History Main / ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere

A case of TruthInTelevision: the forsaken item/activity isn't any more common, but the person who gave it up is [[ForbiddenFruit more prone to notice its absence]] ''and'' to be tempted by the DeliciousDistraction when it presents itself, and in the case of substance abuse, friends and acquaintances of the people in recovery may offer them said drugs to discourage them from kicking the habit, as addicts feel better with themselves when they are around other people with the same addiction.[[note]]If you're trying to quit on a vice, whatever it is, a real friend would never encourage you to keep on it, and if you think you have problems with a certain addiction, always look for professional help.[[/note]]

* In the ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' episode "Diet Doc", Fat Doc takes a drive through town and tries not to let some nearby fast food restaurants tempt him into ruining his new diet. Lamput, who is in the car with him, abuses this to his advantage by morphing into a chicken drumstick, which is just enough to make Fat Doc go to one of the restaurants to gorge down on some fried chicken anyway.

** ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12207749/1/Burning-Secret Burning Secret]]'', Lincoln accidentally starts a fire at school, then goes home and tries to take his mind off it but can't. He goes online only to find news of the fire and threats to the "arsonist", so he goes to a gaming website only to find games about fire and one about prison. He then logs off and tries to read comics, but finds two about fire and one that's a whodunit.

--> ''Look at me still talking when there's science to do...''

--> "TWO CHICKS WANT TO DO ME AT THE SAME TIME MUST FLEE!"

---> '''Surrender to Duff'''

* ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'': In "[=BroKen!=]", Cody becomes depressed after he accidentally breaks his [[Franchise/{{Barbie}} Ken]] doll in half. Junior tries to get Cody's mind off it by having him watch television, [[YourTelevisionHatesYou only to find it tuned to a show called]] ''[[YourTelevisionHatesYou Cutting Stuff in Half]]''. Later, Junior offers Cody a piece of his Kit Kat bar, only for it to get broken in half. Chef Pee Pee then serves Cody a sandwich that he cut in half. After lunch, Junior takes Cody to his playroom and has him spell something on the board, only to find the letter magnets are arranged to say "IN HALF". After that, Junior lets Cody play with his Etch-a-Sketch, only to find it has "IN HALF" written on it.

** In "Five Minute Warning", Jon bets Garfield that he can't go without eating for five minutes. Garfield being Garfield, he's wondering if the five minutes is up within seconds. He leaves the house, but everywhere he goes, he's offered food: a pair of picnickers who brought too much food; the Buddy Bears, who give him "a light snack" as a token of friendship, which he nearly ''does'' eat; even restaurant owners, who normally fear his approach lest they be eaten out of business. In the end, he is almost mistaken for having eaten, and indeed, very nearly bites down on a banana when the time runs out.

* ''Series/DonkeyHodie'': In the episode "The Fastest Fetcher", Bob Dog gives up fetching after losing one of Game Show Gator's game shows. When Donkey suggests different activities that he can be good at, he keeps seeing things that remind him of the balls he loves fetching. For instance, he tries to fetch the bowling ball and worries about a ball of yarn that's being used for knitting.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
** When Cookie Monster has to stop himself from eating Big Bird's birthday cake in the special "Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake", he eats literally everything but the cake.
** When the Count has a disease that causes {{Fainting}} whenever he counts, even in his head, he keeps finding things he wanted to count.
** In one episode, Big Bird gets "C is for Cookie" [[EarWorm stuck in his head]]. Unfortunately, there are people singing the alphabet with the letter "C", and an opera that plays the song.
** In one episode, Elmo and Abby try to get their minds off waiting for their tricycles to be fixed. However, they see everyone riding tricycles.

* ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'': The episode "[[Recap/DoraTheExplorerS6E20SwipersFavoriteThings Swiper's Favorite Things]]" shows just how difficult it is for Swiper to resist swiping ''anything'' regardless of its importance to Dora's quests. When he is made by Dora to promise not to do so while she and Boots help him get his lost possessions back for a sleepover at his grandmother's house, his instincts inevitably kick in when he sees Dora's friends missing possessions of their own. Fortunately, Dora and Boots are able to remind him of his promise each time, prompting him to instead return the missing possessions to Dora's friends.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': There's the episode where Dexter's Mom bakes some muffins and Dexter and Dee-Dee have to prevent Dad from eating them (apparently, he's a "muffomaniac" that only married her because of her muffins). Dad starts to hallucinate that's he's in a land of muffins and is crowned king. All in all, it was a very bizarre episode.

* Classic ''WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}'' shorts:
** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmjjHkxTItE "No Smoking,"]] Goofy tries to give up smoking but sees tobacco products everywhere, and people tempt him and offer him cigarettes until he actually wants one.
** In "Tomorrow we Diet", a rather plump Goofy decides to go on a diet. Naturally, he starts to go through a neon hell of restaurant signs (and even freaks out while sitting in a chair with a fruit pattern on the upholstery seeing several more food-related objects around the room).

** It's most memorably used in "WesternAnimation/BirdsAnonymous". After Sylvester gets back from the titular meeting, the first thing he sees is [[YourTelevisionHatesYou a cooking show talking about how to prepare a turkey]]. He then [[MockingMusic hears songs from the radio that relate to birds]]. After struggling to sleep, he finally loses it and attempts to eat Tweety once more before failing. He breaks down crying, but eventually succeeds due to his sponsor now wanting to eat the bird.
** "The Last Hungry Cat" has Sylvester go through similar situations like in the cartoon above, although it's mostly revolved around him thinking that he ate Tweety. He doesn't... while being tormented by an off-screen narrator. One of the things that he goes through is reading a book to keep him busy before realizing that it mostly contains birds.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows", Pinkie Pie is told that Shining Armour and Princess Cadence are expecting a baby, but not to tell anyone since they want it to be a surprise. First, Twilight decorates a bedroom with things from Shining Armour's childhood and she and others inadvertently make Pinkie Pie [[KeepingSecretsSucks want to tell the secret]] by mentioning surprises and saying that Shining Armour used to carry a toy around "like his baby". Then, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo ask Pinkie if she's heard any gossip recently, and immediately after that Fluttershy mentions baby carrots. Later, Pinkie Pie is asked to make balloon animals and Featherweight asks for a baby pony but hopes it's not a "royal pain", Mayor Mare says that Pinkie Pie is good at keeping secrets, and finally a pony comes up selling cribs with the slogan "treat your foal like royalty".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'' has one episode where K'nuckles eats too much candy and suffers from "Candy Rot" where he chows down on any candy he can find. It gets so bad, that the Doctor Barber recommends a rather painful surgery to cure him but agrees to let Flapjack try to help the captain quit cold turkey as an alternative. Also, when K'nuckles wanted to stop hearing stories with happy endings, everybody was telling stories with various different kinds of happy endings.

-->'''Buzzcut:''' We're gonna be talking about the PENIS! ''[Beavis & Butt-head laugh]'' We're gonna be talking about the VAGINA! ''[Beavis and Butt-Head laugh]'' Do you think that's funny Butt-Head? ''[Butt-Head laugh]'' Do you find it amusing we're gonna be talking about the TESTICLES! ''[Butt-Head covers his mouth laughing]'' We're also gonna be talking about venereal disease! ''[Butt-Head laugh]'' Sexual intercourse! The SCROTUM! THE CLITORIS! And... ''[Buzzcut removes Butt-Head's hand from his mouth, tears are coming out of his eyes]'' we're also definitely gonna be spending a lot of time... talking about MASTURBATION!

