I thought it was a fantastic show. I enjoyed it completely.
I understand that there are purists, waxing poetic about the old show. I understand they won't like this. But I am not one of them and so --unhindered by bias --I was able to enjoy myself.
I agree with the comments about the "baby scene". There were much easier, and less offensive, ways of showing that #6 was an amoral entity. That was a bad scene in an otherwise wonderful show and one that I wish would have been left out because it disturbed me both at it's inherant repugnance as well as it's uselessness as an over-the-top plot device.
I didn't mind the references to the old show, in fact, for me it sort of added to it and made me smile when I saw thing like a drawing of the old Cylon Centurion.
I was very skeptical about the "reality show" style in the special effects when I heard about it, but once I saw them I was really impressed. It worked, and although it didn't look as 'real' as the producers were trying to say, nonetheless I still thought it was good. The battle music was very well done.
The acting was pretty good, and in particular that of Adama. I did not care for Apollo, that performance was pretty flat. And the new Starbuck tries too hard. I thought that the new President's performance was superb and utterly believable.
(Side note: I loved when the PR guy gets Apollo up to meet her, hoping he will usurp her authority. Then Apollo watches her barking orders and getting the job done and just tells the guy "Looks like the lady is in charge...")
It was well written, well paced and for the most part well acted.
And now, I must blaspheme: It was a better show than the original, in nearly every way. Period. (Personally, I liked the original Apollo actor better than the new one, but that's about the only thing I can think of that I liked better from the original show).
Man, I hope this becomes a new series.
Oh, and as a Kzinti at heart, I love the excellent use of drones in the show!
My humble US$0.02,
Scott