Everybody Loves Raymond's Cringiest Episode Is Worse Than Scott's Tots

Published Aug 31, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT

Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.

When it comes to naming the cringiest half-hour of television ever made, The Office episode “Scott’s Tots” is bound to be one of the first titles that comes up. There was an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David crashes a support group for incest survivors, there was an episode of The Inbetweeners where Simon berates and slaps his own penis in front of his girlfriend, and any episode of Girls where Marnie sings is bound to be an excruciating experience.

But they’re nothing compared to the visceral horror of watching Michael Scott walk into a room full of bright-eyed teenagers to tell them he can’t afford the college tuition he’s been promising them since the third grade. The Office had set the cringe bar very high with season 4’s “Dinner Party,” in which Michael and Jan invited Jim, Pam, Andy, Angela, Dwight, and his ex-babysitter to the social engagement from Hell. But “Scott’s Tots” made “Dinner Party” look like a feel-good affair. It’s an ingenious comedic concept because, as horrible as it is, it’s all built on Michael trying to do a good thing; his good intentions have had disastrous unforeseen consequences.

“Scott’s Tots” is a masterpiece of cringe comedy, but Everybody Loves Raymond has an even more painful half-hour of cringe humor. Everybody Loves Raymond season 7, episode 8, “The Annoying Kid,” is even more infuriating than “Scott’s Tots.” When the twins have their new friend Spencer over for a playdate, Ray finds the kid absolutely insufferable — but no one else can see it.

In “Scott’s Tots,” everyone is on the same page that Michael is in the wrong, but “The Annoying Kid” is especially frustrating because everyone sides with Spencer over Ray. It’s a rare case where Ray is actually in the right, and no one is supporting him.

The Annoying Kid Is Painfully Real

“The Annoying Kid” begins with Ray and Debra getting to know Lauren and Neil Williamson, played by guest stars Cheryl Hines and Craig Anton, whose son Spencer has become good friends with Michael and Geoffrey. Within seconds, we can see that Spencer is a textbook example of a horrible child who’s never been told “no.” He’s loud, obnoxious, self-obsessed, inconsiderate, and ignores every rule he’s told to follow. He runs in the house, he eats Ray’s dessert, and he keeps bothering Ally even after being told to leave her alone.

It’s all very funny, because Ray Romano is great at playing the flustered, put-upon everyman, but it’s also very frustrating, because the whole scenario feels painfully real. We’ve all met kids like this, whose parents let them get away with murder, and Brett Buford’s portrayal of a rowdy, undisciplined, disrespectful child is agonizingly authentic. It would be impressive for an actor of any age to capture such a relatable archetype so authentically, but Buford was just eight years old when he came up with the perfect satirical caricature of the worst kid in the world.

“Scott’s Tots” is a tough watch — some Office fans skip it altogether when they’re binging the series — but “The Annoying Kid” is arguably even tougher. “Scott’s Tots” gives you a palpable sense of dread and anxiety, as Michael postpones the inevitable, but “The Annoying Kid” makes your blood boil. It’s cathartic to see Ray finally snap, but it took a long road to get there.

What made Everybody Loves Raymond such a great sitcom was its ability to distill these real, relatable situations into 22 minutes of hilarity. “The Annoying Kid” is a perfect example of that, because we’ve all encountered kids like Spencer, and we’ve all been just as unimpressed and infuriated as Ray.