Over its 19 seasons and 420 episodes, Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy has given viewers some of the best experiences in TV history. We laughed with the residents of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, we cried with them, we felt happy and sad for them.
But there were also times when we couldn't help but cringe with second-hand embarrassment. Grey's Anatomy has never been afraid to go over the top with its storylines and emotional tension, so it's natural that in some cases, the cringe levels became too overwhelming.
Here are five Grey's Anatomy scenes that many viewers still can't get out of their heads and always skip on rewatch for being too cringeworthy.
Ghostly Lovemaking
S5E9 In the Midnight Hour
The scene that haunts (pun intended) viewers to this day is when Izzie and Denny, who had been dead for two seasons, do what they never did before - have sex. It was explained away by the fact that Izzie was experiencing tactile, visual and auditory hallucinations due to her brain tumor. But it was still wild. And disturbing, no matter which way you look at it.
Wet & Angry
S2E19 What Have I Done to Deserve This?
After being desperately in love with Meredith for two seasons, George finally got his chance and found himself in bed with her. But this quickly turned into the most pathetic sex scene in television history. Between Meredith sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of the act and George being selfishly mad at her, fans would give anything to forget this scene.
Anti-Love Song
S5E15 Before and After
The storyline that didn't sit well with viewers was when Naomi and Sam Bennett tried to force Addison and Derek back together, even though he was happy with Meredith. It culminated with the crazy couple making Derek sing the love song he wrote for Addison ages ago. At that moment, Derek looked so uncomfortable that the scene was simply impossible to watch.
Teach Me Not
S5E10 All By Myself
Many fans were rooting for the Lexie and Mark pairing, and when she came to him with the seductive 'teach me' line, it felt pretty hot. Well, at first it did. Seven 'teach me's' later, absolutely everyone in the audience was curled up in a ball in embarrassment. A classic case of overdoing it.
Pick Me Girl
S2E5 Bring the Pain
In making this list, we couldn't leave out one of the most famous cringe scenes of the entire show. When Meredith gave Derek her out-of-character 'pick me, choose me, love me' speech, millions of viewers felt betrayed and frustrated. The insane cringe level of the moment only became manageable after it was turned into a kind of inside joke for all Grey's Anatomy fans.