Caprica Series Is Go

It's official: Sci Fi Channel gave the go-ahead Tuesday to Caprica, a Battlestar Galactica prequel set 50 years before the events of the Cylons-versus-humans series. The new show, which stars Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz (pictured), begins production next summer and premieres in 2010. "It's definitely not as dark as Battlestar, but like that show, this series has smart, dimensional characters who grapple with issues of love, sex and politics from a world in transition," says Sci Fi programming exec Mark Stern.