I think it's fair to judge the show by the first episode. This is all subjective, of course, but the changes they made to the story and to the universe will tell many fans all they need to know.

They made pretty massive changes. Aang has none of his childlike wonder, he can fly unaided like a Marvel superhero, and he's seemingly now a victim of a joyride gone wrong, rather than the boy who ran away from the world.

And the CGI... it's really rough in my opinion. There are entire scenes like the intro that are clearly 100% computer generated. If they passed that's one thing, but they look really goofy and uncanny.

These are all good reasons to judge the show, and you do see them in that first episode.

If you can't comment on shows you haven't watched the entirety of, and having only seen 1/8th-1/10th of the show, then most reviews are entirely out the window, all nominations for awards shows (which watch one, maybe two episodes for deliberation), and pretty much half of all comments related to a show are all moot, is that what I'm to believe your point is?

I didn't watch the second episode, so I can't tell them it gets any better, so let me rephrase it. Based on the first episode, which by all means should be the most catching and the most engaging of the series if only to push viewership, the show misses the mark on the characterization and story-development originally set by the animated series, regardless of the decent visuals and respectfully done outfits. Not only does it change existing characters' personalities, emotional maturity, and overall story arcs, it does so for reasons that seem to resemble "because new". Why change how Appa is released, why change katara's grandmother to include a poorly delivered word for word of the original intro, why have Aang address his running from his destiny and want to be a child so early when that's a key part of him visiting the air temple? I'll never know, because they lost me in the first episode. They had an hour to get me to give them the benefit of the doubt, and they missed the mark