Most people actually had individual tv's in the 90's. I think it really comes down to the HBO and rise of cable tv. Not having to follow the strict rules of the FCC allowed artist to do more edgy stuff and push the envelope. Which in turn had family friendly stuff also go a little more edgy though they were never going to go to places like say The Sopranos would. Still won't today. The real change in escapism has been that the political messaging which has always been their because exploring politics and human nature is always the subtext of all art has simply become less subtle much of the time because the one drawback for allowing artist with more freedom is they can go overboard at times and loose the nuance. So in essence in the end it still come down to talent. The good writers create good shows and the bad ones create bad ones. With a flop here and their or a writer who gets lucky once or twice.
Jason
Jason