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** A few shorts feature {{WesternAnimation/Sylvester|TheCatAndTweetyBird}} going through this while trying to give up eating Tweety, most memorably in "WesternAnimation/BirdsAnonymous". After he gets back from the BA meeting, the first thing he sees is [[YourTelevisionHatesYou a cooking show talking about how to prepare a turkey]]. He then [[MockingMusic hears songs from the radio that relate to birds]]. After struggling to sleep, he finally loses it and attempts to eat Tweety once more before failing. He breaks down crying, but eventually succeeds due to his sponsor now wanting to eat the bird.
** Another short "The Last Hungry Cat" has Sylvester go through similar situations like the cartoon above, although it's mostly revolved around thinking that he ate Tweety. He doesn't. One of the things that he goes through is reading a book to keep him busy before realizing that the it mostly contains birds.
--->'''Sylvester:''' Once upon a time, there were three birds. A mama bird, a papa bird, and a... cute, little, blue-eyed... [[OhCrap baby bird]]. ''(He then frantically throws the book before running off)''
** In another Sylvester and Tweety cartoon, after various failed attempts to catch Tweety, Sylvester decides to swear off birds. Right after that happens, a flock of birds perches themselves on Sylvester's shoulders.

-->'''Linda:''' I tried to warn you, honey.

** A few shorts feature {{WesternAnimation/Sylvester|TheCatAndTweetyBird}} going through this while trying to give up eating Tweety, most memorably in "WesternAnimation/BirdsAnonymous". After he gets back from the BA meeting, the first thing he sees is [[YourTelevisionHatesYou a cooking show talking about how to prepare a turkey]]. He then hears songs from the radio that relate to birds. After struggling to sleep, he loses it and attempts to eat Tweety. He breaks down crying, but eventually succeeds in giving up due to his sponsor now wanting to eat Tweety.

** In Crime After Crime", Mr. Herriman's carrot addiction leads to him punishing every friend in the house except Bloo so no one will suspect it, and when he ends up getting arrested for stealing diamonds (as he had earlier reported a theft of 100 carrots to the police, [[FunWithHomophones which they had mistaken for karats]]), he decides to quit carrots cold turkey. When Wilt gets himself arrested for standing on a rug (as Herriman had earlier punished Clumsy and Sam Burger for doing the same), he is put in the same cell as Herriman. The two are then served supper, and Herriman finds out from Wilt that they're having carrots for supper.

* ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'': The short "Donald's Dinner Date" has Daisy getting fed up with Donald's anger issues, and betting that he couldn't go through their date without flying into a rage. Goofy ends up being their waiter. You can see where this is going...[[spoiler:but it's a subversion. Daisy's the one who gets mad. Donald remains perfectly fine during the date. That is, [[DoubleSubversion until he gets the bill]].]]
* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', as part of a SpringtimeForHitler, Beezy can't eat for a minute. Jimmy tells him it's a piece of cake, to which he responds "Cake?" Jimmy quickly amends his statement, saying it's easy as pie, to which he responds "Pie?" Finally, Jimmy tells him he's tough as nails...[[ExtremeOmnivore to which he responds "Nails?"]]

** A few shorts feature {{WesternAnimation/Sylvester|TheCatAndTweetyBird}} going through this while trying to give up eating Tweety, most memorably in "WesternAnimation/BirdsAnonymous". For bonus points, the first thing he sees after he gets back from the BA meeting is [[YourTelevisionHatesYou a cooking show talking about how to prepare a turkey]].
** In another Sylvester and Tweety cartoon, after various failed attempts to catch Tweety, Sylvester decides to swear off birds. Right after that happens, a flock of birds perches themselves on Sylvester's shoulders. Sylvester merely mutters, "Sufferin' succotash! I picked a fine time to go on a diet!"

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', Mike has Og make hot dogs for everyone, but Og goes nuts from the sloppiness of the food and soon refuses to make any more. This causes Mike to see everyone and everything around her as hot dogs.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'' had one ep where K'nuckles eats too much candy and suffers from "Candy Rot" where he chows down on any candy he can find. It gets so bad, that the Doctor Barber recommends a rather painful surgery to cure him but agrees to let Flapjack try to help the captain quit cold turkey as an alternative. Also, when K'nuckles wanted to stop hearing stories with happy endings, everybody was telling stories with various different kinds of happy endings.
* On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'', Orel was grounded from church for a month. He started seeing churches everywhere, thought everyone was saying the word "church", had very weird dreams and even dressed like a church.

--->'''Nina''': "So much water. And no bathrooms anywhere."

--->'''Nina''': "Toilets, toilets and more toilets and I can't use any of them!"

