History Main / CantGetInTroubleForNuthin

* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', George needs to be fired from the Yankees to get a more lucrative title with the Mets but is actively praised for wearing/damaging Babe Ruth's clothes and 'streaking' during a ballgame in a flesh-colored body suit. In the end, he finally manages to do something that would have gotten him fired, except that Mr. Wilhelm barges in at the last second to take credit for it and get himself fired because he was up for the same Mets job.

* An amusing thread on Website/FourChan talked about a GM doing this to wangsty [[AntiHero anti-heroes]] that were getting on his nerves.

** In the series where Bluto was renamed Brutus, Olive was a sculptress wanting a beaten-down person to model for her.

* ''WesternAnimation/KampKoral'': In "[[Recap/KampKoralS1E07WhatAboutMeepHardTimeOut Hard Time Out]]", Patrick's antics get [=SpongeBob=] sent to TimeOut, leading Patrick to try to get sent there too to keep his friend company. When he spills a trash can, Krabs doesn't care because he found a fully wrapped candy bar inside. Patrick then releases a swarm of urchins, but they eat all the trash and leave the camp cleaner than before. Even him wrecking the outhouse by driving it into the lake doesn't bother Krabs because it needed to be cleaned anyways. Patrick then throws his neckerchief on the ground, and [[DisproportionateRetribution this]] is what gets him in time out.

* The ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' fanfiction ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/394020/1/The_Zors_Pizza_Chronicles The Zor's Pizza Chronicles]]'' has a sequence in which the main characters decide to die and go to Hell because there's a creature there that can be used to [[spoiler:revive [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Aeris/th]]]]. In order to get there, they need to do something bad first before dying, but Cloud finds that everything he tries backfires - for example, snuffing out Cosmo Candle at Cosmo Canyon, only to be congratulated by a parent whose kids were always getting burnt by the flames.

* In one ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'' cartoon, [[BigBad Simon bar Sinister]] was trying to lure the hero into his DeathTrap, but first he had to gain his attention. So he and Cad decided to simply rob a bank. Unfortunately, Underdog was busy stopping a far bigger disaster, which took priority, so while Simon and Cad got away with a fortune, they failed to make him show up. Then Simon decided to try robbing a toy store, hoping that such a heartless act would make him come running. Again, the hero had to be elsewhere, saving actual lives, so the villain failed to make him show up (and wound up with a lot of toys he didn't need). Finally, Simon decided to kidnap Underdog's girlfriend [[ActionGirlfriend Sweet Polly Purebread]], and ''that'' worked. (Of course, Underdog ''wasn't'' busy this time, and he ''has'' been known to put her on hold in other episodes if there's a bigger crisis to deal with.)

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* What started off ''Literature/HennekoTheHentaiPrinceAndTheStonyCat''. The main character Youto Yokodera is a complete pervert and is doing actions to get a sexual thrill. However, all of his actions in doing so are thought of as good deeds (such as he polished the tile floors of the school so as to see girls' panties in the reflection he is rewarded for cleaning the school).
[[/folder]]

* What started off ''LightNovel/HennekoTheHentaiPrinceAndTheStonyCat''. The main character Youto Yokodera is a complete pervert and is doing actions to get a sexual thrill. However, all of his actions in doing so are thought of as good deeds (such as he polished the tile floors of the school so as to see girls' panties in the reflection he is rewarded for cleaning the school).

* ''Film/ThatManFromRio'': Adrian rescues his girlfriend Agnes when she's abducted in Paris and spirited away to Rio, where she drags him into an adventure with one hair's-breadth situation after another. As they're driving to Brasilia in their underwear (getting caught in a fierce storm shortly before) he has enough and pulls into a police station. He turns himself in, running off a list of offenses -- entering their country without a passport, using a plane ticket he stole from an old pensioner, getting into fights with several people, including policemen, indecently dressed, and driving a stolen car -- but as he speaks French the policeman doesn't understand a word. Adrian throws his hands up and exclaims "Nothing -- just Rio and Brasilia!" and the policeman cheerfully points the way. Back on the road, he mutters "I should take up crime!"

* In ''Film/LaughterInParadise'' (and its 1970 remake ''Some Will, Some Won't''), Captain Russell has to spend 28 days in jail in order to [[OneOnecondition inherit 50,000 pounds]]. He makes numerous attempts to get arrested for minor offences and fails in all of them. For example, he very obviously shoplifts only for a pickpocket to steal the loot off him seconds before he's nabbed by the store detectives.

* There was a ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' where Hank was trying to get arrested so he could be in jail with Bill so he could apologize to him. Being a very by-the-book character, he walks into a convenience store without a shirt or shoes on and points this out to a cop there who replies that "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" is store policy and not the law. Even the cashier says that he doesn't really enforce it. Before that, Hank tried to jaywalk with a cop in sight, but he was busy writing a ticket. It's only when he deliberately bumps into the cop's car that he's taken in, and even then it was only because he ruined the cop's bumper sticker.

