Sci-Fi-Tastic

"Battlestar Galactica" resumes its season on a new day, this Sunday (Sci-Fi, 10 p.m.), so I now have another reason to live.

There's been a lot of buzz about what is going to happen during the rest of the season, including the death of a major character, and the speculation has been that it won't be too long before Starbuck has smoked her last cigar. But the producers of the show have said in interviews that things may not be what they seem.

"BSG" will be paired with a new series, "The Dresden Files" (Sci-Fi, 9 p.m.) Paul Blackthorne, best known to U.S. TV fans as one of the villains on "24" a couple of years ago, stars as Harry Dresden, a detective who uses the black arts to solve crimes and fight evil.

The series is based on a series of successful books, and it's been described as "Harry Potter meets Jim Rockford." I've never read the Dresden books, so I don't have any idea of what to expect. But hopefully Sci-Fi will do a better job with this project than Warner Brothers did with "Constantine," which barely resembled the "Hellblazer" comic book series that inspired it. "Hellblazer" examines similar themes of a detective who uses the occult in his cases, though not always to the desired effect.

"BSG" and "Dresden" isn't the only new science fiction debuting this weekend. Tonight marks the debut of "Hyperdrive" (BBC-America, 9 p.m.) It's a comedy in the vein of "Red Dwarf" in which Britain rules the Universe in the future (I swear, I didn't come up with the concept.) "Hyperdrive" is followed by another comedy, "Feel the Force" (BBC-A, 9:40 p.m.), which despite the title, is not a sci-fi show, but a look at two inept women cops who patrol the streets of Edinburgh. Since both shows are on BBC America, they are automatically worth at least a look.

FRIDAY'S BEST BETS: If BBC America isn't your cup of tea, there's some choices across the cable dial. Most notably, "Monk" (USA, 9 p.m.) returns for its new season with an episode in which Andy Richter plays Monk's (Tony Shalhoub) new best friend.

Also returning is "Psych" (USA, 10 p.m.) a series I've been less-than-psyched about with its rather thin premise that relies on the supporting characters being idiots. But the chemistry between the leads (James Remar, Dule Hill) isn't bad, so the show is mildly entertaining.

WEEKEND'S BEST BETS: Not a whole lot of network offerings with the NFL playoffs airing the conference championships on Sunday. Reality TV fans (that don't watch sports) can get their fix on NBC with new episodes of "Grease: You're the One That I Want" and "The Apprentice" on Sunday.