Beast Machines is great and works really well as a solid story arc from beginning to end. I actually disagree about forgetting about Beast Wars - the fact that it mindscrews over all the Beast Wars characters is one of the best things about it. It's better than the Armada, Energon, Cybertron or Prime cartoons. Watch it.
I think almost every Transformers franchise has someone who needs a good slapping. I spent all of Beast Wars wanting to slap Cheetor, and he's actually not too bad in Beast Machines.