“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” according to a popular song of the

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” according to a popular song of the season. Yet good cheer isn’t what everyone experiences during the holidays. With that in mind, here is a list of some of the saddest yuletide songs ever recorded:

v Vince Guaraldi Trio, “Christmastime is Here”: There are lyrics sung by kids in this cornerstone song from the 1965 TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” but Guaraldi’s original instrumental arrangement communicates all you need to know about the glum reverie inherent in the season.

v Merle Haggard, “If We Make it Through December”: An unemployed blue-collar worker’s angst drives Haggard’s 1973 classic.

v The Kinks, “Father Christmas”: Lead singer and songwriter Ray Davies has always taken the side of the little guy, and that’s who he salutes in this band’s punk-infused 1977 holiday single.

v John Prine, “Christmas in Prison”: The acclaimed Chicago singer-songwriter vividly conjures what the season might look like through the eyes of someone doing hard time.

v Sufjan Stevens, “Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well You Deserved It)”: The prolific indie rocker looks at a relationship that gets more dysfunctional during the holidays. “This time of year you always disappear/ You tell me not to call ... And when the door is closed you’re wearing different clothes/ Or hiding in the paper, pretending not to hear.”

“The voice” (9 p.m., nbc): The “coaches” can mouth off all they want from their big red chairs, but the viewers will have total control over who captures the big prize as “The Voice” airs its glitzy season finale tonight.

tv listings, b6

New network will target millennials

NEW YORK

Participant Media plans to launch a cable network aimed at viewers 18 to 34 years old with programming it describes as inspiring and thought-provoking.

The as-yet-unnamed network is set to start next summer with an initial reach of 40 million subscribers, the company announced Monday.

Targeting so-called millennials, Participant is developing a program slate with such producers as Brian Graden, Morgan Spurlock and Brian Henson of The Jim Henson Company. Evan Shapiro, who joined Participant in May after serving as President of IFC and Sundance Channel, will head the new network.

Parent company Participant Media has produced a number of fiction and nonfiction films including “Charlie Wilson’s War.”

HBO, Scorsese making Clinton film

NEW YORK

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is making a documentary on Bill Clinton for HBO. HBO announced Monday that Scorsese is producing and directing the film, with Clinton’s cooperation. The network did not announce an anticipated air date for the show on the nation’s 42nd president, who was in office from 1993 to 2001.

Earlier this year HBO aired a documentary on Clinton’s immediate predecessor, George H.W. Bush. Scorsese has earlier made the documentaries “Public Speaking” and “George Harrison: Living in the Material World” for HBO.