Actually the original had a very interesting concept going with the War of the Gods storyline, and the general mythology they established. It suggested they were preparing to set up a much broader Good vs. Evil battle. In fact, I liked how they tied the Galactica universe into historical Earth mythology overall, and it would have been very interesting to see how the original series would have ultimately played out had the networks not chickened out and screwed them over, even though the series performed VERY strongly (gee, why does THAT sound familiar. Scapers, can I get a HELL YEAH?).
Then again, the end of BSG80 and early drafts/concepts I've read about implied there were plans that would have redeemed the series if they hadn't been canceled (including bringing Starbuck and Apollo back, and a continuation of the War of the Gods arc).
I really need to read the Hatch novels now.