They were a complete joke because Trump made them that way. Trump did his damndest to make the GE debates a joke as well. Go look at how differently Clinton handles Trump than any of the GOP did. They all allowed themselves to get offended and angry and they willingly went down to Trump's level. That is a phenomenon that would be just as, if not more, likely in a one on one debate.
Clinton was prepared and had a plan and, more importantly, had the confidence to stick to that plan. Ted Cruz is a national debate champion and he allowed himself to be pulled into Trump's crazy. Give Clinton some credit for staying above that.