I’d Like to Know What the Mini-Series Fans Liked About TOS

[Sept17th]

There is this chat lately about people who liked TOS and enjoyed the mini-series.


The Battlestar Exterior/Interior:

I really liked the original design…a lot. Perhaps a slight revamp and adding the “big window”. I would have loved seeing the original model.

The new ship was Fugly and small looking

Space Battles:

I enjoy the sweeping music and laser blasts.

The mini-series had none; even the video game has better space battles. After twenty-five years and the advancement of technology space battles boring compared to TOS…fracking brilliant.

Costumes:

I’m a big fan of the Emmy award winning costumes of TOS that have cues to ancient Earth societies. I could have lived with an updating.

Costumes re-imagined appearing to lack any imagination.

The Cylons:

Lack of mechanized centurion shock troops. How do you manage to make CGI Cylon troops that have someone long for clumsy stuntmen in suits??????

Starbuck:

Not a charming boasting fighter ace ladies man.


Give me big epic space opera not gritty docu-space opera. One can only hope if they are fans of the mini-series. That through ongoing episodes the chemistry of the three-hero fighter aces will come through. I some how doubt that.

[The Rain]

Hmmm... what did I like... well, I was a kid and kids are easily impressed but I guess I liked the fact it was kinda like star wars but not. Plus it was on television and there wasn't any other sci-fi on tv at the time. After a while though I got tired of the same old re-used footage for the space battles. I remember not liking muffit at all. The fact it was a monkey in a costume was kinda cool though.

I loved the mythology. I think it gave extra depth to TOS that alot of sci-fi since then has missed. Since the mini is more of a 'United States in Space' type show, it makes that aspect of it more dull compared to TOS.

[koenigrules]

That was my all-time favorite episode.
It provided a motivation to the Cylons & introduced the Galacticans to the devil - in the flesh.
Plus Macnee's performance as Count Iblis was one of the best I have seen on a space show!
Its too bad Baltar became a less pivotal figure after this episode.
They should have had the rest of the season focused on the war between the gods of light & Iblis.

The characters were larger than life, the comraderie was extraordinary. There was hope and granduer. It was epic.

All of the above, of course, when it was lived up to its potential.

I think the mini and TOS fans liked TOS for the same reasons the anti-mini TOS fans did. I think that describes the vast majority of mini fans that post including me.

The few negative comments you see from mini fans toward TOS tend to revolve around the casino planet, hector/vector, and human differences in the terra episodes. It seems to me these tend to be the same complaints I see about TOS among the anti-mini.

A few talk about the 70's look but that is a FEW out of many.

[Sept17th]

Thanks, for the most part these where well thought out responses. I listed above why I really enjoy TOS.

So when very little of TOS you enjoyed shows up in the Mini-Series what is it you like?

[SAR Pilot]

I like TOS and the Mini, but as separate and distinct entities which share a common universe and name.

I liked that there were a mix of new and old Vipers,
I liked that there were other small craft besides fighters,
I liked the military feel of the Galactica,
I liked that there was a CAG (I'm a carrier pilot and can see the relevance, and appreciated that the time was spent to incorporate the position)
I liked that there were military advisors to add those little extra touchs,
I liked the Cylons and how they had advanced with time and developed emotions (most of which they still are experimenting with) and a religion, so to speak.
I liked the gritty feel of the unverse, that the characters were only human and had to make some very tough choices for the greater good,
I liked the interaction between Cmdr Adama and Lee Adama, for it rings true in many a military family,
I liked the large role enlisted personnel played in it, for the sailor always gets excluded in sci fi films and series,
I liked Chief Tyrol, and the excellent acting which rang true with Flight Deck Chiefs today,
I liked the idea of a low-ranking member of the government suddenly getting thrust into the highest position of authority.

I guess that covers most of it!

Again, I view TOS and BSG2003 as two separate and distinct entities, and have developed an appreciation for both as such. I can view each one individual of the other work and can find the good and bad in both.

