[Televisionary]

Lots of casting news today, on the first Monday after the network upfront presentations. First up, Sci Fi managed to close the deal on Polly Walker for their two-hour backdoor pilot Caprica , a prequel to their own series Battlestar Galactica . Astute readers of this site will know that I first reported that an offer was out to Walker ( Rome ) a few weeks ago . Walker will play Sister Clarice Willow, the secretive high priestess/headmistress of the exclusive Athena Academy, a private polytheistic school that Zoe Greystone (Alessandra Toreson) and her friends attend. I think the casting of Walker is absolutely brilliant for this role and she'll definitely bring something unexpected to the table. Plus, I'm happy she's sticking around in the States after the cancelation of Cane . Walker joins Eric Stolz , Esai Morales , and Paula Malcomson in this spellbinding two-hour backdoor pilot project from executive producers Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, and Remi Aubuchon and director

Just a day before network upfront presentations are scheduled to kick off, there has been a flurry of casting activity here in Hollywood. Boston Legal 's Saffron Burrows has joined the cast of NBC's drama series My Own Worst Enemy , starring Christian Slater and Mike O'Malley about a well-mannered family man Henry, whose alter ego Edward is a spy and all-around international man of mystery. Burrows will play Norah, Edward's girlfriend and Henry's psychiatrist. Production on the first episode is slated to get under way soon. My Own Worst Enemy , from Universal Media Studios and writer/executive producer Jason Smilovic ( Kidnapped ), was ordered to series in April off of the pilot script; no pilot was shot. Frances Fisher ( In the Valley of Elah ) has come aboard an eight-episode arc on the next season of Sci Fi's drama Eureka , where she will play Samantha Thorne, a corporate fixer assigned to clean up the mess at Global. In a major casting coup, indie actor extr

Patience is, after all, a virtue. Lucky then that fans of Battlestar Galactica have patiently waited for the next (or is it previous?) chapter in the story of the Twelve Colonies. Sci Fi yesterday announced that it has finally greenlit production on the two-hour backdoor pilot Caprica , a prequel of Battlestar Galactica , set before the Cylon War. "We couldn't be more excited to see this long-anticipated project get off the ground," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, in a statement. "It's an amazing script, and, though clearly inspired by the Battlestar mythology, it is not just a pale spin-off. This is a smart, thought-provoking, emotional, and compelling character drama in its own right." The news comes as Sci Fi prepares to launch the final twenty-episode season of Battlestar Galactica on April 4th; the cabler has been developing the spin-off prequel since 2006. Just don't expect Apollo, Starbuck, Six, or Laura Rosli