Well I watched the miniseries so at least I have the backdrop now.

Now I just have to make it through 4 seasons.

Plus extras...

Webisodes, Online episode (making of/behind scenes) specials...

Etc.

I guess it would've helped if I had known the premise of the original BSG show, but the whole time I was watching it I was assuming it was just far enough in the distant future that they had forgotten that the human race was started on Earth. It was interesting to me that instead they seem to be implying humans originated on Kobold, then spread to 13 colonies, the 13th of them being Earth, which, from what I gather from over-read spoilers, is a nuclear wasteland as a result of the period during which it was colonized by the 13th tribe. I'm sure there's much more insight into this as the show progresses but am I correct in assuming the show is running concurrent with actual Earth history as we (think) we know it, or is it a sort of alternate history tale?

It's not running concurrent, no. Well, maybe it is. The only real way to know is to watch the finale and try and decide. >_>

Ok, perhaps not actually concurrent, but Earth as we know it actually fits somewhere into the timeline of BSG as they know it, if you get my meaning.

Anyhow, cool show. Still trying to download season 1. I think this torrent stuff is incredibly slow for me because I didn't set up port forwarding. It works it just apparantly will take a few days to DL 4 gigs.

Beff, I thought that as well at first but I believe they say "bones of a young woman". Still, I guess they meant that she died after she had babies. Kind of a rip off, after all the grief everyone went through to keep her alive only to have her die young.


Hyfe: You do not need to know the old series. The general plot remains the same: ragtag fleet of humans fleeing cylons, looking for 13th colony called Earth.

But in the old series there were aliens and I believe the cylons were aliens as well. The alien element was removed in the new series.

There was a spin-off of the old Battlestar Galactica called Galactica 1980 where the Galactic (missing it's ragtag fleet) does find Earth in the 1980's and because the humans are not advanced, they opt to defend it from cylons who are still pursuing them. It only lasted 13 episodes and was pretty stupid.

I understand, I'm just trying to decipher if it's implied that this is an alternate reality or if our (real life) period of Earth inhabitance is supposed to fit somewhere into the BSG chronology (ie. humans originated on Kobold and spread to the colonies, one of them being Earth, and thats how life came to our planet, and subsequently ends in nuclear holocaust, the state in which it is discovered at the end of the series). Nevermind.

Well, the old series, prior to the opening song and credits had a guy saying something along the lines of:

"Many people believe that life here, began out there. That the ancient civilizations of the Mayans, Tolteks (sp?), and ancient Egyptians were descendants of such starfaring people (or something to that effect). In fact, there may yet be brothers of man out there fighting for survival..." [cue Battlestar Galactica theme music, credits and scenes from the pilot episodes]

I guess the thinking was Earth was the 13th colony and had somehow reverted from their advanced technology (which included spaceflight) to the old primitive societies of man here on Earth.

But in the old Galactica lore, Kobol was the birthplace of humanity and our Earth was the 13th colony (way off in the freakin middle of nowhere and only mentioned in ancient literature) and the first 12 Colonies united and stood in the way of the evil Cylon Empire which enslaved races or something like that.

Cool. So my answer is in the original series opening lines. More interesting (IMO) than "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away".

Also way more interesting for the Cylons to be machines built by the humans that revolt rather than just an evil Empire.

The Cylons were an expansionist race of lizardmen who built the robots to kill all other life. Unfortunately, there must've been a typo because their machines turned on and whipped out the Cylon race. Their machines then found the 12 colonies and after a war whipped them out to except for the Galactica and her ragtag fleet which then flees them.

At least that's what it's supposed to be. I don't know how they accepted the original Baltar's aid and such. There were many plot holes. *shrug*