BSG is wonderful, largely because the characters remain recognisably human and flawed amidst the large scale and space battles of the human/cylon war. There's also very little technobabble.
Star Trek has its moments, but even the bloke who cleans the vending machines on the Enterprise seems to have a Phd in Astrophysics and Always Does The Right Thing. There also doesn't seem to be any problem that can't be solved by reversing the polarity of the plasma conduits and re-routing them via the main deflector dish. Or something.
Babylon 5 was really great. It was hugely ambitious despite the small budget (and occasions of duff acting). It starts off pretty much in the same vein as Star Trek (standalone episodes, alien race of the week) but then the vast overarching plot emerges that leads to interstellar war and all sorts of cool stuff. Again, there a few 'good' or 'bad' characters, just people. The effects were quite revolutionary for the time, being all CGI when every one else was still using models. This allowed them to do huge (and I do mean huge) space battles for very little money.
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