I am not saying every series was great SF, but there were some and
they did have scripts written by real SF authors.

Most SF series today are basically fantasies with spaceships, the
continued legacy of what Star Wars did to the whole genre after a
brief renaissance started in 1968 with 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The reimaged BSG gave hope to bringing something new and fresh to
the genre, but in the end we got a series that should have ended two
seasons early.

There is a reason Patrick McGoohan only had The Prisoner go 13
episodes. I know it is nice to be employed in the entertainment
industry, but when these series don't know when to quit, this is why
we get so much shark jumping.

When the Galactica found Earth and it turned out to be a radioactive
pile of waste, I kept thinking Wow, this series really does go where no
one has gone before. I half expected them to end the series by killing
off all the Colonists and letting the Cylons win the galaxy, just to be
really different.

Such a thing has happened before. In the British science fiction series
Blake's 7 from the late 1970s, the series ended with the evil galactic
government (ironically called the Federation) killing off all of the main
characters! So it has happened. But nope, Moore gives us the sappy
happy Hollywood ending and proves like one person said in that forum
that Moore is probably best at writing one or two episodes in a series,
but taking on an entire show is another matter.

And there have been a few SF television series that were truly
realistic in terms of sticking to known physics and using the technology
of the near, plausible future.

There was Men Into Space, which came out in 1959 and lasted but
one year:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Into_Space

There was a British series named Moonbase 3 which lasted but six
episodes in 1973. Unlike the far more popular Space: 1999, it tried to
depict a more realistic view of living on the Moon in the distant future
year of 2003:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbase_3

And I do recall a series about NASA astronauts from about a decade
ago that also didn't last long. I would be lying if I said I found it to be
an enthralling hour of television, 'cause it wasn't. But they did try to
be fairly realistic.

There has to be a middle ground. BSG started that way and then lost
their way. I am curious about the upcoming spinoff The Plan, though
knowing how everything is going to turn out isn't all that great. Then
again, maybe this is their chance to redeem some of their literary sins.
After all, aren't there a lot of Cylons left at the Colonies? And we do
have the Centurions who went off in their own Basestar. So maybe
we will see somethings the way we hoped they would be. If Moore is
listening at all.

As for Caprica, I see that turning into a typical soap opera real quick.
And we all know how things are going to turn out with them.