Earth to science-fiction devotees: Turn off your cellphones, rustle up some popcorn and settle in.
Tonight’s the night for not one but three season debuts of your faves on the Sci-Fi Channel.
The out-of-this-world fun begins at 6 p.m. with “Stargate SG-1” and the arrival of Ben Browder as the team’s new leader. This is the ninth season for “SG-1,” which also has a new general, played by Beau Bridges.
On “Stargate Atlantis” (7 p.m.), Colonel Caldwell (Mitch Pileggi) strives to counter an attack by the Wraith. It’s hard work. This episode is mainly for techno-heads.
The main event is “Battlestar Galactica” (8 p.m.), which tries to piece together what came apart in the last episode of last season. Figure the evil Baltar will be back.
Other weekend highlights:
Friday
The cleverly interconnected lives of the cast of the award- winning “Six Feet Under,” about death and life, continue on their merry way (6 p.m., HBO).
A new episode, part five, of the epic six-part mini-series “Into the West” follows the widowed Margaret Wheeler (Irene Bedard) to a refugee camp (6 and 8 p.m., TNT).
Time travelers: Peter Boyles, Patricia Calhoun, Dani Newsum, David Kopel and Craig Silverman travel back to 1980 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of KBDI-Channel 12 on “Colorado Inside Out” at 8 p.m.
Monk’s agoraphobic brother Ambrose (John Turturro) turns up again on the always-intriguing “Monk,” starring Tony Shalhoub (8 p.m., USA).
Saturday
Feel like getting up early on a weekend? The third round of the British Open golf tournament kicks off at 5 a.m. on TNT. Or, sleep in and catch it at 7 a.m. on KMGH-Channel 7.
Julie Andrews stands out as the queen mother in the pleasant “The Princess Diaries,” the 2001 film that starred Anne Hathaway (7 p.m., KMGH-Channel 7).
Sunday
Laurel and Hardy play it for laughs in three of their better comedies, all in a row – “Sons of the Desert,” “Way Out West” and “A Chump at Oxford” (6-10 p.m., TCM).
Famous names galore in sports and entertainment yuk it up on the 2005 Espy Awards, hosted by one-time tennis player Matthew Perry, with music from Destiny’s Child (7 p.m., ESPN).
Around the dial
Going up: Advertising dollars spent on Spanish-language TV rose 19 percent in the first quarter of 2005, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. … CBS Sports gets into the Tour de France business with a one-hour special on the mountain stages (3 p.m. Sunday, KCNC-Channel 4). … Tom Sutherland and J. Douglas Shand have been elected to the board of directors of Rocky Mountain PBS. … Quotable: “Few people realize the immensity of vacancy in which the dust of the material universe swims.” – H.G. Wells.
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
