History ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight / LiveActionTv

* Downplayed in the ''Series/FullHouse'' episode "Shape Up"--no laws or rules are broken, but Stephanie breaks her promise to not tell anyone about DJ's ''extremely'' dangerous diet when she sees DJ collapse in the middle of a work out.

* ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': Serena forges Fred's name on a transfer order to allow a Martha (who was once one of the world's top neonatologists) in the hospital for treatment of baby Angela, after he refused. Fred [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished whips her with his belt after he finds out what she did]].

'''Lt. Caitlin Pike''': ''To him a suggestion is as good as an order.''\\

** The BodyOfTheWeek on one episode was a [[AssholeVictim Serbian war criminal]] who was spotted by two of his former victims, who murdered him. [[spoiler:Benson and Stabler arrange things so that the killers get away with a light prison term. The boss chews them out; Benson explains it as "I think we did the only thing that's going to allow me to sleep tonight."]]

** Benson and Amaro listen to a woman's heartbreaking, near-death confession that she killed her husband's stalker mistress who had been tormenting the family during the woman's final dying days. The detectives, however, later realize she couldn't have been the killer because her illness would have made her too weak to commit the crime. When they then realize [[spoiler:the killer is the woman's young teenage daughter who has been through the TraumaCongaLine of watching her mother slowly and painfully die of brain cancer, her father act like a cheating douchebag and her father's mistress publicly humiliate the family... Benson and Amaro quietly agree to accept the mother's confession and close the case]].

*** The final scene of the same episode reveals that [[spoiler:she was involved in setting up said client's murder. When she's questioned about it, she tells detectives that she had always hoped the law would catch up with him, but when she realized it wouldn't, she figured out another way to stop him.]]

** In one episode, the doctors have been ordered not to give patients with hemorrhagic fever IV saline (because the saline itself can interact negatively with the disease), but they have a patient with the disease whose condition is deteriorating rapidly. Hawkeye and BJ have the thought that a lower-concentration saline might give them some of the benefits while minimizing the risks, but it goes against the "no saline" order. If they do it and the patient dies, they could be held legally responsible for his death, but if they don't do it, they have no chance of saving the patient, and the other patients they have in earlier stages of the disease will likely meet the same fate. It takes Potter about thirty seconds to tell the doctors to do it anyway. [[spoiler:Fortunately, it works, and the patient recovers.]]

** In the Ori arc, three ascended ancients are shown to do this to help humanity. [[spoiler:One loses his memory and mind, one dies, and one decides to SealedEvilInADuel]].

** Subversion: Another episode finds Data in temporary command of another starship as part of a scratch fleet seeking evidence that the Romulans are violating the Neutral Zone, and goes against Captain Picard's orders in order to achieve the mission objective. When subsequently debriefed, he offers his apologies, whereupon Captain Picard points out that a Starfleet captain is not only authorised but ''expected'' to countermand orders if they have reason to believe the safety of their ship demands it, though presumably they would need a ''very'' compelling explanation when they got back to port, which Data had in spades. (Actually TruthInTelevision for many navies.)

* ''Series/UntoldStoriesOfTheER'': Several hospital personnel haven been shown clashing with a supervising nurse trying to enforce hospital rules. One notable incident concerned a car crash which involved a widow and her late husband's dog, one of the few reminders the widow had of her military husband who was killed on active duty overseas. The ER staff put the widow's needs ahead of the hospital's rules, saving the dog's life while they wait for the local veterinarian to pick up the dog.

* ''Series/UntoldStoriesOfTheER'': Several hospital personnel haven been shown clashing with the supervising nurse trying to enforce hospital rules. One notable incident concerned a car crash which involved a widow and her late husband's dog, one of the few reminders the widow had of her military husband who was killed on active duty overseas. The ER staff put the widow's needs ahead of the hospital's rules, saving the dog's life while they wait for the local veterinarian to pick up the dog.

* ''Series/UntoldStoriesOfTheER'': Several hospital personnel haven been shown clashing with the supervising nurse trying to enforce hospital rules. One notable incident concerned a car crash which involved a widow and her late husband's dog, one of the few reminders the widow had of her military husband who was killed on active duty overseas. The ER staff put the widow's needs ahead of the hospital's rules.

-->'''Prentiss''': Screw protocol, Reid's in trouble!

-->'''Hotch''': I don't care about protocol, I don't care whether we're working this officially. We don't touch any new cases until we find out who did this.

** Benton is a positive example and pretty much embodies the trope in the classic series -- seen most prominently in the episode "Invasion Of The Dinosaurs".

-->'''Mrs. Burgess:''' My husband makes a distinction between legality and morality.
-->'''Mal Reynolds:''' You know, I've said that myself, on occasion.

-->'''[[spoiler:Gendry]]''': Why are you doing this?
-->'''Davos''': Because it's right.

-->'''Lt. Caitlin Pike''': ''Major Aspinal ordered us to start an investigation!''
-->'''Lt. Harmon Rabb''': ''He suggested, Kate. I don't have to follow suggestions.''
-->'''Lt. Caitlin Pike''': ''To him a suggestion is as good as an order.''
-->'''Lt. Harmon Rabb''': ''Damn it! Thay have my partner! I'm sorry Kate, but if that was you out there, would you want me to start an investigation or come after you?''

