History WhatAnIdiot / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': In "Phoenix Under Siege," a deadly assassin has [=MacGyver=] on the ropes. She is about to finish him off.\\
'''You'd expect:''' While Mac is sprawled on the ground, she walks one room back to retrieve the gun she lost earlier and just shoots him.\\
'''Instead:''' She waits until he gets up, and then decides to jump kick him (to death, I guess). He's standing in front of a plate glass window. Mac [[SelfDisposingVillain helps along]] the [[DisneyVillainDeath inevitable]] by leaning slightly to one side. And this after the assassin displays remarkable caution by, among other things, trying to take care of Mac herself instead of assuming the building-killing bomb will finish him. She doesn't even have the excuse of [[HonorBeforeReason fighting honorably]] for her idiocy.
* In the first season of ''Series/MadMen'', Pete Campbell happens upon a box containing proof that Don Draper is really [[spoiler:Dick Whitman, a soldier who was listed as KIA in the Korean War, and that he stole the identity of the real Don Draper, his former commanding officer who was killed and burned beyond recognition in an explosion]]. He then attempts to use this information to blackmail Don into giving him a promotion.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Pete to hang on to the box until he's got his promotion. Just the fact that he knows Don's real name and background should be proof enough that he has the ability to prove his accusations if need be.\\
'''Instead:''' He gives Don the box back, ''then'' tries to blackmail him. After initially freaking out and almost skipping town, Don comes to his senses and points out that Pete has no way of actually proving his claims. This leads to Pete fruitlessly trying to prove the details of Don's DarkSecret to Mr. Cooper, and without any way of actually substantiating his accusations, Pete naturally ends up coming across as a complete tool (and to add insult to injury, it turns out that Cooper wouldn't have fired Don even if Pete ''could'' prove his accusations).
* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''
** "Pilot"
*** Carolyn Miller is the school psychologist and also the head of the gifted program. She notices that Malcolm, a straight A student, has a lot of potential, and runs some tests on him. It turns out he has a genius level IQ and qualifies for her class. This excites her so much that she decides to talk with Malcolm's parents about it.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Carolyn would call ahead of time, or discuss it over the phone with Hal and Lois.\\
'''Instead''': She knocks on the door on a random Saturday, when Lois is doing laundry while topless. Meanwhile, the house is a mess. The boys also start fighting because Francis has called and they miss him.\\
'''The Result''': Carolyn gets flustered when Lois opens the door, without a shirt or a bra on, and out of the corner of her eye she sees the boys fighting. It takes her a while to explain why she came to the house.
*** After this, Carolyn manages to communicate that Malcolm is a genius and that he could do more in her gifted class. Malcolm doesn't have a high opinion of being "smart" or being a gifted Krelboyne because it makes one a walking target of the local bullies, like Dave Spath. Spath just covered his pants in red paint merely because the teacher praised Malcolm's abstract painting.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Either Carolyn or Lois would involve Malcolm in this discussion, and Hal if possible. Lois makes it clear she wants Malcolm to succeed because no one else in the family at this point will be a success. Also, the abrupt transition might make Malcolm's grades slip with the increased pressure and workload\\
'''Instead''': Lois breaks the news over dinner that Malcolm is getting transferred to Carolyn's gifted class, which will make him a Krelbyone, without having either consulted Malcolm or Hal. Hal bemusedly offers some remarks.\\
'''The Result''': Malcolm understandably loses his temper when he tries to explain to his mother that he'd have rather had the choice, because he doesn't want become a bigger target for Dave Spath. He runs off in tears when Hal refuses to defend his side, and Lois barely calms him down while he's tucking in for bed that night.
** "Red Dress"
*** It's Hal and Lois's anniversary night. Lois is excited about this new red dress she's going to wear to their celebratory dinner, at a restaurant that serves good lobster. At some point off-screen [[spoiler:Hal]] burns it by accident [[spoiler:while lighting cigars.]]\\
'''You'd Expect''': [[spoiler:Hal]] to have confessed to Lois what happened. Yes, she would have read him the riot act and it would have possibly ruined their dinner, but at least she would know who burned the dress and known it was an accident. Also then they could figure out a plan B.\\
'''Instead''': [[spoiler:Hal]] leaves the dress in the toilet, implying that he tried to flush it, and goes to the restaurant without telling anyone about it. Lois of course finds it right when she's getting ready, and she blames her sons, who have no alibi apart from wrapping a picture frame.\\
'''The Result''': Lois then tortures the boys for hours, tossing away their toys, making them spin around, and threatening to smash their TV, until one of them confesses. This takes up the whole night. [[spoiler:Hal deservedly gets stood up because]] Lois is busy and she forgets all about Hal at the restaurant, and he can't get through to the home line because the boys are calling their brother Francis for help. It's implied that he will get busted when he gets home and Lois has taken the boys out to dinner because Francis convinces her to let the affair go, since he then does the same to a couch cushion and this time the boys do have an alibi.
*** Meanwhile, there is Lois, and Francis. Lois is convinced the boys did the deed. Francis in the meantime has no context. His little brothers have called him for help because they don't know how to handle their mother in this rage.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He would ask the boys ''if'' they did the deed and start from there. Then he could figure out if they have an alibi, and if they didn't do it, then they should call [[spoiler:their]] dad because he was the only other person in the house.\\
'''Instead''': He says that if Lois thinks they're guilty, then they're all guilty together, and not to rat each other out or confess. Then he coaches them through the torture sessions, and only helps them out when Lois grabs the home phone and accuses him of "undermining my authority". It's only Francis pointing out that Lois is spending her anniversary obsessing over a dress that the boys are spared from further agony.
** "Home Alone 4":
*** Malcolm overhears that his parents may let Francis come home permanently from military school if Francis takes care of his brothers well for one weekend, while the parents attend a wedding. He happily tells Reese and Dewey, but they fear that contrarian Francis will refuse to behave because he hates authority, especially their mother's word.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Malcolm being the genius would word his phrasing; it's not that Francis ''has'' to be responsible and mature for two days. It's that it may be a good idea to stay civil and then go back to his partying ways once he's settled. Francis doesn't have to do anything, and it's his choice.\\
'''Instead''': He decides to keep Francis calm and bored by watching golf on TV.\\
'''The Result''': Francis calls some destructive friends over, who trash the house and get arrested. It's only then that Malcolm tells Francis what they overheard, and Francis rapidly agrees they need to get the house cleaned. In their subsequent quest to dirty it sufficiently, Malcolm then gets injured. It becomes AllForNothing when Lois and Hal decide to keep Francis at military school, but still.
** "Shame":
*** A tall seven-year old named Kevin has just transferred to Malcolm's school. He's also established as a bully, who mocks the twelve-year old Malcolm by repeating everything he says. Malcolm tends to respond by snarking back, though he's annoyed when Kevin cuts in front of him on school pizza day and takes the last two slices.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Kevin to have learned not to pick on someone who is older than him, and who is Reese's little sibling. It's later known that Reese's bullying keeps the school in balance, and Malcolm has grown up grappling with all three of his brothers.\\
'''Instead''': Kevin approaches Malcolm and starts mocking him about getting goulash instead of leaving him alone.\\
'''The Result''': Malcolm hits his RageBreakingPoint and pounds Kevin to a pulp, using the pizza as a weapon. No one defends Kevin from the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, and he ends up traumatized since it was also his birthday. It says something that no one watching the fight, not even the lunch ladies, breaks them up, and when Malcolm expects his parents to punish him for fighting at school, they let him off the hook. Lois and Hal all but admit the little rotter deserved it, especially when Kevin's fifteen-year old "father" (more likely his brother) taunts Hal while demanding an apology for Kevin. When Malcolm confesses to his mother that he can't shake off the guilt about having beaten up a seven-year old, she tells him [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre he's not a bad person]] because his conscience is always watching him and he knows right from wrong. It's implied that after this episode Kevin knocks it off, and Reese would have done much worse to him if Kevin had taunted Reese similarly.
* "Lois Vs. Evil": Malcolm of all people gets one. The boys have to go spend the afternoon at the store where Lois works until she finishes her shift. She gives clear instructions that they can't touch anything, and makes specific details. Malcolm notes that she forgot to mention a new suds machine. Reese then gets a look in his eye.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Malcolm would realize that all parts of the store is off-limits to their boy-time shenanigans. Put it off because their mother needs this job to support four kids and pay for Francis's school tuition.\\
'''Instead''': They head to the machine and make a mess.\\
'''The Result''': Lois punishes them by making them kneel against the wall with their heads behind their backs.\\
'''To Make Matters Worse''': Malcolm and Reese call Dewey a baby for not wanting to be in trouble; he ends up stealing an expensive item to prove them wrong, but hides in the house vents out of guilt. This leads to Lois losing her job when she makes Dewey confess to the manager on Dewey.
* "Rollerskates": Thanks to Reese tracking mud onto the floor while rollerblading, Lois throws out her back. It makes her immobile and grumpier than usual; she spends hours on the phone with Francis rambling about how bad her condition is.\\
'''You'd Expect''': She would take her painkillers as the doctor ordered. The whole point of taking meds is to get better, and she needs to be upright to do her job.A small amount makes it less likely that she will develop an addiction.\\
'''Instead''': Lois gets insulted when Hal tries to either ask her to take the painkillers or slip them into the meals that he prepares for her.\\
'''The Result''': Lois is immobile for several days, forcing Hal to be the solo parent for a while. Hal and a guilty Reese get so desperate that they teem up and spike her milk with some of her prescribed anesthetics. Only then does Lois wake up the next day, mad as hell about the deception but able to move.
** "Smunday":
*** The inciting incident of the episode is that the boys have been grounded for ages due to them giving away Dewey's bike to Francis's friends in exchange for seeing one of them eat dog food. It's revealed that this happened at the time that Francis was home, and Francis told a suspicious Lois because she bribed him that if he busted his brothers, then he could come home on summer vacation.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Francis would have stopped his brothers from doing something so pointless and wasteful in the first place. He was supposed to be watching over them.\\
'''Instead''': Francis merely orders his friends to honor the deal by eating the dog food first before giving them Dewey's bike.\\
'''The Result''': The boys get grounded, due to Francis busting them, and they find out when a flu-addled Lois reveals it to the trio. They get so mad that they bluff to Francis about hiding a letter of him doing a stupid prank in turn at military school, which nearly leads to Lois sending Francis to a labor farm.
** "Water Park":
*** The family goes to the water park without Dewey, who has an ear infection and has to stay at home. Malcolm swears revenge on Reese for bringing an embarrassing nose plug that Malcolm has to wear for medical reasons.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Malcolm would cover his tracks when pranking Reese, or wait until after they have a nice day at the water park to enact his revenge. It's rare that the family can go out after all and Malcolm wants to enjoy it. Engage in PragmaticVillainy if at all.\\
'''Instead''': He provokes Reese into an EscalatingPrankWar and reveals himself each time by declaring, "Now we're even!"\\
'''The Result''': Lois catches up to them after Malcolm pantses Reese and tells them both off for spending what's supposed to be a nice day being jerks to each other. The three end up in a scuffle down a slide, and the whole family is banned from the park for life come next episode.
*** In the same episode, Dewey is at home with a babysitter due to having an ear infection. They get along and start dancing together, only for the lady to collapse. An ambulance comes and takes her to the hospital.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The paramedics would check the emergency phone numbers to call Hal, Lois, or any nearby relatives. Or, if no one is available, get Dewey to child services.\\
'''Instead''': Dewey is left by the side of the road as the ambulance drives away.\\
'''The Result''': He chases a balloon and gets lost far from home. Fortunately, he makes it back home in time for his family to arrive and Lois scolds him for scaring off the babysitter, but it is AdultFear incarnate.
** "Grandparents":
*** Lois's parents come to visit. Despite their heckling and needling remarks, Lois and Hal need them to stay to watch the kids while they work double shifts to pay the bills on their new fridge. It's revealed that Lois's dad was a war veteran in their home country and still has a grenade.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He wouldn't show off such a weapon to Reese, whom Malcolm outright states is an idiot.\\
'''Instead''': He not only shows it to Reese, but they accidentally pull the key out. Malcolm tosses the grenade in the fridge and everyone has to leave the house before it blows.\\
'''Predictably''': When Lois and Hal come home and Reese tells them what happened, Lois understandably blows up that her parents endangered her children and damaged their new fridge beyond repair. Hal, in his best moment on the show, calmly asks for several thousand dollars in compensation for the fridge and nearly getting the boys killed. He points out that all he has to do is call the cops, and both of Lois's parents will be in jail forever for "child endangerment".
** "Evacuation":
*** Thanks to Hal accidentally leaving an old couch on a railroad track and it getting hit, with the impact derailing the train, the whole town has to evacuate to a shelter thanks to the resulting fumes. Lois has grounded Malcolm for arriving late because he was doing homework at the library and wasn't able to call due to the lack of payphones and not many kids in the 2000s having mobiles. She then tries to enforce the punishment at the shelter, telling him he's not to leave his cot when he talks with his friends. Malcolm in a sense of OnlySaneMan tells his mother they could die and this is not the time for SkewedPriorities.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Lois would read the room. She's had therapists come over before, and ostensibly social workers to investigate the boys' misdemeanors. They are in a public crowded place with military guards.\\
'''Instead''': She humiliates Malcolm for his sensible reasoning by putting him across her knee and miming spanking him so that his friends see. He's struggling and yelling at her.\\
'''Predictably''': SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and the other concerned neighbors tell the guards about the blatant child abuse. They escort Lois outside to where the rest of the family is for their episode's misdemeanors. She expresses further stupidity by arguing with the guard that she has the right to discipline her child, and he bluntly tells her she's being a troublemaker. The weather is cold, and when they try to beg Malcolm for blankets, he smugly reminds them he's abiding by Lois's punishment.