Unfortunately for the story's focus, every single thing they do [[PlagueOfGoodFortune is appreciated by the intended victims]], from telling them their hat looks stupid ("What? Oh! I hadn't realized I'd put on the wrong hat this morning!") to burning down their house ("Thank you! That house was full of hideous artwork insured for well more than it was worth! I can finally buy medicine for my sick children, and a house that doesn't have asbestos leaking from the ceiling!"). This even happens when the character would normally get in trouble with the victims [[HairTriggerTemper for purely imagined]] [[{{Tsundere}} slights.]] The gratefulness is usually in direct proportion to the heinousness of the misdeed. Either that, or the character is normally so lawful and good that the idea of them actually doing something bad is so unthinkable to everyone else that they immediately dismiss the possibility that it's true, and the bad thing is promptly blamed on whatever unlucky schmuck happens to be nearby. They ''had'' to have done it, it's the only explanation that makes sense!

A twist on this that's usually done in comedy situations is when the character keeps trying to get in trouble by doing ''big'' misdeeds and failing, but eventually commits a ''small'' one by accident (jaywalking and littering are common examples) and ''then'' gets what he wants.

Occasionally the character will find that the person they are impersonating is the TokenEvilTeammate, so anything nasty that they do comes off as ''nicer'' than usual. May overlap with PokeThePoodle. See also GetIntoJailFree and KarmaHoudini.

* What started off ''LightNovel/HennekoTheHentaiPrinceAndTheStonyCat''. The main charcacter Youto Yokodera is a complete pervert and is doing actions to get a sexual thrill. However all of his actions in doing so is thought of as a good deed (such as he polished the tile floors of the school so as to see girl's panties in the reflection he is rewarded for cleaning the school).

* In the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' drama ''Doing Time'' (part of ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho142TheDemonsOfRedLodge The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories]]''), the Doctor gets arrested, and Nyssa tries to get arrested as well in order to get into the prison. She steals a bracelet from a jewelry stall, but the stall's owner turns out to have stolen all his wares anyway, so he's arrested and she's released. Then she tries breaking into a warehouse, but manages to choose the only empty one on the estate. When she ''is'' arrested, it's because she was framed.

* In a 2020 ''ComicStrip/GasolineAlley'' arc, a family of thieves break out of prison and start work on a new con. When it doesn't work out they break back in, but find out their sentence is over. After this they try robbing a grocery to get back in, but the storekeeper just feels sorry for them.

* The ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' fanfiction ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/394020/1/The_Zors_Pizza_Chronicles The Zor's Pizza Chronicles]]'' has a sequence in which the main characters decide to die and go to Hell because there's a creature there that can be used to [[spoiler:revive [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Aeris/th]]]]. In order to get there, they need to do something bad first before dying, but Cloud finds that everything he tries backfires - for example, snuffing out Cosmo Candle at Cosmo Canynon, only to be congratulated by a parent whose kids were always getting burnt by the flames.

* ''Film/AmericanPsycho'', both the book and the movie. Patrick Bateman commits a series of heinous crimes including chasing a hooker with a chainsaw, going on a shooting spree, blowing up several police cruisers, and hiding in his office as a helicopter searches for the perp. While hiding, he phones his lawyer and confesses to everything, but later on, nothing has come of this. He meets his lawyer, who laughs the whole thing off and mistakes him for someone else. Bateman becomes angry, (who had just called "Bateman" spineless, after all, Patrick Bateman couldn't pull off a murder, let alone about 20), informs the lawyer that he IS Bateman, and insists the crimes actually happened. He is apparently saved again when the lawyer informs him he had dinner with someone he supposedly killed just a few weeks ago, tells Bateman he no longer finds this funny, and leaves. Bateman slinks down in his chair and delivers a speech about how there are no more barriers to cross, etc. In both the book and the movie, Bateman is shown to suffer from hallucinations and other psychotic (duh) episodes. It is left unclear whether he really does embody this trope, with the reason being that everyone is so interchangeable to each other that they can't notice when someone dies, or whether he imagined the whole thing.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/{{Chopper}}'' as mass murderer Mark Reade confesses to shooting a man in self defense to the police, and brings in the murder weapon. When the police don't believe him, he claims that he has "Never been as insulted in his whole life". He later laments that he used to be a dangerous criminal and now can't even get arrested.

