I totally agree. They made Archie look like a low IQ buffoon with lots of laugh track noise whenever he expounded his thoughts aloud. That kind of shaming and criticsm continues to today with all (and I mean "all) heterosexuals being portrayed as mindless boobs who "just don't understand" how being a homosexual is so wonderful and beyond question.
But the thing is, most people were sympathetic to Archie, which was certainly not Lear’s intent.
And they did make Meathead an unlikable character as well, portraying him as a parasite living off of Archie.