SCI FI SIZZLES WITH ITS BIGGEST SUMMER EVER!

CHANNEL ANNOUNCES DATES FOR ORIGINAL SERIES LINEUP

'SCI FI Friday' and 'Battlestar Galactica' Return July 15

New 'SCI FI Wednesday Lineup Premieres July 27

NEW YORK, NY--May 16, 2005--On July 15, 2005, the biggest night of sci-fi on television, 'SCI FI Friday,' premieres with brand-new episodes of hit original series 'Stargate SG-1' (8pm), 'Stargate Atlantis' (9pm) and 'Battlestar Galactica' (10pm). In addition to 'Stargate SG-1's' newest team member Ben Browder ('Farscape'), Emmy winner Beau Bridges, Oscar winner Lou Gossett, Jr. and sci-fi favorite Mitch Pileggi ('The X Files') have joined the 'Stargate' family. Bridges will join the cast of 'Stargate SG-1' and will also appear in a several episodes of 'Stargate Atlantis.' Gossett and 'Farscape' star Claudia Black join the cast of 'SG-1' in recurring roles and former 'Baywatch' star Jason Momoa joins the cast of 'Stargate Atlantis.'

More gripping drama and seat-of-your-pants action is in store for the second season of SCI FI's critically-acclaimed hit series 'Battlestar Galactica.' The entire ensemble cast will return for season 2, including Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, Tricia Helfer and Grace Park. Also resuming their roles are executive producer and writer Ronald D. Moore and executive producer David Eick.

The Channel's new (8pm?10:30pm ET/PT) 'SCI FI Wednesday' block, premiering July 27, 2005, takes the genre to new heights with the series debut of 'Master Blasters' (8pm). Does your hobby require an FAA launch window? The new daredevil stepchild of the reality genre pits crews of amateur rocket scientists against SCI FI's 'Master Blasters,' a team headed by father and son rocket men Dan and Terry Stroud. The 'Master Blasters' team and their opposition are challenged to a space race of a different kind: design, build and launch some very bizarre things into the stratosphere. From rocket-bolstered sofas to fuel injected portable toilets, "one small step for man" becomes one giant leap for mad science!

At 9pm Jason and Grant, SCI FI's favorite moonlighting plumbers, return for a new season of 'Ghost Hunters.' Season 2 promises to bring even more excitement, oddities and goose bumps with brand new investigations and undoubtedly, more strange paranormal behavior. The scandalously hilarious animated series 'Tripping the Rift' (10-10:30pm) makes its second season debut with the addition of Carmen Electra in the role of the sexy, brilliant love slave "Six." Reprising their roles in the second season are Stephen Root ('News Radio,' 'King of the Hill'), Maurice LaMarche (voice of "Brain" from 'Pinky & The Brain'), Gayle Garfinkle, Rick Jones and 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno's' John Melendez.

Screeners and press materials for SCI FI Channel's summer programming will be available in June.

SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.