*nods* I can see that; I only watched the first, oh, 10 minutes or so of the original pilot (plus skipping ahead a bit just to see what Annie was like *g*) because the character disjoint was just too disconcerting, but in general tone and style, it reminded me more of the last couple episodes (where I think the series really hit its stride) than the first couple episodes of the revamped series, which went for a somewhat more episodic and mainstream-commercial feeling. What you said about the recasting/restructuring throwing them off makes a lot of sense and maybe explains a little bit of the thrown-together feeling of the first couple of episodes, while the last ones were, IMHO, so tight.

On the other hand, in my case, since I first encountered the series with the new cast, I fell and fell hard for them; I find both of the original castmates disappointing compared to the new ones, but I think a lot of that has to do with what I'm used to.

I'm delighted to have a series 2 to look forward to! All of my shows right now are either cancelled or so lackluster that I have trouble getting excited about them coming back.