Battlestar Galactica With former...

Battlestar Galactica
With former Xena Lucy Lawless playing the part of roving reporter, I'll avoid the obvious pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword line, especially since she's using a camera. First off, Adama demands to know where Lawless' D'anna got the tape of the Marines shooting civilians. I'd like to know, too, since the camera angles are exactly those we saw on the episode, so it leaves me with a bit of a metaphysical crisis I don't want to have since I like this show. But I smell a gimmick episode, which makes me nervous. Too early in the series for one of those. Nevertheless, away we go, as Dee tells Tigh his wife's on the horn and "something's wrong." Yeah, we knew that before she rang. So Tigh's being stalked by a literate psycho and Baltar's bummed about not being interviewed, even though he might want to avoid the lens since, after all, he's got a Cylon living in his head and he regularly argues with himself.

"Me, I'm just worried that Hell's gonna be a lonely place, and I'm gonna fill it up with every toaster son-of-a-bitch I find," Edmonson tells the camera. Uh, she does realize that would mean all her company would be the toasters she hates, right? OK, so I'm thinking too much. Anyway, D'anna gets footage of Cylon Boomer's baby crisis, all sorts of operational stuff, the works. And though she ends up turning out a positive piece that pleases Adama and Roslin, she turns out to be a Cylon? I'm touchy because I'm part of the media, after all, but I feel it's a cheap shot to show the press as the enemy in such a literal sense, all "loose lips sinks ships" sentiments aside. Nice touch to use the theme music from the original Galactica to end the documentary, though.  Michael Peck

Channel Surfing
Aside from some technical difficulties, the Shelter from the Storm benefit was a beautifully produced fundraising effort. They managed to strike just the right tone no celebrity vanity here by eliminating introductions and having the artists perform touching pieces of music. I was especially moved by the Foo Fighters' beautiful rendition of CCR's "Born on the Bayou".... Meanwhile, over on BET they went for a more traditional telethon format with big checks and lots of pats on the back and thanking celebs for donating their valuable time. But they did have some truly moving segments about survivors and people searching for their loved ones. Helping people reunite seems like it could be the greatest benefit of all. Angel Cohn