* ''Film/ThatManFromRio'': Adrian rescues his girlfriend Agnes when she's abducted in Paris and spirited away to Rio, where she drags him into an adventure with one hair's-breadth situation after another. As they're driving to Brasilia in their underwear (getting caught in a fierce storm shortly before) he has enough and pulls into a police station. He turns himself in, running off a list of offenses -- entering their country without a passport, using a plane ticket he stole from an old pensioner, getting into fights with several people, including policemen, indecently dressed, and driving a stolen car -- but as he speaks French the policeman doesn't understand a word. Adrian throws his hands up and exclaims "Nothing -- just Rio and Brasilia!" and the policeman cheerfully points the way. Back on the road he mutters "I should take up crime!"

* In ''[[Literature/DoctorDolittle Doctor Dolittle's Return]]'', Dr. Dolittle tries in vain to get himself thrown into jail, so that he can write his book in peace and quiet. When he finally succeeds, the animals break him out and he has to start over again.

* Invoked in the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' spin-off novel "Life Signs", when the crew have to infiltrate a high-security prison to find a doctor who may be able to treat Inara's terminal illness. As the crew's only doctor, Simon Tam has to join them on the planet, but Mal Reynolds notes that Simon is too clearly not the kind of person who would normally commit a crime serious enough to merit him being sent to a prison like this. With that in mind, Simon's cover story when asked why he's in this prison is that he was framed for embezzlement while working in an office.

* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', during the period when [[StarCrossedLovers Niles was married to Mel, but knew Daphne loved him back]], Mel would only agree to a divorce if he showed himself up as a rude, boorish man whom ''she'' wanted rid of. Nothing he attempted worked: for instance, when he made comments about someone having a drink problem, he was praised for his insight and courage in speaking up, and the man immediately swore off alcohol.

* On an episode of ''Series/ICarly'', Carly and Sam are planning a big 50th-webcast show. Sam gets detention for the night on which the show was being held, though, so Carly and Freddy decide to broadcast the show from detention. Trouble is, no matter what they do, it backfires (Carly pulls a fire alarm; there was a real fire. Freddy grafittis a window; it gets washed off. Carly breaks a teacher's chair; she's so happy that she gets a paid vacation she doesn't investigate. Freddy grabs the principal's phone and slams it to the ground; Principal Franklin has recently gotten a new phone advertised to be MadeOfIndestructium.) Eventually, Carly gets detention for slamming her locker in frustration from the failed attempts of getting in trouble, from a SadistTeacher, and Freddy hides in a closet.

* In a Polish comedy/slice of life show ''Series/{{Ranczo}}'' (eng: the Ranch) the main antagonist, [[HarmlessVillain village mayor]], gets himself elected to Senate and has at least few instances of it, like going to his first day of job utterly shitfaced and having a meltdown how terrified of this new responsibility he is. Another one is showing up to a talk show having (this time accidentally) taken drugs and under their influence proclaim his head hurts in the middle of a debate and walk out. In both cases, his reputation rises because public opinion finds him pretty relatable.

* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', George needs to be fired from the Yankees to get a more lucrative title with the Mets, but is actively praised for wearing/damaging Babe Ruth's clothes and 'streaking' during a ballgame in a flesh-colored body suit. In the end, he finally manages to do something that would have gotten him fired, except that Mr. Wilhelm barges in at the last second to take credit for it and get himself fired because he was up for the same Mets job.

** A notable occurrence was in a late 2006 edition of Smackdown when Undertaker and Kane, known as the Brothers of Destruction, wrestled as a tag team for the first time in five years against newcomers Montel Vontavious Porter and Mr. Kennedy. MVP and Kennedy tried to walk out and get counted out, only for Theodore Long to restart the match with no countouts. Shortly after, they got themselves disqualified, leading Long to restart the match again with no disqualifications or countouts. From then on, it was a one sided match with Undertaker and Kane utterly destroying the heels, to the massive approval of the audience.

* This happened in a episode of ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'', where Angela forgets to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. She tries to get detention so that she can avoid getting pinched during recess, and fails each time. She manages to escape this fate when she turns her jacket inside out to green.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'', Lee crosses the 13th Graders, [[TheDreaded The most feared students at A. Nigma High]], by wandering into their territory following a clue. They demand that Lee fight them at 3:15 after school, but Lee isn't initially worried due to his year long detention taking place at that exact time. He only starts to freak out when [=VP=] Victoria gives Lee an amnesty day due to a clause in the student charter ([[spoiler:With TheReveal of Victoria's [[BitchInSheepsClothing true nature]], this might have been intentional]]). His first plan is to intentionally get into trouble, first by starting a food fight, and then by putting framed pictures of himself in the trophy case. This fails to get him detention because both Barrage and [=VP=] Victoria don't believe he did it, citing that he just got a detention-free day, why would he do anything that might endanger that? When getting in trouble doesn't work, Lee's second plan is to try and frame the 13th Graders, but that doesn't work out either. In the end, Lee decides to just man up and fight them.

