Science fiction got some props today in the nominations for the 60th annual Prime Time Emmy Awards:

Battlestar Galactica nominations (6):

• Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series, “Six Of One”
• Outstanding Cinematography For A One-Hour Series, “Razor”
• Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series, “He That Believeth In Me”
• Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One-Hour), “Razor”
• Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series, “He That Believeth In Me”
• Outstanding Special Class - Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Programs, “Razor Featurette #4″

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The top post in the Pegasus Galaxy is starting to feel a lot like the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts: cursed.

The fifth season of Stargate Atlantis debuts today on Sci Fi Channel, and with it will come another change of command.

Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager, The Wonder Years), pictured, reprises his role as Dick Woolsey, a bureaucrat who once harassed Stargate expeditions but now finds himself leading them when Col. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) is reassigned. Tapping joined the cast last season after flagship series Stargate SG-1 went off the air, replacing Torri Higginson’s Dr. Elizabeth Weir.

We’ll still see Tapping from time to time, but Higginson has said she won’t return after how she was let go. There were some interesting developments in her character near the end, but now she’s just “out there,” somewhere — and maybe she’ll even be recast! (Higginson took over the role from another actress on SG-1, and many of the characters on that show were based on those portrayed by others in the 1994 Stargate feature film.)

Sci Fi Channel photo

RELATED STORIES:

• Davis, General Hammond on ‘Stargate SG-1,’ dies at age 65
• Sign up to see the galaxy in ‘Stargate Worlds’ game
• Shakeup on ‘Stargate’ (again) 

“SG-1, you have a go.”

With those five simple words, Gen. George Hammond sent the heroes of Stargate SG-1 through a portal to adventure every week for eight years, before his character moved on to working directly with the White House and “Homeworld Security.”

The man who played Hammond was Don S. Davis, and according to the fan site GateWorld, which quoted his representative and wife, the actor died Sunday at the all-too-young age of 65.

In addition to his role on SG-1, which ceased production last year, and an appearance on its spinoff Stargate Atlantis, Davis played a coach in the 1992 film A League of their Own and a dog show judge in 2000’s Best in Show. He also portrayed FBI agent Dana Scully’s father in several episodes of The X-Files. (His character was fond of Moby Dick, and his nickname for Scully was “Starbuck” after the first mate in that novel.)

Davis can be seen later this month in his final appearance as Hammond in the SG-1 direct-to-DVD sequel Continuum.

MGM photo

Want to get in on the ground floor of what may be the next great MMORPG?

Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, which is based in Mesa, is currently taking registrations for accounts in Stargate Worlds, an immersive computer game set in the universe of the long-running Sci Fi Channel series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. As part of the registration process, you can agree to be a beta tester for the game.

No complicated astronomical gate address is required. You can sign up here.

Jaffa kree!

No sooner than she had joined the cast of Sci Fi Channel’s Stargate Atlantis, veteran Stargate SG-1 star Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter, seen left) is leaving the franchise altogether to bring her pet project, an HD Web series called Sanctuary, to Sci Fi. Tapping’s character will be replaced as the Atlantis base’s leader by an established pencil-pushing civilian character named Richard Woolsey, played by sci-fi veteran Robert Picardo, pictured at right. He played the holographic AI ship’s doctor on Star Trek: Voyager and the nasty Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years.

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Fans of Stargate SG-1 may have been left hanging after that series’ recent grand finale. But a pair of direct-to-DVD movies in 2008 will help them find some closure. Stargate: The Ark of Truth picks up where the TV series’ story left off, with the complete cast, and promises to finish the war with the fundamentalist Ori once and for all. Look for it on shelves in March. I’ve embedded a video of the film’s first trailer. (more…)

Stargate Atlantis, now in its fourth season on Sci Fi Channel, has just been renewed for a fifth.

The show has a new commanding officer, Col. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping, pictured above, who recently transferred from the now-defunct flagship series Stargate SG-1) and a new doctor, played by sci-fi veteran Jewel Staite (Firefly). (more…)