15 Best Cringe Comedies, Ranked

There's something comforting about a 30-minute comedy that can make your heart soar while you're innocently smiling and giggling throughout. Well, these are not those shows.

While the cringe comedies in this list can and do deliver full-body guffaws, they may not be for the faint of heart. In fact, "comfort" is probably the last thing one would expect to get from the shows in question, but that doesn't make them any less side-splitting. A quality cringe comedy may not be for everybody, but they often highlight truth and reality as they expose painfully awkward social situations, inept characters and life's many absurdities. Yes, they make us laugh, but those laughs are often served with a side of gasping or squirming, and if we're lucky, maybe even both!

From modern-day classics to under-the-radar gems, we've rounded up 15 of our favorite cringe comedies and ranked them for your perusal. Whether you're looking for your next big binge or possibly wanting to revisit some past trainwrecks (we say that with love, of course), review TVLine's picks below, many of which are littered with egomaniacs, mortifying social blunders and more. Then, be sure to hit the comments to tell us all about your cringey favorites!

Do you remember the awkward days of middle school and everything that came with puberty? So do Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle who created and starred in this uncomfortable, yet uproarious comedy that ran for two seasons on Hulu from 2019-2021. Having grown adults play 12-year-olds only added to the series' odd energy and big laughs as the preteens discovered masturbation, thongs and most importantly, boys. All that aside, the costuming — including Konkle's larger than life braces and Erskine's seriously incredible bowl cut wig — is cringeworthy enough on its own (in the best possible way, of course). — Nick Caruso

There are few things more awkward than a failed attempt at romance, and we got plenty of them in this unsung HBO gem, starring The Office UK co-creator Stephen Merchant as Stuart, a gangly nerd who hit the L.A. nightlife scene armed with smooth pick-up lines... but mostly came up empty. The cooler Stuart tried to be, the more pathetic he came off, leading to an endless parade of humiliating — but hilarious — rejections. — Dave Nemetz

Pseudo late-night host Eric André took absurdism and chaos to the next level in The Eric Andre Show, a sketch series and parody combo that ran on Adult Swim for six seasons. Its surrealist nature made the show feel like a fever dream, as the host drenched its 11-minute episodes with cringey elements throughout. From the faux celebrity interviews and André's repetitive set destruction, to his nonsensical monologues and note cards comprised of deli meat (you read that right), André's circus of a show not only deconstructed the late-night format, but went completely off the rails while doing so. — N.C.

For three seasons, Andy Daly starred as TV personality Forrest MacNeil, the host of show-within-a-show Review. But instead of critiquing TV, film or books, Forrest used his platform to review life experiences on a scale of one to five stars. Under the impression that his life's work was of the utmost importance (even though we were never given the impression that his show was a hit, or that anyone in the outside world knew who he was), Forrest was willing to review just about anything his audience suggested. Some requests were inane (petty theft, sleeping with a celebrity, going to outer space); others were downright offensive (becoming a racist, becoming a "little person," "curing" homosexuality); and a handful threatened to seal his fate (becoming an addict, instigating a bareknuckle brawl, being buried alive). Though the anxiety felt whilst watching any given episode was intense, it was always worth it because of Daly — who, for the duration of the Comedy Central series' run, gave one of TV's most fearless performances. — Ryan Schwartz

Before he hit the big screen with Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen honed his craft on this exquisitely uncomfortable sketch show, which saw Cohen interview unsuspecting people (and celebrities!) as either Borat, wannabe rapper Ali G or gay fashion icon Bruno. Yes, his interviews often went spectacularly off the rails, but it was even more painful to watch Cohen's subjects happily going along with his ignorant and bigoted suggestions. Very nice! — D.N.

FX's goofy vampire comedy followed a group of misfit bloodsuckers who lived together in a Staten Island house and did their best to blend in. Their best wasn't very good, however, so a lot of the laughs came from vampires Nandor, Laszlo and Nadja trying (and failing) to convince their neighbors they were just good ol' Americans. The cringe highlight, though, was "energy vampire" Colin Robinson, who literally fed off of other people's boredom and social awkwardness. The man turned cringe into fuel, and for that, we salute him. — D.N.

On HBO Max's ruthless showbiz satire, Cary and Brooke's teen brother Chase was very famous — a Justin Bieber-esque pop idol, in fact — but they were very much not famous, and we couldn't help but wince as they desperately tried to ride Chase's coattails. Throw in an overly peppy mom played by Molly Shannon and a pitiful talent manager played by Ken Marino, and we could hardly get through an episode without at least one good full-body cringe. — D.N.

