Strong agree on all points. I recently rewatched TNG for the first time since it first aired, and I made pretty much the same observations. (For various reasons, I consider Troi and Pulaski as wasted potential, too, though less so.)
Most blatant sci-fi author-insert since George named his protagonist Luke S.
American Gods, the TV series, has progressively gone downhill since series 1.
You know, it wasn’t until recently when watching a video that I put together the “Luke S” thing. At least Luke went on a proper character journey and didn’t go off with the Space Creeper…sequel trilogy notwithstanding…
God’s honest … that has never crossed my mind before now.