That's a matter of opinion.

Personally, I despise the new BsG. I don't like any of the characters in it, because they come off as being either stuck up or whiney; and are just plain unlikable, in any way, IMO. I especially detest the new Starbuck character. Why they made this character into a chick, I'll never understand. I mean, the chick/Starbuck acts like she has testicles between her legs, punching her superiors, smoking cigars, and acting like a guy who has too much testosterone to prove. The only character I do like is Baltar, he makes the show work, and keeps the series from going into obscurity.

-On a side note: Richard Hatch is a great guy and fun to hang around with. I'm glad that he still keeping busy, even if he's stars in the new BsG series.

The story itself is vaguely interesting, if not mostly predictable; and is over-dramatic for my taste. The battles sequences are okay, but are nothing to write home about. And I can't think of anything else about this show I like or dislike, it an average, Sci Fi production show, comparable to most of their other B-rated shows; excluding Farescape, and the Babylon 5 movies.

As for Firefly... I never got into it when I first watched it on TV, but after I saw it on DVD, I am now hooked. Fox missed up on this show, they should have showed it from its entirety, from the first ep. to the last. I think it would have done better, and maybe lasted longer.

It's a much better show than BsG, in many aspects. The concept behind it, cowboys and bounty hunters in space, is more original than anything we seen in a long time in sci-fi movies and TV, compared to the overdone space wars and the invisible enemies within concept. The character are not as stiff like in BsG, and they are much more likable for that. Overall, Firefly is a much more enjoyable show, at least for me. It also has more humor that helps to break up some of the seriousness in it, in a good balance way.

I definitely would recommend Firefly over BsG.

Cowboy Bebop, anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

I'd also say BSG is pretty badass. It's fairly serious sci-fi. Yeah, the characters are tense and rigid - you would be too if humanity was down to less than 50,000 people, and you were stuck in a tin can in the depths of space being hunted by religious robots. It's like the Butlerian Jihad of Dune fame in reverse, which is pretty cool.

It's rather sort of like a submarine movie (think Das Boot, K-19, Crimson Tide) only it's in space. You have a whole bunch of people in a tightly confined space facing an outside enemy but also fracturing internally under various stresses. Toss in a bunch of whiny civilians and some terrorists, amongst other things, and enemy infiltrators, and you have a very interesting, multilayered little universe in which to look at the development of characters against an interesting backdrop.

The whole atmosphere of the show is not only more realistic than the original ("Gee! We're happy womanizers in space despite the fact our race was almost exterminated! Lets find that Earth and talk up some girls! Yee-haw!") which is like some kind of really awful Dukes of Hazzard in space, but it's quite frankly more interesting. The fact that it lacks a lot of comedy is the very thing which sets it apart from other shows Sci-Fi airs, like Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, and yes, Firefly.

On a related note, does anyone else get the feeling SG-1 is dropping in quality? The whole thing with Vala just really wasn't the same. Maybe now that the team is back to normal without O'Neil in might get back in a groove but it seems like it may have "jumped the shark".

Name another show...

I was thinking about CB too, but I was not confusing live action with anime in that post. Or was I? I don't think I was.

On the subject of anime, I can prescribe a better show in anime style, better than BsG, " Legend of the Galatic Heroes". In my opinion, one of the best space drama's ever made on TV. It was intelligently done; far superior than what is found in BsG.

Um... Season 8 finale?

[EDIT] Also, Edy-Kel, when you said "movies or TV" you didn't say jack about live action or not. Believe it or not anime and cartoons do frequently appear on TV or as movies, so I felt free to cite examples. On that note, there was this cartoon way back when that was a western in space. '80s cartoon. I seriously cannot remember its name though. I want to say Gunstar but that's not it. Regardless, it's not a new concept so much as a very uncommon one.

