Gaius Baltar is Merlin in ‘Book of Beasts’

I know, I miss Battlestar Galactica too. As I’ve said before, it was one of my favorite tv shows of all time and each Friday I feel a sense of loss due to the hole in my TiVo schedule where BSG used to be. I also miss the great characters and actors from the show like Edward James Olmos’ Adama, Katee Sackhoff’s Starbuck and James Callis’ Gaius Baltar. Well, if you miss Baltar like I do and wish he would return to tv, you will almost get your wish when the actor who played Baltar, James Callis, returns to the Sci-Fi Channel in a tv movie called Merlin and the Book of Beasts.

In this “Sci-Fi Original Movie” Callis plays the heroic Merlin who must fight to save a book which, if it feel into the wrong hands, could spell the end of mankind. . . or something like that. As a bonus, the movie actually takes place in Camelot, with all that entails, and the director, Warren P. Sonoda (director of other “classics” such as Ham and Cheese and 5 Girls) has compared his movie to Braveheart. Hey. its possible this movie is as good as Braveheart. It could happen. Okay, probably not.

Still, you gotta give Sonoda props for aiming high. At least he didn’t say his movie compared to something like In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, which we all know sucked big time. Good or bad, Merlin and the Book of Beasts, which also stars the attractive Laura Harris, hits Sci-Fi Channel this Saturday at 9 p.m. Until then, be sure and watch the trailer. I know you’ll find it as “magical” as I did.