Last weekend I stayed up and watched "Teen Titans" with my daughter who is 7 years old. It is her favorite cartoon. There are 5 major characters. 4 are new and one is named Robin. Robin dresses identically to the "Robin" in Batman and Robin. This Robin is in no way, shape or form the "Robin" of Batman and Robin in any other cartoon, live action movie, or comic book. The show was great, family oriented, and a bit on the deep side for kids. I don't know if it would make any difference to my daughter if I explained to her how much I liked the original or real Robin. All I know is every weekend she likes to pretend she is "Star Fire" and I am "Beast Boy". I never saw those characters in the real Batman and Robin but I am glad my daughter and I can enjoy these characters together day.

I could copy Sept17th's original post word for word without the comparison to the poor quality of the mini and it would describe many of the reasons I loved TOS. The question asks what we liked about TOS. It seems to imply the mini-fan did not see TOS the same way. I dare say we saw and loved the same series in pretty much the same way for the same reasons.

I sometimes wonder and this is an unanswerable question. What would the anti-mini person have thought of the mini if TOS was never made? It's hard to say we give anything a fair shake or an open mind when it violates something we love.

The original post is kind of like asking a crazy man why he is crazy. You will never find the answer you are looking for.

[BST]

Originally posted by antelope526

What would the anti-mini person have thought of the mini if TOS was never made?

antelope,

This is a very good question and I would be happy to provide my own personal thoughts.

If TOS had never been made, I very well might have watched the mini-series. It depends on whether or not the advertisements had piqued my interest. In this scenario, there would have been nothing to which it could be compared. It would have been judged as its own story.

Originally posted by antelope526

It's hard to say we give anything a fair shake or an open mind when it violates something we love.

I agree. Re-makes, etc, are usually held more accountable than 'original stories' because there is something to directly compare.

BST

[SAR Pilot]

Originally posted by BST
It would have been judged as its own story.

BST

I think that is what a great many supporters of the mini who also like TOS have succeeded in doing, after getting past the dislikes in comparison. I know after the initial let down I put aside the comparisons because I knew it wasn't going to be the same or better than TOS, nothing could be. I decided to watch it on its own merits, "as its own story."
Unfortunately, I think we humans tend to immediately dismiss anything that is outside of our comfort box without giving it a chance.

[warhammerdriver]

While I don't consider myself a "fan" of the mini-, I did watch and enjoy it. Based on that, I'll throw out what I liked from TOS (well, what I remember I liked from TOS. I was 10 or 12 at the time and a LOT has happened since then.)

The hardware--I loved the ships and the firearms. I remember trying to make Colonial pistols from Legos when I was a kid. The Galactica model was basically one giant kitbashed construct, and I had lots of fun identifying parts of models I had built on her. I wanted that ship (The one in the series, not a kit to build on my own) BAD.

Lorne Greene--I was worried about how he'd do in a sci-fi series 'cause I absoutly HATED Bonanza. He calmed my fears in the first 5 minutes of TOS pilot. 'Nuff said.

Favorite episode--The one with the old navigation bubble where they were picking up transmissions from the first moon landing.

[Stray Viper]

What the TOS lacks today in modern visual effects, I think it made up for with great sound effects that enhanced what you were seeing on the screen. That's one of the things I remembered about TOS, and I was 4 or 5 at the time. The sound effects sparked the imagination.

Not that the visual f/x needed any help back then. It was cutting-edge at the time, right? Dykstra was the man.

[Darth Marley]

I enjoyed the classic series as a youth for basically the same reasons anyone that enjoyed the show did.

What I liked about the remake is expressed elsewhere, but in short I like the darker themes, I like the "adult content" in the remake, and generally support the idea of updating the great stories to suit the times.

As far as what little of TOS made it in, I would agree that it is a rather sparse connection. Even so, though not enough for those that wished for a different product, enough for me to recognize it as Galactica.