My Big Theory Of How BSG Could Have Been (Even) Better would have been to say "OK, ten or so episodes worked well for the first season, so stick with that." Lose the padding either side of the Pegasus/Cain mini-arc in S2, or pretty much most of S3 between the escape from New Caprica and Baltar's trial, and you'd have a taut, tense show with no embarrassing sagging bits.

As far as I'm concerned, as of S4E07, BSG is rivalling B5 at its best (i.e. mid-S2 to late S3); I just hope the writers can sustain it.