As savvy fans of science-fiction TV already know, ten members from the cast of Sci Fi Channel’s stellar series Battlestar Galactica read the popular Top Ten list on the most recent Late Show with David Letterman.

The fourth and regrettably final season of the Peabody-winning space drama takes off on April 4, preceded on March 28 by two back-to-back half-hour specials. Fittingly, the theme of last night’s very entertaining segment was the Top Ten Reasons to Watch the New Season of Battlestar Galactica.

All of the cast members did a fine job delivering their lines, of course. The absolute best reasons to tune in to BSG’s fourth season were presented by the ladies, however. And, if you watch the show, that the women rock is not surprising in the least.

My personal favorite three picks from the Top Ten are:

• 3. Lucy Lawless (Cylon D’Anna Biers): You’ll find out what’s in the hatch and who gets off the island — Crap, wrong show
  [Lost, anyone? — Top Ten #9]
• 2. Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin): I take on the most challenging task of my political career — doing a lame top ten list on a third-rate talk show
  [That isn't really a reason to watch BSG specifically, but it's still funny — Top Ten #2]
• 1. Katee Sackhoff (Captain Kara “Starbuck” Thrace): We engage in a life-and-death battle against evil robots … you know, same shit as last year
  [Tell me about it; but, at least this shit is captivating — Top Ten #3]

I’ve included a clip of the entire Late Show segment after the jump. And, as a bonus for comedy fans who love Battlestar, too, there’s also the eight-minute What the Frak Is Going On?! recap video that summarizes everything you need to know from the first three seasons of the series in video format. Enjoy!

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Happy Thanksgiving, stateside comedy television fans!

In keeping with the U.S. holiday spirit (and because there’s no comedy on TV tonight except a highly recommended new Ugly Betty episode featuring Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and future Dollhouse alum Eliza Dushku), I’ve put together a list of things that we who love to laugh have to be grateful for. With no further ado, here it goes (in no particular order).

• Samantha Who? is a smashing success on ABC. The sitcom has appeared in the weekly Nielsen Top 10 numerous times since its debut, and as of this week, it’s once again the Number One new show in terms of viewers and ratings momentum, according to Nielsen data.
• ABC also gave Samantha Who? a welcome full-season pickup order on October 30, promising its hordes of fans 22 episodes all together this season.
• Despite going into reruns this week after running out of fresh episodes last week due to the writers strike, CBS’ The Big Bang Theory is also a very clear success. While it’s never achieved Two and a Half Men-sized ratings, the newbie regularly surpasses the numbers of its lead-in How I met Your Mother in both total viewers and those aged 18 to 49.
• As a result of its strong ratings performance and supportive word of mouth, The Big Bang Theory earned the honor of being the first rookie sitcom to get a full-season pickup this fall. CBS ordered 22 installments on October 19.
• The one-hour, double Office episodes that opened the hit sitcom’s fourth season might not have been a hit with viewers. But, the fact that NBC even dared to double up on a sitcom says a lot for how popular the show is.
• Although ABC’s Cavemen isn’t doing so swell, as of today, not a single sitcom, new or old, has been cancelled.
• The terrific Aliens in America isn’t doing well on The CW either—it’s consistently the lowest-rated series in the network’s already low-rated Monday-night lineup. Yet, the show has an impressive nine fresh episodes remaining during this writers strike. When everything else on other networks goes to repeats soon, perhaps Aliens will gain some deserved converts. I’m rooting for that outcome.
• Fox ordered a full season of newcomer Back to You on October 25, and the pickup isn’t just for a standard 22 episodes, but a whopping 24.
• Chuck, one of my favorite new shows this season, comedy or not, received an order for three additional scripts on October 10. Even better, although the spy dramedy hasn’t performed anywhere near on a par with its popular but struggling lead-out Heroes, it has been showing clear signs of growth in recent weeks. May this trend continue.
• The soap-opera dramedy Dirty Sexy Money, another one of my favorite new shows, received a highly anticipated (at least by me) full-season order just last Friday.

The Dirty Sexy Money pickup occurred in spite of the show’s middling ratings, which is just one more indication that (some) networks are approaching freshmen series with a more balanced and reasonable perspective this fall.

Whether or not this is because of the writers strike that had been looming for months is a legitimate issue for speculation. I’m just going with the flow, though, and giving thanks that this season’s shows in every genre are getting a much fairer shake than fall newcomers in recent years could even dream of.