- Primary Subject: Shows like PEN15 and where to watch them
- Key Update: This article recommends 10 cringe-comedy shows for fans who loved PEN15 and where to watch all of them online.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: January 29, 2026
- Quick Answer: For cringe-comedy fans, Everything Sucks! and Derry Girls might be the top picks, while Never Have I Ever perfectly mirrors the awkwardness of teenage life.
PEN15 is a critically acclaimed Hulu series that follows the brutally honest, humorous, and "cringe-worthy" awkward stories of two 13-year-old outcasts, Maya and Anna, whose inseparable BFF bond leaves them walking through early puberty like the blind leading the blind.
Whether you're looking for Y2K nostalgia or best friends-centered stories, here are 10 cringe-comedy shows like PEN15 and where to watch them all online!
On My Block (2018-2021)
Maya and Anna have their own middle-school problems, but Monse, Ruby, Jamal, and Cesar have street problems while going to their neighborhood high school. On My Block is a coming-of-age, comedy-drama that follows this group of four friends navigating their gritty, inner-city neighborhood, Freeridge, in Los Angeles.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
Everything Sucks! (2018)
There's nothing much to do in 1996 in the town of Boring, Oregon, except follow a group of high school AV club nerds who collaborate with the drama club to make their own movie. While PEN15 highlights Y2k nostalgia, Everything Sucks! thrives in the awkwardness of the mid-90s with heavy features of 90s nostalgia, from VHS tapes to dial-up internet, and cassettes.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021-2025)
Don't think sex life gets easier past school. The Sex Lives of College Girls can attest to that. This Max drama centers on four 18-year-old freshmen roommates at the prestigious Essex College in Vermont, where they discover their newfound freedom as they balance their complicated love lives with academic pressure and friendship growth.
Streaming Platforms: HBO Max
Chewing Gum (2015-2017)
Heavy on the "cringe comedy", Chewing Gum is a British sitcom created by and starring Michaela Coel, who plays 24-year-old Tracy Gordon, a religious, Beyoncé-obsessed virgin who tries her own hand at her chaotic coming-of-age in London. Just like Maya and Anna, Tracy is determined to mold her experiences, from losing her virginity to losing at embarrassing and hilarious situations.
Streaming Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Disney+, HBO Max
Derry Girls (2018-2022)
Apart from the 1990s nostalgia in Northern Ireland, Derry Girls is a female-driven comedy series starring a group of four girls with their token straight British boy. Derry Girls depicts the insecurities and friendships of teenage life, as they navigate their life amid the political conflict set in their hometown.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000)
Told in one season, Freaks and Geeks is a critically acclaimed, one-season cult classic series from 1999 that finds Lindsay Weir and her brother Sam trying to survive high school in 1980. As the show title implies, high school is essentially split between "freaks" (rebels) and "geeks" (nerds), and is still considered one of the most iconic adolescent awkwardness shows out there.
Streaming Platforms: Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+
Sex Education (2019-2023)
The difference between other sex-centered shows and Sex Education is that this Netflix comedy-drama uses the social awkwardness and high school setting to actually teach its viewers more about adolescent sexuality, relationships, identity, and facts about sex itself. This is thanks to Otis Milburn, whose sex therapist mother's knowledge set up an underground sex-therapy clinic at his British high school.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
Awkward (2011-2016)
A classic MTV teen-dramedy series, Awkward sees 15-year-old Jenna Hamilton in a freak accident after receiving a harsh "care-frontation" letter telling her that she's invisible. The student body mistakes the incident for a suicide attempt, instantly transforming Jenna from an unpopular wallflower to joining the popular crowd in her high school.
Streaming Platforms: Apple TV, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video
Never Have I Ever (2020-2023)
But honestly, who could ever out-awkward Devi Vishwakumar from Never Have I Ever? Similar to PEN15, this Netflix coming-of-age comedy highlights the cringeworthy, awkward, and emotional experiences of adolescence in high school. Whether it's trying to impress Paxton or Devi's attempt to become more popular before graduation, Never Have I Ever follows her and her friends' intense, sometimes disastrous, social and romantic journey of young teenage girls trying to fit in.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
Euphoria (2019-Present)
Euphoria may not be a cringe-comedy sitcom, but it does focus on the more raw and intense realities of high school. The series follows 17-year-old Rue Bennett, a recovering drug addict who is struggling to find her place in the world even after going through rehab. PEN15 fans would enjoy Euphoria due to its highly stylized cinematography and its episodic stories, from Rue to the bubble that is her high school drama.
Streaming Platforms: HBO Max
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