Interview with Battlestar Galactica Re-Creator Ron Moore

This sums it up:

[Battlestar Galactica] was about an apocalypse. The show opens with a genocide, an apocalyptic destruction of 12, count em, 12 planets. Billions of human lives are lost. The survivors heroically run away, fleeing an implacable enemy that is determined to destroy them no matter what, and they’re looking for a mythical place called Earth.

And the first place they go is the casino planet.

And therein lies the contradiction and the problem with [the original 1978 ABC show]. They were unable to square that circle. There was no way in that era of television that they could really play the premise. It’s a dark premise…I felt my obligation on some level was to do the show they should’ve made, the show that really honors the idea of what the show was about…[The current series] is a truer version of Battlestar Galactica in some ways than the original. Wired Magazine interview with Ron Moore

I’ll put it plainly, if you’ve never seen the new Battlestar Galactica, you’re missing out on one of the best shows on television. If you rent the mini-series and you don’t get hooked, I’ll be shocked.