One thing that strikes me about the early years of the show is how attitudes have changed towards kids "respecting" their elders (i.e. adults have always to be respected even if they're wrong). Thankfully this rather outdated attitude isn't so prevalent today. In early episodes teenage characters often had to apologize to adult characters for being "rude" even when said adult had been acting totally wrongly and the teenager was just standing up for what was right. Even when the adult realized they were in the wrong, and it was because of the kid being "rude" that they realized it, the kid still had to apologize.
It just seems silly now. I don't care if you are 14 or 40, if you are right, you're right; and if you are wrong, you're wrong.