** "Garage Sale":
*** Lois feels Reese would be able to accomplish more if he had more confidence in himself so she puts him in charge of the garage sale to fix the wall destroyed in the previous episode.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Her to tell Malcolm about her plan ahead of time and ask Malcolm to keep careful supervision on Reese so he doesn't mess up, and also make sure herself Reese listens to Malcolm. Or maybe just wait till after the garage sale and put him in charge of something lower scale like preparing dinner for the family, which he could very much achieve with his cooking talent.\\
'''Instead''': She gives Reese 100% control of the garage sale and berating anyone especially Malcolm for questioning Reese's obviously bad idea such as selling a piggy bank for 2 dollars without emptying the 16 dollars inside. She only realizes her mistake after Reese intentionally breaks a computer Malcolm was gonna sell for $1300.
** "Malcolm Defends Reese":
*** Mr. Herkabe was apparently able to graduate high school with the highest GPA, but avoided taking gym class.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He would take this secret to his grave knowing if it gets out he would lose his award.\\
'''Instead''': While boasting to Malcolm about his award, he tells Malcolm in detail what he did.\\
'''As A Result''': Malcolm dishes some well-deserved revenge and rats out Mr. Herkabe to the principal causing his award (which was essentially the only worthwhile thing he had left since he lost everything when his dotcom went bust) to be revoked. And he tries to retake gym class to get his award back only to have Reese pelt him with dodgeballs for humiliating him earlier in the episode.\\
'''Even Worse''': It never even occurred to Herkabe that he had given Malcolm leverage against him until after he lost his award.
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''
** Granted, this show was one big IdiotPlot (and any time any actual intellect was shown was rare), but the ''piece de resistance'' has to go to the season 4 episode "976-SHOE". Al believes that he can make money with his own hotline about shoes, so he goes to his banker neighbor Steve to get a loan for $10,000.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He would either turn him down flat (which he initially did, calling it a "bunny-brained idea) or at least take out the loan for the ten grand or something significantly less.\\
'''Instead:''' He gives him a ''$50,000'' loan just so that he could win an office sweepstakes trip to Hawaii.
** Later in the episode, when we see that the shoe hotline failed ([[SarcasmMode big shocker, right?]]), an angry Marcy, who knew it would fail, owing to her good credit at her bank, decides to loan Al 50 grand to repay back Steve and so he can keep his job, as his boss told him if he ended up with one more bad loan, he'd be fired. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Al would pay back the loan and just owe $50,000.\\
'''Instead:''' ''He decides to reinvest in the phone line'' in spite of its [[EpicFail failure of epic proportions]] and rationalizes in him having to owe ''$100,000'' instead of just 50 just to see if it works. [[ForegoneConclusion As expected]], Steve was fired, Marcy was demoted and a judge puts a lien on Al's earnings, which allows him to be able to pay back the loan ''a hundred years for now.'' \\
'''Final Point of Idiocy:''' Steve gave the loan in the first place [[SkewedPriorities just so he could go to Hawaii,]] which look worse, since an earlier episode had Steve surprising Marcy for their first anniversary with [[FridgeLogic tickets to Hawaii which he bought with little fuss.]]
** "The Mystery of Skull Island" has Bud jumping through hoops in an attempt to impress a pretty girl, who more or less isn't interested in him unless he engages in high-risk, life-threatening stunts and flirts with other men who are more handsome and physically stronger than him.\\
'''You'd expect:''' For Bud to forget all about this obviously ManipulativeBitch and hold onto his pride and, literally, his life.\\
'''Instead:''' [[TookALevelInDumbass Considering what a love-starved loser Bud was morphing into,]] he insists on going all out for this girl, in spite of the injuries and embarrassment this causes him.
** "It's A Bundyful Life" has Al finally having Christmas money to buy presents for the family and has to get over to Marcy's bank before it closed to get the money when an elderly woman and her slow-moving mother come into the store at the last second.\\
'''You'd expect:''' For Al to turn them away; it's not only the last minute and he needs to get to bank as soon as possible, but he's also a misanthrope so he would have no need to be diplomatic.\\
'''Instead:''' He lets them in and they ate up plenty of his time, causing him to be late and get to the bank just as it was closing for their Christmas party. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished Great going, Al; the Spirit of Christmas made you look like a foolish ass and your family hate you.]]
* ''Series/{{Mash}}'': In the episode, "The Sniper", the doctors and nurses are trapped in Post-Op while six patients are in the ambulance in need of assistance. Hawkeye comes up with this master plan: to surrender to the sniper. His reasoning: if they surrender, they can help the patients in the ambulance. \\
'''You'd expect''': Someone, anyone, to question how surrendering to a sniper is even possible or how this would help. \\
'''Instead''': Hawkeye and Trapper carry a white flag out of the building and walk toward the sniper. Then, they're surprised when the plan doesn't work and the sniper starts shooting at them.
* ''Series/MasterChef Canada''
** After winning the Mystery Box challenge, Cody is now safe from elimination and gets the chance to pick one of three ingredients (Salmon, Lobster, Truffles) chosen by the previous ''[=MasterChef=] Canada'' winner.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Cody to pick an ingredient he knows the remaining Chefs will struggle with, and sit back on the balcony to watch just that.\\
'''Instead:''' [[SmallNameBigEgo To prove just how superior he is]], Cody gives up his immunity in order to cook with his chosen ingredient, Truffles. He then uses three different kinds of Truffles in his dish, muddling the taste so much that he ends up being up for elimination. He only avoids being sent home because one chef ran out of time and ended up using barely any Truffles, thus having a dish that was just barely worse.
* ''Series/MasterChef Junior:''
** In the semi-finals, Troy wins the challenge competition (cooking a soft-boiled egg) and is given two advantages: he gets to pick which cut of a chicken (from best to worst - breast, thigh, wing and liver) to take for himself, and which of the other three to give to the other competitors. He ends up taking the thigh for himself, and has two of them to work with.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Troy would hedge his bets and cook both thighs, especially when Joe (one of the judges) points the opportunity out to him. After all, he's in the semi-finals and has enough time to do it, and there's no room for error.\\
'''Instead:''' He decides ''not'' to cook the second thigh, and goes with his gut instinct that just cooking one is enough. When it comes time for judging, both he and Gordon are disheartened to discover that the thigh is ''raw on the inside''. He is subsequently eliminated that night.
* ''Series/Merlin2008'':
** In the second episode of the series, a knight called Valiant is revealed to be cheating in Camelot's sword-fighting tournament, via a magic shield that can summon snakes. One knight is mortally wounded during a fight, but luckily Merlin manages to obtain the antivenom and save him, allowing said knight to testify against Valiant. Merlin and Arthur bring their case to King Uther, but unfortunately when they summon the knight as a witness, the court physician Gaius reveals that the knight had passed away, due to a further attack from the magic snakes.\\
'''You'd Expect''': For Merlin to have the knight's corpse shown to the King. Even if Valiant's word means more as a knight, there is undeniable proof that the other knight has multiple snakebites in his neck received after the fight. Valiant's shield is covered with snakes, and as Merlin tells Arthur, there aren't many snakes in Camelot. It would be better than saying absolutely nothing.\\
'''Instead''' Merlin and Gaius say absolutely nothing, Arthur looks like a fool in front of the King, and Valiant goes on to almost get away with murdering Arthur in their final tournament battle.
** At one point, Merlin, Arthur, and Sir Gawain are referred to, respectively, as Magic, Strength, and Heart.\\
'''You'd Expect''': For Gawain to put two and two together, ''especially'' considering the incredible amount of weirdness that happens around Merlin, and to realize that Merlin's a sorcerer. Even if he didn't say anything to Arthur, you'd expect him to start acting differently around Merlin, or at the very least to tip Merlin off so that he doesn't have to hide his nature around him.\\
'''Instead''': Gawain continues on in blissful oblivion.
** Later on, Merlin is given a prophecy that Mordred will kill Arthur.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Merlin to tell Arthur about this-even if he doesn't reveal that he himself is a sorcerer, enough weird stuff happens around him that Arthur would believe him. Then Arthur would be on his guard.\\
'''Even Worse''': Merlin treats Mordred with hostility and suspicion, meaning that the young man who used to hero-worship him becomes alienated and angry.\\
'''Instead''': Merlin is a total {{Jerkass}} towards Mordred, meaning that the latter's FaceHeelTurn becomes all but inevitable anyway, Arthur dies at Camlann, Camelot falls apart, etc, etc.
* ''Series/MIHigh''
** A teen invents a device that can disarm nuclear missiles, even if they're in flight, wherever they're from, in the hope of creating world peace.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The world to figure out that such a device would only make nuclear warfare impossible, and that countries would still be capable of going to war.\\
'''Instead''': The device is treated as something that will make war completely impossible, with a GeneralRipper even going so far as to destroy the prototype and try and start World War Three in order to prevent the army from becoming obsolete, a danger [[PunctuatedForEmphasis IT WASN'T. EVEN. FACING]]. His stupidity and utterly pointless plan would probably net him a dishonourable discharge, if he was LUCKY.
* ''[[Series/BobcatGoldthwaitsMisfitsAndMonsters Bobcat Goldthwait's Misfits & Monsters]]'' by Creator/BobcatGoldthwait:
** In the episode "Bubba the Bear", Nobel Bartell voices the titular cartoon character. He ends up bringing Bubba to life. That is, [[{{Tulpa}} Nobel's ability to voice Bubba gave Bubba a real-life presence]] [[spoiler: that is tied to Nobel's ability to voice Bubba]]. Bubba's ''not happy'' about his cartoon making him TheDitz. Did we mention that Bubba also has ToonPhysics that can also affect the real world?\\
'''You'd Expect''': Bubba would go after the writers, or again, the editors, or, better yet, the creator, and, one way or another, get any of them to depict him intelligently.\\
'''Alternatively''': Bubba would go after the director's ''boss'' (or higher in the management chain), depending on [[ExecutiveMeddling how much control management has over the cartoon]]. (Because Bubba's goal would be the cartoon depicting him intelligently, one of his better interests would be keeping the people involved working on the cartoon.)\\
'''Instead''': He goes after Nobel (who is just a voice actor), forcing him to keep Bubba's existence a secret [[CassandraTruth (even though no one would believe that the cartoon character that he voiced became real)]]. Bubba also goes after Nobel's ''[[WouldHurtAChild family]]''.\\
'''The Result''': When Nobel tries to get the director to depict Bubba intelligently, the director shoots down Nobel. [[spoiler: Nobel ends up [[TongueTrauma cutting off his own tongue]], making Bubba disappear. [[TheOtherDarrin A new actor ends up getting hired]], [[HereWeGoAgain bringing Bubba back to the real world.]]]]\\
'''Even Worse''': [[spoiler: Had Bubba managed to kill Nobel, Bubba would have disappeared. After all, DeadMenTellNoTales. Judging from Bubba's scared reactions when he was disappearing, Bubba does not seem to be a DeathSeeker, either. Worse, a new actor would have replaced Nobel all the same.]]
* ''Series/MissionImpossible'': In “The Counterfeiter”, Raymond Halder owns a successful line of medical clinics, and a very lucrative operation that counterfeits drugs, such as insulin and various heart medicines, out of various ingredients such as milk powder and food coloring. He also makes sure his personal and legal businesses' taxes are properly paid to the penny.
** '''You'd Expect''': He'd be at least as smart as the Joker and see that the income taxes from his illegal business are paid as well, and that he would keep the amount of fake drugs released into the system to levels only local enforcement will worry about.\\
'''Instead''': He doesn't pay taxes on his illegal income, is a SmugSnake that the laws of the time mean only a slap on the wrist when he gets caught counterfeiting drugs, and saturates the market with his fakes to the point the MI team is called in to stop him.\\
'''The Result''': The team gets him on tape admitting the fortune he's made selling fake drugs, and sends it off to the IRS.
* On ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
** In general, someone commits premeditated murder and has a rock-solid alibi. Monk or his assistants start to suspect them anyway.\\
'''You'd Expect''': They would not try to taunt Monk or his assistants.\\
'''Instead''': With very few exceptions, like the suspect who was in a coma and another who specifically befriended Monk to acquire crucial evidence, most of the murderers are jerks towards Monk, Natalie, or Sharona and taunt them about not having proof, or in one case attempting to seduce them.\\
'''The Result''': Monk gains the motivation to find the crucial evidence. And he does, because as the now-imprisoned murderers put it, he's Monk.
** In ''Mr. Monk Goes To The Carnival'', Monk is hoping to be reinstated to the police force at a hearing. He expects Stottlemeyer to speak for him and give a recommendation. Stottlemeyer knows that Monk isn't ready with his OCD and trauma.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Stottlemeyer would tell Monk he needs to recuse himself because he doesn't think his friend is ready to return to the police force. Would Monk be angry? Yes. Would it also mean he's not blindsided? Yes as well.\\
'''Instead''': Stottlemeyer, without warning, says bluntly at the hearing in question that Adrian Monk in his opinion is not ready to return to the police force. Even if you argue that he needed to do it for the greater good, it's a crappy thing to do to a friend.\\
'''The Result''': Monk nearly quits on him during an investigation to clear another cop's name of murder, and is ''furious'' with Stottlemeyer for being a bad friend. All Stottlemeyer can say is for Monk to "not give up," which is a pretty condescending reassurance. It takes several episodes for Monk to forgive Stottlemeyer, and a decade before Adrian [[spoiler:returns to the police force and realizes that it's no longer what he wants out of life]].
** "Mr. Monk Goes To The Circus": A clown is going around imitating the police force, doing mime work. During TheSummation where Monk is accusing Natasha Lovara of murdering her husband and an elephant trainer, Monk and Stottlemeyer ask him politely to stop copying them so that Monk can focus on laying out the case.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The clown would listen. This is a case of murder.\\
'''Instead''': He keeps interrupting with some miming of Monk laying out the case, like Natasha used Dede the elephant to break her foot after the murder.\\
'''The Result''': When Randy sends the incriminating walkie-talkie to the lab and Monk says that Natasha must have forgotten to wipe her fingerprints off the batteries, the mime interrupts by imitating Stottlemeyer. Stottlemeyer hits his RageBreakingPoint and moves to arrest the clown on the grounds of ImpersonatingAnOfficer. Natasha takes the opportunity to pull herself into a getaway jeep and nearly runs Sharona over, if not for Dede the elephant.
