hedwards: There's always going to be crap programming, but the shows that I've been watching are of noticeably higher quality than the ones I watched in the 80s or 90s.
The 80's also had Red Dwarf, Blackadder, Cheers (when it was good), The Young Ones, I, Claudus, Yes Minister, Open All Hours, The Goodies, Up Pompeii, Street Hawk, Spitting Image, The Comedy Store Presents and a lot more.
The 90's had the return of Star Trek, Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons, The X-Files (when it was good), Milennium, Dark Skies, Batman: The Animated Series, Stargate SG-1, Bottom, The New Statesman, and again a lot more.
We have just as much good stuff, it's just spread across a lot more channels now.