What does a changed market have to do with what someone likes or dislikes?
It has nothing to do with what someone likes or dislikes. What it has to do with is the nature of humor. The nature of art. The nature of entertainment. What people enjoy and get entertained by are not the same anymore.
That is, if it may not be made for us anymore. Expecting it to be the same is setting yourself up for disappointment.
The market right now is for degenerate rap and auto-tuned pop. That means I like to like it because it's stupid to say stuff was better before?
Invalid analogy. You still have access to a wide variety of music. You're just not looking hard enough.
Maybe standards have broken down and the market is full of idiots.
Who sets what the "unbroken" standards are? Certainly not me, nor you. Am I presumptuous enough to think that
my standards are better than anyone else's? No I'm not. Half my life I've spent thinking I would stick to deep, thinking material to entertain myself, but I still found myself enjoying pop music of whatever time I'm in. Why should I pretend to be some one I'm not just because of some self-imposed "standards"?
That's an opinion just as valid as saying anything from the 80s onward is childish drivel. (Which begs the question of why you would watch something you consider 'drivel'.)
Because oftentimes I want to sit back from a day of overthinking and enjoy simple, fun stuff.
There are a lot of concepts that irk me and turn me off from a lot of popular and critically acclaimed material: Oftentimes they stress me out more than they entertain me, even though I can say they're technically great. But with simple kids' shows I find myself just turning off inhibitions exactly because there's no other way to enjoy it. And it has served me well.
You're essentially saying that everything is relative and that no one can ever set a standard for anything.
Everything IS relative, though, and everyone CAN set a standard. That's the entire point.
From Merriam Webster, "Standard" is a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable. Note the use of the passive tense ("is considered"). That means there is no set person or entity that sets what a standard is. So, no "broken" or higher standards, just different ones. Oftentimes, it's a matter of convention.
Uh except I'm not saying it was done better back in my time, I am providing the facts as to why it IS better. I already said, there was a balance between comedy and seriousness.
Have you considered that maybe people of this time prefer a different balance than you do? Or that shows are specifically designed to accommodate the present culture rather than that of 10+ years ago?