I think what you're experiencing is
Seinfield is Unfunny.
"There are certain shows that you can safely assume most people have seen. These shows were considered fantastic when they first aired. Now, however, these shows have a Hype Backlash curse on them. Whenever we watch them, we'll cry, "That is so old" or "That is so overdone".
The sad irony? It wasn't old or overdone when they did it. But the things it created were so brilliant and popular, they became woven into the fabric of that show's genre. They ended up being taken for granted, copied and endlessly repeated. Although they often began by saying something new, they in turn became the status quo. It's basically the inverse of a Grandfather Clause taken to a trope level: rather than being able to get away with something that is seen as overdone or out of style simply because it was the one that started it, people will disregard it because it got lost amidst its sea of imitations even though it paved the way for all those imitators. That is, a work retroactively becomes a Cliché Storm."
It's like, um -- it's like how the Opening Crawl is super lame if you do it in your power point or "Top 10 Anime Fights" video, but when you see it on the big screen in a Star Wars movie for the first time in over 10 years, it's like, "YES! NICE!" It sure wasn't the first space opera or the first movie to do any of the stuff it does (including laser swords and the Force), but it's the first thing we think of when we
do think of that stuff.
I really wish I watched the original trilogy in theaters without any prior knowledge of them. The ending of V apparently blew so many peoples minds that they felt the need to tell goddamn everybody about it. Lots of people even doubted it, like they theorized Vader was lying about being Luke's dad just to get Luke to trust him more, and it's crazy because that makes complete sense; it was some serious shit.
That kind of reveal would be really cliche nowadays, but cliches are only cliche because they're all (poorly) copying a better example of what they're trying to do (and so many people are (poorly) copying it that it just becomes stupid). Like, lots of stories have laser swords, but none of them are as iconic or as unique... or as integral to the story of the thing they're in, so now laser swords are almost lame. It's like the Opening Crawl thing. It's the Opening Crawl Effect.
It's kinda like the elemental bending from Avatar. There are billions of examples of element manipulation -- controlling fire, water, etc -- but none of them are as unique or important to the story as Avatar's bending is. It sure as hell wasn't the first thing to ever do Cool Fire Powers, but it's the first thing I think of when I think that.
Edit: Hmm, another good example is Godzilla. He's not the first kaiju and most of his movies are pretty bad from a writing standpoint (especially the Showa era), but his movies are so enjoyable and the monster himself is so unique and iconic that there's a reason kids today still know what the name "Godzilla" means. Of course, he's probably not that unique
now since he's a victim of the Opening Crawl Effect/Seinfield is Unfunny, but yeah.