Incompetent and hypocritical government employees?! Get out of town! Julia Louis-Dreyfus shined as Vice President Selina Meyer who, along her crew of wack job employees, botched almost every political move she made. Veep was a scathing satire of our government and its internal operations, but it also reached high highs on the TVLine cringe-o-meter. From desperate political maneuvering to brazen public meltdowns, her entourage (which included Tony Hale, Reid Scott and Anna Chlumsky, among others) stood side by side with Selena as the veep-turned-Commander in Chief self-sabotaged her way through government work with zero leading ability and a completely tone deaf public persona. And Selena wasn't the only character to leave our jaws scraping the floor. If the show's cringe-worthiness was ever under question, look no further than one man: Jonah Ryan. Arrogant, delusional and a big example of what made Veep so hysterical. — N.C.

Whether in Detroiters or Comedy Bang! Bang!, no man consistently delivers uncomfortable moments quite like Tim Robinson. So when the writer and comedian created and starred in his very own Netflix sketch series, we knew it would be more Eric Andre than SNL (though he did cut his teeth on the Saturday night staple from 2012-2016, for what it's worth). As expected, Robinson hit us with scenes that consistently had us squirming in our seats. From a ludicrous hot dog-shaped car crash to a nachos-induced meltdown on a first date, this quirky brand of funny quickly earned and held its spot in the pantheon of excellent alt-comedy TV. — N.C.

Nathan Fielder has made a career out of making us cringe, moving onto higher-profile projects like HBO's The Rehearsal and Showtime's The Curse. But he was at his most excruciatingly awkward in this Comedy Central gem, offering to help real-life businesses boost profits with his truly wild ideas. (Your boutique is struggling? Let's allow attractive people to shoplift!) Some of Fielder's ideas were actually inspired — his trademark-flouting Dumb Starbucks pop-up ignited a media frenzy — but we have to admit: We liked it best when the ideas crashed and burned. — D.N.

You didn't think we'd forget about Michael Scott and his Dunder Mifflin cohorts, did you? The self-proclaimed "World's Best Boss" (played by the impeccable Steve Carell) filled his entire career with cringe-inducing moments. Look no further than the wildly inappropriate Dundie Awards and Michael's dire hatred of Toby for Grade-A examples of Michael's majorly offensive shenanigans that were entirely NSFW. But his employees' pain and discomfort is our belly-laughing gain (Well, actually, we shared in plenty of that discomfort, thankyouverymuch.) And don't even get us started on Diversity Day! — N.C.

If you haven't heard of this long-running UK comedy but enjoy the likes of The Office, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, move it to the top of your watch list. David Mitchell and Robert Webb (both riotously funny here) starred as friends Mark and Jeremy, who stumbled through life trying to get their selfish needs met — which we were keenly aware of, since the show put us inside their minds, where we were privy to their (disgusting) innermost thoughts. Tune in to see a young Olivia Colman as Mark's love interest Sophie — and then stick around to see how low Mark and Jeremy can sink. — D.N.

Sure, Michael Scott is a pretty embarrassing boss — but have you met David Brent? As crucial as The Office's U.S. version is to the entire cringe comedy genre, we have to pay homage to the O.G. UK series, with Ricky Gervais crafting perhaps the most wildly inappropriate boss in TV history. The British have a keen eye for dark humor that's borderline uncomfortable, and Gervais leaned into that, with office manager Brent trampling over any concept of proper workplace decorum. The U.S. version is fantastic, but the UK original goes even further... and we love it for that. — D.N.

Creator Larry David, who played Curb Your Enthusiasm's savage social assassin, wrote the playbook on how to make cringe comedy for television. While the fictional Larry often had good points to make, his horrific execution and lack of social graces ran him smack dab into situations that almost never went his way. There was no social norm or faux pas that Larry wouldn't rub up against, all of which lead to misunderstandings and questionably moral situations that deservedly exploded in his face. And thanks to the show's heavy use of improvisation and its documentary-like shooting style, Curb inched as close as it could get to real-life awkwardness, setting it apart from some of the other choices found in this list. And yet for all of his faults (and boy, there are many!), Larry regularly said what everyone else (including us!) was thinking, but wouldn't dare say, and for that, we love him. — N.C.

If cringe comedy is your bag and you haven't seen The Comeback, add it to your HBO Max queue immediately. (The series returns for its third and final season next year.) Lisa Kudrow plays Valerie Cherish, a washed-up actress so desperate to retain her relevance that she would do or say any thing for mere seconds in the spotlight or a sliver of respect. Val was completely oblivious to others' perceptions of her and watching her unbearable interactions with bossman Paulie G will likely make your skin crawl. Val didn't so much navigate social landmines, but barrel straight into them, causing loads of secondhand embarrassment to be felt through the screen. Yes, The Comeback is intentionally hard to watch as it doubled- and even tripled-down on its cringe-tastic scenarios, but through its dark laughs and sharp industry satire, we continued rooting for Val's success, even if it did feel futile at times. But if you believe yourself to be impervious to cringey TV, we implore you to spend some time with Valerie Cherish. — N.C.