Give Trish Helfer Some Credit

As most people suspect, the only exposure most sci-fi geeks get to women is the eye candy the producers of sci-fi TV shows and movies cast as characters on said shows, to cater to the fantasies of said geeks. (And by "geeks," I'm talking about the diehard fans who have learned the Klingon language, or can accurately render a schematic of a TIE-Fighter from memory.) Whether it be Carrie Fisher or Jeri Ryan, these are the women that geeks fantasize about.

And, from time to time, one of these "sci-fi babes" will appear in FHM or Maxim in a cheesecake spread, designed with just those geeks in mind, because, frankly, if you're not a geek, you wouldn't know who these women were. (Seriously, did you know (or care) that Jolene Blaylock was on Enterprise?) And this is what geeks get: the softest of softcore porn. The women of their fantasies presented in a way that's about as titillating as the women's underwear section of the Sear's circular.

And this is why I have to give Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer some props. She decided to give the fans what they want, and posed nude in Playboy. And added points for doing it while her show's still on the air, instead of waiting until the show is gone, her star had faded, and she's looking to get back in the limelight. No, there she is, naked as a jaybird, during the highest popularity of her show. (I'll admit to watching Battlestar Galactica. Not for Trish Helfer, mind you, but because I think I probably saw every episode of the original '70s series first run. This new one's actually a pretty good show.)

So, as a note to any current and future sci-fi babes, give your fans what they want to see. You're making their wildest fantasies come true. And, non-fans will appreciate it too, because, hey, it's a naked lady!

And there's nothing wrong with that.