Aaron Douglas as Chief Tyrol (and conflicted Cylon) tries to wrap his mind around the fact that Earth is a wasteland.

Holy frak, "Battlestar Galactica" begins its heroic end tonight! The first of the acclaimed sci-fi series' last 10 episodes, "Sometimes a Great Notion," launches at 9 p.m. on the Sci Fi channel.

What other show could survive a six-month break in the middle of a season? Here's a quick recap of where we left the Colonials and Cylons, and what's coming on tonight's harrowing return ...

(Spoiler alert! Do not click through if storyline purity is desired.)

The Sci Fi network finally announced a return date for its acclaimed series, "Battlestar Galactica." The show's final 10 episodes will begin airing Jan. 16 and run weekly to the series finale on March 20.

Esai Morales portrays Joseph Adams (left) and Eric Stoltz portrays Daniel Graystone in "Caprica." (AP/Sci Fi)

By CHRIS TALBOTT

Need proof the television ratings system is dead, a victim of the TiVo, the ubiquitous satellite dish and schizophrenic viewing habits? Take a look at what's happening with ''Battlestar Galactica.''

If the traditional ratings system is used to measure its success, well, the series is scraping bottom like a viper throwing sparks on a hot landing.

Yet the show's producers are moving forward with two post-''Galactica'' projects that would never have seen the light of a cathode tube had ratings been the only factor in the decisions.

Jamie Bamber, the British actor who plays Lee ''Apollo'' Adama in the series, has a much better way to gauge ratings. Turns out, as the ratings plummet, the show's popularity continues to skyrocket as it reaches the end of its five-year run early in 2009.

''When the numbers were high I would get stopped in the street maybe once a week,'' Bamber said. ''Now that the viewing figures are lower on the TV, everywhere I go someone will come up to me and say what a huge fan they are. That just tells me that people watch the show in a more modern way and that it has reached its sort of critical mass.''