Top 10 CRINGIEST TV Moments We Can't Believe They Left In

“The West Wing” (1999-2006)

Aaron Sorkin’s political drama is more like a fairy tale than a sobering or hard-hitting glimpse into the American political system, and that’s by design. But the view through its rose-colored glasses can sometimes skew toward the ridiculous. Press secretary C.J. Cregg’s lip sync to a funky spoken word track, “The Jackal,” is a prime example. Actress Allison Janney sells it because she’s Allison Janney, but it’s an uphill battle the show loses as soon as Rob Lowe starts throwing up some questionable gestures. Maybe President Bartlet should have issued an executive order to prohibit this level of cringe.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003)

Buffy Summers and her Scooby Gang dealt with all kinds of monsters. Vampires, ghosts, demons; you name it, they fought it. This infamous season 4 episode tries to deal with alcohol use disorder like a villain-of-the-week. In a plot that’s more at home on a very special episode of a sitcom than “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Buffy is almost taken down by, of all things, college drinking. Of course, there’s more supernatural mayhem than that, but that’s the obvious parallel. When Xander and Giles find Buffy, she’s already regressed to cavewoman status. The weirdly hamfisted comparisons to alcohol use disorder come off as too weird to be funny and too goofy to translate any deeper meaning.

“Two and a Half Men” (2003-15)

When Charlie Sheen was fired from his hit show due to some increasingly bizarre behavior and a public breakdown, it was clear there was bad blood. The show’s last moments see a stand-in for Sheen’s character walk up to the house, only to be crushed by a grand piano. Then, series creator Chuck Lorre appears, spouting Sheen’s trending catchphrase, only to be crushed by another piano. A vanity card at the very end takes a further shot at Sheen. It’s just a hat on a hat at this point. That the show went out with such a pointed jab at its former actor is like getting a look at a workplace chat log that we’d rather not be privy to.

“Gilmore Girls” (2000-07)

Much of this lovable and quirky mother-daughter dramedy relied on the viewer thinking Rory Gilmore was a cinnamon roll who could do no wrong. On the rare occasion she had to face consequences, she was usually shocked, such as in this really uncomfortable episode. Desperate to be taken seriously on the Yale student newspaper, Rory writes a devastating review of a ballet that disparages one of the dancers’ bodies. Criticism is one thing. Her review is a cruel hatchet job, designed to make Rory look like she has something interesting to say at the expense of another student’s self-esteem.

“The Newsroom” (2012-14)

A group of cable news employees are stuck on a grounded airplane just before the news breaks that Osama Bin Laden has been found and killed by U.S. Armed Forces. Producer Don Keefer addresses the passengers, effectively commandeering the plane. When the flight attendant and pilots confront him, he suddenly realizes that his entitlement isn’t the problem here. Oh no, it’s that a man taking control of an airplane has a facepalm-inducing parallel to a certain, thematically-relevant historical event. He then tells them what’s really happened in the most self-important way possible. The hushed reverence, the treacly musical score, the smug, self-satisfaction of the characters; it all comes together in a symphony of cringe.

“Grey’s Anatomy” (2005-)

In 2022, TikTok users revived this 15-year-old scene from the long-running medical drama, and it was purely for laughs. Surgical intern Meredith Grey begs her married ex, Derek Shepherd, to be with her. The whole lead-up is just as desperate as her immortal line and, as Meredith says herself, it’s also humiliating. Not even actress Ellen Pompeo liked the scene. As she told co-star Katherine Heigl in Variety’s “Actors on Actors” conversation, she fought against it, not wanting to have to beg this man to love her, even in character. She may not have been the first “pick me girl,” but Meredith Grey’s speech probably did more to cement that archetype than any character before or since.

“Glee” (2009-15)

There’s an element of cringe to this infamous scene that is intentional. Finn decides to tell his girlfriend’s parents she’s pregnant through song. This just adds insult to injury for Quinn’s family, who are horrified. It’s doubly bad because Finn is not even this baby’s father. But aside from story considerations, ultimately, it’s just another moment when the show fails to balance the dark humor with its earnest after-school special sentimentality. Paul Anka’s song “(You’re) Having My Baby” is far from beloved. Trying to salvage it for a misguided declaration of love just hits all the wrong notes. Actors Cory Monteith and Dianna Agron are innocent, though.

“Friends” (1994-2004)

Ross Geller is one of those characters who hasn’t aged well, but throwing himself at his cousin was pretty upsetting then and now. The Season 7 episode, “The One with Ross and Monica’s Cousin,” is frequently cited as one of the show’s worst. Ross responds to his crush on his blood relative by trying to surprise her with a passionate kiss. It’s made so much more painful by Ross’s voiceover, where he reasons that his cousin is actually trying to seduce him. Given that it’s such a clear taboo, it’s surprising enough this made it to air. We’d have preferred if this episode was called “The One Everyone Decided Not to Air.”

“Riverdale” (2017-23)

In Riverdale, life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes, you have to drop out of the fourth grade to seek other employment opportunities. And other times, you have to do a seductive pole dance in front of your mom and a room full of adult bikers in order to join your boyfriend’s gang. It has a lot of competition, but the scene where 16-year-old Betty Cooper does a striptease to a lethargic cover of “Mad World” by Tears for Fears is the show’s cringiest moment. But what else would you expect from someone who would date such a weirdo? “Riverdale” takes a lot of big swings. This one was better left unswung.

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000-24)


We’re aware that the cringe of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is more than intentional– Larry David is the master of ramping up any awkward situation to a 10. But having said that, there are countless moments that– though hilarious– are truly hard to watch. Arguably none more so than this season two episode, in which Larry makes the mistake of cutting the hair of a doll belonging to the daughter of a TV executive, upon her request. He manages to replace the doll’s head, but not without inadvertently giving himself a rash in the process as he stowed it for safekeeping in his… undercarriage. When the little girl thanks Larry for fixing the doll, she happens to have run into him while he was in the bathroom. The rest is cringe history!

There are tons of scenes we could’ve included here, so what TV moment made you cringe the hardest? Tell us in the comments.