* There was a ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' where Hank was trying to get arrested so he could be in jail with Bill so he could apologize to him. Being a very by-the-book character, he walks into a convenience store without a shirt or shoes on, and points this out to a cop there who replies that "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" is store policy and not the law. Even the cashier says that he doesn't really enforce it. Before that, Hank tried to jaywalk with a cop in sight, but he was busy writing a ticket. It's only when he deliberately bumps into the cop's car that he's taken in, and even then it was only because he ruined the cop's bumper sticker.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'', Pepper-Ann wanted to get into detention (which she normally does) to keep her friend who got detention company, by doing nothing but wearing a bucket on her head and dancing like a moron in all her classes. She fails to get detention, but is referred to the school counselor.

** In the series where Bluto was renamed Brutus, Olive was a sculptress wanting a beaten down person to model for her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' episode "Pulp Boot Camp" Penny wants to go undercover as a bad girl for a journalism assignment. She figures the best way to do this is get sent to detention. She tries graffitiing lockers, drawing funny mustaches on school photos, and even pulling the fire alarm with a bunch of signs pointing to her. None of these work, but walking in late to class finally does.

** In the episode "Bossy Boots", Pearl goes to work for the Krusty Krab during her summer vacation, and makes multiple changes to the restaurant that effectively ruin her father's business. As it turns out, all the changes she made were because she was deliberately ''trying'' to get fired, as working at the Krusty Krab is "cutting majorly into her social life", but Krabs simply didn't have the heart to fire his own daughter. So [=SpongeBob=], who was sent to fire her anyway, "pretends" to fire her so she could go and enjoy her summer vacation.
** In "Doing Time", Mrs. Puff ends up [[KarmicMisfire being sent to jail due to Spongebob's reckless driving]]. A guilt ridden [=SpongeBob=] enlists Patrick to help him break into jail to get Mrs. Puff out. Their first attempt at it, robbing a bank, fails because they're not ''remotely'' threatening as bank robbers.
* In one ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'' cartoon, [[BigBad Simon bar Sinister]] was trying to lure the hero into his DeathTrap, but first he had to gain his attention. So he and Cad decided to simply rob a bank. Unfortunately, Underdog was busy stopping a far bigger disaster, which took priority, so while Simon and Cad got away with a fortune, they failed to make him show up. Then Simon decided to try robbing a toy store, hoping that such a heartless act would make him come running. Again, the hero had to be elsewhere, saving actual lives, so the villain failed to make him show up (and wound up with a lot of toys he didn't need). Finally, Simon decided to kidnap Underdog's girlfriend [[ActionGirlfriend Sweet Polly Purebread]] and ''that'' worked. (Of course, Underdog ''wasn't'' busy this time, and he ''has'' been known to put her on hold in other episodes if there's a bigger crisis to deal with.)

* When Creator/TomSka signed a brand-deal with [=SurfShark=] VPN, he was shocked to find that they had a SurprisinglyLenientCensor, and started acting unprofessional in numerous ways just to find out what their limit was. This included name-dropping rival brands in the middle of videos, adding in crude jokes that hadn't been approved, doing the most AbusiveAdvertising he'd ever done, and only communicating via memes and [=GIFs=], but none of it made any impact. His contact at [=SurfShark=] even started sending [=GIFs=] back!
* Donny Osmond tells the story of being encouraged by his agent to rack up a minor arrest or two to get rid of his squeaky-clean image as a young adult. On one occasion, he saw his chance while walking ahead of a random cop, so he turned back nervously and started running. The cop stopped him but let him go as soon as he saw the name on his ID. Osmond later recounted that while it's long been said that a would-be actor "couldn't even get arrested in Hollywood", he had never heard of it being literally true until it happened to him. Unfortunately for his youngest sister, ''Marie Osmond'', he was released from prison.

