Well, it's been about two years since "Battlestar Galactica" fans were first teased with promises of a prequel, which finally seems to be under way.

A two-hour back-door pilot for the series "Caprica" has been greenlit, the Sci Fi Channel announced this week.

From executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, the new series is set 50 years before "BSG" and centers on rival families the Greystones and the Adamas as they thrive in the bustling, technology-driven world of the 12 Colonies that eventually creates the Cylons. As with any classic tale featuring two families, intrigue, romance and backstabbing will reign.

Moore and "24's" Remi Aubuchon will co-write the "Caprica," which will be directed by Jeff Reiner ("Friday Night Lights"). Production will begin this spring in Vancouver.

The fourth and final season of the critically acclaimed, Peabody-winning "Battlestar Galactica" will begin airing April 4. (Zap2It.com)

"Friday Night Lights" just may score another season. Executive producer Jason Katims this week said he's "incredibly optimistic" about a third season for the drama, which has been in limbo since the writers' strike ended.

While there's no deal yet, "we are being incredibly optimistic that's going to happen and happen soon," Katims said this week at the William S. Paley Television Festival.

Although a critical hit, ratings were low for the show, which depicts small-town Texas life where high school football is king. When viewers last saw the Dillon Panthers, the team was gearing up for the playoffs. Because of the writers' strike, seven of the 22 episodes NBC ordered for season two weren't produced.

Fans have fought to keep the show on the air, launching www.SaveFridayNightLights.tv and asking viewers to send donations to fill NBC entertainment chief Ben Silverman's mailbox with miniature plastic footballs.

Robin Williams will guest star on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," but don't expect him to bring laughs to the NBC crime drama.

Williams is playing an "engineer whose life has gone terribly wrong" and who faces serious repercussions, series spokeswoman Pam Golum said. The episode, which films later this month, is scheduled to air April 29.

After his breakthrough role on the 1980s sitcom "Mork & Mindy," Williams' career has mostly centered on a mix of movies, including "Good Morning, Vietnam," "Dead Poets Society" and "Patch Adams." He won an Academy Award for 1997's "Good Will Hunting."

The "SVU" episode with Williams, titled "Authority," is the show's 200th, Golum said.

Roger McGuinn will be a guest on "Saturday Light Brigade" to play a few songs and to talk about his performance at Carnegie Lecture Hall on March 29. The "SLB" interview will air around 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.

"Saturday Light Brigade" airs locally on WRCT-FM (88.3) and WSAJ-FM (91.1) in Grove City, WIUP-FM (90.1) in Indiana, WNJR-FM (91.7) in Washington and WCUC-FM (91.7) in Clarion. (Adrian McCoy, Post-Gazette multimedia writer)

Classical WQED-FM (89.3) will air programming in observance of Easter:

• Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John Passion, performed by the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir (7 tonight).

• Sergei Rachmaninoff's Vespers, performed by Robert Shaw and his Festival Singers (midnight tomorrow).

• Heinrich Schutz's Resurrection, performed by Ensemble Instrumental on "Sacred Classics With Stephanie Wendt" (7 a.m. Sunday).

• Handel's Messiah -- Parts II and III, which was recorded on the 250th anniversary of the composition by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (noon Sunday). (AM)

Stars of "All My Children," "One Life to Live," "As the World Turns" and "Days of Our Lives" join the hosts of the "The View" for the live nomination ceremony for "The 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards" April 30 on ABC. "The 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards" will be broadcast live in prime time on ABC on June 20.