I started watching G1 and drawing parallels to G4. There are times when the contrast is evident, but not in the direction most bronies would like it to be.
many of the people that watched G1 says that it was pretty good. The gen that does deserve all the bashing is G3 iand G2 to a lesser degree. Even so, i prefer the more cartoonish looks of G4.
Meh, I don't think those deserve bashing either. MLP in any gen is (surprisingly) not the corniest animation out there. Well, I dunno about Newborn Cuties. But the rest of G3 is pretty cute.