So it was great in 2008 and now it's bad. Because?

because novelty is a significant factor for enjoyment of media, and influential projects lose that novelty when the formula gets dissected, cloned, and repeatedly beaten to death

If you're really into fast cars, and you've gone to like Speedways and driven state-of-the-art race cars and muscle cars and all that stuff, then you go and drive a Model T it ain't going to hit the same. You're not going to appreciate it because it's not really the thing you're into it's the thing what you're into evolved from. You can like it from a historical perspective, but it isn't going to give you the same thrill driving it as a car that can go 250 mph.

It's the same thing with a lot of visual mediums like television. Things that were groundbreaking and amazing in their day can still be enjoyed from historical context but don't always work for people who are fans of the modern product. Not I Love Lucy though that still works fine.

Not what was being said at all but ok

I saw it back then and didn't think it was funny. The laugh track felt forced and I found the characters obnoxious. Watching Friends felt like being around someone who thinks purposely misunderstanding things is funny, so they keep doing it, and people keep giving them pity laughs. Meanwhile, you have to just stand there and tolerate it, even though you're getting more and more irritated every time it happens.

It made me cringe in the 90s, and I'm not touching it with a 10-foot pole today.