-->'''Linda''': "I tried to warn you, honey."

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'', Freddy accepts a bet from the other characters that he can't go one whole case without accusing RedHerring (that's the character's actual name) of anything (it was a long standing RunningGag that Freddy ''always'' accuses Red Herring of being the VillainOfTheWeek, even in episodes that he isn't even ''in''). So the person who gives them the next case is Red Herring's aunt, and the characters constantly meet with Red Herring. [[spoiler:And it turns out Red Herring ''really did'' commit the crime that time, albeit for a good cause. Freddy does ''not'' take it well when he's unmasked.]]

---> '''Homer''': Hmm, now which will be my one doughnut of the day * eats one* no * eats another* not that one (You can see where this is going).

--->'''Kent Brockman:''' Tonight, "Eye On Springfield" takes a look at the secret affairs of [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy]], [[UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower Eisenhower]], [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush Bush]], and [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton Clinton]]. Did fooling around on their wives make them great? We'll find out next when we play "Hail to the Cheat."
--->''(Homer changes channels to a nature documentary)''
--->'''Narrator:''' The Burmese Melon Fly has over a thousand sex partners, and suffers virtually no guilt-
--->''(Homer changes channels to a bunch of scantily clad women working out on weight machines)''
--->'''Woman:''' Just do it! ''(Homer screams and then runs away)'' Examine your scalp for ringworm.

** "Karate Choppers" has [=SpongeBob=] and Sandy try to give up their obsession with karate by going for a picnic in the park. However, they can't stop thinking about karate, first when they mishear a man casting a fishing rod as a karate chop, then when [=SpongeBob=] starts slicing meat for their sandwiches...using a karate chop. Eventually, they start karate-chopping up as much as they can for the sandwiches, and eventually chop up most of the park as well.

* One ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'' episode has Taz trying not to eat a sea bird that his mother cooking for dinner. Taz turns to TV to keep his mind off - only to find that ''every'' channel is showing something that's somehow connected to sea birds.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' has Sergeant Hatred, a recovering pedophile who takes medication to control his urges, running out of his supply on the same day that he attends a screening of the children's fantasy film ''Realm of the Rings'' with Hank and Dean. Naturally, the entire theater is filled with young boys, and the film itself features a race of beautiful immortal elves who [[ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty stop aging when they turn thirteen.]] Fortunately, he manages to lock himself in a panic room.

--> '''Random Man Walking By''': "I'm tellin' ya, water just kept coming and coming, so much rushing water!"
--> '''Boy''': "A,B,C,D,E,F,G. H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P. Hmm..."P", what's after "P"? P, P...."

* ''Series/AllInTheFamily'': Archie & Mike ("Meathead") have a bet as to who can hold out longer: Archie without a cigar or Mike without food. Archie starts to tempt Mike by eating in front of him; Mike counters by smoking cigars in front of Archie. They finally decide to end in a draw, with Mike eating and Archie lighting up on the count of three. On "3" Mike puts food in his mouth but Archie draws the match away from his cigar, with a "Ha!"

** When Cookie Monster had to stop himself from eating Big Bird's birthday cake, he ate literally everything but the cake.
** When the Count had a disease that caused {{Fainting}} whenever he counted, even in his head, he kept finding things he wanted to count.

* An episode of ''Series/TwoPointFourChildren'' featured Ben agreeing to give up a videogame called ''Ninja Badger''. At the end of the episode, for perfectly logical reasons, a man dressed as a badger comes to the door and he breaks down.

[[folder:Web Comics ]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Bobwhite}}''. Cleo is infatuated with Ben and doesn't know whether or not to act on it. She starts seeing Ben everywhere... [[http://www.bobwhitecomics.com/?webcomic_post=20090403 because his picture is on all the college's promotional material.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{El Goonish Shive}}'', Tedd has been obsessing over [[DoingInTheWizard finding the scientific basis of magic]] so much that [[https://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-08-01 he spends all day talking]] {{Technobabble}} [[IgnoreTheFanservice and ignoring Grace's advances]]. So she forces him on a double date. Too bad [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2011-08-25 they're playing the soundtrack to]] ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' in the car.

