History Main / CrappyHolidays

* In the first ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Christmas special, Lois is constantly bombarded by one disaster after another. She takes them all in stride until, when trying to clean up after coming home, she freaks out after being told that they're out of paper towels (they actually weren't).

* "[[Dg0oDYhdfSw Thanksgiving]]", by Loudon Wainwright III.

* In the first ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Christmas special, Lois is constantly bombarded by one disaster after another. She takes them all in stride until, when trying to clean up after coming home, she freaks out after being told that they're out of paper towels (they actually weren't). She finally blames the Christmas star on the town tree for all the problems, but just as she is convinced by Stewie's performance as Jesus, she is shot by a dart "with enough tranquilizer to take down a bull elephant."

* ''TheBobNewhartShow'' Christmas episodes tended to feature this. Which makes sense; the main character is a [[TheShrink psychologist]], after all, so it only makes sense that the holidays would be (as one such episode's title puts it) "His Busiest Season".

* ''TheBobNewhartShow'' Christmas episodes tended to feature this. Which makes sense; the main character is TheShrink, and it only makes sense that the holidays would be (as one such episode's title puts it) "His Busiest Season".

* ''TheBobNewhartShow'' Christmas episodes tended to feature this. As one episode's title puts it, the holidays tend to be psychologist Bob Hartley's "Busiest Season".

* In Doctor Who, Christmas had become so notorious for bad things happening - invasions, killer robot santas and so on - that London was eventually evacuated beforehand (save for the queen). Good thing too, because the Titanic was almost dropped from orbit onto the city.

* ''{{Adam-12}}'' had one where the officers were trying to help a poor family by getting them some gifts after theirs were stolen-only to have the gifts stolen when the car they were in was swiped. There's also a drunk driving incident.

The holidays are a time of happiness, togetherness, and fun right? Wrong! They are an awful time of the year that drains your money, time, and patience.

* A memorable issue of the Flash had Wally West suffering a horrible Christmas that had him missing his own party due to being delayed capturing some criminals and then to top it all off discover he's being sued.

* ''{{Adam 12}}'' had one where the officers were trying to help a poor family by getting them some gifts after theirs were stolen-only to have the gifts stolen when the car they were in was swiped. There's also a drunk driving incident.

* The basic plot of ''NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation''. (Then ItGotWorse.)

* ''TheDresdenFiles'' short story "Harry's Day Off" features more things going wrong in Harry's life than a regular novel does.

* Any holiday episode of ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', pretty much without fail.

* Tommy Solomon, ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'', about their first Thanksgiving on Earth:

* On one episode of ''HeyArnold'', both Helga and Arnold complain on how their families ruin the Thanksgiving Day, and decide to leave their homes and go to Mr. Simmons' house expecting him to have a perfect celebration, it turned out his Thanksgiving Day was even worse.
* Averted in ''SouthPark'', in which Christmas in FireAndBrimstoneHell is actually really enjoyable.
* Ironically subverted in the ''PhineasAndFerb'' ChristmasEpisode. Given Dr. Doofenshmirtz's AffablyEvil nature and his history of [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood sadistically tragicomic and consistently crappy childhood experiences]], everyone expects him to hate Christmas. It turns out he honestly has no problem with it and was one of the few times in his childhood that "was always fine. It wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either."

* In the first Family Guy Christmas special, Lois is constantly bombarded by one disaster after another. She takes them all in stride until, when trying to clean up after coming home, she freaks out after being told that they're out of paper towels (they actually weren't). She finally blames the Christmas star on the town tree for all the problems, but just as she is convinced by Stewie's performance as Jesus, she is shot by a dart "with enough tranquilizer to take down a bull elephant."

----

* ''HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''. The main character hates Christmas so much he decides to ruin it for everyone else. [[spoiler:He failed, and in that failure he finds the true meaning of the holiday.]]

* ''{{NCIS}}'': Almost without fail, the team is working straight through whatever holiday comes up, usually at Gibbs' insistence. Topped by the time that Ziva and Gibbs were [[spoiler: trapped in a gas station, during a blizzard, on Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning, hunted by mercenaries, outnumbered, and ''delivering a freaking baby.'']]
* ''{{Bones}}'': The main characters were ''not'' happy to be trapped in the lab in quarantine over Christmas.

* Thanksgiving is a frequent target of ''{{Friends}}'' episodes, including one in which they all shared their worst Thanksgiving memories. Some of these include losing body parts.

Related (often extreme) tropes are TwistedChristmas, SoaplandChristmas (a subtrope specifying both Christmas and SoapOpera), and HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday, all for unusually sinister experiences. See also TheGrinch for characters who openly hate Christmas in particular.

* Most holiday episodes of ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' involve some kind of holiday-specific disaster occuring. Sabrina spent most major holidays fixing the holiday related problems she had created. Notable examples include taking over delivery of Christmas presents after injuring Santa Claus, trying to prevent Christmas from being erased as a holiday, rounding up a bunch of monsters she'd recruited for a halloween party, and dealing with a bunch of zombies she had inadvertantly summoned to Westbridge.

* Ironically subverted in the ''PhineasAndFerb'' ChristmasEpisode. Given Dr. Doofenshmirtz's AffablyEvil nature and his history of sadistically tragic and consistently crappy childhood experiences, everyone expects him to hate Christmas. It turns out he honestly has no problem with it and was one of the few times in his childhood that "was always fine. It wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either."