All empires fall. The Romans, Moguls, Ottomans, Byzantines and especially the Hummer have had their golden age and are now nothing but names in history. And just like these fallen titans of power, the next big name to this list is the reason #ruinedchildhood exists — Disney Channel.

Today’s shows just aren’t what they used to be. I hate to be old man Jenkins but in the past, when every friend was coming over to watch the next episode of Hannah Montana, everything was near perfect. Disney was at its peak with cool new shows and jokes that actually made you laugh because they were funny, not stupid.

Now it takes a herculean effort to just stay in the same room as the TV to watch any of the shows today. Instead of the traditional fun and whimsy plots carrying the program, pop culture saturation and audience pandering have taken over.

“I think Disney Channel has been lowering its quality,” said senior Rochelle Ollerla. “Take a show like Gravity Falls. It’s just seems like another weird crazy cartoon like Adventure Time, but a lot of the pop culture references in it aren’t so great.”

I’ve been seeing this a lot too. Wacky cartoons that mirror borderline insane plots are fun. Truthfully. But should they be everywhere? Heck no.

It’s a common trend for TV networks to try to and recreate a versions of a shows that ended up being popular. Friends was a hugely popular show at the time of its airing. After it ended, however, came the age of NBC trying its hardest to create another show just like it that could capture the same audience.

The problem is this formula never works. Great shows and channels are usually great because they are original and have their own unique flavor. Which brings us back to Disney Channel.

Back in the day for the typical late-blooming 90’s kid, Disney had all the coolest shows from That’s so Raven, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, the ever-beloved Kim Possible and the especially magnificent Lizzie McGuire.

It was a good time. But now it’s all sold out. It seems like all the shows that ever play on Disney Channel are the typical cliché plots other failed sitcoms have had: main character has two dates to prom, main character is trying to impress forever unaware love interest, main characters sneaky plan predictably backfires, main character is selfish and annoying but is loved by everybody regardless, etc.

Also, those irritating unnecessary side characters that get too much screen time, you know the ones we could all do without? Surprise! Annoying characters have more screen time and are somehow more annoying. The shows have all gone from being their own, to creating the same carbon copy cast among themselves.

It’s less of the good stuff that kept Disney Channel alive and more of the bad stuff that you usually changed the channel for. A lot of the family dynamic in the shows have changed and not for the better.

“There’s less plots, there’s more pointless jokes,” Ollerla said. “It’s no longer about establishing family values and it’s gone to the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s kind of like MTV. It’s lost its flavor trying to do what other channels are doing.”

A look at Raven’s family compared to the family in Good Luck Charlie highlights a sea of disturbing differences in two family’s Disney classifies as happy and perfect. Raven’s family, although confronted with problems like every family, still go out of their way for each other and demonstrate consideration for each other. They have touching moments and despite their character flaws, they all have endearing personas.

As for Charlie’s? The majority of family members are self-motivated. The constant “I wish we didn’t have kids” jokes the parents make also don’t sit well. I get that these family jokes and human displays of selfish motivation can sometimes be funny, but not when greed and regret are the two major symbols that represent each character. That’s just depressing to the viewer.

There was a kinder spirit in the old shows that these recent ones have lost and replaced with shallow feeling.

Speaking of shallow, there’s the show Dog with a Blog. It’s a show. Seriously, I’m not joking. Now at first glance, I was intrigued. Could this show be about a dog with superhuman intelligence who planned to bring about the downfall of humanity through a political activist blog all while he took a pseudo identity as a suburban family’s pet who used them to adapt to human ways?

Sadly, no. It’s about a talking dog who somehow types a blog with his paws regarding the issues that plague his spoiled, cliché and predictable owners. He doesn’t even have world dominating agenda. Disappointment.

“Disney has its ups and downs like any channel,” Ollerla said. “Until Pixar signed on with Disney in the 1990s and brought it back to its more wholesome and truthful roots. Disney was on the verge of going out of business. Let’s just hope these last few years are just another rough patch Disney is going through.”

And lets continue to hope. Hopefully Disney Channel can return to its former glory so that today’s youth can have the same quality we once enjoyed. And if not? We at least still have Nickelodeon…oh gosh, wait a second.