I agree that the vocal themes were pretty weak, but I have good hopes for the show.
The writers have a daunting task. They have a whole, known "history" ahead of them (in story terms), so these shows have to be consistant with all of it. They also have a known "history" of the technology that will come after this time period, so they have to write precursor technologies that believably lead to the goodies we know will exist in their "future." With due respect to the earliest Trek's, they cannot appear too modern, yet they have to contend with 2001 + video product, so they cannot look as old as the original shows.
Overall, I think they did a remarkably good job of reaching this balance, and I think Scott Bakula is a good choice. My first reaction to TNG was not as favorable, but it evolved into possibly the strongest series of the franchise. I see good potential, so I'm going to watch to see where it goes.