The OT had such an impact because it was new and groundbreaking. By the time the PT rolled around, it naturally wasn't that big of a deal to the general public. For the most part, they probably only were interested in TPM and ROTS, as the media wanked them to death. And then of course, there were the original fans, who had in their heads what the PT would be like. And when it didn't deliver their expectations, well, things turned nasty.