Yep, the first 2 seasons.

yes, the girl I was dating at the time was obsessed with it and I'm pretty sure she would have held my eyes open and forced me to watch if I didn't - for me it was kind of up and down and by the end I was checked out mentally

No. Should I?

Yes, I have. But I did only for a couple of sequels until the script got lame from my perspective....