming for Dinner Part 2″
Airs 5/30/08 - Available on Hulu 6/7/08

“Sine Qua Non”
Airs 6/6/08 - Available on Hulu 6/14/08

“The Hub”
Airs 6/13/08 - Available on Hulu 6/21/08

Like the revelation of the final Cylon, I guess we will just have to wait to find out.

According to TV Guide, Katee Sackhoff was virtually a lock for a steady role on the mega-hit show CSI … until the producers changed their mind at the last minute.  What happened?  The official word was that Katee was just not right for the role, but one has to wonder if Bionic Woman tanked her chances.

Katee won rave reviews for her portrayal of Sarah Corvus, Jaime’s bionic nemesis on Bionic Woman.  But many people felt she overpowered her costars and stole the scenes simply by using her natural charisma. 

It is possible that her potential CSI costars worried she would overpower them on the procedural drama, especially since she has a proven ability to make even the most technical dialogue worth watching on Battlestar Galactica? 

There is a vast difference between Galactica and BW, of course, especially since the cast of BSG includes Academy Award nominees Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell.  Nothing against Will Yun Lee or Michelle Ryan, but EJO and MM are simply in a class of their own.  And nothing against William Peterson and Marg Helgenberger, but Katee’s charisma beats the pants off Jorja Fox any day.

We have no doubt that someone will soon realize the brilliance that is Katee, and cast her in something worthy of her talents.  In the meantime Katee-Sackhoff.org is reporting that she will be back on Jimmy Kimmel at the end of May.  Her last performance was pretty memorable, so if you are in the area and would like to try to get tickets, click here.

ABC gave Life on Mars, Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen, a fabulous time for the fall.  The remake of the critically acclaimed BBC show will air on Thursdays at 9 CST, right after ratings titan Grey’s Anatomy. 

Life on Mars is the network’s only new scripted show for the fall as well, which pretty much guarantees the show (and hopefully Stephanie) will receive great media attention and publicity.

But everything is not golden yet.  As Katee Sackhoff learned with Bionic Woman, even a great pedigree and a great time slot can’t guarantee success.  There are already a few warning signs that the show may have some of Bionic’s problems, as insiders admit the pilot is more serious than they would like (this was a huge criticism of the Bionic pilot). 

Also producers from a character-driven soap have been brought in to take over Life on Mars.  It was announced earlier this week that the producers of October Road are supposed to humanize Life, in the same way Jason Katims from Friday Night Lights was supposed to strengthen the characters on Bionic Woman.

Hopefully the similarities between the show’s fates will end there, as it would be great to see more people discover Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen … and another quality show is always a welcome addition to the world around here.

Stephanie’s new horror movie, currently known as “Untitled Gehennis Project” is now is post production.  The movie stars a huge cast that includes Cuba Gooding Jr. and is directed by Jason Connery.  If all goes as planned the movie will have an official title in the next few months and a release date in 2009.