I don't want a commenting system that allows me to "like" comments, vote them up or down, subscribe via email, etc.
To be fair though, I'm sure all of those features can be hidden via CSS and Javascript. If you look at some custom Disqus implementations (like Engadget) they do a good job of this.
Their implementation is very clean. Especially compared to past implementations, which were rife with buttons and links and all manner of interface foolishness. Every comment has only a few elements to it now: A user header, the comment itself, a like button, and a reply button. The reply screen is fantastically simple and can be further stripped down via CSS if you would like.
I don't get what you have against liking comments. It's the same thing as what goes on here, just without a downvoting mechanism. It surfaces quality content to the top in a democratic way.
Look at it in the context of the whole page. TechCrunch, like a lot of blogs, has a ton of "stuff" going on throughout the page. Compared to the ads on the article, the Crunchbase boxes, and the multiple areas of navigation on the site, the comments are relatively benign and simplistic. They've done a great job packing a lot of complex functionality into a clean package. I think it's already the killer app.
However with only a few lines of CSS you can transform Narcissus to fit the needs of your site--just like Engadget, Thoughtbot and many others have so eloquently done.
Saying this, we hear you. There is definitely a need for a minimalist theme at Disqus and we have some time set aside in the near future to make it happen.