The old version was cheesy, but fun. Really the same plot for every show. Baltar in the old series was always sitting on his throne in the base star plotting the destruction of Galactica.
When they started the new series, I had my doubts as to what they could possibly do with BSG. However, having the human-looking cylons brings a brilliant bit of paranoia to the series.
Good points...Hope Ms. Maren is doing fine...she was a hottie for sure!