I don't think it's fair to say that a show is bad because of the CGI. It first aired in the late 90's. So of course the CGI for a late 90's WB drama that didn't have a huge movie studio budget isn't going to match up the standards of today. What makes the show great is the writing. It falters at times, but ultimately good outweighs the bad. In fact, I'd consider the "bad" parts of the show to be miles ahead of a lot of what we get today.

The show really perfected the art of long-form storytelling, mixed with standalone episodes. Even most of the standalone episodes feature key parts of the overall arc of the season, making it hard to skip episodes or want to skip the episodes.

Season 1 can be tough to get through, but mid season 2 is when the series really hits it stride and it keeps going and going. The Innocence/Surprise arc from season 2 really sets up the rest of the show. It's single-handily one of the most important parts of the entire series and one of my favorite things to legitimately come from any movie, TV show, book, or storytelling medium. Not to mention the episode Passion in season 2. That is some damn good writing. Season 3 is considered the highest point of the series, though.

Crazy to me that someone can literally catch 1 random episode of a show they've never seen and deem it bad. Maybe give it a shot and you'd be pleasantly surprised. It's a wonderful show!