* Jacob from ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' is a recovering sex addict...and unwilling ChickMagnet. During the "Ultra Car meets her creator" arc, Jacob stumbles into an eccentric millionaire's HotLibrarian collection and has to fend off their advances. The arc after that, he ends up being propositioned for a threesome by two beautiful women without saying a word himself. [[spoiler: And after all that, he ends up sleeping with Amber's mom, causing him to briefly retreat into his apartment out of shame.]]

[[folder:Western Animation ]]

** In one episode the young aardvark decides he doesn't wish to take any more piano lessons. Naturally, the TV that day features nothing but programs about playing the piano.

** In "Show Off" Pal is trying to stay fit so he can enter a dog show. But he spills his bag of dog food, DW offers him bacon, and Buster shows up at the door with roast beef.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'' episode "Caillou is Getting Older", Caillou and his dad find a bird who died of old age. Caillou then fears his own mortality, but keeps seeing and hearing things related to age. First his dad says he's getting old because he needs glasses, then his mum says that Rosie's growing up because she can eat on her own, then Sarah has a birthday, and finally his parents tell him he's growing up at bedtime, causing him to yell at them due to AngerBornOfWorry.
* When Monty of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' tries to give up cheese due to the trouble his cheese attacks cause, it becomes more a case of Cold Turkeys Are The Focus Of The Investigation, as a pseudo-mob-boss of a rat has rerouted cheese supply in order to increase demand and get rich off of desperate rodentia. In the end, his addiction alternately saves him and very nearly keeps him from rescuing fellow Ranger Gadget from a DeathTrap.

* One episode of ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK'' featured an EccentricMillionaire who challenged Dennis' town not to watch the telly for a whole month and promised to give the town one million if they win. At the last day, Dennis and his friends convinced him to watch TV (which he claimed he never did before during his whole life). The millionaire decided to give the money anyway.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''. There's the episode where Dexter's Mom bakes some muffins and Dexter and Dee-Dee have to preventDad from eating them (apparently, he's a "muffomaniac" that only married her because of her muffins). Dad starts to hallucinate that's he's in a land of muffins and is crowned king. All in all, it was a very bizarre episode.
* Used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''. The Ed's, Kevin, Rolf, and Johnny all make a cold turkey bet, each ponying up 25 cents as the bet. Ed can't have gravy, Double D can't use any big words, Eddy can't be loud, Rolf must give up meat, Johnny can't talk to Plank, and Kevin (the first to lose) can't call the Eds dorks. After Eddy spends most of the episode {{Invok|edTrope}}ing the trope towards everyone else, the eventual winner is [[spoiler:Ed. After falling into a barrel of gravy, Eddy LOUDLY declares his victory... until he finds out Ed fell into a barrel of butterscotch pudding, which he's allergic to. Ed gets the money and spends it on gravy]].

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends:''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends''

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold''

* The ''[[WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse Mickey MouseWorks]]'' short "Donald's Dinner Date" had Daisy getting fed up with Donald's anger issues, and betting that he couldn't go through their date without flying into a rage. Goofy ends up being their waiter. You can see where this is going...[[spoiler: but it's a subversion. Daisy's the one who gets mad. Donald remains perfectly fine during the date. That is, [[DoubleSubversion until he gets the bill]].]]

** A few shorts featured Sylvester going through this while trying to give up eating Tweety, most memorably in "Birds Anonymous". For bonus points, the first thing he sees after he gets back from the BA meeting is [[YourTelevisionHatesYou a cooking show talking about how to prepare a turkey]].

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty'', where Sakurai Tomoki is a major pervert, with exceptional love for panties, and he got a hold of a HUGE amount of panties after a certain event. It made his ChildhoodFriend mad, and... It didn't end pretty. It appears she turned the panties to BOMBS that explode each time he looks at them. He had to try and resist looking at his adored panties until he's out of his home... They were quite literally everywhere. In the end, he gave up and embraced EVERYTHING. He lost his house as a result. Seriously, the sheer hilarity of that cannot be described.
* Richard Braun from ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' has this trouble with drinking.

