6 TV 'Comedies' That Are Ridiculously Depressing

And you thought The Office was depressing.

In this second Gervais and Merchant sitcom, a failed actor goes through life as an extra. He's unhappy, he didn't lose his virginity until he was 28 and all he's got is a similarly luckless friend with no direction in life. As they go from set to set, all their attempts at love and success fail and everyone treats them like s**t until, finally, a stroke of luck.

The actor gets a very successful sitcom going at the BBC... but everyone hates it and he starts experiencing the unpleasant effects of fame. Eventually, both characters hit rock-bottom and abandon showbiz altogether. No, this is not a depressing social-realist drama, this is a sitcom.

Extras is occasionally hilarious but the comedy is also painfully cringe-worthy. It's essentially an upsetting story about the price of fame and life's miseries. For example, in series one episode four we witness a depressed Les Dennis having an emotional breakdown while performing in a pantomime and also see a young woman being mistreated, controlled and forced into a career of showbiz she doesn't want by her unpleasant, inappropriate father. But this is supposed to be a comedy.

The season finale basically abandons any comic elements and the show finally turns into a miserable drama. The ending is presented as happy, but it isn't really since both characters still have nothing.

Which other 'comedies' are actually really depressing? Share your thoughts down in the comments section.