** In ''Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa'', Monk shoots and injures a suspect who is dressed in a Santa costume with his own weapon. Thanks to an overzealous sensationalist reporter, and the large group of children who witnessed the incident, Monk is branded as "The Man Who Shot Santa" and Monk and Natalie are harrassed everywhere they go. He attempts to clear his name by going onto said reporter's talk show and making a public apology.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Natalie to prepare Monk with an eloquent line, something like "The man I shot was not Santa Claus. He was some loony dressed as Santa Claus who had a revolver in his hand."\\
'''Instead:''' She offers him little more than a pat on the back. Monk gets chewed up and spit out by the hardball reporter, and makes things even worse by telling the children that Santa isn't real.\\
'''You'd Also Expect:''' That Stottlemeyer would realize that Monk would become a target for harassment and would put him and Natalie under police protection or at the very least in a safe house until the heat died down.
** "Mr. Monk And The Three Julies": Monk recounts the following; the real killer was [[spoiler:Mr. Teeger.]] Here's what happened: [[spoiler:Julie Teeger the college student delivered a package to Mrs. Julie Teeger the housewife. The package was from Mr. Teeger's mistress, with a bunch of evidence revealing that the man had an affair. College student Julie saw a fight breaking out between the married couple, and went OhCrap that her good deed went wrong]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': [[spoiler:College student Julie would call 911 when she sees the hints of a domestic altercation, or run and get help from one of the nearby neighbors if she doesn't have a phone. Adrian says that she had a reputation of being a dutiful citizen]].\\
'''Instead''': She discreetly leaves.\\
'''The Result''': [[spoiler:Mr. Teeger succeeds in stabbing his wife, and leaves her to bleed out on the floor. To preserve his alibi that this was a break-in and not a domestic altercation, he chases down college student Julie and runs her down in the park. While the cops note that it was impressive how long she lasted, she still died and this led them on a WildGooseChase for a potential serial killer]].
** In "Mr. Monk Buys a House," Monk and Natalie are taken hostage by a handyman, [[HonestJohnsDealership "Honest" Jake]], and are chained up to a clawfoot bathtub that is interestingly freestanding. They manage to temporarily knock out Jake by causing a wall to fall on him.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Monk or Natalie would have enough thought of mind to disarm Jake while he was incapacitated, since he wouldn't be able to harm them, allowing them enough time to call for help.\\
'''You Might Also Expect:''' That Natalie would have thought to have her cell phone so she could call 911, which could have likely saved the life of Jake's partner if she did.\\
'''Instead:''' Monk and Natalie crawl down the hallway, dragging the bathtub with them. Natalie then lights some rags and puts them in the fireplace, then uses the floo to send up smoke signals that Stottlemeyer and Disher happen to be see from a few blocks away. By the time she lights them, notice that Jake is already starting to come around and free himself.
** Also in that same episode:\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That the police would naturally think it suspicious that a wheelchair bound man who can only walk short distances somehow managed to walk up a flight of stairs without even a walker, and then fall to his death.\\
'''Instead:''' They only take the word of the patient's nurse, the only other person in the house at the time.
** In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival":\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Leonard Stokes, after killing his girlfriend, would run out of the carnival.\\
'''Instead:''' He decides to hide in the ferris wheel, which seems plain stupid considering that Sharona finds him there while getting up in the ferris wheel to locate him.
** In part, Monk and Natalie have each been taken hostage a number of times or gotten into near death experiences very frequently.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That either of them would have learned from these incidents where one or both of them has nearly been killed by a captor and started carrying at least a pistol around on their person at all times.\\
'''Instead:''' By not carrying firearms, these hostage situations are able to happen
** In "Mr. Monk and the Panic Room", Darwin the chimp is framed for his owner's murder despite the fact that the guy was shot twice in the back.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Stottlemeyer and the others to realize no monkey could handle a handgun so adeptly. After Sharona points this out, Stottlemeyer takes Darwin into an interrogation room with [[spoiler: what he assumes is an unloaded gun; it's not.]] Darwin shoots without aiming and only hits the room's window.\\
'''You'd Then Expect:''' The cops to admit Darwin could not have killed Ian Blackburn, his owner. \\
'''Instead:''' They continue to insist Darwin is the killer until Monk's summation.
** In "Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf", Sharona continually sees a blood-soaked man with a knife in his chest and a screwdriver in his ear who disappears as soon as she runs screaming for help. On both occasions, this man speaks to her, calling her by name and saying things like, "Daddy needs you."\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Monk, Stottlemeyer, Disher, or Dr. Kroger to look into Sharona's childhood history or ask her where her father is.\\
'''You'd Then Expect:''' One of them to ask who, besides Sharona, knew said history. [[spoiler: One answer would've been, "My creative writing teacher," for whom Sharona wrote an essay about her mentally ill dad, and who turned out to be the killer.]]\\
'''Instead:''' Everyone believes Sharona is reacting to stress or even crazy, right up to the summation.
** In "Mr. Monk and the Rapper," a car bomb has killed rapper Extra Large and severely injured his limo driver.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Stottlemeyer or someone with authority to arrange for police protection on the driver, since the driver is the primary witness for the investigation.\\
'''Instead:''' No protection is given to the driver, allowing the killer to enter his hospital room and [[SickbedSlaying strangle him]].
** "Mr. Monk Is On The Run": After having faked his death and being on the lam, Monk and his crew realize that the governor has a bomb attached to his car during a parade, and the trigger is on the parade banner. Stottlemeyer and Randy run out as the real criminal is trying to get the governor blown up, shouting for the parade to stop. They wave their badges around while screaming at the top of their lungs. Natalie and Monk are hiding while trying to figure out how to get to the transmitter.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Given that Stottlemeyer shouts that he's SFPD, that everyone in the parade would stop. While the cops are confused by the JurisdictionFriction, the marching band is damn well within hearing range as is the driver.\\
'''Instead''': Everyone keeps moving on blithely, with the governor and his wife completely unaware of the danger.\\
'''The Result'': Natalie has to risk her life to grab the trigger, with the terrorist's men grabbing her before she can. Monk has to dive into the governor's car to turn off the car, blowing his cover and necessitating Stottlemeyer to reveal the bomb. Everyone goes MassOhCrap at their stupidity.
** "Mr. Monk and the Magician": Kevin Dorfman is back to accounting after he blows his lottery winnings. He mentions that a magician named Karl Torini had discrepancies on his airline receipts and suggested Torini was getting ripped off. [[spoiler:Torini is actually smuggling heroin.]]\\
'''You'd Expect''': [[spoiler:Torini would let it slide. Kevin is too naive to consider the possibility of drugs.]]\\
'''Instead''': He concocts a complicated plot where [[spoiler:he creates an alibi that seems foolproof and murders Kevin after asking him to fill in on a magic show, reasoning that Kevin knew too much]].\\
'''The Result''': Monk takes [[spoiler:Kevin's death personally]] and sets out to solve the case.
* In the televison special ''The Muppet Musicians of Bremen'', T.R. the rooster is told by his owner [[BigEater Lardpork]] that he'll cook him for being useless around the barn, so T.R. decides to escape before Lardpork comes back, and takes the opportunity to join Leroy the Donkey to become traveling musicians. However, T.R. wants to say goodbye to the chickens before he runs off.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He would just say goodbye and leave.\\
'''Instead''': He sings them a song before leaving them, and as soon as he's done with his song, Lardpork shows up with an ax, ready to chop him. Though T.R. does end up escaping.
* ''Series/TheMuppets'': In the episode "Hostile Makeover", Fozzie is invited to a party at Creator/JayLeno's house. He is so excited that he decides to get a souvenir - via stealing a candy dish. Eventually he realizes that this wasn't exactly the best idea aned when Jay invites him back to his house, he plans on giving it back, only to accidentally drop it, smashing it to pieces.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Fozzie to explain to Jay what happened and apologize.\\
'''Instead''': While Fozzie is there, Jay tells him that he'd like for Fozzie to open for him in Las Vegas. Fozzie is so excited that he promptly forgets about the candy dish and TRIES TO STEAL SOMETHING ELSE.\\
'''Then''': Jay sees him attempting to steal his brass rooster. He's actually pretty understanding, admitting that one time he stole a candy dish from Creator/GeorgeCarlin... the very same candy dish that he then finds out Fozzie stole.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Him to let Fozzie explain why he stole it and let him apologize.\\
'''Instead''': He gets angry that Fozzie stole something that he in turn stole and shouts at him to get out of his house.\\
'''For Extra Idiot Points''': After Jay tells him to leave, Fozzie asks if he can have his pen.
* A RunningGag on ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' is someone mentioning a word one might associate with an explosive, and [[MadBomber Crazy Harry]] appearing and setting of an explosion as a result.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Everyone to eventually realize that saying those words will set Harry off and stop saying words related to explosives.\\
'''Instead:''' They never do- in one episode Kermit sets Harry off twice in quick succession, and in another Harry gets set off ''six'' times, including thrice in the same segment!
* ''Series/MysteryDiners'': You're the manager of a bar owned by an [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball NFL]] player and trusted to run things when he's playing on the road. It's probably not a smart idea to embezzle from a dude who could bench press ''two'' of you and then try lying when he's got you stone busted on camera. The detectives had to keep the owner from using his crooked manager for a tackle dummy.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': Creator/MikeNelson should have this tattooed on his forehead:
** ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E04TheDeadlyMantis The Deadly Mantis]]'': Professor Bobo and Peanut [[note]]''Doctor'' Peanut![[/note]] are trying to fix a thermonuclear bomb for the [[Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes Cargo Cult]] that's [[ItMakesAsMuchSenseInContext next door to Deep Ape]], and solicit Mike's help. It ''does'' start out promisingly enough with him rightfully protesting that they're trying to reactivate a thermonuclear device with the capacity to destroy the Earth.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Mike to keep cognizant of what he realized only thirty seconds earlier and deny them any help.\\
'''Instead''': He forgets the severity of the situation when the apes complain of a stuck lugnut. Cue EarthShatteringKaboom.
--> '''Mike''': Well, why not just use a pair of locking pliers and a spanner?
** ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E14RidingWithDeath Riding With Death]]'': Pearl, Brain Guy and Bobo are [[NoodleIncident trapped in combat with killer androids]] and need a diversion from Mike. He decides to make a baking soda and vinegar bomb.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He'd keep an eye on just how much baking soda he's putting into the bomb.\\
'''Instead''': He starts to ruminate over past injustices (including being fired from a job for making a baking-soda-and-vinegar bomb), losing track of how much he's putting in to the casing. Cue EarthShatteringKaboom.
** ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E15AgentForHARM Agent For H*A*R*M]]'': On trial for his planet destruction tendencies, Mike IS this trope incarnate:
*** First as he's being arraigned, the omniscient judge annouces he's being charged with crimes against man and nature.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Mike to keep his mouth shut.\\
'''Instead''': He asks if this means that a traffic violation he'd gotten (and was apparently avoiding) has finally turned into a bench warrant. The judge replies it hadn't... until that exact moment.
*** Second, Mike is given his choice of defense attorney. He's given the choice of Socrates, King Charlemagne, Clarence Darrow... or Professor Bobo.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Mike to mull over the choice or at least ignore the obvious SchmuckBait at the end.\\
'''Instead''': He shouts out "Bobo?!?" in surprise, and the LiteralMinded judge takes it as his choice.
*** Third, he's allowed to pick his own prosecutor. This time, it starts out so promising, as he immediately requests St. Therese of Liseux (denied, [[NoodleIncident as she was tied up with a prosecution for the Bronx DA]]). The judge offers the choices of King Solomon, Hildegarde of Bingen, Thomas Jefferson, or... Pearl Forrester.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He'd continue to learn from his previous mistake and say absolutely ANYTHING but Pearl's name.\\
'''Instead''': Literally the first words out of his mouth are a sarcastic "Oh yeah, I'm gonna choose Pearl Forrester..."\\
-->'''Mike''': Oh, I don't learn very quick, do I?
** ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S10E09Hamlet Hamlet]]'': A Two-for-one here:
*** First, Mike challenges Pearl to a game of "find the lady", and the gambling-addicted Pearl agrees, over [[OnlySaneMan Brain Guy's]] objections that it's rigged and there is no way for her to win.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Pearl to at least consider Brain Guy's warnings, and cut her losses.\\
'''Instead''': Not only does Mike take Pearl to the cleaners, he even wins the right to choose that episode's movie. He chooses Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''.
*** '''But which version?''': '''You'd Expect''' Mike to make a definitive choice and demand one of the better versions being shown, knowing that any wiggle room with Pearl would be wildly abused.\\
'''Instead''': While he suggests Franco Zefferelli's and Kenneth Branagh's versions (both lauded as well-done adaptations of the play), he ultimately says to Pearl "your choice." She gives him a no-budget 1960 dubbed West German TV version of ''Hamlet'' starring Maximilian Schell, and with dub voices played by Creator/RicardoMontalban and [[Series/HogansHeroes John Banner]].
-->'''Pearl''': OK, you get ''Hamlet''. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Oh, boy, do you get]] ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Hamlet]]''!
* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'':
** The warden has been giving Earl certificates for time off his sentence in exchange for helping out with various prison problems. When the time finally comes that Earl has earned enough time off that he can leave, he panics, because he's too incompetent without Earl there.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The warden to just let Earl go, and possibly offer him a job as a general adviser or something.\\
'''Instead''': He panics, tears up Earls certificates, and expects him to just go on for the rest of his sentence. He throws him in solitary when he gets pissed.