* Happened twice in ''Manga/SquidGirl''. First in season 1, when Sanae tries to quit her [[PerverseSexualLust obsession]] with Ika -- quickly descending into full-on [[MeatOVision Squid-O-Vision]] as everything suddenly looks like Ika... including a scene straight out of ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' as tiny Chibi-Ikas dance around her at night. Later in season 2, Ika tries to get over her obsession with [[TrademarkFavoriteFood shrimps]] and ends up with a classic case of this -- including a whole heap of "today only" offers at the supermarket. Then, somewhat atypically, when she GIVES UP, she gets an INVERSE case -- now, suddenly, it's impossible to find shrimps ANYWHERE...

* In episode 46 of ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', Big M. and Little M. are hungry but don't have any food to eat. Little M. suggests that if they don't think about food, their hunger will go away, and the two try to find something to watch on TV to get their minds off the matter. Every show they see on the TV is related to food in some way.

* In the 2011 ''WesternAnimation/{{Winnie the Pooh|2011}}'' film, Pooh runs out of honey and every attempt to get more gets pulled away from him in coincidentally different ways all through the day. In the middle of the film, he gets so hungry that his friends (and the Narrator) [[{{Smurfing}} start substituting every word with "honey"]], and he starts seeing things around him transformed into honey pots until it climaxes into a DisneyAcidSequence musical number.

* Played with mercilessly in ''Film/{{Airplane}}!'' - "Looks like I chose the wrong week to give up drinking/smoking/amphetamines/sniffin' glue..."

* In ''Film/ColdTurkey'' a smalltown agrees to give up smoking for a month to win $25mil from a tobacco company. The company tries to get weak-willed townsfolk to fold, and on the last day, they airdrop cigarettes from helicopters in an attempt to Break The Townies.

* Sir Galahad from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' has committed himself to celibacy … but then he winds up at Castle Anthrax, which turns out to be full of [[AllWomenAreLustful sex-starved babes]]. He's about to give in when Sir Lancelot [[NailedToTheWagon nails him back to the wagon]] in an UnwantedRescue.

* A "wanting something you know you can't have" example is in ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'': Charlie Bucket loves chocolate more than anything, but his family is so poor that he only gets one chocolate bar a year, on his birthday. This makes it painful for him to constantly walk by shop windows full of chocolate bars, and see other kids enjoying chocolate bars...and worst of all, to live near the world's largest chocolate factory.
* Ned Robbins in ''Literature/JellyBelly'' is on a strict diet and has to put up with his family chowing down on delicious, high-calorie foods while he's stuck eating nothing but lean, broiled meats and vegetables. Even when he becomes more serious about losing weight and eating healthier, staying away from junk food is still an effort in and of itself.

* In ''Literature/NightOfTheAssholes'', Barbara has suffered from a HairTriggerTemper that has caused much grief in her life and uses various calming methods - smoking, pills, a life-sized dammit-doll and her favorite smoothie - to keep her from acting out her aggression on other people. Barbara surviving an apocalypse where people are literally trying to provoke her and being low on cigarettes, pills and witnessing your little brother being painfully transformed into one of them makes it harder and harder to keep her from becoming an asshole too.
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' [[CelibateHero Daylen]] is endlessly frustrated by the attentions of the girls he saves from [[SexSlave slavery]], especially [[PromiscuityAfterRape Sharra]], as a bunch of vulnerable teenaged girls throwing themselves at him is [[{{Ephebophile}} practically his ultimate temptation]].
* From ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' we have the "relationship" between the Iron Isles, the Reach, the Riverlands, and the North. Before House Hoare took it upon themselves to try their hand at colonial expansion, conquering and ''ruling'' other lands was anathema to the [[RapePillageAndBurn Ironborn]] [[{{Pirate}} ethos]] (it technically still is). And, doing so wasn't at all popular at the time they ruled the Ironborn and their colonies, for all it has definitely gained the [[NostalgiaFilter rosy glow of nostalgia]] by the start of the series. The Ironborn just can't get over their lost holdings and have constantly tried to relive those GloryDays through repeated raids, rebellions and invasion attempts against the Seven Kingdoms since then. They usually don't work at all well (the reprisals often take decades to recover from), but they ''still'' keep trying every time they think they spot even a half-chance.
* Danny Wallace's ''Yes Man'' tells the story of what happened when he decided to say "Yes" to absolutely everything. Turns out that you give up a ''lot'' of freedom when you remove the ability to refuse an offer, and just like the trope, there are friends of his that either take advantage of this or outright plot to make him fail. [[spoiler:He fails when he refuses to sleep with someone because he was in love with another woman. However, unlike most British comedy stories, this one has a happy ending: he flies to Australia to be with the woman he loves, something that the friend who he made the bet with in the first place was going to make him do as a "forfeit"]].

