I deleted my response over at Px, because I really don't feel welcome over there.

But I utterly agree with you, both as to disliking the direction of the writing (I quit watching at the end of S3) whilst still liking the original conceptions of the two characters. Problem is, there are far more people who find that type of humour appealing than not, and in a world governed by ratings and 'product', quantity wins out over subjective quality.