** Earl's side of the story:\\
'''You'd Expect''': Just nod quietly, and let the warden forget he could use Earl with his sociopathic means.\\
'''Instead''': He practically handed him a weapon against himself.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':
** In "Till Death Do Us Part," Director Vance and his SUV are abducted by Harper Dearing, who has a serious nut against NCIS. However, both the director and his vehicle are found, and Vance is unhurt.\\
'''What You'd Expect:''' That NCIS would give Vance a new car, and take his original car apart piece by piece in case Dearing planted a bomb in it (since something like that would be part of his modus operandi). If a bomb is there, they could call in the bomb squad, defuse the bomb, and everyone would be A-OK.\\
'''Instead:''' They let Director Vance continue driving the same SUV. He parks it right in front of NCIS headquarters. Dearing calls in and lets everyone know that he has a bomb on the Navy Yard and it's about to blow up in front of NCIS. Team Gibbs concludes that it's in Vance's SUV (they're right). They call for an immediate evacuation of the building.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That everyone to run to the back staircases and exits of the building (to distance themselves from the epicenter of the blast), and get the hell out of there as quickly as humanly possible.\\
'''Instead:''' Abby stays behind in her lab at the front of the building, so Gibbs has to run back in to rescue her. [=McGee=] lollygags in the squad room. Tony and Ziva take the ''elevator in the front of the building''.[[note]]Which goes against all evacuation codes--you're NEVER supposed to use an elevator when you're evacuating a building because of the possibility that you will become trapped in the event of sudden power loss.[[/note]] Of course, all of them are present when the bomb goes off. Poor Ducky has a heart attack when he hears about it. [=McGee=] ends up with a shard of glass to the abdomen, and Abby develops serious psychological issues following the attack.
** In the followup episode "Extreme Prejudice," ''President UsefulNotes/BarackObama himself'' authorizes every federal agency to deal with Dearing with extreme prejudice. One of Fornell's agents, a woman named Lorraine, finds Dearing watching reports of the NCIS attack through a store window. She makes small talk with him.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Agent Lorraine to just pull a gun on Dearing and subdue him, or just shoot him, or the FBI to have a sniper nearby since they were able to find Dearing so damn quickly.\\
'''Instead:''' Agent Lorraine uses seduction and lures Dearing to an apartment. He asks to use the restroom. While he's in there, a SWAT team enters the apartment and unloads several rounds on the bathroom. When they open the door, they find that he's jumped out the window and has left a small bomb set to explode in ten seconds.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Agent Lorraine to run over and just chuck that bomb out the window. If she got lucky, maybe she'd hit Dearing, or at the very least, the bomb would safely detonate out of range from anyone. At the very least, she could yell for everyone to clear the apartment.\\
'''Instead:''' She just stands there like a deer in the headlights. The bomb goes off. She dies.\\
'''Even Worse:''' It's like the ''entirety'' of the federal law enforcement didn't bother to surround the apartment building with SWAT personnel, or at the very least do something as simple as aim a thermal-imaging satellite at the apartment complex so they could track Dearing in case he got away.
* ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'':
** In an early episode, three girls are out driving when they watch a bus crash. As they pull over to see what happened, three unpleasant-looking guys in prison jumpsuits pull themselves out of the bus and begin walking towards the girls.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The girls to get the hell out of there.\\
'''Instead:''' They don't. A scene later, it turns out that the three prisoners stole the girls' car. It could've been much, ''much'' worse.
** A woman shows up with Lasalle with a baby she claims is his, and implores Lasalle to take them both in.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Lasalle to IMMEDIATELY have a paternity test done.\\
'''Instead:''' Lasalle doesn't do anything of the sort, despite Pride actually asking if he's sure the kid is his, and takes both the boy and his mother in to treat like his own without question.\\
'''As A Result:''' [[IdiotPlot A several episode long arc about Lasalle and his "family" ensues that could have been avoided.]] It turns out episodes later that oops! Lasalle isn't really the father when the real Dad walks right up to him and slugs him in the face. Turns out the mother was just using Lasalle to get away from her abusive ex.\\
'''You'd Also Expect:''' Lasalle to immediately arrest the man for striking a federal agent if nothing else, find out about the arrest warrants he has in the process, and solve the issue 5 minutes into the episode.\\
'''Instead:''' Lasalle lets the father off, later risks losing his job getting into a fight over warning the man to stay away from the kid and his mother, before finally finding out about the warrants and using those as pretext to have him arrested.
* ''Series/TheNextFoodNetworkStar''
** At least twice somebody has had to open a bottle or jar and [[EpicFail failed terribly]].
*** '''You'd Think:''' They'd open it conventionally, by, y'know, twisting the top. If it's stuck, maybe stick it under some hot water. No biggie, they're chefs, they can handle this.
*** '''Instead:''' They decide to either tap it against the counter or ''cut off the top of the bottle with a knife''. In both cases, glass got too close to the dishes they were making, forcing them to throw them out.
** In Season 5, Eddie made an absolutely rancid watermelon-and-onion salad for a challenge, and was a candidate for elimination.
*** '''You'd Think:''' He would attempt to take the criticism gracefully, in the hopes that maybe a show of contrition would earn some mercy from the judges.
*** '''Instead:''' Eddie tried to save himself by claiming "It was from a Paula Deen recipe." Thereby not only admitting that he had ripped off a recipe from one of the network's highest-profile stars, but that he ''didn't even rip it off correctly!'' Needless to say, the judges eliminated his ass with extreme prejudice.
* ''Series/NickyRickyDickyAndDawn'': In "Santa's Little Harpers", Tom and Anne swap jobs for a while when they want to see what it's like. Tom is studying the recipe to make cookies and proceeds to heat up the oven.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Tom to put the recipe in a safe spot before he turns the oven on. \\
'''Instead:''' He still holds onto it and happens to hold it above the burner, causing it to catch fire and ruin it.
* This pops up frequently in ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'':
** In "No Ordinary Ring", the Powells are at a wedding which gets crashed by a gang of robbers. When they begin to escape, Jim chases after them and sees they are being hoisted up the side of a building.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Jim, who can [[InASingleBound jump over and onto buildings]], to leap onto the top of the building and surprise the robbers (or anyone helping to hoist them up) as they reach the top.\\
'''Instead:''' He tries jumping directly towards one of the robbers as he ascends. He misses, hits the wall, and falls flat on his behind.
** In "No Ordinary Vigilante", Daphne's mind reading powers allow her to learn that a cashier at a local store is lifting money from the register. Later, she thinks she could use this knowledge as leverage to get booze for a party despite being underaged.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Daphne to take a moment to get ''any'' sort of concrete leverage against the cashier, or just realize that her word alone against the cashier's won't hold water.\\
'''Instead:''' She smugly goes to the cashier and demands he sell her the booze or she'll rat him out. The cashier [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome calmly points out]] that she has no proof of her claim, while the store's security camera provides him with footage of her trying to illegally purchase alcohol. He calls the police, and Daphne gets in trouble.
** JJ, who [[FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome used to have a learning disorder]], gets "enhanced cognition" powers that basically enable him to become an expert at any science for a short period of time. He uses this to get better grades at school, arousing suspicion from his teacher, Mr. Litchfield, who soon accuses him of cheating.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' JJ to offer to take a spontaneous oral exam immediately upon being accused, proving to Litchfield that he legitimately understands the class material. Even if Litchfield were to bring up his former deficiency, there would be no concrete proof that JJ cheated or took any sort of performance-enhancing drugs (which is something Litchfield later accuses him of), nor any irrefutable reason why the disorder couldn't just have disappeared.\\
'''Instead:''' JJ attempts to draw suspicion away from himself by getting lower test scores, gradually working his way back up to higher ones, then uses his superior understanding of physics to join the football team despite his short stature. Litchfield becomes more and more suspicious. Eventually, Litchfield accuses another student that JJ tutored of copying off him because of very similar test answers, leading to JJ attempting to hack into the school computers and change the grades. Litchfield catches him doing this and soon afterward [[spoiler:gets caught in a near-fatal car crash, which JJ blames himself for.]]
* Discussed in the finale of ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}''.
** A guy escapes from prison and manages to disappear by taking on a false identity.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He'd do his absolute best to lay low and try to stay off police radar.\\
'''Instead:''' He bullies and terrorizes his neighbors nonstop, to the extent that the conflict gets the attention of the FBI (and even if it hadn't connected to an FBI case, it was only a matter of time before someone would catch him in the act and he'd be arrested by the LAPD).\\
'''Furthermore:''' When the FBI tries to talk with him, he antagonizes them too, which fuels their suspicions about him.\\
'''The Result:''' The FBI runs his fingerprints, revealing his true identity. He's promptly arrested and sent back to prison.

!!Individual examples:

!!Shows with their own pages:

* WhatAnIdiot/GameShows
** ''WhatAnIdiot/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/FamilyFeud''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/FamilyFortunes''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/{{Jeopardy}}''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/MatchGame''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/TheNewlywedGame''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/ThePriceIsRight''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/WheelOfFortune''
** ''WhatAnIdiot/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''

* ''WhatAnIdiot/NakedAndAfraidXL''

[[folder:Live-Action TV G-L]]
* ''Series/JudgeJudy'': One plaintiff is suing a couple of guys for allegedly stealing her wallet. Judy asks her to list the contents of said wallet and she mentions some gift cards, an earpiece, and a calculator.\\
'''You'd expect:''' The defendants would stay quiet and listen to the accusations to come up with a believable defense.\\
'''Instead:''' One of the defendants says [[SayingTooMuch "The earpiece wasn't in the wallet."]] Judge Judy hands down a judgement for the plaintiff within seconds.
** Most court shows have litigants who impulsively interrupt to defend themselves from the other party's accusations. Whereas a rational person would stop talking after the judge's first warning, these litigants will continue to interrupt either the other party or the judge even after ''multiple'' warnings. They are more likely to lose their case because they've either [[SayingTooMuch said too much]] or because the judge is [[GetOut done warning them]].
* ''Series/KenanAndKel''
** "Haven't Got Time For The Paint" has Kenan discovering Kel's talent in painting, and one of Kel's paintings ("Sunset Funset") getting sold at an auction. At Rigby's, the two then set up an auction of their own, in which Walter Kensington, the wealthy man who had purchased Kel's painting for $50K, is participating. Only problem--he's confused Kel with a similarly-named Swedish painter (Karlo Kimbell). Before the auction starts, a woman wants to buy one of Kel's paintings for $20K.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Both Kenan and Kel to accept the woman's offer, and later on, to be truthful and tell Mr. Kensington that Kel is not the Swedish artist.\\
'''Instead''': Kel accepts her offer, but Kenan declines it, and even after Kel corrects Mr. Kensington, Kenan still tries to pass Kel off as the Swedish artist, slipping into stereotypical Swedish behavior such as yodeling. This doesn't fool Mr. Kensington one bit ("This is not Swede talk!"), and he thinks they're trying to scam him.\\
'''The Result''': Mr. Kensington demands his money back, and the auction ends disastrously, with no one wanting to buy any of Kel's paintings. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice going, Kenan]]--you've just blown it for Kel!
** "Girl Watchers" has Melissa making a getaway while Kenan is looking for a picture of Eric to get her to remember him. Kel noticed this.\\
'''You'd Expect''': He'll tell Kenan about this problem.\\
'''Instead''': He just waves goodbye as soon as she leaves.
** In "Foul Bull", while drinking orange soda, Kel spills some of it on the floor at Rigby's. Suddenly, Ron Harper shows up in the store.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Kenan would take an advantage of this to distract the crowd while he gets a mop and clean this mess up.\\
'''Instead''': He gets distracted by him to do it. As soon as Ron looks around the store, he slips on the orange soda. All of Chicago blames Kenan and Kel for this.
** In "Attack of the Bug Men" Kenan's house gets robbed by two burglars claiming to be exterminators after Kenan left the door open against his parents wishes and he goes to the place they're eating dinner after the cops get involved.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Kenan would tell his parents they got robbed, but leave out the fact they left the door open and claimed he thought they were legitimate bug men.\\
'''Instead:''' He tries to stall them as long as possible\\
'''Later:''' The cops find the bug men but they need Kenan and Kel to come back to pick out their stuff (as these men had robbed several houses) so they decide to stall longer by making Kyra order the largest thing on the menu.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Kenan would realize it will take them hours to eat the entire thing and excuse himself so he and Kel can go home to make sure they get the right stuff.\\
'''Instead:''' He dumps the entire dish onto his family and makes Kel go alone to get his stuff. Kel knows which stuff is the Rockmores', but instead he takes furniture from the truck that he thinks looks so much cooler (for instance, a chair that resembles a giant hand; "I thought you guys might like it better!").
** In ''[[Recap/KenanAndKelS04Ep13TwoHeadsAreBetterThanNone Two Heads Are Better Than None]]'', Kenan encounters the Headless Knight in the woods, and runs back to camp to warn his family. Naturally, they don't find the knight, and tell him he's just imagining things. Fair enough, but when they go to the Believe it or Else museum, they encounter an exhibit of the Headless Knight, whom Kenan instantly recognizes from that night, and whom people have reported seeing in a town called Rockville.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Kenan's parents would realize that Kenan may not have been imagining things after all, and start to get concerned for his life.\\
'''Instead''': They still dismiss it as a made-up story, despite a museum employee confirming Rockville's existence, and admitting he believes the legend to be true.\\
'''Later:''' The Rockmores encounter a scary old man at a gas station, who warns them "Stay away from Rockville!" and "There's evil going on in there. Evil, I tell ya!" Later, their SUV breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and the next town? It's Rockville! Kel even tells the Rockmores, "That's the evil town! That's where the Headless Knight lives! That's the place the man told us to stay away from!"\\
'''You'd Expect''': With all the clear evidence of the Headless Knight's existence, Kenan's parents would finally accept that the killer cannibalistic knight is real.\\
'''Instead'''; They ''still'' don't believe the Headless Knight exists, even after Kenan and Kel escape Rockville, clearly terrified from the experience and having just barely escaped alive. Only when Roger insists on going to the Headless Knight's house for himself, and being traumatized from seeing the knight's disembodied head talking to him does he ''finally'' accept the truth.
