I walked through a Stargate last night at a Sci Fi Channel party, but it didn't take me to an alien planet. Maybe it's because this was the "location" Stargate, the one used for filming outside of the studio.

Actually, the party guests were an odd mish-mash of "Stargate SG-1" talent and reality stars from Bravo's "Tabloid Wars" and "Work Out." (Publicists from TNT and BBC America were also spotted.)

White has been the theme of many of the press tour parties so far, including this one, which featured white sofas set up on a clear floor erected over the grassy lawn of the Ritz-Carlton's Horseshoe Garden (AKA the hotel's "the backyard"). Alien-looking glass flowers mingled with real flowers in decorative centerpieces set on tables.

The party, to celebrate "Stargate's" 200th episode that premieres tonight, included appearances by the entire cast and the show's former lead, actor Richard Dean Anderson ("MacGyver"). I have to admit, I don't watch "Stargate," but I did watch "MacGyver," so I figured I could ask Anderson some questions without betraying my "Stargate" ignorance. He was sitting with his young daughter, eating pasta, as I approached. At press tour parties, celebs eat and chat simultaneously all the time, but not MacGyver.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" I said politely.

"Not right now," he replied, looking at me like I was a crazy man to suggest such multi-tasking.

Nevermind. I'd rather talk to "Stargate" star Claudia Black anyway. Of course, I'm more interested in talking to her about "Farscape," a sci-fi series I loved.

Black, who gave birth to a son 7 months ago (not that you could tell looking at her thin waist), has also given birth, as her "Stargate" character Vala, to an evil spawn.

Black said she enjoys the ability to play comedy as Vala, something she didn't get much experience with as Aeryn Sun on "Farscape."

"Aeryn is an iconic character in science fiction and she carries on," Black said, even if her role in "Farscape" is done. Black said in her last conversation with "Farscape" executive producer Brian Henson, he was waiting to see how "Firefly" spin-off "Serenity" did in theaters before trying to do the same with "Farscape." "Serenity" was a box office dud, so a "Farscape" movie may be a long shot.

Black said she and "Stargate" co-star Ben Browder, who played the lead in "Farscape," joke about how they may someday be asked back to play the parents of the next generation of "Farscape" characters.

I also chatted with Mark Stern, Sci Fi Channel's executive vice president of original programming, about "Battlestar Galactica," arguably the best drama currently on TV. He said October's third season premiere will be two hours in length and the 18 hours to follow will air consecutively with just a short break around the Christmas holidays. That's a much better programming plan than airing 10 episodes in the fall and another 10 in the spring.

Stern said he recently read the pilot for the proposed "Galactica" prequel, "Caprica," and he was pleased that the script achieved the network's goal of standing on its own two feet and doesn't rely on accumulated knowledge of the "Galactica" series.

" 'Caprica' is the next generation of where we should be going in terms of space opera," Stern said. "It really is a terrestrial show."

"Caprica" is set 30 or 40 years before the events in "Battlestar Galactica" and the script for the two-hour pilot concludes with an explanation for how the name "Cylon" was coined ("Cybernetic, something, organism" was as much as Stern could remember). The proposed series would feature Commander Adama at age 9 and show how Cylons were created.

"Caprica" would be set in a time frame that's similar to where we, as a society, are today, or will be in 10 or 20 years, Stern said, whereas "Galactica" is 120 years ahead of our time.

"We really want to see 'Caprica' happen," Stern said. "We hope to make a decision in a few months."

Showtime's "Sleeper Cell" is in production on its second season ("Sleeper Cell: American Jihad" premieres Dec. 10), which seems unlikely given that most of the terrorists died at the end of the first season and their leader was imprisoned. But Oded Fehr, who played terror cell mastermind Faris al-Farik, was at the press conference, so he's back on the show, imprisoned as the season begins.

Muslim FBI agent Darwyn Al-Sayeed (Michael Ealy) infiltrates a new terrorist cell, while former cell member Ilija Korjenic (Henri Lubatti) is on the run and in disguise (he's now a platinum blond).

Executive producer Ethan Reiff said the writers were thinking ahead to season two even as they gave closure to the story in season one. This season there's a new female terrorist, Mina (Dutch actress Thekla Reuten).

Reiff said, like in the movie "Heat," the second season of "Sleeper Cell" will be structured following Darwyn and al-Farik on separate, parallel paths that may cross in the final act.