* In ''Series/TheATeam'' episode "[[Recap/TheATeamS1E4ProsAndCons Pros and Cons]]", the team investigates a prison where inmates are forced to fight the death. To get into the jail they plot to get themselves arrested. When BA drives dangerously, the team acts drunk and insults the police they are let loose because the {{Corrupt Hick}}s already have federal heat on themselves. So Hannibal demands the keys and drives their van through a window of the sheriff's office.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' concerned the titular character trying to get sent to prison so he can get a Christmas dinner.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Detention}}'' centered around the kids who normally got detention trying ''not to,'' and Shelley Kelley, a TeachersPet who never got it, was ''trying'' to get it. Everything the poor girl did only resulted in praise... deflate all the basketballs? Great, now they'll fit through the baskets easier. Flood the gym? "We've been meaning to clean that. Thanks!"
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer tries to get himself disabled so he can work at home, but he doesn't get hurt. At one point, he walks around a hardhat area with no helmet and falling stuff keeps missing him. A wheelbarrow full of bricks falls on someone else, prompting Homer to quip "Probably better that ''didn't'' hit me."
** In another episode, Bart, who is known to cause trouble 24/7, tries to cause mischief but every single attempt backfires with him winding up doing good deeds.
** In the episode where the family moves so Homer can work for Hank Scorpio, Bart is transferred to the special-ed class in his new school, where he's surrounded by a bunch of Ralphie [[{{Expy}} expies.]] When the rest of the family lists their grievances and ask Homer to go back to Springfield, Bart mentions that not getting in trouble due to his status as a special-ed student is one of the reasons why he wants to move back.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' has Darkwing trying to get arrested so that he can [[GetIntoJailFree infiltrate a prison for supervillains]]. After repeatedly failing in his attempt to commit crimes, he is finally arrested [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin for jaywalking]]. (The police officers only agree to send him to the super-prison when he demonstrates that he can also do scary shadow puppets.) When Darkwing put on the supervillain costume he was wearing when he was arrested, he joked he should be arrested just for wearing such a ridiculous outfit, [[HilariousInHindsight and that was, in fact, the reason he was arrested for jaywalking]]. Made even more hilarious when you realize the police, and thus the super-prison, are on HIS side, so infiltration should have been trivial for him.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' have the titular characters attempting to go to jail, thinking that they'd get treated a whole lot better. They do this by trying to ''break in''. The warden, though, just laughs off their attempts... until [[NiceJobBreakingItHero they destroy the warden's stuffed dog.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RatedAForAwesome'' episode "Club Detention" the guys started a club to make detention more fun, but since Thera never gets in trouble she couldn't join and no matter what she tried she couldn't get detention. It later turned out that [[spoiler:the vice principal was making up her own crazy rules to keep the guys in detention and eventually expel them, and she was giving Thera special treatment because she's an honors student]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' episode "Bleu Cheese Bros", Lawrence Limburger takes over a prison so he can get more minions by recruiting the convicts and deliver the soil to Plutark. Throttle, Vinnie, and Modo try to get themselves arrested by destroying a building and running a red light, but the building was scheduled to be demolished anyway and the police were prevented from arresting them for running a red light because of a report of a jailbreak.
* In one episode of WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}, Lee crosses the 13th Graders, [[TheDreaded The most feared students at A. Nigma High]], by wandering into their territory following a clue. They demand that Lee fight them at 3:15 after school, but Lee isn't initially worried due to his year long detention taking place at that exact time. He only starts to freak out when [=VP=] Victoria gives Lee an amnesty day due to a clause in the student charter ([[spoiler:With TheReveal of Victoria's [[BitchInSheepsClothing true nature]], this might have been intentional]]). His first plan is to intentionally get into trouble, first by starting a food fight, and then by putting framed pictures of himself in the trophy case. This fails to get him detention because both Barrage and [=VP=] Victoria don't believe he did it, citing that he just got a detention-free day, why would he do anything that might endanger that? When getting in trouble doesn't work, Lee's second plan is to try and frame the 13th Graders, but that doesn't work out either. In the end, Lee decides to just man up and fight them.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', a new vigilante named "Rumor" starts catching and imprisoning all of Gotham's supervillains. To avoid this fate, The Penguin tries to get arrested by Batman, only for Batman and Robin to ignore him as he pretends to steal a priceless painting.
* In season five of ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', Mr. Peanutbutter wants to be seen as a "tough guy" who can be believable as the tough protagonist of his dream project. His insults are seen as tough love and by committing battery, he accidentally realigns one guy's shoulder and fixes another's strabismus.
--> Smoking Rhino: You are truly a kind and approachable character.
--> Mr. Peanutbutter: And tough?
--> Smoking Rhino: Tough not to love, you big galoot!
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' episode "Pulp Boot Camp" Penny wants to go undercover as a bad girl for a journalism assignment. She figures the best way to do this is get sent to detention. She tries graffitiing lockers, drawing funny mustaches on school photos, and even pulling the fire alarm with a bunch of signs pointing to her. None of these work, but walking in late to class finally does.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': The only reason Danny ever overshadows people, aside from information gathering.
* Not a mystical or lookalike version, but often in ''WesternAnimation/BabyLooneyTunes'' and similar spinoffs, one character (usually Sylvester or Daffy) would try to frame another character (Bugs or Tweety Bird, respectively) without being seen. Usually, this would be seen as a misguided yet heartfelt attempt at kindness, such as planting a tree in the middle of the living room rug on what just happened to be Arbor Day.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The protagonist of ''Film/CemeteryMan'' has a job that involves shooting zombies in the head when they rise from the graveyard where he works. By accident, one day he kills someone who wasn't already dead. Nobody believes him when he tries to come clean to the cops. [[spoiler:The entire last act of the movie is him performing more and more depraved acts in a desperate existential attempt to write his own destiny. The denials from the authorities as to his guilt get more and more bizarre.]]