* ''Series/KillingEve''
** The titular Eve and her colleague Bill are in Berlin to track down Villanelle, who is a ProfessionalKiller. When they split up, with Eve going to have dinner with someone who may have valuable information on the most recent victim, Bill notices a woman following her whom he suspects might be the killer.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Bill to immediately alert the authorities and get back-up, as well as calling Eve and letting her know she was being followed and to either meet up with him straight away or have her lead Villanelle somewhere that has plenty of armed officers who can arrest her.\\
'''Instead''': Bill follows Villanelle alone through Berlin, making it very obvious that he's doing so and all he does it call Eve to tell her that he's following her and where she's headed so Eve can rendezvous with him. Did we mention that Bill is an out-of-shape old man and Villanelle is a young, ruthless, incredibly successful assassin? [[spoiler: Because Bill apparently realises this far too late when Villanelle corners him in the nightclub, stabs him to death and then walks away without anybody even seeing what happened until Eve arrives and Bill dies in her arms. TooDumbToLive, indeed.]]
* ''Series/KitchenNightmares'':
** The infamous "Amy's Baking Company" episode. Tired of the "cyberbullies" trying to bring them down on their Yelp page over how bad their food is, restaurant owners Samy and Amy Bouzaglo, who own the ABC cafe in Scottsdale, Arizona, call in Creator/GordonRamsay and the show to help prove those "haters" wrong. After reacting horribly to a Yelp review a few months earlier, they bring in Ramsey's staff to set up for filming and let them watch a dinner service. A pair of customers, who have been waiting for over an hour for their food, complain to Samy about the terrible service and threaten to leave.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Samy and Amy would do their best to avoid causing a scene, particularly as they're being filmed for a television show. They could either reassure the customers that their food will be coming or just let them go.\\
'''Instead:''' Samy harasses the customers and refuses to let them out unless they pay for their food ''which they never even received.'' Amy overhears this and threatens [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem calling the police to arrest them if they don't pay up]]. This goes FromBadToWorse when the customers make their way to the door but [[MyWayOrTheHighway Samy blocks their exit, physically preventing them from leaving]]. A stagehand has to break up the fight while Amy dials 911. The police arrive and force the restaurant to close for the night. Nobody is arrested but the producers wind up paying for everyone's meals.\\
'''Later On:''' Ramsay shows up, enjoying a sample of their baked goods (which were actually bought from another store). He then tastes the rest of the food, which he finds to be terrible, and witnesses how deplorable these two are to both customers and employees (to the point where Amy fired one of their waitresses because [[DisproportionateRetribution she asked a simple question]] and when Samy tried to get her back, she [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere walked off, tired of their crap]]). Having seen enough, Gordon demanded that they meet back here the next day to try to patch things up.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' During a moment without the stresses and watching Ramsay tear into them, Samy and Amy would [[HeelRealization realize that they were too harsh and maybe need serious help from both a psychiatrist and an anger management counselor]]. At the very least, Amy would take Gordon's criticism of her cooking into consideration, on the basis that a guy with nearly thirty years of culinary experience and fourteen Michelin stars probably knows what he is talking about.\\
'''Instead:''' Amy completely blows off all of Gordon's criticism, claiming that the dishes he tasted are very popular and no one else has ever complained about them. The next day she and Samy simply don't show up at the restaurant, giving Gordon a chance to find out more about these two and when he finally confronts them, they ''still'' refuse to believe that what they're doing is wrong. Gordon decides he's had enough, and he ''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere walks out for the first time on his show]]''. Note that this had never happened before. Even the infamous Joe of Mill Street Bistro couldn't drive Gordon out of his restaurant, but the owners of Amy's managed to. After this, they had a public meltdown on their [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/05/16/amys-baking-company-vs-the-entire-internet/ Facebook fanpage and Yelp profile]]. Forbes even used it as a [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/05/14/lessons-from-amys-baking-company-six-things-you-should-never-do-on-social-media/ case example]] for what businesses should ''not'' do on social media.
** Samy and Amy aren't the only idiots to appear on the show. The owners of the Burger Kitchen took £250,000 of their son's inheritance to finance their failing restaurant without telling him about it or giving him any choice in the matter. The son is understandably furious with the pair of them as a result of this.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The parents to at least understand why their son's so unhappy.\\
'''Instead:''' They don't, and at one point, the father pretty much says "I stole £250K of my son's money! Why is he so pissed off with me?" [[SarcasmMode Wow, what a mystery]].
** During his visit to Sebastian's, Gordon forces the eponymous owner to ditch his confusing and over-complicated menu, which relies on cheap mass-produced ingredients (which Gordon had earlier referred to as "the most disgusting bought-in crap I've ever tasted"), in favor of a simpler menu focused around pizza. Sebastian complains that the new menu is generic, but Gordon points out that Sebastian's old menu wasn't working, and that the new one plays better to the kitchen's strengths.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Sebastian to stick with Gordon's new menu for a while and see how it pans out. Having a "unique" menu isn't going to matter much if nobody's ordering anything from it.\\
'''Instead:''' Sebastian orders his staff to ditch Gordon's new menu and revert to the old one ''halfway through the relaunch service'', even changing orders that customers have already made from the newer menu without asking their permission. This leads to Gordon telling Sebastian that he's never met anyone he believes in as little as him, resulting in a massive fight between the two. Sebastian sticks with his old menu after Gordon leaves, and is rewarded by the restaurant eventually closing.
** After forcing the staff at Seascape to clean up the filthiest kitchen he'd ever seen on the show until that point, Gordon announces that they'll be featuring a striped bass special on that night's menu, and cooks a sampler for the owners and head chef, Doug, to taste.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Doug to actually taste the sampler, if for no other reason than to get a better idea of what the dish he's meant to be cooking that night is meant to taste like.\\
'''Instead:''' He refuses to taste the dish, making a dismissive comment that he knows what striped bass tastes like. Gordon asks Doug again, and he snaps back that he's positive that he doesn't want to taste it, leading Gordon to react with TranquilFury at someone refusing to taste his food, something he says no-one has ever done before.\\
'''The Result:''' Gordon is clearly looking for any excuse to get Doug and his sous chef, Charlie fired after that point -- which the two are kind enough to provide by completely screwing up that night's service, and being generally dismissive and contemptuous of Ramsay's advice. Sure enough, the next morning, Doug and Charlie find themselves out of their jobs.
** Just to demonstrate that the stupidity of chefs knows no geographic bounds, in the first-ever episode of the original UK version of the show, Gordon orders Tim, the head chef of Bonaparte's to cook him a sampler of his signature dish, scallops with ham and black pudding.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Tim to make sure he's using the very best ingredients that he has to hand, given that he's a young chef at the start of his career, and that what he does next will be broadcast on national television for any employers to see (even considering that this was in 2004, in the pre-[=YouTube=] age).\\
'''Instead:''' He unknowingly prepares the dish using expired scallops, and when Gordon eats it, he lasts all of ten seconds before having to run outside and throw up. It's probably only because of his inexperience that he gets a WhatWereYouThinking speech from Gordon instead of being immediately fired for this potentially lethal mistake. Despite this and many other blunders during the episode, Tim manages to lead the kitchen through a successful Valentine's Day dinner using a bistro menu, and Gordon leaves Tim with words of encouragement.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Tim to keep with the system he used on Valentine's Day (which, aside from Christmas Day, is generally the busiest day of the year for restaurants), now that he knows he ''can'' run a kitchen if he puts his mind to it. Likewise, you'd expect the restaurant's owner, Sue, to keep a close eye on Tim in the future, considering how filthy the kitchen was at the start of Gordon's visit.\\
'''Instead:''' By the time Gordon revisits a month later, the restaurant has deterioriated to an ''even worse'' state than when he first arrived, with guest numbers having dropped back to almost nothing, and the kitchen being both filthy and full of rotten food. Sue fires Tim, but it proves too late to save the restaurant, which closes a few months later. Tim himself lampshades this trope after his firing, saying that it was "beyond recognition, how fucking stupid some people can be", and making it clear that he was referring to himself.
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'' episode 20-9m "For The Defense": Mike Cutter is lamenting the fact that a corrupt lawyer is threatening to use a prior sexual relationship with Connie to discredit her impending testimony. Cutter goes on and on about how bad an idea sleeping with a co-worker is and how stupid Connie was to put herself in that situation.\\
'''You'd expect''': For him not to go on like this to someone who has a well-known track record of office relationships. Especially when that person is Jack [=McCoy=], ''his boss.''\\
'''Instead''': Cutter asks "What kind of person would put themselves in that position?" (Jack: You mean besides me?). Cutter keeps going, basically calling Jack and Connie idiots for engaging in said relationships.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''
** The team finds a homeless girl and gets her to give up information about her "father", a wanted criminal who has killed several people and is still on the loose after a woman is murdered.\\
'''You'd Expect''': They'd put her in the protective custody of the police and keep her safe in case her "father" wants to kill her for ratting on him.\\
'''Instead:''' They release her to the head of a shelter with no one there to guard her.\\
'''Predictably:''' The kid's "father" comes back for her and kills both her and the head of the shelter. Saw that one coming.
** The exact thing happens in a far more egregious example in the episode, Lost Reputation. Captain Cragen is framed in an overly elaborate conspiracy between two criminals, who are attempting to frame each other, and border on international terrorists. The detectives track down a victim of one of them in hopes of her testifying.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' She would be brought to the police station or someone left behind for protection, especially when she mentions of having children.\\
'''Instead:''' They leave her there, ''alone'' until morning.\\
'''[[SarcasmMode Shockingly]]:''' She turns up dead and their entire case is now looking dead in the water.
*** Generally, if (s)he is left outside of police custody for any length of time, expect the only or most crucial witness to a case to wind up on a slab or at best be brutally attacked so that they won't testify.
** This show seems to be made of this trope. In one episode, some family member comes barging in worried about their relative. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' They'd learn to shut up, or at the very least hide traumatizing information.\\
'''Instead:''' They clearly don't. Naming one episode would be a disservice to all of the other times this happens.\\
'''Invariably:''' The family member will either go into an unrecoverable funk, go batshit insane, or do something else impossibly stupid.
*** They also tend to completely break protocol (which in real life would get them fired or worse) when dealing with suspects by arrogantly letting information out about witnesses that could put them away for life. Either in front of them or in earshot of their dangerous, mobbed-up or gang associates. And then they act completely shocked when their star witness to a case is brutally murdered five minutes later.
** And it's not just the detectives. In "Goliath," a large group of armed cops are facing down one of their own, who's just killed his wife in a psychotic state induced by drugs he was given while serving in Iraq. He's half naked, smeared with his wife's blood, and holding a gun, in the depths of confusion and despair. His son (who is at least twelve or thirteen) comes out of the house, ignorant of his mother's death. Remember, a large cadre of armed officers are present.\\
'''You'd expect''': The kid to see his father, bloody, holding a gun, and with other cops pointing their weapons at them, realize something is wrong, and react appropriately.\\
'''Instead''': He completely ignores all the guns and all the other cops, including the cop repeatedly telling him to go back inside, and questions his dad in confusion about his mother, wondering why his father is so upset. "Are you mad at me?" That's the last straw that pushes his dad over the edge, and he fires the gun into his own head. (He lives, but that's not the POINT.)
** One that seems to repeat several times. A teenage couple are arrested for some type of crime. Often, he either rapes her or convinces her to be an accomplice to a crime.\\
'''You'd expect''': The girl would realize that a healthy relationship doesn't involve police interrogation, and would take advantage of the deal the police are giving her.\\
'''Instead''': She continues to wail about how "he loves her" and proceeds to take the fall (or cover up) for a guy who is usually only with her for sex, money, or to let her take the blame and frankly treats her like garbage.\\
'''Unfortunately:''' [[TruthInTelevision A lot of abusive relationships often work like that.]]
** In another episode, some rich teens get arrested for drinking at a party. The judge decides to give them a second chance and lets them go.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Them to lay low and try not to get in any more trouble.\\
'''Instead:''' They decide to get drunk anyway, and are caught and arrested by Benson and Stabler.\\
'''Bonus Idiot Points:''' The reason they were caught in the first place was because one of their friends died at the party from an alcohol overdose, and they ''still'' think it's a good idea to keep drinking.\\
'''Furthermore:''' The judge decides to give them ''another'' chance and cut them loose without further charges. Just hours later, one of them posts a video they made of themselves drunk and making fun of the judge and the detectives.\\
'''Predictably:''' They get arrested and charged with underage drinking and contempt of court.\\
'''You'd Then Expect:''' That these kids would ''really'' take a hint and sober up.\\
'''Instead:''' [[TooDumbToLive At least one of them doesn't.]] Instead, he gets drunk and then [[DrunkDriver offers a ride to a classmate]], which ends in a crash that kills both of them. (The episode does indicate that the kid in question was struggling with an alcohol ''addiction'', which could explain why he can't just stop drinking even when he's told to, but you would think that he would at least try to stay as under the radar as possible with it, rather than do something that racks up another offense and increases the risk of him being caught drunk.)
** The episode "Stranger" has a long-lost girl returning to her parents, two older sisters and nephew after being missing for four years. Turns out, it's not the sister but an impostor: the real sister was killed four years earlier by the second oldest sister out of silence and then told everyone that she ran away so she wouldn't be sent off to fat camp.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That the older sister would either confess to her crime, play along, or at least try not to behave in a way that would garner suspicion onto herself.\\
'''Instead:''' She ''still'' acts like a bitch to her, being as hostile to her as ever. Once the truth is revealed, the girl decides to tell the family about the hints the sister had been dropping that suggested she knew more than she was saying about her sister's disappearance.\\
'''Moreso:''' Not only did the mother eventually found out what happened and keep quiet about it, her reason for killing the sister was rather weak, "She caught me doing drugs! She was going to tell!"
** "Ridicule": Man names Smith tells SVU he was raped by three rich, powerful women. During trial prep, Alex asks him if there's anything she needs to know.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He tells her the truth. \\
'''Instead:''' He fidgets and nervously says no. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' Alex, not being an idiot, checks his legal history, just in case.\\
'''Instead:''' She lets it go.\\
'''Then:''' In court, the defendants' lawyer reveals that the man filed a civil suit against the women for $5,000,000 over his alleged rape, making Smith look like a gold-digger. He says he just did it because he wanted their names. He didn't mention it because Stabler had been skeptical, looking for an excuse to drop the case.
