I may be crazy but over the years I've grown to like the 70s syndie series far better than the 1984 series. Everything on the latter version just seems too loud and garish where as the first one is the right combination of wacky and class.
Maybe that's strange but hey.
Much as I enjoyed the 80s version, I'm slowly agreeing with you, and it boils down to this: Dean (and to a lesser extent, Brian) served as a great sidekick, but there's no beating the chemistry between Monty and Jay.
I liked the colorful geometric shapes of the 80s version, but yeah, overall it seemed a bit
too slick, presentation-wise. The 70s version had a certain charm that gives it the edge.
However, I do wish there were more cues from the 80s versions in the clear, from both 1980 and '84. Some of them were really kickass.