* In ''Film/LaughterInParadise'' (and its 1970 remake ''Some Will, Some Won't''), Captain Russell has to spend 28 days in jail in order to inherit 50,000 pounds. He makes numerous attempts to get arrested for minor offences and fails in all of them. For example, he very obviously shoplifts only for a pickpocket to steal the loot off him seconds before he's nabbed by the store detectives.
* [[PlayingWithTropes Played with]], briefly, in ''Film/LastActionHero''. The newly self-promoted BigBad gets his hands on a magical ticket that lets him escape [[ShowWithinAShow his movie]] into the "real" world. Soon after, he sees two kids mugging, possibly killing, a third to steal his shoes. Befuddled by this (and the fact that they weren't instantly arrested like in the {{Troperiffic}} movie he came from) he goes to a nearby garage and shoots the mechanic. Then twice more. Then loudly shouts through the streets of New York, "I have murdered a man and would like to confess!" Someone yells back "[[RefugeInAudacity SHUT UP, we're trying to sleep!]]" Cue AsideGlance and an instantaneously hatched diabolical scheme.
* The main plot of ''Film/{{Bamboozled}}'' is an example of this trope. The main character is a Black producer who wants out of his job at a television studio. So he creates the most racist show possible called the ''Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show'', hoping he'll get fired. [[SpringtimeForHitler Instead of the show offending people, it becomes a huge hit making the producer rich, much to his shock and disappointment]].
* In ''Film/ThreeOClockHigh'', Jerry tries to avert a fight with a bully by getting himself suspended. His efforts to offend his English Lit teacher backfire when [[spoiler: she falls for him]]

* ''Film/HoubaOnTheTrailOfTheMarsupilami'': Pablito is trying to get thrown in jail to join with Dan Geraldo and help him escape. However, when he pretends to steal an old woman's bag a few meters away from policemen, the corrupt cops aren't paying attention and [[NeverMessWithGranny he just gets a few cane strikes for his troubles]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/TheNewGuy'', as Diz constantly tries to get expelled from his school so he can get a fresh start at a new one, but the guidance counselor is a HippieTeacher, so he never actually gets in trouble... until [[FelonyMisdemeanor he breaks a mop in front of the Principal]], who expels him immediately for vandalizing school property.

* In the Creator/OHenry short story ''The Cop and the Anthem'', Soapy the bum wants to spend the winter in jail rather than on the street, but can't get arrested for anything. [[spoiler: That is, until the end of the story, where he decides to get a job just before his arrest for loitering.]] This story was adapted into a Freddy The Freeloader sketch on ''The Red Skelton Show''.

* In ''Literature/JoyInTheMorning'', Bertie Wooster tries everything to get Florence Craye to call off their engagement. Finally he kicks her beloved little brother in the pants, and she thanks him: he had destroyed some of her scrapbooks, and she was going to kick him herself.

* ''The Good Soldier Švejk'' features a character called Friedrich Welfer, who receives a yearly allowance until he gets his doctoral degree. Since this allowance is bigger than his payment as a doctor would be, he purposely prolongs his studies as long as possible. However, when UsefulNotes/WorldWarI breaks out, he has to take a "military exam", and receives his doctorate despite writing "Lecken Sie mich am Arsch!" (meaning "Kiss my ass") to every question.

* In ''[[Literature/DoctorDolittle Doctor Dolittle's Return]]'', Dr. Dolittle tries in vain to get himself thrown into jail, so that he can write his book in peace and quiet. When he finally succeeds, the animals break him out and he has to start over again.
* This is essentially the plot of the short story "The Misguided Halo", in which someone gets a, well, halo due to a celestial bureaucratic mix-up. This being not exactly a desirable fashion accessory for a mid-20th century businessman, he attempts first to cover it up (the only hat he can find that's large enough is a piece of a marching band costume that the dog has been using for a bed, so it's both unsightly and stinky) and then to get rid of it by "sinning". Except that everything he does is taken by the angel who gave him the halo in the first place to be either a good deed or an attempt at one.
* ''Literature/TheBookThief'' has Liesel blow up in outrage at Ilsa Hermann when she tells her she can no longer afford to send her laundry out for Rosa to clean. After Liesel yells at Ilsa, she feels terrible about it and decides to tell [[ApronMatron Rosa]] what she's done in hopes of getting punished. Much to her frustration, Rosa (who is usually a very strict disciplinarian) tells Liesel [[ObliviousGuiltSlinging she doesn't believe she'd say such horrible things.]] The narration notes that Liesel would have rather gotten a beating.
* The Literature/DrThorndyke novel ''Mr. Pottermack's Oversight'' contains a comedic sequence in which the SympatheticMurderer tries to get rid of his victim's wallet by deliberately taking it places that are notorious for pickpockets, only to find that when he wants his pocket picked nobody seems interested.

