History Main / CantGetInTroubleForNuthin

* In ''Angel on My Shoulder'' 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 Kagle tries ends up making Parker look ''better''.

* In ''Angel on My Shoulder'' the soul of gangster Eddie Kagel is placed in the body of judge Frederick Parker by the devil, with instructions to destroy Parker's reputation. However, everything Kagel tries ends up making Parker look ''better''.

* 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.

* Although Florence in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' had previously been jailed just for her association with a wanted criminal, when she tried turning herself in for tampering with a global robot update ([[TheFettered because she's strongly conditioned]] for LawfulGood acts), the robotic police were too generous.

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 LawfulGood 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!

** Max has to [[GetIntoJailFree get into jail]] to retrieve a microfilm off a convict...all his attempts to get arrested backfire, but he finally gets caught for littering - he gets the sentence he needs by insulting the judge.

* 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.

** In the episode "Breast Cancer Show Ever," Cartman deliberately gets detention so that he can avoid having to fight Wendy Testaburger after school.
** In the episode "Death Camp of Tolerance," Mr. Garrison knows he will win a huge cash settlement if he sues for discrimination, so he begins acting stereotypically gay in class in the most inappropriate ways possible (even bringing in a sex slave and spanking him), hoping that he'll get fired for his behavior and then be able to file a lawsuit for discrimination against homosexuals. Instead, the faculty and the parents of the students praise him for his "courage" in refusing to be closeted. When Mr. Garrison insists to them that his behavior is offensive and should be punished, they finally ''do'' punish him...by sending him to the Death Camp of Tolerance for being a BoomerangBigot.

** 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 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.

* 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 "Doing Time", Mrs. Puff ends up [[KarmicMisfire being sent to jail due to Spongebob's reckless driving]]. A guilt ridden Spongebob elists 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.

* WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily: 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.

* 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 TonkaTough.) 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': 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 one the sequels to ''Series/DoctorInTheHouse'', a character tries to deliberately fail his final medical exam. (If he passes, he will be obligated to marry a woman he no longer loves.) He attempts to deliberately fail the written exam but, never having failed a test in his life, finds he is unable to deliberately write down wrong answers. He gets drunk before his final oral exam and refuses to answer one of the questions. The examiner then realises that he has been using that diagnostic example too much and thanks the student for drawing it to his attention. At this point, he might still have passed if he had not then thrown up on the examiner.

* This is essentially the plot of the short story "The Misguided Halo", in which someone gets a, well, halo due to a celestial bureaucratic mixup. 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.

* In the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' drama ''Doing Time'' (part of ''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.

* What started off ''LightNovel/HentaiOujiToWarawanaiNeko''. 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).

* An amusing thread on one of the ImageBoards talked about a GM doing this to wangsty [[AntiHero anti-heroes]] that were getting on his nerves.

* Not a mystical or lookalike version, but often in ''Baby WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' 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.
* Happened on the FreakyFridayFlip episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron''. Jimmy and Cindy failed each other's tests and then tried to damage each other's reputations.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', a new vigilante named "Rumor" starts catching and imprisoning all of Gotham's supervillains. To avoid him, The Penguin tries to get Batman arrest him, only for Batman and Robin to ignore him as he pretends to steal a priceless painting.

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.

* 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 the former 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 the 1970 film ''Some Will, Some Won't'', Captain Russell has to spend 28 days in jail in order to inherit 150,000 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. He eventually abandons the whole idea and throws away the brick he was holding, only for it to smash a store window; resulting in his arrest.