Birthdays are usually happy events to celebrate another year of life for a close friend or loved one. TV birthdays are often seen to be joyous, entertaining, and fun-filled events that bring the characters together. However, some TV birthdays defy the typical expectations of happiness, thankfulness, and cake.

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Instead, they involve the stark opposite, such as sobering realizations, lackluster effort, or a traumatic event like death or a breakup. As a result, those television birthdays are upsetting or frustrating and make undoubtedly bad memories for the people involved.

10 Ted Dumps A Girl On Her Birthday More Than Once (How I Met Your Mother)

In How I Met Your Mother, Ted remembers a girl named Natalie, who he dated three years prior. When he contacts her to rekindle their relationship, she is understandably hostile because he dumped her on her birthday.

After apologizing, Ted convinces her to give him another chance. Soon enough, doubts set in for Ted once again and he thinks Natalie isn't the right person for him. Idiotically, Ted fails to keep track of her birthday and only learns what day it is when he takes her out to dinner to end the relationship again. Natalie is understandably livid at Ted playing with her feelings and uses her Krav Maga skills to express herself.

9 Age 30 Brings Issues For The Entire Group (Friends)

When Rachel from Friends turns 30, she experiences uncertainties about where she wants to be in her life, particularly in terms of her relationship. Realizing she is nowhere close to marriage with the younger, immature Tag, Rachel breaks up with him as he is not who she is looking for.

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The same episode looks at the other friends and how their thirtieth birthdays were unideal. Joey is aggrieved at aging and failingly tries to strike a deal with God for himself and the group. Monica winds up intoxicated in front of her parents and friends. Meanwhile, Phoebe is discouraged when it's revealed that her believed birth year is wrong and she is really 31, throwing off her bucket list.

8 Kelly Experiences Forgetfulness And Low Effort On Her Birthday (The Office)

Kelly Kapoor from The Office gets the short end of the stick on her birthday. No one remembers or gives her birthday wishes, even though she gets dressed up for it. This prompts her iconic line, "I think sometimes people are really mean to the hot, popular girl."

When they learn this, Jim and Dwight decide to save the day by planning an office party. However, Dwight's decor includes barely-inflated brown and gray balloons and an "IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY." banner that doesn't even include an exclamation mark. Kelly is disappointed by the lack of effort and theme as well as the plain cake that misspells her name.

7 Dorothy Gets A Child's Birthday Party Thanks To Rose's Taste (The Golden Girls)

Dorothy Zbornak of The Golden Girls learns that she should never let Rose Nylund plan her birthday when she ends up at Mr. Ha-Ha's Hot Dog Hacienda for her celebration. Poor Dorothy is surrounded by children who are the same age that the venue is aimed toward.

On top of this, Mr. Ha-Ha gets some joy from humiliating Dorothy in her predicament. He almost announces her age to everyone present, makes her lead the birthday parade, and constantly needles her about being disappointed with her situation. When another birthday boy shoves his cake in the clown's face on Dorothy's behalf, the viewer cheers him on.

6 Rossi Dedicates His Birthday To Learning Another Victim's Name (Criminal Minds)

In the episode "Profiling 101" in Criminal Minds, Rossi gives a lecture on a case study involving the serial killer Tommy Yates. Through flashbacks, the audience sees the BAU team track and catch Tommy. Once the lecture concludes in the present day, the episode reveals what has become of Yates.

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Tommy managed to make a deal with Rossi that resulted in him being removed from death row. In exchange for Rossi visiting Yates in prison every year on his birthday, Yates would reveal another victim's name and their body's location. Understandably, this doesn't make Rossi look forward to the day.

5 Maddie And London Compete And Neither Are Happy (The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody)

Maddie and London from Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody let their rivalry get in the way when it comes to their Sweet Sixteen parties. Both are initially overjoyed to be invited to each other's bash. However, the excitement dies when they realize they are scheduled for the same night and both refuse to change the date.

They each decide to attend their own party and disavow the other's friendship for missing their birthday. As a result, Maddie and London are miserable. Maddie's family switches her venue to a bingo hall when her brother needs money for braces. Meanwhile, London is stressed because her separated parents refuse to be around each other, and she ends up locked out of her own party.

4 Mike Parker Doesn't Even Call His Daughter (The Crown)

Mike Parker from Netflix's The Crown is already a piece of work because he feeds into Philip's worst impulses and traits. However, he increases his unlikability because he treats his family poorly. In addition to leaving on long trips and neglecting them, he cheats on his wife Eileen regularly and brags to the men at his lunch club about his rampant infidelity.

The final straw that causes Eileen to seek a divorce is when he misses their daughter's birthday without a care or even a phone call. Eileen can only weakly explain to her daughter that her father is busy as she contemplates the mess their marriage has become.

3 The Doctor Loses Everyone And Any Hope Of Finding His Planet (Doctor Who)

Thanks to Missy's villainous behavior, the Doctor has a horrible birthday in Doctor Who, although he doesn't realize the significance of the occasion until Missy mentions it. Worse, she confesses that her plans exist because it is his birthday. Missy enacts her Cybermen scheme against the Doctor, which causes no small amount of chaos.

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Missy's actions kill Osgood, lead to her own death, and don't help the Doctor find Gallifrey. Finally, the episode sees his parting from Clara, the companion who has stood by his side and been his friend for years, rendering him alone again.

2 Amy Imagines How Her Life Would Be Without Sheldon (The Big Bang Theory)

An imaginary scene on The Big Bang Theory shows Amy Farrah Fowler's theoretical life if she had never met Sheldon and her other friends. The laugh track cannot cover up a rather sad scenario. Amy sits alone in her apartment on her birthday with a party hat and a single cupcake with a lit candle.

This lonely image is topped by the song Amy sings as she serenades herself with a morose "Happy Birthday," sliding in a line about how there are tears in the cupcake frosting. As if that wasn't bad enough, Stuart pops up in her scenario just to blow a party favor in her face.

1 Snow Loses Her Mother And Her Friend (Once Upon A Time)

Snow White from Once Upon A Time will probably never look fondly on her birthday ever again. As a child, her special day starts promising, though her mother Eva sternly lectures her on kindness and seeing her birthday as a time to honor her commitment to her kingdom.

It all falls apart when Eva becomes mysteriously ill and dies soon after, sullying Snow's birthday for her. Years later in Storybrooke and on Snow's birthday, Cora threatens Snow's former maid and friend Johanna in exchange for the Dark One's dagger. Though Snow hands it over, Cora kills Johanna anyway, which causes Snow great distress and horror. NEXT: 9 Villains From TV Shows Who Created Their Own Worst Enemies