Does anyone else experience secondhand embarrassment when watching TV?

[Greenbeanmcgee]

I find myself cringing if there's going to be an awkward moment or sometimes a particularly tense confrontation. Sometimes I can't bear to watch.

Does anyone else experience this and what other odd things make you cringe?

Impressionists who can’t stop doing impressions, even when they’re just being interviewed as themselves have the same effect. I have to turn off the radio if John Culshaw or somebody comes on, because I just know that he’ll shoehorn in a shit impression of Donald Trump or someone at the first opportunity.

the Crown, i think series 3 or 4
i had to give up when Diana was introduced

All my life.. I honestly thought it was just me!

oh yes local news interviewing Man on the street,
so so awkward and inane
and people mispronounce things and are shown on the news on repeat. Igorant! being an example

I have to walk out of the room during Jim Carrey movies.

So why do you all watch them? Not having a go, it's a real question?
I tend to only watch documentaries, partly due to cringe factors & partly because I like learning about different things..

I'm the same! Ed Sheeran's cameo in Game of Thrones nearly killed me.

if i ever go on popmaster i am going to say Hello to my husband who is listening in the next room! in an ironic way

Oops, quote fail. My post was in response to @ChocolateBauble

Oh Roman Kemp is walking cringe! I remember him being on something talking about his Gf as his Mrs then he went onto do his David Attenborough impression! Stopit Roman

I can't watch Motherland, I find it really cringy. I hate the chaoticness of the main character and find it unbareable

I can’t cope with cringe either. My son is the same. Has to turn stuff off completely and hide.

I watched the Downton Abbey movie the other day and had the most horrendous full body cringe when Mr Moseley did something mortifying. I had to leave the room. Could have just turned the TV off but that somehow didn't occur to me

I could never watch Fawlty Towers for this reason.

There's a word for that - "Fremdschämen".

You are not alone. When a character embarrasses themselves I have to fast forward.

It doesn't tend to happen so much these days but on quiz shows when they do the introductions and if they say they like singing, irish dancing, juggling etc they are then encouraged to show off with a mini performance. I cringe so hard. I feel the same when you read a magazine and they publish poems readers have sent in usually about the magazine itself. 🙀

Just remembered. Victoria Coren Mitchell's 'jokes' on Only Connect.

Oh god, when people are encouraged to sing 'spontaneously'. Blind date was terrible for it, but it even infects things such as Only Connect.

Just no. Absolutely no.

Ah, see I don’t mind those so much because she does it in such a self-aware way. She knows she’s doing a big bunch of dad jokes and knows she’s going to get tumbleweed.

Particularly relevant atm, I can’t watch penalties, or penalty shoot-outs, because I feel so bad for the players if they miss.

The worst bit actually is when she introduces each contestant with a quirky fact about them, and the camera stays on them and they have to try and look neutral instead of all "yes, it's true! I'm mad me!" with varying degrees of success. I would hate that. Maybe I need an Only Connect cushion like someone mentioned upthread.