[[folder:Live-Action TV ]]
* In ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' Archie & Mike ("Meathead") have a bet as to who can hold out longer: Archie without a cigar or Mike without food. Archie starts to tempt Mike by eating in front of him; Mike counters by smoking cigars in front of Archie. They finally decide to end in a draw, with Mike eating and Archie lighting up on the count of three. On "3" Mike puts food in his mouth but Archie draws the match away from his cigar, with a "Ha!"

* An episode of ''{{Series/Frasier}}'' in which Frasier and his boss, Kate, have resolved they can't have a relationship and declared that they are two adults who can resist their mutual attraction. At the same time, a romance author who lives in Frasier's building is moving out. When Frasier and Kate get in the service elevator, to avoid the press outside the main door, it stalls and the lights go out. Frasier lights some candles then knocks a double mattress propped against a wall, dropping it on the center of the floor. The heat forces them to take off their jackets. Then Frasier accidentally sets off a music box that plays romantic music, knocks over a bottle of musk oil trying to turn it off, and when Kate grabs a sheet to soak up the oil, it turns out to be covering a huge blow-up of a bodice-ripper cover. They resist, but only just.
** Deliberately invoked by Daphne in "Hungry Heart." Creator/JaneLeeves, who played Daphne, became pregnant during the run, and the producers' attempts to [[HideYourPregnancy conceal her baby bump]] failed when the naturally-svelte Leeves gained a good deal of weight. To compensate, the writers added a subplot involving Daphne stress-eating to deal with the frustrations in her life. When she vows to give up the junk food and lose weight, she sets this trope on ''herself'' by secretly hiding various sweets and desserts all around Frasier's apartment, allowing her to sneak snacks whenever she likes. Given that the main characters were psychiatrists, though, the show took the trope more seriously than others, noticing that Daphne's inability to stop was serious and prompting a trip to a spa to help her deal with the root of her problem (which in turn allowed Leeves time off to have her baby).

* In "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", a first season episode of ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', Detective Howard has just quit smoking (though we don't know it yet), and naturally, everyone around her is smoking, which eventually causes her to go ballistic. Detective Bayliss also tries to quit, and they eventually have to work together because their respective partners (Felton and Pembleton) refuse to quit.

** And then there's Hurley, who loses the perfect opportunity to get rid of some of that pork on the island when he runs into the Dharma junk food stash in the hatch. And then later ''more food'' literally drops from the sky.
* In the ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' episode "A Little off the Top" Al was accidentally circumcised and had to abstain from sex for a full month. For most of their marriage, Al had very little interest in sex with his wife. But now that it was {{forbidden|Fruit}}, she suddenly became some sort of irresistible sex goddess whose every casual action seemed to turn him on.

** One episode sees BigEater Sylvia go on a diet. As she sits in the kitchen with Fran, Val, and Yetta, the other women start gushing about the various sweets they're eating, like "double-chocolate brownies with cheesecake centers" and cannoli. Poor Sylvia does manage to hold out and even offers to put away a cake that none of the others are eating...only to fake-close the fridge door and rush upstairs with the dessert.
** In "Shopaholic," Fran discovers that her ex-fiancee Danny is getting married before her, and goes on an uncontrollable buying spree to deal with her feelings. After realizing she has a problem and going to "Shoppers' Anonymous," Maxwell tells everyone that they must avoid anything that might remind her of purchases and sales. Niles then enters with his dinner, and Max promptly tells him it's too much--"take half off." Later, just when it seems things will be OK, Val shows up to host a Tupperware party at the mansion.

