Two series return this week with fresh episodes for their faithful cliques of fans, who have proven twice again that buzz conquers all.
The combined audience for “The Tudors” on Showtime and “Battlestar Galactica” on SciFi wouldn't even equal that of “Jericho,” which aired its last episode on CBS last week. CBS executives said the show's fan base wasn't large enough, but I suspect the fact that “Jericho” never achieved the coolness quotient of other thrillers like “24” or “Lost” had something to do with it.
(This is a common problem over at CBS -- pounding square ideas into round holes. Just last week, the network seemingly scored a coup with Britney Spears' guest appearance on “How I Met Your Mother,” but all the blogs wanted to talk about was why CBS would cast the openly gay Neil Patrick Harris as an insatiable ladies' man.)
“Jericho's” Skeet Ulrich and Lennie James didn't prove to be as yummy to the people who design magazine covers as did Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, the lanky and lusty Henry VIII on “The Tudors,” or the cast members of “Battlestar Galactica,” many of whom passed up Britney on the hotness chart years ago.
Other than their demographics and shared place on the calendar, there's not much in common between “The Tudors,” a glimmering period piece with a storyline as old as Shakespeare that is starting what looks like a long run on pay cable; and “Battlestar,” a metaphor-laden serial set in the future that will sign off for good after this season, its fourth on basic cable.
I know of readers who have been eagerly awaiting the return of the latest King of England, but I'm not one of them. I am, however, curious to see how the endgame of this version of “Battlestar” turns out.
In fact, I could make the case that your time would be better spent joining “Battlestar Galactica” in progress than it would be dropping in on “The Tudors,” a show vitamin-fortified this season with Peter O'Toole (here's a stretch: he's playing the Pope) but still lacking that secret ingredient that can rejuvenate a tired old tale of sexual and political conquest.
Unfortunately, David Letterman's writers stole my idea of doing a Top 10 list of reasons to watch “Battlestar,” though I doubt I would've gotten cast members to help me out like Letterman did. (No. 10: “In the dramatic season opening episode, we save 15 percent by switching our insurance to Geico.”)
So I'll have to persuade you the old-fashioned way: by getting you up to speed with the show.
Even when Lorne Greene was presiding over the ABC version 30 years ago, “Battlestar” was, and remains, an odyssey back to Earth by a ragtag bunch of humans who have survived the near-annihilation of their race and seek refuge on the faraway planet of their origin.
What's distinctive about the SciFi version is that in addition to the usual features of the genre --a vast labrythine galaxy and a ruthless enemy with superior power -- “Battlestar” includes genuinely compelling interaction among its key players; long-running storylines that parallel recent events in American history, notably the War on Terror; and a nifty “Animal Farm” twist in the decision to embed the enemy, known as Cylons, among the humans, using knockoffs that could pass undetected down to the DNA.
These fleshbots were the ultimate payback, since Cylons were developed and perfected by these same mortals before rebelling. (Think of that the next time you download a software upgrade for your iPhone. One day it might be using you to order sushi.)
Much has been made of the ripped-from-the-headlines feel of the show: the decision whether to use torture or even suicide attackers to advance worthy goals; the effectiveness of occupation; the paranoia that overtakes a society that knows sleeper cells are in their midst; and so on.
Above all, however, “Battlestar” succeeds because it thinks small as well as it thinks big. This is a human drama with taut writing and a cast of characters we've come to care about even as they've shown some all-too-human shortcomings.
There's Baltar (James Callis), the scientist who gave state secrets to a sexy Cylon (Playboy pinup Tricia Helfer) in exchange for favors, thus unwittingly allowing the genocide that opened the series. Instead of being cast off once the deed was done, however, Baltar has remained a central figure in “Battlestar,” a man revered for his almost mystical powers of intelligence and a public lightning rod who has had more political lives than Bill Clinton.
There's president Roslin (Mary McDonnell), now in her second unelected term of office running the floating colony; Adama (Edward James Olmos), the mirthless commander of the military forces; and one of his top fighters, Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff), who was thought to be dead but has suddenly shown up and, as the episode begins, is trying to convince everyone she has seen Earth.
There's lots more where that came from -- that's why we have DVD sets -- but that should get you launched into the new season.
'BATTLESTAR'
New episode is online now at scifi.com; airs 9 p.m. CT Friday on SciFi.
Sci Fi is showing season 3 on Thursday and Friday starting at 9 and 8 a.m. ET respectively.
'THE TUDORS'
New episode airs 8 p.m. CT tonight on Showtime.
ALSO THIS WEEK:
Ah, it's the way of all flesh: Get a couple of quirky acting roles, make yourself a name as a different kind of talent and then … go make murder mysteries when your signature gig ends. Thus Paget Brewster is now on “Criminal Minds,” Wally Langham's on “CSI” and I'm just waiting for Andy Richter to show up on “SVU.” In the meantime, Tom Cavanaugh, TV's “Ed,” stars as the grim-faced detective in “The Capture of the Green River Killer” a two-parter beginning 7 p.m. CT on Lifetime Movie Network. The LMN publicity department says the miniseries is based on “the inspiring true story of the 20-year search for the most prolific serial killer in United States history.” I feel inspired already!
TUESDAY
Sundance Channel's The Green launches its second season with what is cable's biggest library of eco-friendly programs … for now. Discovery is planning to launch Planet Green in June, but something tells me that people who like a little edge to their environmentalism will continue to watch Sundance for films like “Garbage Warrior” (8:35 p.m. CT), about architect Michael Reynolds, who practices “radically sustainable living” through houses built out of old tires and pop bottles. (It also seems unlikely Planet Green will let anybody drop an F-bomb on the air, which Reynolds happily does, especially when describing the bureaucratic code enforcers who almost ended his career.)
Also part of the lineup is season two of the series “Big Ideas for a Small Planet,” co-hosted by Lawrence's Simran Sethi, at 8 p.m. CT on Sundance Channel.
WEDNESDAY
Hallmark Movie Channel HD launches, appropriately, with a new high-def movie, “Son of the Dragon,” starring the apparently ageless David Carradine. As of this writing, it's not being offered on Time Warner Cable, which put us all through the wringer last month shuffling channels around -- ostensibly to make room for more services like Hallmark Movie Channel HD.
