Agreed.
My pops often jokes with certain shows that he couldn't care less what happens to ANYONE in the cast. He then loses interest quickly or criticizes the choices they're making ... whether minute, or Life & Death.
On the flip side ... IF he gets really pissed off watching a show and a certain character or two is upsetting him. Like a complete piece of shit (on purpose) antagonist ... I remind him that's effective casting and acting, lol. That person has generated the EXACT response the showrunners were after, and it's elicited that response or feedback from you. Which is true ... or when you see a show or movie that has a GREAT VILLAIN. We can all appreciate an excellent bad guy who is a scene stealer.
Lastly, I think what works so well for a series like The White Lotus (HBO) is that even though each season's cast isn't particularly likeable (deliberately) ... the stories are crafted well and there's enough suspicion / suspense generated so you actually want to see how it plays out. That's pretty interesting and effective from the show as a whole. You don't really care about the bulk of the people ... but it's fun watching it all play out.
You can have likable antiheroes so long as there's something you can admire about the character.
For instance, Frank Gallagher from Shameless is a total piece of shit. The kind of person you would never want to know or come near. However, when you watch the show it's hard not to admire his charming smooth talking ways.
It's always Sunny in Philadelphia features five of the worst human beings ever put the paper. But there's a part of us that loves the idea of being able to day drink at Patty's pub.
Better call Saul is about a criminal who desperately tries to maintain a code of ethics despite the world he finds himself in. He's what you call a criminal butt. In other words, "he's a criminal, but look at how he take care of his friends". Or, "he's a criminal, but he never rips off his clients."
In real life, all of us have friends that are bad people. Yet we like them anyways in spite of their flaws, or maybe even because of them. A good antihero character is one that can tap into that sensibility.
That's not what the show is.