I think there are two things going on with BSG in particular, and sci-fi on TV in general. With BSG, it's mostly a marketing thing. Sci-fi is seen as a "man's genre," especially on TV. BSG however has a lot of crossover appeal to women, and that may be why critics see it as "Sci-fi but actually good!" (i.e. women would never watch crap; only men do that ... LOL)
Also, a lot of sci-fi really is terribly written, plotted, directed (:cough:Sci-Fi Channel original movies:cough:) A lot of TV programming labelled "sci-fi" really isn't at all - it's mainly horror, some kind of harum-scarum monster oozing out of the deep film, where the action hero has to go stab it or blow it up or whatever.
There is also old sci-fi occasionally on TV (like whenever they do a "Twilight Zone" marathon, for instance), but some of that is hard to watch, with its cheesy production, as well as suffering the consequences of 1950s TV and movie censorship.
Babylon 5 and Crusade (an aborted B5 spinoff that went on for 13 or so delicious episodes, then crashed) IMO are quite good TV sci-fi, because they go back to the fundamental principles of "classic" science fiction, like Azimov and Heinlein, with focus on politics, economics, religion, deep characterizations, lots of moral dilemmas, wars, and much food for thought. I guess if you wanted to put it in a subgenre, it would be "military sci-fi," but a lot of it involves not so much battles as diplomacy and politics as well.
BSG is holding my interest largely because it's beautifully filmed and scored. I don't know where you are in the series (i.e. if you're watching earlier seasons on DVD) so I don't want to gripe and then give spoilers. In general I like it, but there are a few too many "jumps" in characters' lives; not enough "infill" regarding what's going on with them emotionally, in relationships etc.
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Also, a lot of sci-fi really is terribly written, plotted, directed (:cough:Sci-Fi Channel original movies:cough:) A lot of TV programming labelled "sci-fi" really isn't at all - it's mainly horror, some kind of harum-scarum monster oozing out of the deep film, where the action hero has to go stab it or blow it up or whatever.
There is also old sci-fi occasionally on TV (like whenever they do a "Twilight Zone" marathon, for instance), but some of that is hard to watch, with its cheesy production, as well as suffering the consequences of 1950s TV and movie censorship.
Babylon 5 and Crusade (an aborted B5 spinoff that went on for 13 or so delicious episodes, then crashed) IMO are quite good TV sci-fi, because they go back to the fundamental principles of "classic" science fiction, like Azimov and Heinlein, with focus on politics, economics, religion, deep characterizations, lots of moral dilemmas, wars, and much food for thought. I guess if you wanted to put it in a subgenre, it would be "military sci-fi," but a lot of it involves not so much battles as diplomacy and politics as well.
BSG is holding my interest largely because it's beautifully filmed and scored. I don't know where you are in the series (i.e. if you're watching earlier seasons on DVD) so I don't want to gripe and then give spoilers. In general I like it, but there are a few too many "jumps" in characters' lives; not enough "infill" regarding what's going on with them emotionally, in relationships etc.