Haven't watched a lot of it - the few episodes I've seen were funnier than the majority of the other sitcoms I've seen - as in I actually laughed a few times, which is more than I can usually say..
Aside from the ones you've already mentioned in this post and others, what are some other sitcoms you've watched and formed opinions about?
I mean just try watching "Big Bang theory" or "Friends" with no laugh track on Youtube, and you won't even know where the 'funny' is supposed to be. Don't understand the praise for "Modern Family" either - it's really more of a politically correct wet dream than a real comedy, and about as close to a 'modern family' IRL as Family Guy.
Far be it from me to defend
Big Bang Theory or
Friends, but
Modern Family is a solid enough show and just because it happens to feature a multiracial cast that includes gay characters doesn't automatically make it a "politically correct wet dream". Besides, just it's not even supposed to be a representation of the typical "modern family" so there's no need to treat it like one and compare it to
Family Guy (it's not like they have a talking dog, after all).
Seinfield's really the only one that managed to get the formula right. (I'm talking about live action sitcoms of course; there are other shows like South Park which are really good if you count that type of show as a "sitcom".)
Yet
Seinfeld still plays into all three of the criticisms you mentioned in the OP - its humour is built on laughing at the main cast because they are all horrible people in their own ways (as are many of the antagonists they encounter from episode to episode). Sure, you could argue that George is frequently the butt of the other characters' jokes and thus we are laughing with them, but the others are not completely blameless and episodes are just as likely to end with them getting some sort of comeuppance as opposed to a victory. George and Jerry are also variations on the "weak man who dates attractive woman" trope you mentioned, because both are severely flawed in that they are severely flawed human beings yet are perfectionists who frequently end up dating attractive women only to break up with them over the pettiest of reasons. If the fact that audiences had to be told not to cheer so loudly and for so long every time Kramer slid into Jerry's apartment is any indication, the laugh tracks on
Seinfeld are real and they're spectacular.
South Park, well, that can wait for another time.
It's interesting that you cite criteria for why you hate sitcoms in general and the only exceptions seem to feature the same criteria anyway so maybe the problem isn't with sitcoms in general.