I'm having a real hard time seeing this as either pre-Earth or post-Earth without major holes, and even Earth-parallel is kinda problematic.

Why?

Pre-Earth problems: All the hand props look very now-like (eg-paint can). That it would be the natural progression of humanity to come up with 3x5 photographs and neckties, even having forgotten about them for thousands of years...I understand that it makes the series cheaper, and works as a short-hand, but it screams post-Earth to me.

Post-Earth problems: They created andriods and functional space battleships, but haven't gotten anything better than chemo and radiation to treat cancer? Also, they're going to "Earth", which, if it is post-Earth, survives in the cultural consciousness not as "Earth that was", which implies a far future.

Concurrent problems: "Apollo"--They use a non-Earth name for their Olympus, but that one is the same, even though the implications of the theology is far more Christian than Greek/Roman.

I'm sure there are more specific things that have bugged me (some specific cultural reference that made me go "hey"), but I can't think of them at the moment.

I thought the premise of concurrency involved humanity starting in one place (Kobol) and going to two places. I do have problems with the lineup, that becomes much more grating later in the series, but I think that concurrent is how it's supposed to be working (as has been explained by kindly folk here), and it's far more tenable than slotting it into pre or post.

They created andriods and functional space battleships, but haven't gotten anything better than chemo and radiation to treat cancer?

Dude, those are two totally different technologies, and there's no reason why the ability to build giant metal things should correlate with the ability to fight cancer. If they had very advanced nanotechnology, however, that would be a different story.

I agree that it's the least problematic, but it's still kinda messy, which is my complaint.

P-C, I know they're very different. It's just that it would also strike me as odd if they had hybrid cars and hadn't figured out something like a sewing machine. That progress would be that isolated seems odd, to me.

Concurrent problems: "Apollo"--They use a non-Earth name for their Olympus, but that one is the same, even though the implications of the theology is far more Christian than Greek/Roman.

This is the one thing that doesn't bug me, because it actually follows real-world rules of linguistic and cultural change (assuming the name, like the dialogue, is "translated" into English). It's entirely possibly they'd keep some of the names of Greek pantheon--or that Earth, their lost colony, would--while the rest of the mythology changes significantly.

They created andriods and functional space battleships, but haven't gotten anything better than chemo and radiation to treat cancer?

You might as well say "They can put human beings on the moon but haven't cured the common cold?" Developments in machine technology and medicine aren't necessarily congruent.

All the hand props look very now-like (eg-paint can).

It's more than that, it's that most of the customs and culture are very, very much particular to the contemporary US, or the mythology of it. Being ladylike is indicated by high-heeled shoes, conservative suits with skirts, and pearl earrings. Women wear black and Jackie-o half-veils to funerals. Military funerals involve folding the flag over the dead person's coffin. Prisoners wear orange track suits.

I've tried to give up on tracking this, because the culture is never going to be sufficiently alien for me, and either I give up on the show or I accept this as one of its characteristics and move on.

It's just that it would also strike me as odd if they had hybrid cars and hadn't figured out something like a sewing machine.

I do think those technologies are much more similar than medicine and robotics, though.

The Cylons could probably cure cancer, though.

I don't know. I understand what you're saying. It just seems like Cancer would be one of those things that you, as a society, would work on, if there wasn't an immediate other threat (which the Cylons weren't for a decent chunk of time). Although that may be it--they were too busy fighting the cylons for long enough that it pulled all their focus onto military, and everything else didn't get worked on so much. I could buy that.

I'd be fully ok with the odd cultural-ness (as I was/am with Firefly), if I hadn't taken the miniseries to present it to us as a puzzle for us to figure out how they relate to Earth.

The Cylons could probably cure cancer, though.

Instead, they just point and laugh.

I just redid Prometheus Unbound in my head with Jack instead of Daniel, and it was very fun. I still had to rein some stuff in, but a much better fit.