"Hollywood Reporter" confirms that Katee Sackhoff is a lesbian icon

Today's Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) has finally inked a deal to play a recurring character on NBC's new series Bionic Woman to premiere this fall.

Apparently when Sackhoff didn't show up at the Bionic Woman press conference at the Television Critics Association, all those TV reporters got a little skeptical about whether she was going to stay in the show (she made a splashy appearance in the pilot but hadn't been confirmed as recurring beyond a couple of episodes). Nellie Andreeva of the Hollywood Reporter offered this theory:

Sackhoff has become a lesbian icon because of her character Capt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on "Battlestar," and her no-show on the panel raised speculation that she might be boycotting "Bionic" in light of Monday's announcement that Isaiah Washington, fired from "Grey's Anatomy" for reportedly using an anti-gay slur, is joining the new NBC series.

But it turns out that Sackhoff had a "scheduling conflict," aka contract negotiations, that prevented her from showing up. (Although I think it would have been kinda cool if Sackhoff was cognizant enough of her lesbian icon status to boycott the panel because of the casting of Isaiah Washington.) The deal was finalized late in the day yesterday, and Katee fans can all thank the NBC producers for making it happen, because I finally watched the pilot of Bionic Woman last night and was totally blown away.

Sackhoff's character, Sarah Corvus, is the evil version of Jaime Sommers (played by British actress Michelle Ryan), and she rocks the house. In one mesmerizing scene, Sarah Corvus and Jaime Sommers battle it out in the rain on a dark rooftop, and their fight is one of the best I've ever seen on television. It brought me back to the days of Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix (the first one!). If Sackhoff's role as Starbuck hasn't already firmly cemented her role as a lesbian icon (which, clearly, it has if the mainstream industry press is commenting on it), her role on Bionic Woman will. Can you say slashable?

(And FYI, Sarah Corvus is smoking in that photo because those bionic implants prevent the carcinogens in cigarettes from killing her.)

Bionic Woman, aka the Show That Will Make Katee Sackhoff a Lesbian Icon Forever, premieres Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.