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In the vast expanses of science-fiction television, the success of Battlestar Galactica is a hard act to follow. Frakking impossible, if you ask fans of the show.

An intelligent re-imagination of a corny seventies series, Battlestar Galactica , or BG to the devoted, earned the science-fiction genre new respect over four seasons – along with critical acclaim, a Peabody Award and the honour of landing on Time magazine's 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time list. If any sci-fi series in recent memory warranted a sequel, it was Battlestar Galactica . Instead, the show's creators made a prequel.

Launching with a two-hour pilot Friday, Caprica (Space, 9 p.m.) connects to the Battlestar mythology, but the premise has very little in common with the original series. The first clue is right in the title.

“You'll notice it's not called Battlestar Galactica: Caprica or Caprica from the World of Battlestar ,” said co-creator David Eick at last week's TV critics tour. “There are some nods for the Battlestar faithful, but this story is set in a much different time and place. There's no relationship whatsoever between the two shows.”

To recap: On the highly futuristic Battlestar , a ragtag fleet of human survivors were shown fleeing through space from the Cylons; the great irony, of course, being the Cylon race was created by the hand of man.

Caprica , on the other hand, is set six decades before – specifically in Caprica City, the government and science capital of the Twelve Colonies of human civilization – and follows two families. In the TV tradition of Dallas or Dynasty , the two families are naturally diametric opposites.

On one side, we have the Graystones. Patriarch Daniel (Eric Stoltz) is a Bill Gates-type billionaire technologist, wife Amanda (Paula Malcomson) is a prominent neurosurgeon and daughter Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) is your typical rebellious teenager. As the story opens, Daniel is making bold advances in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics.

“Daniel is caught up in the amazing possibilities of artificial intelligence, but oblivious to its ethical implications,” said Stoltz on the TV tour. “The new technology has the capacity to make life better, but when does creating new life become dangerous? At some point the monster is bound to turn on the creator.”

The second family is headed by Joseph Adama (Esai Morales), an immigrant lawyer with ties to Caprica City's burgeoning crime syndicate. He's also a father trying to reconnect with his estranged son, William (Sina Najafi). “Joseph is a powerful man within his own underworld circles, but helpless in regard to controlling his own family members,” Morales said.

Sharp-eyed sci-fi fans will recognize the name Adama. On the original Battlestar , the ramshackle battleship was helmed by Admiral William Adama, played by Edward James Olmos. On Caprica , he's still a boy.

The near future looks eerily utopian in Caprica – and not that far removed from the present. Filmed in and around Vancouver, the series depicts the inhabitants of Earth's prosperous urban zones entertaining themselves with massive home theatre systems or attending sporting events in sprawling stadiums. “It's a society running out of control with a wild glint in its eye,” said co-creator Ronald Moore in a recent interview.

And then one day everything goes wrong. A horrific terrorist act of religious fanaticism rattles the entire planet, and brings together the show's two pivotal characters. Without giving too much away, both Daniel and Joseph suffer terrible personal losses in the terrorist attack, which only serves to expedite the former's work in artificial intelligence.

“Like it or not, they are bound together by the tragedy,” Stoltz said. “Suddenly both men have desperate reason to move the new technology along as quickly as possible. Both men are blinded to where it could lead.”

But how long before the first Cylon rears its angry head? Battlestar fans will probably have it figured out in the opening minutes. Although Caprica connects sparingly to its progenitor universe, the two shows share the same visual styling and bleak portrayal of the future. Viewers expecting special effects and space battles, however, are advised to haul out the Battlestar DVD box sets instead.

“We wanted to go the opposite direction of George Lucas, if you will,” said Eick, referencing the Star Wars creator. “Our intent was always to make Caprica less about escapism and more about moral complexity and great characters. This is a real family drama, in a sci-fi setting.”