Relating to smash, if I showed you a clip of wizzrobe's sheik and Cacogen's sheik, or VoiD's sheik, would you guys be able to tell the differences (random question I thought up)?
Relating to cartoons, I think it's easy to see that the quality of cartoons are vastly diminished simply based on the fact that there's little to no replay value or longevity with them. If I had the whole series of Samurai Jack on dvd or on Netflix, there would be no reason for me at all to ever engage on anything TV-related at all ever again. The whole vastness and epic-feel with the show, along with the ridiculous amount of interesting characters, the juxtaposition of the show (old-traditional samurai meets futuristic world), and the demonstration of how traditional disciplines And morals are dependable beyond life times is just too much to not watch. That show is a classic.
Ed Edd'n Eddy is more of a suburban culture type of look and shows the interwebbed relations and interactions with each character and their multiple adventures. The characters become so much more personal than most other shows since it presents itself like a sit-com. Comedy is the show's genre, but unlike TTG or w/e CN is cooking up nowadays, offers enough depth to actually last longer than a few days.
Tom and Jerry doesn't need a lick of an explanation. A series started back in 1940, I would consider tom and Jerry to be like Kanye West in how they both started out with classics, kept making classics for years to come and then started to recently falter.
That's all I got. If anybody can recommend me a quality show, I would be thankful.