(and now, the extended review) - it's a very different SF show than anything that's come before or since (except possible one episode of "Pigs in Space" on the Muppet Show that I can swear I've seen once, but can't find on the Muppet Show DVDs that I've seen so far). This is one of the few shows where the aliens (or some of them) really LOOK like aliens rather than people with latex masks on them. Watching the entire series in "immersion mode" was quite interesting (and I've only ever done that before with Babylon 5 when I was recuperating from surgery). It's very arc-intensive, so you really need to watch it from the beginning and not skip any episodes, but it doesn't have the "aha" moments that Babylon 5 has where things are set up from the pilot that don't pay off for 5 years. (or not nearly as many of them, anyhow).

The acting is very good IMHO, even if some of the characters are a little over the top, and it was highly innovative for the time it was made. The lead characters go through some very heavy stress throughout the series and when it was being aired it certainly had that "saturday morning serial" cliffhanger feel, especially when one had to wait months between episodes sometimes. It's not for young kids, but it's a lot of fun for us grownups.

And it's very different from anything else - you start off with a ship full of escaped prisoners all with their own agendas and nobody trusting anyone else. It's not the Federation by a long shot.

I recommend renting the DVDs from your local video store and checking it out for yourself.