Will Ferrell appeared on “Conan” the other night, flute in hand, to insult the show’s host, play flute with the band and, oh yeah, announce that he’s making a sequel to the 2004 comedy “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.”

Actually, if you buy the schtick, Ferrell himself didn’t appear. It was Burgundy, with his burnt orange blazer and 1970s haircut (really, in what time period did Ferrell’s TV news parody take place?), the pride of San Diego newscasters.

I’ll probably see the “Anchorman” sequel, either in theaters or on disc. I liked the original “Anchorman” pretty well and have more of an appreciation for it each time it plays on cable TV, which is pretty much all the time, alternating with “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Iron Man.”

But there’s no doubt that I squirmed about as often as I laughed while I was watching “Anchorman.”

Ferrell’s movie, directed by Adam McKay, is part of a genre of comedy in movies and TV that I call “uncomfortable” comedies. They’re not outrageous, go-for-the-gut comedies like “The Hangover” or “Bridesmaids,” although there are some uncomfortable moments in those hits. The really, truly uncomfortable comedies have as many awkward moments as funny ones.

When Farrell talks to his dog or spouts off bizarre threats and insults, you can’t help but think, “Are we supposed to laugh here?”

I’m not sure where the awkward comedies began. For much of the past four decades, there have been awkward sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” but I’m not sure all of those were intentional. I’m thinking the origins were a little more foreign than that.

“The Office.” Beginning in 2001, Ricky Gervais masterminded a British workplace comedy shot in realistic, mockumentary style. The U.S. version, starring master of awkward comedy Steve Carrell, began about four years later. Carrell and a handful of other actors, including Jack Black, Seth Rogen and a few more, are as adept at making us squirm and fidget as they are at making us laugh.

The U.K. version of “The Office” was actually predated by a show that, while it had uncomfortable moments, was best known for giving us this new generation of uncomfortable actors. “Freaks and Geeks,” which lasted a single golden season beginning in 1999, featured Rogen, Jason Segel and others. This tale of high-school losers is greatly missed, although I’ve had few more uncomfortable viewing experiences than watching Segel serenade his unrequited crush.

Some of the cast and creators of “Freaks and Geeks,” the latter including Paul Feig and Judd Apatow, have gone on to turn the awkward comedy into box-office gold with movies including, in Apatow’s case, “Anchorman,” “40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Saving Sarah Marshall.” Some of them also teamed on “Undeclared,” another late, lamented comedy series that ran for a single season beginning in 2001. The tale of lovable losers at college — instead of high school, as in “Freaks and Geeks” — felt like a sequel to “Freaks and Geeks” and even featured Rogen, although as a different character.

One of the best and most outrageous awkward comedies of recent years is “Borat,” Sasha Baron Cohen’s 2006 mockumentary — a style that lends itself to awkward comedy, as in “The Office” — about a crude faux-Eastern European journalist touring the United States. Part of what made “Borat” one of a kind was how Cohen seemed to fool the people around him into thinking he was legit.

A latter-day awkward moments comedy is “Portlandia,” an Independent Film Channel series featuring Fred Armisen. The show makes fun of a truly cool but oddball city, Portland, Oregon, with its artistic pretensions and offbeat characters. I tried to like “Portlandia” and might give it another try. But the show was filled with a few too many awkward silences and too few genuine laughs for me.

Maybe I’m just too awkward for it.