* In an episode of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', Jerry, the office ButtMonkey, is mugged. When Jerry comes back to work, Leslie decides, to the annoyance of everyone else, that it's too soon to make fun of Jerry like normal. Cue Jerry doing a million snark-worthy things.
-->'''Tom''': You went on a vacation and you chose Muncie, Indiana?\\
'''Jerry''': My wife and I have a timeshare.\\
'''Tom''': In ''Muncie''?!\\
'''Leslie''': Tom, Muncie is a lovely city.

* The wife of Reba's ex-husband goes on a diet in one episode of ''Series/{{Reba}}''. The fact that she was tempted by a basket of potpourri enough to ask if it was real fruit or if it was "fresh" is proof of her struggle.
* A starving Lister in the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode ''Marooned'' suffers from this - Rimmer's library consists of the likes of Charles Lamb, Herman Wok, Francis Bacon and Eric Van Lustbader.

* In "I'm Hungry," a DietEpisode of ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'', Roseanne tries to get her mind off eating by joining the family for some TV. Unfortunately, every single channel she watches is advertising some kind of delicious food, like an overstuffed candy bar or flame-broiled cheeseburger restaurant.
* Happens to J.D. in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' after a break-up - he even points it out himself as he sits in a bar where a girl first offers to buy him a drink and then strikes a rather flexible pose to further entice him. To no avail though.
* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Contest", Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine hold a contest to see who can go without masturbation the longest. Each character in this episode encounters someone that really makes them want to lose the contest, whether it be Jerry and his virgin girlfriend or Elaine encountering JFK Jr. at the place she works out at.
* On ''Series/SesameStreet'':

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' Sam becomes addicted to drinking demon blood and tries to give it up. Well, they hunt demons and have a magical knife to kill them with. This happens about every other fight. In several episodes, demons know that their blood tempts him, and are all but [[AccidentalInnuendo forcing themselves down his throat.]]

* In ''Series/ThreesCompany'', Janet talks Chrissy and Jack into a bet that Chrissy could go longer without food than Jack could go without girls. What Jack didn't know (because he wouldn't let Janet tell him) was that one of his (many) old flames had just arrived in town, who Janet and Chrissy happily invite over to meet Jack. Chrissy doesn't have it any easier with her own fast — Jack keeps bringing home delicious food to tempt her and Janet keeps using food-related metaphors in their conversations.

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends:'' Eduardo has a family of imaginary fleas living in his fur, and he's trying not to scratch. But everywhere he looks, there are people using scratch-and-sniff cards, monkeys scratching themselves in an inappropriate manner, etc.

* In "The New ComicBook/LoisLane" (''Showcase'' #9), the infamously obsessed Lois gives up her obsession with unearthing Superman's secret identity on the advice of a fortune-telling card. This being UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, Superman has of course gotten himself into a situation where he ''needs'' Lois to discover his ID.[[note]]A rival newspaperman had begun to suspect Clark Kent was Superman, so Superman set up a second civilian ID as a novelty salesman and needed Lois' "discovery" to confirm it.[[/note]] HilarityEnsues as Superman deliberately drops hint after hint about his secret ID, only for Lois to force herself to destroy each one.

** Bart decides to quit the Junior Campers because they don't let you have a knife until you pass an exam and read a book on knife safety. Then he walks past Moe's Tavern, and Moe chases out a customer with a knife. Then the customer draws a massive SwordCane knife. Then Martin asks Bart to help him with the ribbon on his box of candies and says he'd be glad to share, at which Jimbo easily cuts off the ribbon with a knife and steals the box. Then he walks past Doctor Hibbert performing surgery with a pocket knife, successfully removing an about-to-burst appendix and saving a man's life. He then announces "Don't thank me, thank the knife!" as the crowd starts cheering.