Any good movies or TV shows where a main character makes you cringe in how awkward and embarrassing they are?
- The increasingly poor decisions of Todd Margaret
- The US version of the Office (the first few seasons at least)
Any other good ones?
Ducky in Two and a Half Men.
Garth Marenghi.
Alan Partridge.
The guys from The Big Bang Theory especially Howard Wolowitz.
Mark Corrigan in Peep Show.
Moss in the IT Crowd
Father Dougal McGuire - Parochial house, Craggy Island
Nathan Barley
Would Steve Urkel count?
I found him charming.
OK, I didn’t watch the Ashton Kutcher years, but who’s Ducky?
Charlie’s brother Alan, played by Jon “Ducky*” Cryer.
*from Pretty In Pink
Hugh (and later, Nicola) on The Thick of It
I’m not sure I’d characterize him as awkward; he has terrible ideas, but he and almost everyone around him seems to think they’re great. I’d say Julian Barratt’s character is the awkward one in that show.
True - his job interview scene has to be one of the most excruciating moments ever televised.
That’s basically the entire premise of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Richard in Silicon Valley. God, he was practically always on the verge of throwing up due to nerves.
Ya skunked me; well done.
And its Danish counterpart, Klovn.
Phil (“Tandy”) on The Last Man on Earth.
I love Letterkenny and Shoresy immensely (I actually think Shoresy is the better show), but each of them has characters that completely don’t work for me and make me cringe.
On Letterkenny, I have no idea what Lisa Codrington is trying to do with the Gail character, with her weird-ass gesticulations and oversexed yet unfunny dialogue. Jacob Tierney (who wrote and produced and directed, so he’s entirely to blame) and his portrayal of Glen was such an over-the-top gay stereotype it yanks me right out of the show. And the McMurrays (Dan Petronijevic and Melanie Scrofano), the swinging couple, are nothing but cringe and weird. Between that and her burocratic character on Strange New Worlds and Wynonna Earp in general, it’s sadly turned me off Scrofano as an actress.
Shoresey is much better on this front, and overall has a much more natural feel to the performances, even with the intricately timed dialogue. Still, the two French-Canadian hockey anchors (Jacob Tierney, again, and Jonathan Torrens, who was hilarious as the double-entendre-spouting Mennonite on Letterkenny) are just bizarre and shrill, and the two hit-men with the paralyzed faces (not sure of the actors) bring all their scenes to a shuddering stop with their weirdness.
For those of us not currently occupying your head, do you care to share WTF show you’re referring to?