To be fair, G Gundam is a completely different show than ordinary Gundam, in that it's a Super Robot show instead of a Real Robot one. It was made by the same guy who made Giant Robo for crying out loud.
It did, however, get me watching the original Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979. It's a strange show, more like Star Trek with war in place of exploration. There's only one Gundam and the series focuses more on the skeleton crew of the warship it's stationed on to defend itself from nigh on constant enemy attacks while they desperately try to reach Federation airspace. At the same time you still see obvious holdovers from it's Super Robot roots, such as combining mechs, the Gundam Hammer, and it's extremely young protagonist. Amuro Ray if effectively a child soldier, but at the same time the series goes out of it's way to show the effects it's having on him. I guess these are just them figuring out what worked in the story they were trying to tell. It did, after all, invent the Real Robot sub-genra.
Hey son, wanna' learn how ta' make witch balls?