* On an episode of ''Series/ICarly'', Carly and Sam are planning a big 50th-webcast show. Sam gets detention for the night on which the show was being held, though, so Carly and Freddy decide to broadcast the show from detention. Trouble is, no matter what they do, it backfires (Carly pulls a fire alarm; there was a real fire. Freddy grafittis a window; it gets washed off. Carly breaks a teacher's chair; she's so happy that she gets a paid vacation she doesn't investigate. Freddy grabs the principal's phone and slams it to the ground; Principal Franklin has recently gotten a new phone advertised to be MadeOfIndestructium.) Eventually, Carly gets detention for slamming her locker in frustration from the failed attempts of getting in trouble, from a SadistTeacher, and Freddy hides in a closet.

* In the earlier seasons of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Sam is rather disgruntled by the fact that, despite their tendency to pull the exact same stunts in pursuit of the MonsterOfTheWeek, Dean is the one who builds up an impressive criminal record while Sam's name doesn't even appear in any legal database. Despite the advantages in the, you know, [[BuffySpeak not-getting-arrested]] department. Dean finds the entire situation amusing.
-->'''Dean:''' "You innocent, harmless young man, you!"
* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', George needs to be fired from the Yankees to get a more lucrative title with the Mets, but is actively praised for wearing/damaging Babe Ruth's clothes and 'streaking' during a ballgame in a flesh-colored body suit. In the end, he finally manages to do something that would have gotten him fired, except that Mr. Wilhelm barges in at the last second to take credit for it and get himself fired because he was up for the same Mets job.

* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', during the period when [[StarCrossedLovers Niles was married to Mel, but knew Daphne loved him back]], Mel would only agree to a divorce if he showed himself up as a rude, boorish man whom ''she'' wanted rid of. Nothing he attempted worked: for instance, when he made comments about someone having a drink problem, he was praised for his insight and courage in speaking up, and the man immediately swore off alcohol.
* On an episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', Reese wanted to avoid going to a formal dance with his girlfriend so he tried to goad her into a fight by insulting her. When that didn't work, he deliberately got himself grounded but his mom saw right through the plan and told him he was grounded after he went to the dance. Finally, he admitted to his girlfriend that he didn't want to go and she told him that he made a promise so he was going to have to attend and, after that, she would break up with him.
* There have been ''at least'' two comedy programs that have involved people trying to get into prison for some reason by deliberately pulling a fire alarm when they knew there was no fire - only for a fire to break out in the area shortly before the fire department arrives.

* In an episode of ''Series/Batman1966'', the Penguin, acting as a respected restaurateur as part of a FalselyReformedVillain scheme, has considerable difficulty when he actively ''tries'' to get thrown in prison so that he can consult an expert forger criminal colleague. When he was finally sent to prison, he learned [[spoiler: the colleague was just getting released]].
* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': After attaining A-list celebrity status, Tracy desperately wants out. He tries disgracing himself publicly, but all of his boorish antisocial antics are embraced as the quirks of a genius artist by an adoring public.
* In ''Series/YoungDracula'', Ingrid pulls the fire alarm at school, setting off the sprinklers at the same time, in a deliberate attempt to get suspended so she can prove to father how evil she is. A horrified Vlad shows up and turns off the alarm... just in time to get blamed for setting it off.
* In an episode of ''Series/TheRedSkeltonShow'', Freddie the Freeloader wants to get sent to jail for Christmas because it's nice and warm, and he likes the people there. But no matter what he does, he can't get there. Then he meets someone who gives him the incentive to remain on the outside. Only then does he get dragged off to jail.
* In ''Series/TheATeam'' episode "[[Recap/TheATeamS1E4ProsAndCons Pros and Cons]]", the team investigates a prison where inmates are forced to fight the death. To get into the jail they plot to get themselves arrested. When BA drives dangerously, the team acts drunk and insults the police they are let loose because the {{Corrupt Hick}}s already have federal heat on themselves. So Hannibal demands the keys and drives their van through a window of the sheriff's office.

* In a Polish comedy/slice of life show ''Ranczo'' (eng: the Ranch) the main antagonist, [[HarmlessVillain village mayor]], gets himself elected to Senate and has at least few instances of it, like going to his first day of job utterly shitfaced and having a meltdown how terrified of this new responsibility he is. Another one is showing up to a talk show having (this time accidentally) taken drugs and under their influence proclaim his head hurts in the middle of a debate and walk out. In both cases, his reputation rises because public opinion finds him pretty relatable.

