After this, the rest is Cylons

You’ll want to talk about: “Caprica”

It will be months before the “Battlestar Galactica” prequel will air -- at last report, the series launches “sometime in 2010” -- but now you can watch the two-hour first episode, out on DVD and digital download. Be aware that the wait will be agonizing after this first disturbing taste of “Caprica” as apocalypse creeps forth. Bonus: This version you buy is unlikely to premiere on TV. It’s a hard R right off the bat. (Tuesday)

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I’m going to talk about: Tinted Windows

The supergroup, made up of Hanson’s Taylor Hanson, Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha, Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger and Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, is interested only in pleasing the power-pop-loving masses. Top 40 listeners should get acquainted. Everyone else, stop smirking. (Tuesday)

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Can’t wait to talk about: “Obsessed”

“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” “Basic Instinct,” “Fatal Attraction.” There was a time when crazy-lady thrillers were a less-guilty guilty pleasure. I’d like to see them make a comeback. Can Beyonce and Ali Larter pull the right mix of creepy camp? (Friday)

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By no means should we give up on “Ace of Cakes,” but let’s also talk about: TLC’s “Cake Boss”

Buddy Valastro, behind the institution that is Carlo’s City Hall Bake Shop in Hoboken, N.J. -- they whipped up Britney Spears’ birthday cake this year -- runs a family business that includes his mother, four older sisters and three brothers-in-law. Big-family TV is hit or miss on TLC, but big-family TV plus cake-making can’t lose! (Today)

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Kick back, relax and talk about: “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency”

HBO’s series adaptation of the Alexander McCall Smith books, airing Sundays, is nothing if not a soothing alternative to the stoic sleuths and grisly discoveries of “CSI” and “Criminal Intent.” If you’re following the books, Smith’s latest, “Tea Time for the Traditionally Built,” finds Precious enlisted to help a local soccer team in the middle of a dreadful losing streak. The team’s owner suspects a traitor in their midst. Sounds like a good cup of Precious’ favorite brew, red bush tea, might be in order -- and isn’t that altogether refreshing? (Tuesday)

-- Denise Martin