Then again, neither is serious space opera, which instead tends to be rather cheesy or doesn't take itself that seriously despite attempting to (see: Star Trek). I'd say the best analogue to BSG likely is Babylon 5 (although it was rather better), and there really aren't many of those types of shows on TV. Deriding BSG while praising Firefly seems, IMO, rather absurd. Both are different takes on the same overall sort of premise, but they're not really comparable, and neither really has competition. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.

Galaxy Rangers and Bravestar!

Na razie,

Greg

Fine! I'll own up. I was not very specific. Sorry, about the confusion.

I never said it was. I said "is more original than anything we seen in a long time in sci-fi movies and TV". And I totally agree with you that it's not a new concept, and it is very uncommon, but that's what makes Firefly stand out.

I can't say the same thing about BsG. It very unoriginal, more like a serious Star Trek soap opera, than like Babylon 5 - which by the way owns BsG in every way. It's all been done before, and it's literally a smorgasbord of various sci-fi shows in one entity.

I don't have a problem with that. A lot of Shows are like that. What I do have a problem with are these: a)The New BsG series tries to retale a story that bears the slightest resemblance to the original. b ) the characters are superficial, they stand out because it's in the script, which plays out like a fucking soap opera. ' Son hates father, because he believes he led his brother to his death. But then he finds out that his sweetheart was responsible' "sigh". c) You would think that there would be at least some discipline on this military ship, run by military officials. Apparently that not the case on the Galatica, their all like freeking free spirits or some shit, allowed to do what ever the fuck they want do. d) Finally, It all about shock value, though very predictable. I was not surprised by anything I've seen so far. I will admit that I was surprised by the attempted assassination on commander Adama. I wish they actually killed the guy off, because he was weak. Time and time again he would try and sacrifice his whole fleet for a few individuals. (by the way, I have not seen any of the 2nd series, and I am assuming that Commander Adama survived)

So we know he's not a Vulcan

I've only seen the first series of Battlestar Glactica too, and have to agree (though maybe less strongly) with Edy-Kel. It's ok sci-fi, but too derivative of both the past show and other "soap-operas in space" - unlike B5's proper "space-opera". I'm interested in the second series, but a number of things did grate on me, such as pointed out.

Angel and Buffy both went thru good and bad patches, we finally got the final series of Buffy shown last year, but Angel got pulled abruptly, i think we missed some episdoes, and then they showed a (the?) final where his son gets his brain wiped after killing the goddess women (Zoe from Firefly i've since found out!). Both will be remembered fondly, but arent shows im likely to rewatch unlike say the X-files or B5.

Although as Symphony of Destruction said, they are all slightly different genres on the scifi umbrella, but good TV is good TV no matter where it fits; like say Scrubs which we just started getting - quality TV and i dont usually like sit-coms.

Someone mentioned Andromeda? It's one of those shows like Lexx and Cleopatra 204040585 that got a really hideous ever-changing timeslot here, and so i'd only ever catch the odd show, and was never too impressed with these one-offs. But if people think its worthwhile...? Ditto Space Above and Beyond, but that had a few too many overtones of illogical Independance Day (ID4) patriotic jingoisms to grab me, which meant i didnt give it many viewings to see if it improved.

Ahh well.... hopefully teh next big thingTM will come out soon, and blow us all away?!

Ahahahaha, you know that Hercules and Xena were both filmed in New Zealand, mostly spitting distance from where i used to live. In fact a number of my mates were extras too. I think just about every bit-actor or wannabe went thru those shows!

We used to watch it for the cheesy goodness and spot the locations; "oooo thats the beech just past the carpark at O'Neils" or "Hey thats Dan's head Xena is crushing between her thighs" - his high-point in acting Glad you liked it.

Oooooo coach-potato buddies! Probably just because gamers watch scifi/fantasy more than non-gamers, but hey... you could be my long-lost twin

They just showed the one where JD/newbie chats up the women in the MRI machine, and the boss docter losses his scariness - also all the women get orgasims. Great stuff.