Let's play a game.

You probably already know "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," in which Kevin Bacon is supposed to be the center of the entertainment universe, and all other actors are connected to him through their work.

For instance, Elvis Presley was in 1969 flick "Change of Habit" with Ed Asner, and Ed Asner was in the film "JFK" with Kevin Bacon so Elvis is connected to Kevin Bacon. Or, Jennifer Lopez was in the movie "U Turn" with Sean Penn, and Sean Penn was in "Mystic River" with Kevin Bacon, so J. Lo is also connected to Kevin Bacon.

Essentially, so the game goes, you can connect any actor back to Kevin Bacon this way.

You can put a scifi spin on the game, as well.

It's commonly assumed actors try to minimize too much association with the genre for fear of being typecast, but in reality, they're hopping from project to project where the work is good.

So instead of creating a web of connections to Kevin Bacon, you can play the game by making strings that tie together surprisingly full resumes of scifi work.

Let's take Grace Park, who plays Boomer on "Battlestar Galactica." She also played characters on such popular other science fiction series as "Dark Angel," "The Outer Limits," "Andromeda," and even an episode of "Stargate SG-1."

Then there's Aaron Douglas. Prior to joining Park on BSG, Douglas (Chief Tyrol) also appeared in episodes of "The Outer Limits," "Dark Angel," and "Stargate."

And before he took the role of Billy Keikeya on "Battlestar," Paul Campbell showed his face on shows like "Andromeda," "The Dead Zone" and "Smallville," as well.

So maybe my little game goes to show that scifi--not Kevin Bacon--is the real center of the entertainment universe. Okay, maybe not.

But, seriously, a lot of talented actors out there are cross-pollinating science fiction series. What's going on?

First of all, paying work is paying work, and if a scifi series is going to offer a job, most professionals, especially the newer ones, will take it.

Then there's location.

For reasons of cost, more and more TV shows, including such scifi series as "Battlestar Galactica" and "Stargate SG-1," are locating their production in Vancouver, not sunny California.

That's giving local actors like Douglas, Campbell and others to get known among producers and get more work.

However, playing against conventional wisdom, more well-established actors are also choosing to continue to reappear in the genre, as well.

The conventional wisdom goes all the way back to the close of Classic Trek and all the trouble Bill Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and the rest of that cast had in finding work after being too "typecast" in scifi. The thinking goes that an actor can't be overly identified with science fiction for fear it will hurt the rest of their career.

Over the years, "Stargate SG-1" has proven to be a sort of magnet that sucks in actors from other scifi projects.

Trek alumni Jolene Blalock (T'Pol), Robert Picardo (Dr. Zimmerman), and John deLancie (Q) are a few of those to stop by the series.

More recently, and more significantly, the former top two stars of "Farscape," Ben Browder and Claudia Black have decided to stay on in the SciFi Channel family. Both have taken big roles in the current season of "Stargate SG-1," with Browder in as a cast regular.

And now Connor Trinneer, Trip Tucker on the canceled "Star Trek: Enterprise," has agreed to join the cast of "Stargate Atlantis."

Trinneer is to play Michael, a captured wraith who has been made human by a retrovirus who then learns of his true identity.

He announced the news at a Trek convention in Las Vegas.

According to a news report, a fan who was there wrote on a message board, "He had not really wanted his first job after 'Enterprise' to be in Scifi, since he doesn't want to be typecast in that genre. But when he looked at the breakdown for this role, the character looked interesting."

I'm hoping that like Trinneer, more good actors realize scifi series can continue to offer them interesting work, and they stop trying to run in the other direction for their next jobs.

In the meantime, watch your favorite shows carefully and you just might see some familiar faces.

A former entertainment journalist, Scott Nance is a member of the USS Chesapeake, an independent science-fiction and Star Trek club in the Washington, D.C., area. He is a columnist for Airlock Alpha, and can be reached at scottnance@airlockalpha.com.