Battlestar Galactica - Season 1

I never saw the original series, so I can't say how much the new version owes to it or even how much of the plot is the same. All I can say is that what Battlestar Galactica is is one of the most visually impressive and interesting shows on television. Briefly, 40 years earlier, robots called Cylons, created by the humans of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, rebel and start a war, eventually being pushed back. During the miniseries which kicks off the show, the Cylons use new models that look and act exactly like humans to infiltrate human society and create an opening, allowing them to land a devastating blow, wiping out the vast majority of civilization and the military. Only one battleship, the Galactica, and about 50,000 humans survive. The attack was so effective that the Secretary of Education, 43rd in line of succession, has to become president.

The first season of the show focuses on the large scale space battles, delicate subterfuge, and complicated personal relationships involving the remaining humans. Anyone could be a Cylon, and some don't even know it, leading to a great sense of mystery and suspense. Evil robots aren't the only problem either, the setting is taken seriously, and the crew has to worry about fuel, water, and ammunition in addition to the constant threat of discovery as they search for Earth, the fabled thirteenth colony. Not even all the humans can stick together, as they're suspicious of each others' true natures and an old terrorist (or freedom fighter as some would call him) has a distressing amount of loyalty among some of the survivors. The core cast of characters is quite strong, and it's interesting to note how important women are in a male dominated sort of entertainment. The president and best pilot in the fleet are women, and the two most prominent of human-looking Cylons are two. There are multiple copies of each model, each with their own consciousness, and of those is currently locked inside the mind of one of the humans, and it's very interesting to see how she helps him and wonder where her allegiances really are. The end of the season is quite the cliffhanger, and I'm ready to jump into the second.