Holidays are a time for peace, love and joy between you and your kin. But it never really ends up that way, does it? Grandma forgets to take her meds, Mom takes too many meds and Dad ends up lighting the tree on fire while telling you how you're wasting you life. Good times!

But even in the most difficult household, you can still relish the fact that you aren't one of these media clans or A-list celebrity families, the kind with dirty trash that inevitably gets strewn all over Harvey Levin's lawn.

Below, seven reasons to be grateful for the family you have.

Bernie Madoff and sons

No one is going to forget this story anytime in the near future: Bernie Madoff, the brilliant con artist who convinced half the Jews on Long Island to part with their millions in the biggest Ponzi scheme ever, gets caught only because he divulges the details to his two sons, who alert the feds. Why did the 70-year-old investor wait 'til the money was gone before sharing the secret of his success to Andrew and Mark Madoff? There are signs that Madoff wanted to confess his sins to someone, anyone.

Suffice to say, Hanukkah dinner at the Madoff house this year was a very tense affair.

Redstone with daughter Shari

Sumner Redstone, Shari Redstone and Paula Fortunato

This little clan has been at each other's throats for awhile, with children and spouses all pitted against the modern day King Lear of Viacom, Sumner Redstone. After placing daughter Shari as the head of the corporation for Midway Games (which, like CBS and Viacom, all fall under the umbrella of Redstone's National Amusement holdings), the media tycoon started paying off debt with company funds, causing his stock to plummet. So now the man — once determined to be the 86th wealthiest person in the world by Forbes, with an estimated $8 billion value — is trying to sell off Midway Games to the chagrin of its CEO, his daughter. And it's not like those two have such a great relationship to start with.

Moreover, Redstone also decided (or had it decided for him) that divorcing second wife Paula Fortunato during this period was a good idea. And seeing how he paid out his first wife Phyllis Raphael in stocks (which ended up being one of the biggest divorce settlements in history), lord knows what he's going to be able to scrape together to pay off Fortunato.

And son Brent Redstone? Well he already sued his father in 2006, so it's doubtful he's showing up to the family reunion.

Michael Lohan, Lindsay Lohan, and Samantha Ronson

Oh, Michael Lohan, is there anything you won't do to alienate your daughter? Besides giving public statements about her mental health when you've been too busy being in jail to keep track of your children, or being the creepiest pedophile dad since Joe Simpson, we thought you were finally back on track, along with Lindsay, in 2008. But then you had to go start accusing Lohan's girlfriend, Samantha Ronson, of trying to muscle in on your daughter's fame, as if that wasn't exactly what you were trying to do as well. There's nothing to bring two lesbians closer together than hating on the patriarchal figure in their lives, so with a couple well-placed MySpace flames, you are cut off again from contact with your daughter.

Your latest attack? A Michael Lohan website(!!) where you promise to "comment" on Lindsay and Sam's behavior as you find out about it, which, considering your family's dynamic, should be a couple hours after Star magazine files their report. Seriously, how terrible do you have to be to make Dina Lohan look like a good mother?

Spencer Pratt and Darlene Montag: Lunchdate from Hell

Spencer Pratt and the Montag family

Ugh, everything about Spencer Pratt is the worst, and his whole demeanor should be punishable by death. But he really took it over a line this season with his blatant disregard for his fiancee's mother and sister. Isn't the goal of engagement that you try to suck up to your future in-laws? Instead, Spencer kicks Heidi's sister Holly out of their house, causing a major rift between the family. Then he acts like a total asshole to Heidi's mother, Darlene, and smugly pops the whole "secret wedding" idea on everyone. It's really not a good sign for your fake-marriage when your mother-in-law claims you drugged her daughter in Mexico to get her to marry you. (To be fair, he only got her really wasted on Patron shots.)

Where is Mr. Montag in all this? For some reason we feel like one well-placed punch in the throat from Heidi's pop would put Spencer's goat-head on straight.

Christian Bale and the women in his family

Man, The Dark Knight made so much money this year! It's second only to Titanic! You would think Batman's other alter ego (besides Bruce Wayne), Christian Bale, would have been uber-excited in that chipper way that British people get when they are totally self-satisfied about their accomplishments. But no, the not-so-American Psycho instead went out and maybe beat up his mom and sister. At least that was the report days after The Dark Knight opened, causing mass alarm that maybe vigilante justice isn't so great when you use it to fuck up your mom. Even worse were the allegations that the police didn't follow up on Bale's warrant immediately because they didn't want to ruin the hype of The Dark Knight's release. Because Variety now owns the police force? What?

The assault charges were eventually dropped, so we never really got to find out what happened with Bale and his mum and sis. But he better fork over a big chunk of that Bat-cash to buy them some super high tech Christmas presents.

Richard Dreyfus and father

In other news that no one asked for, Jaws actor Richard Dreyfuss sued his deadbeat father and uncle back in August for $1.2 million after the duo reneged on payments for an $870,000 loan. Now, supposedly, the price has gone up to $4 million (that's a lot of interest!).

Not quite as flashy as some of these other family feuds, but how hard up is Dreyfuss for cash that he has to sue his sue his old dad (seriously old, since Richard is 61)? Then again, the last thing we remember seeing Dreyfuss in was What About Bob?, so maybe times are tough for the family. Either way, it will be interesting to see who gets the dough: Richard's father Norman is a lawyer and representing himself and his brother in the case.

The Astor family clan

Technically, the Astor drama is as old as the Kennedys, and isn't specific to 2008, except for one thing: This year saw the release of Mrs. Astor Regrets, Meryl Gordon's expose into the life of one of NYC's most infamous socialites' golden years. Of course, as we all know by now, Mrs. Astor's final days were anything but golden: When her grandson, Philip Marshall, made accusations that his son, Anthony Marshall, was abusing his grandmother, the 104-year old philanthropist became the center of the tabloids again. Now that Astor is dead and gone, Mrs. Astor Regrets is the remaining salacious piece of the puzzle, and includes diary entries detailing the elderly abuse brought upon her by her son. No wonder she left all her money to her dog.