-->'''Detective Maggie Sawyer:''' ''*referring to a diplomat's son who Clark and Lois have caught committing murder as well as trafficking crimes* As a consular guest in our country, I'm afraid Mr. Lyons can't be convicted of any crime he commits on our soil. Not even murder. I'm sorry, I can't touch him.''
-->'''Lois:''' ''Well I can. *[[{{GroinAttack}} kicks him in the groin]]* (later on, Clark and friends happily find a legal loophole that allows them to bring him to justice)''

** Averted in "Wolf In the Fold", when Kirk explicitly refuses the suggestion that he help Scotty escape the planet on which he had been charged with murder. While he does his best to, and eventually does, get Scotty cleared of murder, Kirk says that he'll allow Scotty to be jailed and executed if he's found guilty even if Kirk believes him innocent. Why? Because the planet is a strategically vital port, and [[{{Realpolitik}} helping Scotty escape its justice would sour them against the Federation]].

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "Thirty Days", Tom Paris screws the [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]] to try to save an [[SingleBiomePlanet ocean planet]] that was slowly being destroyed by an oxygen mining operation. He gets a demotion and thirty days in the brig for his effort. And he didn't even save the planet.

** This is arguably a major theme of the entire series--Sam and Dean's entire ''job'' entails a considerable about of criminal behavior, but it's all in the service of saving the world.
* In the TV adaption of ''Literature/TheSaddleClub'', Lisa, Carole and Stevie decide to kidnap Prancer in the middle of the night because she was being abused by David McCloud and from going to the slaughter house. The [[Irony]]? In the books themselves, David McCloud is a kind man who helps run the local animal shelter.

** In "Vortex", Odo is desperately asked by a criminal - one whose crime he had personally witnessed, and whom he was ordered to escort to his homeworld with a runabout - called Croden to save his daughter from certain execution at the hands of his homeworld's draconian regime, and take care of her (arguing that Odo and the daughter were both outsiders in an alien culture, and would need each other). This was after Croden [[WhatYouAreInTheDark had an opportunity to leave Odo for dead]] and escape with his daughter on the runabout, but saved Odo instead, knowing the changeling would have to deliver him to his execution, which he didn't mind as long as his daughter was safe. An opportunity to save the daughter - by falsely identifying her as a survivor of a spaceship "accident" when a Vulkan science vessel shows up - presents itself shortly after, and to Croden's surprise, Odo reports two survivors, allowing Croden to disappear into the Federation along with his daughter while Odo reports him as dead to the authorities of his homeworld.

** In one episode, the doctors have been ordered not to give patients with hemorrhagic fever IV saline (because the saline itself can interact negatively with the disease), but they have a patient with the disease whose condition is deteriorating rapidly. Hawkeye and BJ have the thought that a lower-concentration saline might give them some of the benefits while minimizing the risks, but it goes against the "no saline" order. If they do it and the patient dies, they could be held legally responsible for his death, but if they don't do it, they have no chance of saving the patient, and they

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Lead character Patrick Jane, the mentalist, is pretty much made of this. Over time, he often persuades members of his team to go along with it as well.

** Oma Desala.

** Delenn breaking the Grey Council with a [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen royal]] display of [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Awesomeness]].

** SubvertedTrope as of new season six, where [[spoiler:it's demonstrated that fixed points of time and space [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome are not always precisely as they appear]].]]

* ''Series/{{Titus}}'': The final episode sees Amy confronted by the man who sexually assaulted her when she was younger. After finding out who he is, Titus and company have the molester cornered in a school bathroom, ready to wail on him with a baseball bat. The school principal, who up until this point has been nothing but an ObstructiveBureaucrat, says he has to call school security, but tells Titus to "[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome call me when I'm done]]."

* Downplayed in the ''Series/FullHouse'' episode "Shape Up"--now laws or rules are broken, but Stephanie breaks her promise to not tell anyone about DJ's ''extremely'' dangerous diet when she sees DJ collapse in the middle of a work out.

** Judge Byrne tries this in "World's Greatest Judge" when he tries everything he can to stop a man from being sentenced to the Mandatory Minimum of ten years for drug possession, [[spoiler: but it doesn't work out]].

* In the series ''Gone'', the main characters are part of a task force investigating abduction cases, but there are several occasions where they decide that the abductions were justified- for example, a young girl was abducted from an orphanage because she was unlikely to be adopted conventionally as she had suffered the loss of 80% of her vision in an illness and her 'parents' couldn't legally adopt due to her new father's criminal record, or a man seemingly abducted women to help them escape their abusive husbands- and decide to let matters stand, or at least testify in favour of the current situation.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Justified constantly. The agents' superiors are constantly them to back off, but the world needs a lot of saving that nobody else will do anything about, so...

*** Interestingly, he ''does'' manage to save Clara without a RealityBreakingParadox resulting in the end. He and Clara both still come to see him as having gone too far and risked too much in order to do so, though.

*** In defiance of what normally happens with this trope, when Sheridan says that anyone who disagrees with him is free to leave, one guy in the background takes off his headset and walks out the door. WordOfGod is that was because [[JMichaelStraczynski JMS]] always thought it was unrealistic that no one would object when a commanding officer defies orders.