Okay, "Dr. Strange" (1978) - What Was That?!?

Alright guys, so I'm on this classic movie kick, trying to catch up on stuff I missed. I found this old TV movie called "Dr. Strange" from '78 – the first Dr. Strange apparently? It was...something. I mean, the plot's simple enough: psychiatrist guy becomes a sorcerer to fight a witch. But holy moly, the effects were... special. Like, disco-era special, bordering on hypnotic bad. I'm genuinely curious, did people actually think this was good back then? The whole demon world looked like someone spilled glitter and food coloring in a fish tank. And the acting! Peter Hooten felt so stiff as Dr. Strange. Like he got lost on his way to a commercial for denture cream. The bad guy, Morgan le Fay (Jessica Walter, RIP, but still!), she was at least chewing the scenery, but even that felt kinda cheap. I did, however, enjoy the fact that this movie has one of my favorite sitcom actors ever in it. Ted Sorel from "The Facts of Life" was there! I didn't see that coming. Okay, so my question is this: Am I missing something here? Nostalgia? Is there a deeper layer of cheesy brilliance I'm not grasping? Were these effects mind-blowing for the time, even on a TV movie budget? Or is it just objectively a weird, dated time capsule of late '70s fantasy? I'm open to being enlightened. Also, did anyone else find the romance subplot with Clea kinda shoehorned in? I mean, they literally meet and she's suddenly his love interest. Talk about a fast burn. Anyway, let me know your thoughts! Don't hold back. Just trying to figure out what I just watched... maybe I need to watch some more '70s Marvel TV stuff to understand... shudder.