If you ask me, How I met your mother is pretty much a rip-off of Friends.
Canned laughter is pretty much a staple of TV going back years. And IMO is a trained response thing. You hear somebody laugh and it prompts you to laugh, whether you were going to or not.
If I'm not mistaken, didn't Monty Python even employ it? Even some of those that say they are filmed before a live studio audience are probably somewhat fake. They must have done retakes when people messed up and each time the audience laughs less. So you use the audio from the first track. It WAS filmed before a live audience, but that doesn't mean all the laughter was for what you're seeing.
I've watched most/all of Friends and How I met Your Mother. Ross was annoying and controlling. And occasionally lovable. Aniston was probably the hottest regular. Joey and Phoebe were too stupid to be true, but laughable. Monica, too obsessive to be true. Chandler may have been the closest to real in my opinion.
For some shows, the closer to reality, the funnier because real people can relate.
And don't blast the pauses. Even live performers pause. You sometimes have to let it sink in for people not as smart (and there are those) so why complain. Or for you to enjoy the joke.
In the end, it's all personal preference. Wild and wacky? Real and believable? Laugh track or not?
BTW, I think the worst sitcom ever was the animated Allen Gregory by Jonah Hill - who I believe himself is unfunny.