I'm on episode 65 of Naruto Shippuden. So does this get any better?
The original Naruto was actually not that bad. In fact I would argue that everything up to the Orochimaru arc was actually pretty good. It was when Sasuke went rogue and Naruto et all had to chase him down that I thought the plot started to sour, even then there was some pretty decent stuff there... filler aside. Though it is a shame that Kishimoto borrowed so heavily from Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter X Hunter) in so many of his concepts and arcs.
Naruto Shippuden also started on a high note, the Sand Village arc was pretty cool and Sakura proved herself surprisingly useful in her fight against Sasori. Daedara also proved himself a competent villain against both Naruto, Kakashi and Gaara. It was the arc right after where the show seems to drop the ball, that is the Sasuke/Orochimaru arc. I thought the arc was boring and without any real point, totally anti-climactic and reminds we of why I hate Sasuke.
Right now I am actually on the first filler arc, I wanted to skip it but the show really looks like it is trying to make this filler arc decent. All of the villains have character designs that look like important villains and takes itself seriously, so I guess I will give it a try. Though I have struggled to keep watching the show consistently especially given how much of a disappointment that last arc was.