What a strange thread bump... anyway:

I disagree. I think the original 1978 premiere was still much, much stronger than the 2003 one. However, I think that the big surprise (and an *extremely* pleasant one, at that) is that new TV series hit the ground running after that awkward start and got really excellent. Whereas the 1978 show stumbled after the premiere and took quite a while to get away from recycled western TV plots and get interesting again.


I like the new show. It took me a long time to finally embrace it, but it is really good. But I still cringe when I realize what "could have been". With just a couple of minor tweaks, they could have kept this show within the original BSG universe -- say, 40 years after the original show. They really wouldn't have had to change much, and it would have retained the strengths of both shows instead of going off on its own.

But, that's ultimately a minor quibble. I now just enjoy both shows for what they are. But I don't disagree with IGN's review of the original miniseries. It plays better now that it leads into an impressive series, but as a stand-alone it was weak.

Yeah, especially when they went to the casino planet.

I agree with bboisvert. The miniseries has its strengths, but it also has many, many flaws. Taken within the context of a series we know is pretty darn good, it plays much better, but on its own, it really is lacking. It wasn't until "33" aired that the series found its identity and worked its way to something worth talking about.

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Im still waiting for the original show to drop to a resonable price so i can pick it up.

That being said I really do prefer the new show. I just think its got so much more depth to it.

What do you think are its "many, many flaws"?

I thought the miniseries was solid, but ultimately it was not interesting enough to convince me to tune into the regular series a year later. Luckily, I "discovered" the series shortly after Season 1 was released on DVD, and have since become infatuated with it moreso than any other show in the past few years.

Wow, talk about long-lost resurrected threads. I'm a little embarrassed I posted this two years, or so ago, especially considering how much I love the new BSG.

Eagerly awaiting the second half of the second season!

I could never get myself focused on watching this series at first until one late night I was up on the computer with the TV on in the background, and they started playing the repeats of season 1, and they kept catching my ear. When I saw scifi was replaying a S1 marathon, I set my DVR to get it all. However, it didn't include the miniseries, it just started with 33. But I watched the whole 13 ep run, and just fell in love with it, and reading a synopsis of the mini was enough to hold me over. I didn't get to see the mini until the full S1 box set came out, and I watched it on my laptop on a business trip. While I agree that they didn't hit their stride until 33, I still think I would have been interested enough in the mini to keep watching.

The thing that made me watch was when NBC played 2 or 3 eps on some idle Saturday night back in the summer. I was sick or something and was in bed and BSG came on and I decided what the hell.

I'm glad I was sick. Or...glad NBC played the eps. I heard it was in HD as well on NBC. That would have been cool to catch.

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I'm pleasantly shocked at how good this show is. I used to watch the original series when I was a kid, but I was too young to remember any of it now. Didn't think much of the remake when it came out but the positive reviews of the Miniseries sparked enough curiosity to add the title to my Netflix queue. Wow, I never thought I'd enjoy Edward James Olmos this much.....in like anything. LOL!

Watching the new Cylons were a bit odd, but I got over that mighty quick since the rest of the show is so damn good.

I was upset that the new series left out Mr. Spock!! I can see where IGN is coming from!!

You shouldn't be embarrassed, because the IGN review is just of the miniseries, and the TV series has far surpassed that shaky kickoff in every possible way. (In fact, if the TV series had instead turned out just like the overly morose miniseries, I wouldn't be watching it.)


Me too!

I thought this was a review of the second part of the new season, glad it wasn't and that this was merely a resurrected thread. FWIW, I was not a fan of the mini-series either. I started watching the series itself merely out of a desire to have something to do on Fridays and it hooked me at the second ep. I am glad the mini was not an accurate depiction of things to come.

Worse than Ain't It Cool News or the IMDB, or other forums that are mostly filled with elitist media snobs?