Female characters on television

I don't pretend to be some kind of expert on the matter, a perfect observer, or even some flaming liberal that expects absolute equality across the board. Over the last twelve months or so, though, I've watched Mad Men, Breaking Bad, the first 5 seasons of The Sopranos, and The Wire, all of which are universally acclaimed on here. One thing I've noticed, though, especially if you add The Walking Dead into the equation, is that female characters are pretty much the most worthless and easily despised characters on the show.

Who ACTUALLY likes Skyler (BB), Carmela (The Sopranos), Betty Draper/Francis, and Lori (The Walking Dead)? Now, I'm not asserting something like there's some mad conspiracy against women. But why is there such a dearth of strong female characters in television who are actually likable? Am I just a sexist a-hole (entirely probable), or does it seems that such characters are written for us to dislike them? Am I just watching the wrong shows?

And of course there are exceptions like Joan Holloway, but generally we all just complain about the women. I don't know, just my thoughts, ignore it if you will.