6 TV 'Comedies' That Are Ridiculously Depressing

While The Inbetweeners was always consistently hysterical, it was also a very painful show to watch. This is partly due to the embarrassment comedy it constantly used and partly due to how relatable it was.

Will, Simon, Neil and, most of all, Jay are very tragic figures; they can't get any romance, they have no-one but each other and they consistently make stupid mistakes and behave badly. Whether it's their relentlessly unsuccessful attempts at love or their encounters with school bullies, they are always sad to watch but the thing which makes it worse is that they reflect reality.

Back in school, we all knew an awkward nerd like Will, a moron like Neil, a luckless romantic like Simon, or a hugely insecure person like Jay. Worse still, many viewers were probably themselves similar to the characters at that age.

While viewers won't have ever punched a fish to death or literally shat themselves during an exam (well... hopefully not, anyway), it's still a very believable depiction of just how awful being a teenager really is. The two feature films that continued the story showed that things didn't particularly improve for the four of them later on, so the entire narrative of the show is pretty depressing from start to finish.

It's a great series, but even amidst all the laughter it'll bring about many painful memories.