Top 10 Saddest TV Shows

The Top Ten

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (often abbreviated to Law & Order: SVU or just SVU) is an American police procedural, legal, and crime drama television series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced. The show premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999. It is the longest-running primetime... read more

The episode "Savant" was sad but good!
Angel

Angel is an American television series that aired from 1999 to 2004. It is a spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and follows the character Angel, a vampire cursed with a soul, as he seeks redemption. The series is set in Los Angeles and blends supernatural themes with crime-fighting storylines.
Thirteen Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why is an American teen drama television series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey and based on the 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Selena Gomez served as an executive producer, and Brian Yorkey and Diana Son were co-showrunners. The series stars Dylan Minnette as Clay Jensen... read more

It's literally about a girl making 13 tapes explaining why she committed suicide and sending them to the people involved, making them relive memories they'd probably rather forget. They now know that, on some level, they contributed to Hannah's death. SPOILER: It also leads to another kid committing suicide. These events result in not one, but two people taking their own lives. That's high school for you, folks.

It's just too depressing. I feel that people should know that every word they speak has an impact. We need to be so much better and kinder to each other.
The Closer
NCIS

NCIS is an American action police procedural television series, revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The show premiered in 2003 and has become one of the longest-running scripted primetime television series in the U.S. It has also spawned... read more
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American television series created by Joss Whedon under his production tag, Mutant Enemy Productions. Later co-executive producers included Jane Espenson, David Fury, David Greenwalt, Doug Petrie, Marti Noxon, and David Solomon. The series premiered on March 10, 1997,... read more
Charmed

Charmed is a television series that aired on The WB from 1998 to 2006. It follows three sisters who discover they are powerful witches destined to protect the world from evil forces. The show stars Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, and later Rose McGowan.

Charmed is a show that evokes very intense feelings, both happiness and sorrow. It was really sad many times (Prue's death, Paige meeting her adoptive parents, Piper and Leo breaking up, Piper's son dying, and many others). Especially during Prue's death, I cried so much.
Supernatural

This haunting series follows the thrilling and terrifying journeys of Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who travel across America to battle supernatural forces. After their mother was killed by a demonic entity, their father raised them to become hunters of mysterious and deadly creatures.... read more

Supernatural doesn't need a complex story to be sad. It utilizes its greatest strength, which it forged over the years: the bonds between the characters. When they pointlessly killed Bobby in Season 7 or Charlie in Season 10, even those who didn't like them cried. Unlike 13 Reasons Why, Supernatural doesn't need to rely on death or guilt to make people cry. It uses words and happiness, and it excels at that.
BoJack Horseman

BoJack Horseman is an American adult animated tragicomedy created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. The series stars Will Arnett as the title character, BoJack Horseman. The show premiered on Netflix in 2014 and ran for six seasons, gaining critical acclaim for its dark humor and exploration of mental health... read more

This is one of the most depressing TV shows I've ever watched, but it's also one of the best. Episode 11 always makes me cry, and this is my go-to show when I'm really depressed because it feels so real to me.

This show is excellent but can be massively depressing at times.

Such a beautiful show - very depressing, but with a hilarious aura.
Smallville

Smallville is an American television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show aired from 2001 to 2011 and follows the young Clark Kent before he becomes Superman. It ran for ten seasons... read more

The Newcomers

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Made in Abyss

Made in Abyss (Japanese: メイドインアビス, Hepburn: Meido in Abisu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akihito Tsukushi. It has been serialized since October 2012 in Takeshobo's digital publication Web Comic Gamma and has been collected into 13 tankōbon volumes to date. The... read more
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This Is Us

This Is Us is an American television series created by Dan Fogelman that premiered on NBC on September 20, 2016. The ensemble cast stars Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, and Justin Hartley. The show follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children... read more

The Contenders

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. The programme follows the adventures of a Time Lord called "the Doctor", an extraterrestrial being from the planet Gallifrey.
The Doctor travels through time and space in a ship called the TARDIS, which... read more

