I'm in the camp of:
• Loved the original (and still do, dated production values and infinitely-recycled VFX notwithstanding)
• Wanted to like nuBSG
• Started off not liking nuBSG when it actually aired, and my opinion of it went down from there
I need to run over to Rotten Tomatoes so I can downvote it.
My take is similar to @
Cephus', regarding the characters -- I had no one to root for.
Everyone had some flaw that made them unlikable, with the possible exception of the President, Boomer/Athena, and the resurrected Caprica-6. And they all got royally hosed by the show, which made me feel worse, not better. Plus all the "[random character] is actually a Cylon skin-job" crap toward the end that Ron admits was
truly picking characters at random. Too many of those it undermined everythign that character had been through to that point.
While the original definitely needed someone to sit down with Glen and explain the difference between a system and a galaxy, I find the stubborn hope something very relatable. I, too, want to see an updated version of Hatch's "Second Coming" project (since John Colicos has died, and I just never could get into the red version of the jackets). He and Benedict are still looking good. Herb Jefferson and Terry Carter and Laurette Spang and Anne Lockhart and Ed Begley are all still looking good. Maren Jensen got out of acting right after BSG because she developed (and later beat) Epstein-Barr, and Tony Swartz lives in Iowa, so he's also out of the game, but they might be able to be coaxed back. And as for Noah Hathaway? I think he done growed up pretty good:
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjEwOTkyMDk4OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjc5NjQzNzE@._V1_.jpg
A lot of the other actors, like Sarah Rush (who played Rigel) and David Greenan (who played Omega) are still around, too, and having as many familiar faces around as possible would help make new faces less of a shock. Having the story move forward a generation has always been something that intrigued me. Seeing how everyone deals with
still being on the run (even if the urgency has lessened as time has gone on, they still can't stop), still hoping to find Earth... and a fresh chance to answer the question we've had since forever, "is this the past or the future?"... I think both Galactica 1980 and nuBSG answered that question badly.
--Jonah