Yeah, I think I remember you making that point about the bomb format; the ratings is probably the one upside to them.
As for what you say about Pasture Bedtime, I do agree that it wasn't that bad but I actually didn't think the party humiliation was that bad since the did kinda deserve it for abandoning Liam and being generally careless, though the plot itself could admittedly have been avoided; It struck me as odd that they didn't even try to talk to Liam and convince him to go with them to the party for just a little while instead of being lying jerks, but then this episode would have needed a re-write (though I think they could have pulled it off, as in maybe the party not really being as fun as the farm).
Something I do think they should try is having episodes with Rusty, Zach & Liam interact with and even star alongside Lincoln's sisters since we haven't really seen any of that except for briefly in the first sleepover episode (Overnight Sucess, I think it was); I think they could get a lot of good and funny stuff out of that if they tried.