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Appointment Television is Back, As Are the NFL Playoffs

© F. Colin Kingston

Television has a little something for everybody this month. The NFL is right in the midst of their playoffs for the Super Bowl, a "re-imagined" cult classic from the 1970s returns with new episodes, as do two of the best spy dramas in the history of television. First, the NFL playoffs.

Ratings are huge for playoff games. Both FOX and CBS will be pulling out all the stops, including using extra cameras and their top announcing crews. Here are the game schedules. All times are Pacific Standard Time. Consult your local listings for the exact times in your area.

Saturday, January 15th

New York Jets (11-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (15-1), 1:30 p.m., PST, CBS St. Louis Rams (9-8) at Atlanta Falcons (11-5), 5:15 p.m., PST, FOX

Sunday, January 16th

Minnesota Vikings (9-8) at Philadelphia Eagles, 10:00 a.m., PST, FOX Indianapolis Colts (13-3) at New England Patriots, 1:45 p.m., PST, CBS

For more information on the NFL playoffs please see: The official site of the NFL: http://www.nfl.com/ CBS Sports: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl FOX Sports: http://msn.foxsports.com/name/public/NFL...

A rebirth for "Battlestar Galactica": Back in the late 1970s the networks were looking to cash in on the success of "Star Wars." The result was "Battlestar Galactica." Although it lasted only one season, and spawned a terrible sequel, "Galactica 1980," it has remained a cult favorite with viewers.

The Sci-Fi channel has resurrected the series and put veteran "Star Trek: The Next Generation" production Ronald Moore at the controls. This new version takes the basic story concept of the original and turns it on its ear a bit.

The resulting "Battlestar Galactica" mini-series served as the pilot for this "re-envisioned" series and drew strong ratings when it aired last season on Sci-Fi. Now the series is back in 13 one hour episodes beginning on Friday, January 14 at 9 p.m.

The first episode takes place almost exactly where the mini-series left off. (NBC, which also owns Sci-Fi aired the pilot last week for good measure.) There is considerable controversy among fans of the original series about this latest version. I was a fan of the original series and am taking a wait and see attitude with this version. Nothing can replace the original for me but this new series may be able to stand on its own if given the chance.

For more information on the new "Battlestar Galactica" please visit http://scifi.com/battlestar/

Appointment television is back: I have several television series that I'm fond of but there are only three that I consider to be "appointment television." These programs are so good I don't want to wait to watch it on my TiVO at a later date. I want to watch them as they air and make it a point to be home to do so whenever I can. For me, those appointment television shows are: "Lost," "Alias" and "24."