# Comedies with an extremely cringy and awkward major character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [December 12, 2024, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534 "2024-12-12T04:45:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/21 "2024-12-12T16:05:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > For those of us not currently occupying your head, do you care to share WTF show you’re referring to? It is a UK TV show called _Nathan Barley_ featuring a character named Nathan Barley. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/22 "2024-12-12T16:15:41Z")
Thank you for clarifying. For the record, I watch a fair number of UK programmes, but have never heard of this one. There are others like the original UK The Office where mentioning someone like David Brent would be less puzzling. Still, can we make a point of mentioning the show as well as the character name? ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/23 "2024-12-12T17:13:05Z")
Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was the first to spring to mind (and I love that movie dearly), but now I want to got a bit broader and say “anything starting Michael Cera” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/24 "2024-12-12T18:06:35Z")
Rebecca Bunch from _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_. Forrest McNeil from _Review_, though his cringey awkwardness is more on the “earnestly clueless” end of the spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/25 "2024-12-12T18:19:34Z")
Andy Dick’s character Matthew in _Newsradio_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/26 "2024-12-12T18:50:23Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > “anything starting Michael Cera” He was plenty awkward on _Arrested Development_, but hardly a patch on Tobias Fünke. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/27 "2024-12-12T19:12:21Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > “anything starting Michael Cera” Yes, even the UberEats ad! “Small bites.” 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/28 "2024-12-12T22:28:45Z")
Rupert Pupkin. **The King Of Comedy** (1982) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/29 "2024-12-12T22:39:00Z")
Elspeth in _Elspeth._ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/30 "2024-12-12T22:47:33Z")
Dabney Coleman played basically the same repugnant character in three sitcoms, _Buffalo Bill, The Slap Maxwell Story,_ and _Madman of the People._ Each of them took the character Coleman played to perfection in _9 to 5_ and threw him at us each week. Many critics admired Coleman’s performances in the three shows, but audiences didn’t. Coleman tried another show where the character attempted to become a better, less obnoxious person, but that failed as well. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/31 "2024-12-12T23:04:40Z")
Anything with Jerry Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/32 "2024-12-12T23:21:45Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Garth Marenghi. I would give A MILLION DOLLARS to be able to see that show again. I loved it so much that I would just quiver with delight throughout entire episodes. I will nominate Sarah (aka Titicaca) from _Absolutely Fabulous_. She got worse (more cartoonishly awkward) in the later years of the show, but she was always somewhat cringy. (She was played by Naoki Mori who has range: she was Miss Sixpence in _Topsy Turvy_ and also a regular on _Torchwood_.) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/33 "2024-12-12T23:49:03Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > > [@GuanoLad](#): > > > > Garth Marenghi. > > I would give A MILLION DOLLARS to be able to see that show again [Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace on youtube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC046BB28463E1459&feature=shared) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/34 "2024-12-13T00:04:20Z")
Bob (Bill Murray) in _What About Bob_. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/35 "2024-12-13T01:12:45Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The US version of the Office (the first few seasons at least) That’s an odd one. I remember watching the original Ricky Gervais version and being frequently so horrified that I clutched a pillow to my face shouting “No, no shut up.” Despite this David Brent managed to end up a clueless but sympathetic character. When I eagerly started watching the US version I found Michael Scott to be simply cruel, repellent and unlikable so it never worked for me. Nathan Fielder playing Nathan Fielder in anything that he has ever made is a difficult but very funny watching experience. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/36 "2024-12-13T08:14:03Z")
Doc Martin from Doc Martin. Not too cringey, but definitely awkward. Finally making out with the woman of his dreams, followed immediately by suggesting she might be suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease. Smooth. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/37 "2024-12-13T09:25:15Z")
Well, Don Knotts made a career out of playing cringy and awkward characters on comedy TV and in comedy movies, so there’s that. Examples would include Mr. Furley on “Three’s Company” (TV) and Roy Fleming in _The Reluctant Astronaut_ (movie). ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/38 "2024-12-13T10:29:42Z")
Eugene Levy in the _American Pie_ movie series. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/39 "2024-12-13T10:36:55Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Moss in the IT Crowd > > Father Dougal McGuire - Parochial house, Craggy Island These characters are certainly awkward, but I wouldn’t call them cringey. . Moss is an idiot savant, and perfectly happy in his own little world. Dougal is an innocent idiot, and is similarly unperturbed by reality. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534/40 "2024-12-13T10:44:53Z")
Stuart from the (IMO, underrated) HBO series _Hello Ladies_. (Played by Ricky Gervais’ longtime collaborator Stephen Merchant.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedies-with-an-extremely-cringy-and-awkward-major-character/1011534.md?page=3)