* The plot of the 1938 musical ''Leave It To Me!'' involved a bathtub manufacturer being made an ambassador to the USSR as an unwanted reward for campaign contributions and trying various schemes to get himself recalled.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' had Blythe Baxter driving without a license (similar to Mia Thermopolis in ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'') but a police officer prevented the 13-year-old girl from driving a truck filled with sweets (while rescuing her LPS friends), making Roger Baxter (her dad) punish his daughter by [[spoiler:taking away her cell phone]] but fails as her LPS friends recover it (while he is not looking) and film a reenactment of the same incident earlier (while using the same sweet truck), with Roger Baxter in hot pursuit, thus destroying his dummy racing buddy. He soon apologizes and joins his daughter in a race [[spoiler:as forgiveness]] at the end of the episode.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', Bloo wanted to be sent to bed without the awful, casserole-like dinner Frankie was trying to make. Unfortunately for him, everyone else got the blame because Herriman had hidden [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin a stash of carrots]] in his room and didn't want them discovered. Bloo ended up eating ''all'' of the dish. The way Frankie insisted upon this implies she considered it his actual punishment.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' concerned the titular character trying to get sent to prison so he can get a Christmas dinner.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'', the titular character tries to get kicked out of the Mounted Police so that he can [[FakeDefector infiltrate Snidely Whiplash's gang]], but everything goes wrong, from "You blew up the dam! The irrigation problem has been solved!" to "You burned down that building! We had been trying to tear it down for years and never got around to it!". He finally does manage to get in trouble, though...[[spoiler: by eating his peas with a knife]], something no Mountie should ever do!

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'', Pepper-Ann wanted to get into detention (which she normally does) to keep her friend who got detention company, by doing nothing but wearing a bucket on her head and dancing like a moron in all her classes. She fails to get detention, but is referred to the school counselor.
* There was a ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' where Hank was trying to get arrested so he could be in jail with Bill so he could apologize to him. Being a very by-the-book character, he walks into a convenience store without a shirt or shoes on, and points this out to a cop there who replies that "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" is store policy and not the law. Even the cashier says that he doesn't really enforce it. Before that, Hank tried to jaywalk with a cop in sight, but he was busy writing a ticket. It's only when he deliberately bumps into the cop's car that he's taken in, and even then it was only because he ruined the cop's bumper sticker.
** In another episode, Bobby and Joseph are trying out a book full of pranks but they keep accidentally achieving positive results. For example, trying the classic salt shaker spill on Connie causes a nearby girl to invite her to lunch.
* A vintage ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon has Popeye and Bluto trying to injure themselves so they'll be ministered to by nurse Olive - to their frustration all their attempts are thwarted by dumb luck. Popeye finally pulls out a can of spinach and force-feeds it to Bluto, who becomes a dynamo of flying fists. Popeye ends up happy in a body cast as Bluto looks on jealously.
** In the series where Bluto was renamed Brutus, Olive was a sculptress wanting a beaten down person to model for her.
** In another remake of the original plot, Popeye ended up being ejected from the hospital because it was for dogs and cats. Bluto started barking while Popeye made cat sounds. The two of them were taken to "Happy Valley Screwball Institute".
* This happened in a episode of ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'', where Angela forgets to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. She tries to get detention so that she can avoid getting pinched during recess, and fails each time. She manages to escape this fate when she turns her jacket inside out to green.

* The main plot of ''Film/{{Bamboozled}}'' is an example of this trope. The main character is a Black producer who wants out of his job at a television studio. So he creates the most racist show possible called the ''Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show'', hoping he'll get fired. Instead of the show offending people, it becomes a huge hit making the producer rich, much to his shock and disappointment.

* Robert Beltran reportedly wanted out of his commitment to ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' so desperately that he was willing to try almost anything to get fired, including asking for ridiculous raises (he got them), deliberately giving his worst performance (no one cared), and publicly accusing Brannon Braga of being gay (Braga just rolled with it). He even proposed having Chakotay, his character, enter into a romance with Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan, then Brannon Braga's girlfriend, in the hopes that it would get Braga jealous enough to fire him. But, Braga called his bluff and gave the characters a steamy romance.

* Pedro Lopez, a South American man who killed over 300 people across three countries, confessed his crimes and was told to push off and stop shitting them. This denial continued until a flash flood unearthed a mass grave containing Pedro's victims.

* In ''Film/AngelOnMyShoulder'' the soul of gangster Eddie Kagle is placed in the body of judge Frederick Parker by the devil, with instructions to destroy Parker's reputation. However, everything Eddie tries ends up making Judge Parker look ''better''.