From the moment the Earth was understood to be a planet like the 5 others known at the time, the question of finding life out there was raised.

As long as there were no real facts, I'm not sure who among the common citizens, journalists or the scientists claimed this or that world can (or even does) harbour life.

Or perhaps those theories come up today and they were just one among others, at the time.

Today, "this exoplanet is close enough to have liquid water", for instance, otherwise it's not newsworthy.

All those affirmations are kind of counterproductive, I think; and lead to disappointment....
But why should any planet be a disappointment? Yes, they are IF the only thing we're looking for is what looks like what we have here.
But the Voyagers tought us how different and varied worlds are from each other! This is what's amazing. Not how much they look like our Earth. Their diversity is what's important and it's also what can teach us much more about planets , their origins and how we as humans could do something about it.