The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 83

TELEVISION RADIO CALENDAR E33 LOSANGELESTIMES NEW EPISODES SUNDAYS AT 9 PM To subscribe to HBO call 1-888-426-3309 or log on to HBO.com AOL Keyword: HBO Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. and SM are service marks of Home Box Office, Inc. IS NOW BOILING Howard News Service MESMERIZING Guide FASCINATING Washington Times BRACE YOURSELF Sun-Times RIVETING Post-Intelligencer By Kevin Crust Times Staff Writer Ignoring the trend in Hollywood to recycle TV shows as campy movie caricatures, the new Sci Fi Channel series tlestar takes the title, the basic premise and a handful of character names from the short-lived and embarks in an entirely different direction. The original program featured a nomadic space colony, led by the Galactica, looking for anew home on the mythical planet Earth.

It was fairly silly but had a memorable one-season run on ABC in 1978-79, followed by an entirely forgettable lower-budgeted syndicated reincarnation, Despite being an obvious knockoff, generated good ratings, but it was simply too expensive for series television. When Sci Fi aired a new four-hour miniseries in December 2003 bearing the brand nameand starring Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, enough of the original loyal fans tuned in to make it ahit, begetting the new series. Relieved of the usual burden of exposition, the premiere episode wastes no time in picking up where the miniseries (recently rebroadcast on NBC) left off. The colonies have been destroyed and Commander Adama (Olmos) and President Roslin (McDonnell) lead a convoy of space vessels populated by the last 50,000 human beings. They are pursued by the Cylons, vicious cybernetic robots who rebelled against and nearly extinguished their human creators.

The Cylons have evolved intoa breed who appear human and in some cases are programmed to believe they are human. In the first of two episodes airing tonight, the crew of the Galactica has been awake for more than 130 hours as the fleet makes instantaneous changes in location every 33 minutes to stay ahead of the Cy- lons. The Olympic Carrier, a passenger ship carrying 1,300 people a cache of nukes is ap- parentlyleft behind during one of the jumps. Once it is determined that Cylons may have in- filtrated the Olympic, Adama and Roslin mustdeal with a serious ethical dilemma. In second episode, Lt.

Sharon Valerii, a.k.a. Boomer, played by the very appealing Grace Park, discovers that she may have been responsible for the sabotage of the water supply. James Callis also makes his presence felt as the weaselly Gaius Baltar, a scientist and advisor to the president. After being seduced into helping the Cylons by the intoxicating Number Six (Tricia Helfer), Bal- tar carrieson an internal dialogue with Six, who has literally gotten inside his head, while doling out dubious counsel to President Roslin. One criticismof the new version by fans of the original was the change of gender for Star- buckand Boomer.

Originally a sort of Han Solo lite, Starbuck has been transformed into a tough-talking young blond woman, now played by Katee Sackhoff. She is still best pilot, but being a woman certainly changes the dynamic between her and the son, her flight partner and best friend, Apollo (Jamie Bamber). In fact, all of the characters and relationships are deepened in the new show. Far more serious in tone, Sci greatly improves upon the bad scripts and wooden acting of the original show (which, admittedly, is part of its charm for some people). The show could use a little more humor, and that may come as supporting players step into more prominent roles, but the first several episodes bode well for a series that should eventually win over fans, old and new.

REVIEW A worthy of its loyal fans Forgoing camp for sci-fi substance, the series returns. The Cylons are back too, armed with a new bag of (evil) tricks. Where: SciFi Channel When: 9 p.m. Ratings: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children with strong advisory for violence and language) Jamie Bamber Adama Mary McDonnell Laura Roslin Edward James Olmos Adama Executive producersDavid Eick, Ronald D. Moore.

Writer Ronald D. Moore. Carole Segal Sci Fi Channel POWER: Edward James Olmos returns as Commander Adama. Pick upyour life on Thursdays. TH ALTERNATIVE Southern guide to offbeat urban adventures.

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