"I don't want do go."
"The day you lose someone isn't the worst, at least you've got something to do. It's all the days after they stay dead."
"What's good about sad? It's happy for deep people."
"What's the point in them being happy now if they're going to be sad later? The answer is, of course, because they are going to be sad later."
"I'm always alright."
"You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."
"Okay then. That's what I'll do; I will tell you a story. Can you hear them? All these people who lived in terror of you and your judgement. All these people who's ancestors devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves to you. Can you hear them singing? Oh, you like to think you're a god. You're not a god, you're just a parasite, eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of other. You feed on them, on the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow! So... So... Come on, then. Take mine. Take my memories. But I hope you've got a big appetite because I've lived a long life and I've seen a few things. I walked away from the Last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time. No space. Just me. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman. I've watched universes freeze and creations burn. I have seen things you wouldn't believe. I have lost things you will never understand. And I know things, secrets that must never be told and knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze. So come on then! Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all! "... read more
Rizzoli & Isles
The Mentalist
Clannad: After Story

Clannad is an anime series based on a visual novel that follows the life of Tomoya Okazaki, a disaffected high school senior who struggles with his relationship with his alcoholic father and harbors resentment toward the town he lives in. Tomoya and his friend Yohei Sunohara spend much of their time... read more

This has to be one of the saddest shows I've ever seen. It will make you cry your eyes out. This show makes guys cry hard and girls cry even harder. It's not until you lie down and think about what happened for a minute that you really become depressed.

The saddest show I can think of by far.

Wow. Can't believe this show is so low.
The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is an American horror drama television series developed by Frank Darabont. It's based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. Andrew Lincoln plays the show's lead character, sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, who awakens from a coma to... read more

This show will always take likable characters and kill them off in the most horrifying and graphic ways. In this show, don't expect children to survive more than 1-2 seasons. Every time the group seems to find peace from the world, conflict always strikes them.

This is the most emotional show I've watched in a long time. Many important characters in this TV show are killed off in brutal ways, right when you get attached to them. Most emotional TV show!

A lot of people die in this show, and it's so sad to think about them not being in it anymore. It's also sad to watch the others deal with those losses.
Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. The show is based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The first book in the series is titled A Game of Thrones.
Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series that premiered on ABC on March 27, 2005, as a mid-season replacement. The show focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attending physicians at the fictional Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. As they advance professionally, the... read more

This show breaks your heart every season, with deaths, deaths, and more deaths.
"Everybody's leaving, and everybody's dying" - that quote says it all. Even the happy moments make you want to cry! This should be in the top 10!
House

House is an American television medical drama that originally ran on the Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. The series stars Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, a brilliant but misanthropic diagnostician. The show was widely acclaimed for its writing, character development,... read more
Lost

Lost is an American television drama series that originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company from September 22, 2004, to May 23, 2010, over six seasons, comprising a total of 121 episodes. Created by J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Jeffrey Lieber, the series follows the survivors of a commercial... read more

The emotion put into each scene is beautifully done, and Giacchino's scores make the show not only one of the best but also one of the saddest. Listen to any music from the show, and you'll be able to feel the raw emotion just from that.
Futurama

Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show follows Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy who's cryogenically frozen and wakes up 1,000 years in the future. It blends satire, science fiction, and social commentary.
Dexter

Dexter is an American crime drama television series that aired from 2006 to 2013. It is based on the novel "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay and follows Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood spatter analyst who is also a serial killer... read more
Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It originally aired on Fox Kids from 1992 to 1995 and was developed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski. The show is praised for its darker tone, film noir aesthetics, and introduction of original... read more
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an American 3D CGI animated television series created by George Lucas and produced by Lucasfilm Animation, Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, and CGCG Inc. The series originally aired on Cartoon Network from 2008 to 2013. It was later revived for a final season that premiered... read more
Sons of Anarchy

Sons of Anarchy is an American crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter. It aired from 2008 to 2014 and centers on an outlaw motorcycle club operating in the fictional town of Charming, California. The show explores themes of family, loyalty, and power, and it developed a large and devoted... read more
Good Luck Charlie

Good Luck Charlie is an American sitcom that originally aired on Disney Channel from April 4, 2010, to February 16, 2014. The series was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who aimed to design a show that would appeal to both children and their families. It starred Bridgit Mendler as Teddy Duncan... read more

I know this show - very sad in a bad way.