** "Honor": Afghan diplomat is implicated in (but not charged with, because of DiplomaticImpunity) the murder of his daughter during an honor killing. His son is charged with that murder, but Cabot is worried he's going to succeed at an InsanityDefense. To prevent that, they think about having the diplomat's wife testify, since she didn't appear to sympathize with him. Cabot says that if they try that, they need to provide her 24/7 surveillance and protection. SVU agrees and says they'll do that. The wife agrees to testify.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' SVU provides the surveillance and protection they said they would and make sure she has a place to stay that is not in her old apartment where her husband still is.\\
'''Instead:''' They apparently don't do that.\\
'''Then:''' The day the son is found guilty, the wife's body is discovered inside her apartment, and her husband has fled the country.
** "Babes": A high schooler overhears his younger sister talking on the phone to her friend and making a joke about a guy "doing" her, then he finds out that guy got her pregnant.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That he would privately talk to his sister and ask what happened before doing anything, especially since she doesn't seem traumatized or even upset.\\
'''Instead:''' He immediately jumps to the conclusion that the guy raped and impregnated his sister, steals a gasoline lighter and formaldehyde from his school's science lab, hunts him down, [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge stabs him repeatedly in the genitals, and sets him on fire.]] Also, he leaves said lighter at the crime scene while fleeing, which has his school's name engraved on the barrel, making it incredibly easy for the detectives to find the lighter and put two and two together when they investigate the school and come across a nervous, jumpy young man with a visible burn on his hand. Way to cover your tracks, bud.
* ''Series/LazyTown''
** Robbie Rotten is the villain, because he wants to make the kids lazy like him, because they are loud when they are active. The only reason why he can hear them, is because he has a system build in his house that stays under the ground that makes it able for him to hear them. In order to achieve his goal, he makes complicated plans which include disguising himself, making inventions or buying them or other schemes to deceive people. Each time he fails miserably. He doesn't want to be part of the other characters' group whether they're lazy or not and they leave him alone as long as he isn't bothering them.\\
'''You'd expect''': Him to give up on trying to make the kids lazy and to stop the system that transmits to him the children's voices or to get rid of it. He is lazy, why should he bother?\\
'''Or better:''' Robbie to realize that a healthy lifestyle is better and to join them. He doesn't have to become the most athletic guy in town and he doesn't have to give up on unhealthy snacks entirely. And as mentioned, the other characters don't mind him as long as he isn't bothering them and they have shown kindness to him, even if he is the villain, and have other qualities (Sportacus in particular is really powerful) so he might have something to win if he befriends them.\\
'''Instead:''' He stubbornly continues and his schemes fail every single time. We wouldn't have a show otherwise, wouldn't we?
** A lot of Robbie's schemes include him putting on a PaperThinDisguise in order to trick the others. He always gets caught at the end of the episode.\\
'''You'd expect''': The other characters to see through his disguise or to at least expect to be him in disguise when they meet a new strange person or a strange creature.\\
'''Instead:''' They fall for it, every single time.\\
'''To be fair:''' The suspension of disbelief that a bad disguise works is [[ClarkKenting very common in media]], but even then it's pretty stupid that they wouldn't pick up his pattern on disguising himself. It is very likely RuleOfFunny.
* A couple of moments from the Australian version of ''Series/LegoMasters''.
** In the first episode (Mega City Build), Jordan and Miller are building a town hall. Early on, Brickman notes that they're building too small for a "Mega" city, saying it's not "Mega Euro Valley."\\
'''You'd Expect:''' They'd start aiming bigger. Not only is Brickman the judge of this version, but the goal is "Mega" city, and every other team is building to a skyscraper level.\\
'''Instead:''' They disregard his advice and continue building to a relatively small scale. Already bad, but their reason for disregarding Brickman's advice is that they ''forgot he was the judge''. By the time they remember that and decide to build bigger, there's not enough time left to build as high as the other teams. The only reason they get as tall as they want is because of a twist that gave them more time and creative room.
** In the semi-final episode, Kale and Bilsy are told to build a prehistoric scene on a Minifigure scale.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Between losing an immunity challenge by trying to build too big, getting bottom two in an elimination challenge by making a part of their build too big, and having just been told they're to build to a Minifigure scale, they'd keep things reasonably sized.\\
'''Instead:''' Kale, sticking to his "Bigger is better" mentality, aims for a T-rex with a head as big as his own. At two hours left, Kale only has a head and torso to work with and realizes he can't build the rest in time.\\
'''You'd Then Expect:''' He'd trash the idea. At most, try building a smaller T-rex to put in place.\\
'''Instead:''' He only removes the torso and places the head at the edge of the build.\\
'''The Result:''' Not only does the T-rex head stick out like a sore thumb, but Brickman points out that it's not to a Minifigure scale (despite what Kale thinks). Between that and including modern items in a build that's not supposed to have any, they're sent out right before the finals.
* Many of the subjects on ''Locked Up Abroad'' do this to ''themselves'', when thinking about the mistakes they made. Such as the guy who was going to pick up a packet of drugs from the post office. That's pretty stupid in itself, but he ''took drugs'' before he went to pick up the package.
* ''Series/{{Letterkenny}}'':
** In season 7, Daryl abruptly decides that he's going to go to Quebec to try to get his ex-girlfriend, Anik, back. They previously broke up after she cheated on him, and she openly stated that she didn't love or trust him.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Someone to point out or Daryl to realise that Anik doesn't want anything to do with him. She dumped him after cheating on him, she ''does not want to be with him''. Going to Quebec is a lost cause. In addition, why would she want to get back with an ex who doesn't respect her choices by showing up randomly and refusing to leave?\\
'''You'd Also Expect''': That when Wayne and Squirrelly Dan decide to come to Daryl's aid, they'd try to defuse the situation by convincing Daryl to leave calmly. The Hiques are their friends and allies, they owe it to them to not start a fight.\\
'''Instead''': The Hicks all just tell Daryl repeatedly that he won't get any respect if he goes back to her, which does nothing to dissuade him; when Wayne and Dan get there, they just shrug and go along with Daryl instead of trying to talk some sense into him.\\
'''As A Result''': The Hicks and Hiques get into a pointless fight that in all probability destroyed their friendship for a reason that didn't even begin to resemble 'good'.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'':
** Kate Austen is a prime example for this trope, partially because she always tries to get her way. In the Season 2 Episode "The Hunting Party", Jack tells Kate to stay behind and take care of the Button while he, Locke and Sawyer go after Michael.\\
'''You'd expect''': As Jack has a perfectly good reason for asking her to stay behind, Kate should obviously just stay behind and push the damn Button. \\
'''Instead''': Butthurt that she was refused to opportunity to go along with them, she decides to follow the guys. As she isn't pretty good at that, she gets captured by the Others who then use her later as leverage to disarm Jack et al.
** Ben Linus (as well as most of The Others in general) reacts with stealth and deception throughout the first three seasons, resulting in the loss of several lives on both sides, let alone a lot of misunderstandings and mistrust.\\
'''You'd expect''': Ben and the others witness the Oceanic break apart right over their heads, and being sensible human beings, they decide to offer some assistance to the Losties on both sides of the island, friendly present themselves, to offer advice, assistance and practical support.\\
'''Instead''': Ben instructs Goodwin and Ethan to blend in with the crew, gather information and begin covert operations to "secure" the children and pregnant women (like Claire), with the result that both of them get killed in due time by pissed off Losties. Bonus points when you see Ben chiding Jack later on for the death of Ethan.
** Related to the above is Ben's choice of spies. Ben understands that sending someone to spy on the Losties will be a dangerous mission, as it's implied he sent Goodwin to the Tail Section with the intention of [[UriahGambit getting him killed.]]\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He would send someone expendable to spy on the middle section.\\
'''Instead:''' He sends Ethan, the Others' only surgeon.\\
'''The Result:''' Ethan gets killed and the Others' lose one of their most important medical personnel. When Ben needs surgery later on, he's forced to try to coerce Jack into doing it.
* ''Series/LivAndMaddie'':
** In "Premiere-A-Rooney", Liv is dressed for the premiere of ''Space Werewolves'' and is about to get her phone, which is on the other side of the counter next to the family's meat grinder.\\
'''You'd expect''': Liv to walk over to the other side of the counter and pick up her phone.\\
'''Instead''': She reaches her arm over the grinder to grab her phone, and accidentally activates the grinder, resulting in her hair getting stuck in it.
** "Helgaween-A-Rooney": Maddie has returned home and grabs the magic wish amulet, ready to wish Helga away.\\
'''You'd expect''': Maddie to wish something like "I wish Helga away" or "I wish Liv and I were twins again."\\
'''Instead''': She only vaguely wishes, "I wish I was a twin again." As a result, the wish keeps Helga, but erases ''Liv'' from existence. Maddie even lampshades it.
* "New Years Eve-A-Rooney": While Liv is co-hosting Johnny Nimbus' New Year's Eve show, a Q&A round reveals Liv kissed Maddie's boyfriend Diggie in her "Froyo YOLO" video. This enrages Maddie, and Liv becomes horrified when she finds out.\\
'''You'd expect''': Maddie to let Liv clarify what she's talking about, as Liv saying she "kissed her boyfriend" might have a lot more to it.\\
'''Instead''': She straight-up ignores her sister's pleas and tries to break up with Diggie on [=FaceTime=], and she even doesn't let him talk as well. It's not until Maddie gets a text message to "Look at the TV" and unmute it does Liv reveal the kiss with Diggis is not what she thought -- Diggie was playing the robot Liv kissed in the "Froyo YOLO" video, and Liv only kissed the ''mask'', and Maddie meekly realizes the misunderstanding and apologizes.
* "Ask Her More-A-Rooney": Turns out Maddie cannot graduate because she has an overdue library book; Parker reveals he secretly used the book as a pillar to hold up the house for the Parker Tunnels, and if the pillar is ever disassembled, then the house will fall. The solution is to switch the book with another with the same size and weight. He chooses Karen's Thai cookbook.\\
'''You'd expect''': For Parker and Maddie to skim through the book and see if there's anything they shouldn't accidentally leave there while it's being used for the beam.\\
'''Instead''': They go ahead and swap the books without warning.\\
'''The result''': Maddie successfully returns the book, and needs her birth certificate to finalize it; turns out the cookbook has all of Karen's important documents in it, including the birth certificate.
* "Californi-A-Rooney": Karen finds out about the Parker Tunnels and finally realizes her cookbook is being used for the support pillar; she orders the boys to close up the tunnels and find a way to get her cookbook back.\\
'''You'd expect''': Joey to use a steady alternative to the cookbook, such as bricks, cinderblocks, or anything hard and sturdy enough to hold up the pillar where the book was.\\
'''Instead''': He uses Karen's exercise ball supported with hedge clippers.\\
'''The result''': The clippers pierce into the ball, deflating it and destroying the pillar, causing the house to collapse.

[[/folder]]

* ''Series/{{Galavant}}''
** In the pilot, a great hero Galavant tries to save his love Madalena from being forced to marry King Richard. Only, it turns out that Madalena would rather marry a king, becoming the most powerful woman in the land, than marry a hero. Galavant as a result goes into HeroicBSOD, being drunk all the time and leaving his squire Sid to care for him. King Richard realizes he's in over his head when he can never please his wife, who keeps comparing him to Galavant and demanding so many objects. He thinks the only thing he can do is slay the hero.\\
'''You'd Expect''': King Richard knows that Galavant has been reduced to a drunk and a year of not fighting puts a man out of shape. So he should just send an assassin with a knife for Galavant's back or poison for his next round of ale.\\
'''Instead''': Richard blackmails a princess to seek Galavant for help and tell him that Madalena regrets marrying the king, to lure him to the kingdom he just conquered, Valencia. Valencian Princess Isabella is reluctant about this, especially when seeing that Galavant for all his flaws means well. It also results in Galavant getting back into shape and working at regaining his former glory, returning him to the threat he was before Madalena betrayed him. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Oops.]] Also it means that Galavant eventually realizes that [[spoiler:Madalena isn't worth his affection, since she never even loved him. While Richard's plan works, it ends up getting upset by Madalena's plan, which could have been avoided if he had simply hired an assassin.]]
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
** In "Preggers", Finn's strongly Christian girlfriend, the president of the school's Celibacy Club, informs him that she's pregnant thanks to an incident involving his little problem with extremely premature ejaculation and a hot tub (while they were both fully clothed).\\
'''You'd expect''': That he'd do a little research and find out that that's not physically possible, and ask Quinn what she's so afraid of that she feels the need to tell such a huge lie.\\
'''Instead''': He [[BookDumb believes her without question]]. By the time "Ballads" rolls around, he decides that the best thing to do is to tell Quinn's even more conservatively Christian parents about her pregnancy. By singing 'You're Having My Baby' to her. At their dinner table. The first time he has been formally introduced to them. The scene ends with Quinn's father giving her thirty minutes - by the microwave timer - to pack her clothes and get out of the house, and is it any wonder?
** In "Born This Way", Santana Lopez accuses David Karofsky of being gay, her proof being that she saw him check out the bottom of Sam Evans, a boy who was getting a drink of water from a fountain.\\
'''You'd expect''': He'd either deny any memory of it, or he'd claim that he was thirsty and looked to see who was at the fountain. All she really had was that she saw him look at a person who was getting a drink.\\
'''Instead''': He claims he was just looking to see what type of jeans Sam had on. Ironically, if Kurt Hummel, an openly gay teenager, had said that he was checking out the clothes another boy was wearing rather than the boy himself, it would've likely been true and many people would've had no trouble believing him. However, when a macho athlete who has never shown any sort of interest in fashion tries to use such an excuse, then, yeah, it's going to ring some bells. Or to quote Santana, "[[UnfortunateImplications Like that's any less gay]]."
