Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: April 11, 1974
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: You wouldn’t automatically expect that a twentysomething model from Alberta would end up becoming a sci-fi icon. That’s usually the province of your Patrick Stewarts and your Mark Hammils. Even when Battlestar Galactica began, and viewers got their first glimpse of Tricia Helfer as Cylon Number Six, you’d still have had a hard time predicting the kind of esteem with which fans of the show would hold Helfer.
It’s a testament to both Tricia Helfer and the writers and producers behind Battlestar Galactica, that Six was able to become such a vital, compelling, and incredibly complex character. Part of that was her nature: as a Cylon model, Helfer’s character got to take many forms, from more political leader variations to seductive visions that may have only existed in Gaius Baltar’s head. The character would have been a total flop, however, without Helfer’s ability to carry off any number of Six’s shades.
Galactica, like many sci-fi cult favorites, is the high point of a LOT of actors’ careers. In a better world, the Katee Sackhoffs and James Callises and Jamie Bambers of the world would have gotten subsequent series with which to further captivate their fans. The lucky thing is that we can always just dip back into Galactica and re-experience things like the journey of a Cylon seductress discovering her ultimate political power in a post-nuclear diaspora amid a climate of evangelist theocracy. It was quite a show.
