Misery and whine: 9 of the saddest and un-Christmassy Christmas specials ever made

6. The West Wing, Noel (2000)

Nothing quite says Christmas like spending the day with a psychotherapist. This 2000 special from The West Wing was full of everything but merriment: Josh Lyman attempting to get over his post-traumatic stress disorder, Leo McGarry giving him a downer of a speech about being depressed and Josh leaving at the end with a bloodied hand (he’d deliberately smashed a window in his apartment) and being told to go to A&E to have it looked at. Cue a choir singing a nice carol and playing bells in the outro, as Josh stares into the middle distance as the PTSD rears its head.