** Jesse St. James has messed up badly. When he transferred from Vocal Adrenaline to New Directions and then back, he started and horribly ended a relationship with Rachel Berry, who truly loved him, under the pressure of his classmates and former coach Shelby Corcoran. When he graduates and is away from the toxic influence of his friends, he realizes that he wants to win Rachel back and truly regrets that his last act towards her was to lure her into a trap and egg her. New Directions as a whole team views Jesse as a quisling all but tell him ThisIsUnforgivable, not helped by Vocal Adrenaline winning first place at Regionals in Season One while New Directions placed third.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Jesse's first act of damage control would be to apologize to everyone at New Directions and admit the truth: Shelby told him to transfer so that she and Rachel could reconcile since Shelby was her biological mother, but he did develop feelings for Rachel while seducing her. Then he would offer to do what he could to earn her trust back, as well as the trust of New Directions. He didn't just break Rachel's heart and egg her after transferring back to Vocal Adrenaline, but he also betrayed a team. As Kurt, who hates Rachel the most, puts it, only New Directions is allowed to humiliate her.\\
'''Instead''': Jesse's main goal of making amends is to kiss Rachel's butt and flatter her. As she considers forgiving him, Kurt points out that he "made breakfast" on her head and hasn't shown that he actually loves her. When Will hires Jesse to provide consultant advice on New Directions' rehearsals, Jesse spends the whole time giving legitimate criticism to everyone except Rachel. This doesn't endear him or show that he's reformed.\\
'''The Result''': While Rachel is tempted, she ultimately gets back together with Finn who for all his faults didn't betray the entire team or egg her. The team also ignores his advice, which means they do poorly at Nationals. [[spoiler:It's not until several years later and Finn is out of the picture due to Rachel moving to New York that Jesse earns his second chance with Rachel and finally proves he has changed for the better.]]
* ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'':
** "The Curious Case of Mr. Dabney". A football from the Duncans' ends up outside the door of the Dabneys' house. Gabe sends P.J. to sneak over and recover it. When he gets to their porch, as he is about to pick up the football, he hears Mrs. Dabney calling out from inside the house.\\
'''You'd expect:''' That P.J. would immediately grab the football and get the hell out of there, rather than listen to her babbling.\\
'''Instead:''' Freaked out, he jumps behind the fence, then tries to camoflauge his face with bush. Mrs. Dabney looks outside, then goes back in. After P.J. leaves, she comes back outside and pokes the football with a grilling fork, de-inflating the air out of it and making it useless.
** In the special, "Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas", the entire character of Petunia Blankenhooper can be summed up as this. At the beginning of the special, Amy is on the phone with her, reminding her to toddler-proof her house because Charlie is at a very rambunctious age where she will grab and/or knock over anything within her reach, proven when Charlie knocks over the cookie jar.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Petunia to listen to Amy's advice and keep absolutely everything out of places where Charlie could grab and/or knock them over.\\
'''Instead:''' While she does put everything else away, she leaves the Christmas decorations in places that are within Charlie's reach, including a one-of-a-kind porcelain reindeer that hasn't been made in 50 years. When Bob arrives, he asks Petunia if she could put the Christmas decorations away.\\
'''You'd then expect:''' Petunia to listen to Bob and put the Christmas decorations where Charlie can't reach them.\\
'''Instead:''' She ignores Bob's advice and tells him that if he told Charlie not to touch them, she will leave them alone. This was the same approach she used on her children when they were young. While it may have worked on them back then, it doesn't work with Charlie, as she soon starts knocking over the Christmas decorations, including the porcelain reindeer, which Bob manages to catch before it falls to the floor and breaks. Petunia catches Bob with the reindeer and asks him what he's doing. Bob is about to explain, but Charlie interrupts him, saying "Bad daddy!".\\
'''You'd then expect:''' Petunia to give Bob a chance to explain why he was holding her porcelain reindeer.\\
'''Instead:''' Petunia believes Charlie and blames Bob for the trouble she caused. Later, after P.J. and Gabe return from the pool and P.J. gets sunburned, Charlie knocks over the Christmas tree. Petunia clearly sees Charlie behind the knocked-over Christmas tree.\\
'''You'd then expect:''' Petunia to give Charlie a firm but fair punishment, like a five-minute time-out.\\
'''Instead:''' Petunia continues to blame Bob for the trouble Charlie causes, despite clearly seeing Charlie behind the knocked-over Christmas tree. She then punishes Bob by making him stay in her room and locking it, complete with a candy cane decoration in between the two door handles.
* ''Series/GoodOmens'': In episode 4, Shadwell goes to Aziraphale's bookshop to ask for train funds. He knows the man is inside and overhears him arguing with the voice of God. Looking through the mailslot, Shadwell sees a giant floating head claiming that the war must go on as planned, against Aziraphale's protests.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Shadwell has enough of a brain to conclude that Hastfield is where the apocalypse is taking place. Surely then, Aziraphale is an angel. That means he is on the side of good.\\
'''Instead''': He breaks in by picking the lock and accuses Aziraphale of being possessed by a demon. Shadwell then starts an exorcism, despite Aziraphale trying to get him to calm down and not step on the pentagram.\\
'''The Result''': [[spoiler:Shadwell's exorcism destroys Aziraphale's earthly form, so he dissolves in sparkles. He goes MyGodWhatHaveIDone on realizing he killed someone. When he flees the bookshop, he accidentally knocks over the candle and sets everything on fire. Shadwell also never received the train fare he needed to rescue his apprentice]].
* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'':
** In life, it was revealed that Eleanor was a terrible person. The least-awful but {{Jerkass}} thing she did was shirk designated-driver duties with her coworkers after they go to bars. One notices that when Eleanor is in charge of picking a name out of a hat, Eleanor is never chosen. Eleanor eats up all the papers with names and [[BlatantLies claims she did in on principle]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': Her coworkers would lay down an ultimatum: either Eleanor volunteers a shift, or she's disinvited. This would matter to Eleanor since socializing with coworkers helps with her career.\\
'''Instead''': They expect Eleanor will honor a rotation system since she can't fudge that.\\
'''The Result''': Eleanor finds a loophole by drinking ahead of time and being too sloshed to drive. By the time she is banned from drinks night, she doesn't care.
** Another horrendous thing Eleanor did involved a viral story called "Dress Bitch". Eleanor asked to borrow her wealthy roommate's dress. Madison told her no because it just got back from the dry-cleaners, and that the dress is worth more than Eleanor's weekly salary. Eleanor in a fury goes to "borrow" the dress for the evening, which happens to be too small for her.\\
'''You'd Expect''': She'd carefully put it on, since it's a thousand dollar dress and she wants to wear it for a fun night. And if she can't zip it up but still wants to wear it, she can cover it with a jacket.\\
'''Instead''': She struggles with the zipper and rips it badly. Then she stuffs it back into the dry cleaner packaging, rather than confess to Madison and offer to pay for the damage.\\
'''The Result''': Eleanor's actions means that Madison mistakenly blames the dry cleaner for the torn dress, and bankrupts the dry cleaner with an emotional damages lawsuit. Then Eleanor and her roommate notice that the story goes viral, with Madison going NeverMyFault at being called "dress bitch," and decide to sell t-shirts with the meme and an embarrassing photo of Madison. Michael hears the story when having to assess Eleanor's moral character and is visibly horrified. [[spoiler:The fact that he was faking his reaction doesn't negate the horrible qualities of Eleanor's actions. And to emphasize that she messed up, Madison ends their friendship when Eleanor finally confesses.]]
** In the first season finale, [[spoiler:Eleanor reaches a horrifying EurekaMoment as she, her "soulmate" Chidi, Tahani and Jason argue which two of them should go to the Bad Place: they're in the Bad Place because they are all torturing each other. This means that Michael and Shawn, the supposed angels of the Good Place, are actually demons]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': Eleanor would play dumb and find a solution that [[spoiler:allows everyone to keep torturing each other to buy some time]].\\
'''Instead''': She smugly announces to the group and Michael that [[spoiler:they're all in the Bad Place and no one is going on a train there. She forgets that Michael by this logic is a BitchInSheepsClothing and has power akin to being an angel]].\\
'''The Result''': [[spoiler:Michael does a reboot, wiping everyone's memories, and keeps doing it every time one of the quartet figures it out, totaling about eight hundred times. The only reason Michael doesn't do this continuously is because he comes to care for them and learns ethics from Chidi]].
** Meanwhile, we have Michael. [[spoiler:He proposed to his boss Shawn about creating a new form of torture, by pretending that this circle of hell is The Good Place. The torture comes from humans being around each other.]] Shawn points out that it wouldn't work because [[spoiler:humans by nature are unpredictable, and capable of change. There are too many "variables" in his words. Nevertheless, Shawn is willing to give Michael's a shot since the older tortures are getting stale, and he enjoys seeing his underlings fail so that he can "retire" them.]]\\
'''You'd Expect''': Michael to study humans intently. [[spoiler:Shawn makes it clear that he does not tolerate failure.]].\\
'''You'd Also Expect''': Knowing [[spoiler:Vicky's AttentionWhore tendencies]], Michael would give her a big part no matter [[spoiler:how many times he has to reboot. It's revealed she enjoys torturing Chidi the most and it would make sense to pair them each time the reboots happen]].\\
'''Instead''': [[spoiler:Michael smugly sets up the Good Place torture neighborhood, brings in the four new souls, and plays the part of a NervousWreck who wants to save all of his new human friends from the crises that plague them in this so-called utopian afterlife. His biggest mistake is pairing up Eleanor with an ethics professor as her soulmate, and giving Eleanor an incentive to truly perform a HeelFaceTurn as Michael starts framing her for the neighborhood chaos. Vicky is only brought in when Eleanor confesses to being the chaos magnet in the Good Place, to play the "real" good Eleanor Eleanor who ended up damned by accident. When he reboots the first time, he gives Vicky a bit part, much to her annoyance.]]\\
'''The Result''': Michael's plan lies on the assumption that [[spoiler:humans are static beings. People aren't, which any keen observer would know. Each time the reboot happens, Eleanor changes for the better, as do the other humans in this Good Place, because of their friendships and bonds, and because Eleanor tells herself to find Chidi so that he can teach her to be a good person. Chidi is forced to confront that his focus on being good meant that he caused harm for his friends, colleagues, and family; Jason in the meantime faces consequences for his lack of intelligence and empathy; and Tahani learns that doing good deeds for selfish reasons doesn't earn you brownie points no matter how many lives you save or families you feed. Eleanor is heartbroken to find out that in one reboot she came to love Chidi, which he reciprocated, and Michael erased that during an attempt to thwart him. After 802 times of Michael rebooting the neighborhood, Vicky blackmails Michael to take control of the neighborhood and the other demons mutiny because they hate pretending to be good people all the time. Oh, and when Michael becomes more human during his EnemyMine with Eleanor and her friends, he suffers a HeelRealization about why torturing people truly is bad when they rely on him for trust.]]
** Shawn is [[VillainousDemotivator bad at setting up useful incentives]] for those under his authority. At the end of season one, [[spoiler:Shawn threatens to retire Michael if his plan fails a second time.]]
** '''You'd Expect''': [[spoiler:If Shawn actually intended to follow through on his threat, he should have monitored Michael in some way so that he would be sure to know if Michael screwed up again. If he ''didn't'' intend to follow through, then it might have been wiser not to make a threat he didn't mean.]]
** '''Instead''': [[spoiler:Shawn leaves Michael to carry on without oversight for over three hundred years and believes Michael's reports on the project without question or confirmation.]]
** '''The Result''': [[spoiler:As soon as his second attempt falls apart, Michael's only options become "lie to Shawn indefinitely" or "suffer gruesomely for eternity". Eventually, he becomes desperate enough to bargain with his human prisoners, ultimately resulting in his becoming friends with them, having a crisis of conscience after Janet starts glitching from a broken heart, and helping them escape from the Bad Place. Shawn, who finds himself at risk of negative attention from his own superiors when Michael's deceit is uncovered, is totally shocked by this turn of events. Michael even lampshades this when Shawn confronts him about his betrayal; he admits that he cribbed all the torture reports on the four humans from Stephen King novels, so Shawn was obviously not paying attention to them and praising the details.]]
** "The Trolley Problem": As part of the EnemyMine with [[spoiler:Michael]], Chidi is giving an ethics lesson. He's discussing the trolley problem, which is do you let five people die or sacrifice one person to save those lives. Eleanor goes for the utilitarian method -- save five people by letting one die -- but [[spoiler:Michael, being a demon, thinks you have to make sure everyone dies and suggests beheading the sixth person. He's displeased to find that all the humans, even [[CloudCuckooLander Jason]], have done better in ethics than he has.]]\\
'''You'd Expect''': Chidi to not antagonize [[spoiler:Michael, who has tortured him, wiped memories of the torture, and gaslit him. That would be akin to BullyingADragon, and even if Chidi is right, he's been tortured as it is.]]\\
'''Instead''': Chidi says that he knows more about ethics due to it being his life's work.\\
'''The Result''': [[spoiler:Michael, after getting an evil glint in his eye, makes Chidi live through the trolley problem, and multiple variants of it, to mess with him. Chidi gets covered in blood and gore every time, and kicks Michael out of his ethics class briefly when Eleanor realizes what Michael is doing.]]
** In Season Three, [[spoiler:the Judge allows Team Cockroach a second chance at life on Earth, where they can truly earn their spots in the Good Place without being influenced by knowing their actions will be judged. Each of them tries post near-death experience to become a better person, but circumstances and temptation lure them back to their old ways. A reformed HeelFaceTurn Michael on observing his friends realizes that they can't succeed alone, separated on different continents, so he goes down to Earth to nudge them towards each other. Janet warns Michael that the Judge told them not to interfere, but eventually goes along with his scheme because she also wants Team Cockroach to succeed]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': Michael would take precautions and [[spoiler:disguise himself better when making the nudges]].\\
'''Instead''': Michael goes for PaperThinDisguise and [[spoiler:puts on four different identities to convince everyone to come together in Australia. He tells Janet that the judge is too busy watching television to pay attention to the test]].\\
'''Predictably''': [[spoiler:The Judge finds out, and gives him a WhatTheHellHero because his meddling is messing up the timeline. She sentences Michael and Janet to return to the Bad Place, even though it guarantees eternal torture for them, and exiles them when they bail to Earth]].
