You know, I watched the original and am an avid fan of the new one.
The new Battlestar is NOT pure sci-fi. It is indeed a drama… and an EXCELLENT one at that.
If you watch all of it (start with the mini-series, then through the 3 previous seasons), the story lines are not confusing and all of those “Sharons” make total sense and it is easy to keep track of which Sharon is which :-)
As for characters…
Sharan aka Boomer HAS to be female in this series… she can;t be a black man like Boomer from the 70’s
“Starbuck” is a hell of a character. FAR more developed and well rounded than the original gambling/womanizing dude with feathered hair from the 70’s
And even the actor who played the original Apollo is a HELL of a lot better in his current role than he ever was as Apollo.
If you are fan of good drama and of Sci-Fi, the new battlestar may just be the best show on Television.
Oh, and it just won a Peabody Award too for many of the subjects and themes.