** Meanwhile, Shawn is annoyed and angry that [[spoiler:Michael outsmarted him, saved the human, and escaped to the Judge's refuge]]. He finds out about the test. [[spoiler:Shawn knows that the system is so black and white that no one has entered the Good Place since 1497, based on what he later boasts to Michael]]. \\
'''You'd Expect''': Shawn would either [[spoiler:rat out Michael to the Judge since that would disqualify Team Cockroach by default and land Michael in hot water, or play TheLongGame and wait for everyone to die a second time since the system is rigged against most humans succeeding]].\\
'''Instead''': He sends [[spoiler:Trevor to Earth to sabotage the group. Then when Trevor fails by some bad luck of the Judge busting him as well, Shawn decides to create a portal to Earth and forcibly drag everyone back to the Bad Place]].\\
'''The Result''': Shawn underestimates how dangerous [[spoiler:Janet can be, even without her powers. She starts a bar brawl with the demons to protect all the humans, while Jason clonks as many as he can with pool balls and Tahani knocks out one with a pool cue. Michael tag-teams with Janet to send the demons to the Judge via his portal key, and finally sends Shawn to confront her as well. And Shawn's comment on how the humans' families and Doug Forcett are doomed motivates Michael to investigate the system and find the rigging.]]
** During said fight, [[spoiler:Janet is a OneWomanArmy who is fending off several demons at once. With that said, she can be overwhelmed and outnumbered. Val nearly marbelizes her if not for Jason's timely throw with a pool ball]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': The other demons would follow [[spoiler:Val's example and try to marbelize Janet, or do what Chris did and grab the humans while Janet is occupied. Chris came ''very'' close to dragging Chidi and Eleanor back to the Bad Place by brute force]].\\
'''Instead''': [[spoiler:Two demons grab Janet and force her halfway through the Bad Place portal]].\\
'''The Result''': [[spoiler:Janet gets her powers back when she grasps the afterlife aura and uses them to thrash the rest of the demons, including Shawn. It also allows her to store the humans in her void, albeit by killing them]].
** The Soul Squad has arrived [[spoiler:at the Good Place....in the mailroom. Michael tells the humans to pretend they won a contest while he talks with the Good Place Committee. Tahani wants to help Jason and Janet after learning they were married in the first reboot, and Janet still has feelings for Jason. Janet has to pose as a Neutral Janet, which she hates because she's had a rough time storing four humans in the void]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': Tahani would realize now is not the time. [[spoiler:As Michael puts it, the fate of all humanity is at stake]].\\
'''Instead''': She tries to pull [[spoiler:IwantMyBelovedToBeHappy and get Jason and Janet to talk about their feelings]].\\
'''Predictably''': [[spoiler:Jason and Janet aren't ready to confront their past, which Jason doesn't remember, and their cover is blown when the three of them start crying. The only positive benefit is it helps Michael realize that unintended consequences send people to the Bad Place]].
** At the end of season three, the Judge gets a JerkassRealization about how [[spoiler:it is ''hard'' to be a morally good person after spending thirty years as a human. She decides to redo Michael's experiment, with four new humans, to see if the fake Good Place would improve their point totals. Shawn has been EasilyForgiven apparently for breaking the rules and says that Michael didn't measure point totals. Gen acknowleges he's right, and Chidi admits the only way to know is to measure them.]]\\
'''You'd Expect''': Given she knows everything that she would choose the four humans themselves. [[spoiler:Michael and Janet at least have good intentions on their side for breaking the rules. Shawn just cares about his ego.]]\\
'''Instead''': She gives the Bad Place permission to choose four humans whose point totals were equal to that of the original Team Cockroach. There are limitations, like no serial killers, warmongers, rapists or people who are irredeemable, but given Eleanor is a jerk, that still creates some leeway.\\
'''Predictably''': Shawn finds a loophole by [[spoiler:choosing humans that the Soul Squad knew in their lives so they will skew the experiment. Everyone is shocked and saddened when Chidi's ex Simone is chosen, and Chidi decides to erase his memories so as not to compromise the new neighborhood]].
* ''{{Series/Gotham}}'': Barbara Keen manages something along these lines in her every appearance, but special mention probably goes to badgering her boyfriend into revealing secret details of an active police investigation, giving out keys to her cop fiancee's residence in a mob-owned town, and 'leaving town' to flee from the police drama by... staying in town. With another policeman. Note that the backstory indicates she has dated cops almost exclusively, and doesn't have unfamiliarity with the situation as an excuse.
* ''Series/TheGreatBritishBakeOff'': Channel 4 is widely considered to have made a huge gamble by buying the rights to GBBO without first securing any of the four hosts. Now Mel, Sue, and Mary have left, it looks like they have spent >£25 million a year on a tent and Paul.
* ''Series/{{Greek}}'': The main sorority house is given a national consultant, Lizzi, who's there to oversee the house's recovery after a newspaper scandal takes them down a few pegs. In a slightly passive-aggressive fashion at the first meeting, she intimates that she does have disciplinary power over the house.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Casey, the president, would at least work with Lizzi, or even confront her when some decisions Lizzi makes might not get the house's damaged social standing back.\\
'''Instead:''' Casey sulks silently to Ashleigh and lets Lizzi run roughshod over the house without actual protest. What power she does have is that which goes behind Lizzi's back, with nearly disastrous consequences...nearly every time.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'': After Captain Renard breaks a spell on Nick's girlfriend Juliette, they become obsessed with each other as a side effect. Renard goes to Monroe for help, emphasizing that the connection is probably magical and that he wants it broken. When Renard brings Juliette to the shop for consultation, they lose control and start kissing; Monroe sees them and recognizes Juliette.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' that when he tells Nick, he would be sure to explain the whole situation, making clear that it's a magical effect and they want to be disentangled.\\
'''Instead:''' Monroe just tells Nick that he saw Juliette kissing another man. As an afterthought, he suggests that it might be related to the spell she had on her...but since he doesn't say ''why'' he thinks that, it comes off as grasping at straws. Unsurprisingly, Nick gets entirely the wrong idea.
* ''Series/HenryDanger'': In "Love Muffin", after freeing Ray from his love-induced trance with the episode's antagonist Gwen, they prepare to arrest her but she persuades them to let her go, otherwise she'll text a picture of Captain Man and Kid Danger to everyone in Swellview, exposing them of their identities.\\
'''You'd expect''': Henry and Ray to TakeAThirdOption and destroy Gwen's phone or rather take her phone away and delete the photo.\\
'''Instead''': They let her go, as requested.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}''
** At the end of Season 1, the Company captures Sylar. They inject him with a virus that suppresses his powers. That's a pretty smart idea. But then there's the question of what to do with him afterward. \\
'''You'd expect''' - That they would keep him in a cell in one of their facilities, with armed guards, scientists to run tests on him, and security systems that would work to prevent his escape, and inform them if he succeeded. \\
'''Instead''' - They put him in a shack in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing to prevent him from just walking out, and only one guard. She proceeds to have her own WhatAnIdiot moment when she carefully demonstrates her powers of illusion to the psychotic power-stealing serial killer, then does nothing as he acts threateningly towards her and shortly attacks and kills her. Finally, the Company apparently has no way of telling whether Sylar has escaped, as he is able to walk away from the shack for three days without any pursuit.
** Near the end of season 1, where Mohinder has captured Sylar (whom he knows is a multiple murderer), taken what DNA information he needed from him, and then tried to shoot him in the head. Sylar stops the bullet, escapes, tortures Mohinder... Then, later, Peter shows up, and in the confrontation, Sylar and Peter are both rendered unconscious.\\
'''You'd expect''' - Mohinder would use this opportunity to put a few bullets in Sylar's brain, like he already tried to do.\\
'''Instead''' - Mohinder scoops up Peter's unconscious (seemingly dead) body and just leaves Sylar there, to eventually wake up and resume his killing spree.
** Season 2: Peter stands before a giant door, with a needlessly complicated lock mechanism, behind which lies a deadly virus he's intent on destroying. Adam, who Peter's been working with, claims to have the same goal, but really wants Peter to open the vault so he can release the virus. Peter has been warned repeatedly by people he logically ''should'' trust, including Hiro -- who helped him save New York before. \\
'''You'd expect''' - Since Peter can phase through walls he would just do so. By leaving everyone else outside, and destroying the virus himself, he could have completely eliminated trust as a factor. Or used telepathy to read Adam's mind to confirm his intentions.\\
'''Instead''' - He uses telekinesis on the lock, almost squeezing his brain out in the process. Because phasing through the door would have been less interesting. Adam subsequently walks into the door and Peter blindly waits outside the door for him, not bothering to verify he's going to destroy the virus.\\
'''Furthermore''' - Adam's only power is immortality. How did Peter expect him to destroy the virus - stab it with his sword?
** Season 3: Tracy and Nathan come to see Suresh, and Tracy shows Suresh [[AnIcePerson her power.]] Suresh knocks them out with a sedative, but they're not the idiots. Later on, Nathan and Tracy are strapped to operating tables. When Mohinder says he feels like he's becoming a monster, Tracy offers her hand for comfort...\\
'''You'd expect'''- Mohinder to use the marvelous intellect he used in acquiring a degree to deduce that Tracy isn't just trying to comfort him.\\
'''Instead''' - Dr. Suresh reaches out for Tracy's hand and falls to the floor actually surprised when she freezes his forearm.
** The ending to Season 3, to the point of being completely ridiculous. Sylar kills [[spoiler: Nathan]], but is then tranq'ed. Everyone is now in a room with an unconscious Sylar and a dead [[spoiler:Nathan]].\\
'''You'd expect''' - HRG to say "Hey, Claire has magic bring-dead-people-back-to-life blood. I should know, seeing as it did so for me. Let's inject [[spoiler: Nathan]]'s body with some and toss Sylar into a wood chipper."\\
'''Instead''' - The group decides to [[spoiler: have Matt ''hypnotize Sylar into being Nathan'' and just pretend that Sylar is dead.]]. Naturally, this works exactly as well as you expect.
** Season 4: Peter has stolen the Haitian's power neutralizing ability and uses it to get the drop on Sylar, managing to nail-gun his hands to a table. Peter has Sylar dead to rights and knows that he killed Peter's brother ''and'' father ''and'' Claire's mother ''and'' untold others.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That he'd put a nail into Sylar's brain and then pitch him into a volcano.\\
'''Instead:''' He tries to bring Nathan's personality to the surface even though Sylar already proved in that season alone that it couldn't take.\\
'''Bonus!''' He completely neglects using the Haitian's memory-wiping powers to suppress Sylar again, which would make a tragically idiotic plan only largely idiotic. Or at least not to stop erasing Sylar's memories until there is nothing left, which the Haitian did in Season 1 with the guy that attempted to rape Claire.\\
'''Double Bonus!''' "Nathan" realizes he can't control Sylar and decides to commit suicide. He does this by jumping off a building despite knowing that Peter/The Haitian's power only works in close proximity and Sylar has super-healing. Naturally, Sylar regains his powers mid-fall and survives it, walking away to mock Peter.
** A less serious example: Hiro discovers a man about to jump off the roof of his company's building because he was fired for copying his butt at a company party.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Hiro could just intervene normally to get the guy re-hired at the company that '''Hiro owns'''.\\
'''Instead''': Hiro keeps traveling back in time to physically prevent the guy from copying his butt, but the guy just does it a week later.
* ''Series/HighwayToHeaven'', "Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind". Johnathan and Mark drive their car into a crater left by a falling meteor, then walk out of the crater. A young boy, whose grandfather believes in aliens asks them if they're aliens.\\
'''You'd expect''': That being an angel would make you prone to telling the truth. In which case, Johnathan should have said, "No. We crashed our car in the crater."\\
'''Instead''': Johnathan tells the boy that they're aliens and gives the boy a piece of meteorite and tells him it has magical powers. Later in the episode, the kid gets into trouble with other kids because he thinks he has magical abilities, but realizes he doesn't have the rock with him. The Aesop: believe in yourself.
* ''Series/HogansHeroes'', the episode "War Takes a Holiday": Major Hochstetter of the Gestapo has captured the four head members of the entire [[LaResistance Underground in Europe]]. He knows that Stalag 13 is home to the most idiotic commandant in the Third Reich and the most creative and resourceful POW they have in captivity.\\
'''You'd expect''': He take them immediately to Berlin or to some secure location where they'll never be heard from again.\\
'''Instead''': He takes them to Stalag 13, the place he suspects or even flat-out knows is a CardboardPrison.\\
'''So''': He does place a massive armed guard including [[NoKillLikeOverkill one with an MG42]] to kill anyone even thinking about approaching where the prisoners are held, after Hogan and his men very nearly smuggle them out. So, Hogan hits on another plan... [[RefugeInAudacity hijacking a nearby radio station and having Kinchloe make a fake announcement that the war is over]]. Apparently in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII according to ''Hogan's Heroes'', the rules state that all prisoners must be freed immediately on the end of the war.\\
'''You'd expect''': Really? Anything but what actually happened. At the very least, they'd be holding onto the prisoners until they got clarification on what exactly to do with them and arrangements were made for repatriation.\\
'''Instead''': Hochstetter believes this ruse. He does check with higher-ups, but the phone line has been hijacked by Newkirk, who buffalos him. This is the same Hochstetter who has been the victim of Hogan's shenanigans numerous times and should have had his guard up any time he was within 100 miles of Stalag 13. Especially with Hogan [[BatmanGambit gaslighting them by claiming it's all a trick]].\\
'''AND THEN''': Hogan convinces him to let the prisoners go. AND to let the prisoners take Hochstetter's car!\\
'''And so''': Hochstetter only barely gets out of this situation with his career and life intact when his superiors find out about his colossal screw-up. Why couldn't the Nazis have been [[StupidEvil this moronic]] in RealLife?
* ''Series/HomeAndAway'': Vengeful bad guy Dodge has staged his own disappearance in order to frame Simon for murder. He makes a taunting phone call to Simon's house, realising too late that he's leaving a message on Simon's answer phone (an old one with a tape recorder). Simon's friend Travis is in and hears the call.\\
'''You'd expect''': Travis to immediately take the tape out of the recorder and deliver it to the police.\\
'''Or at least''': That he would switch off the recorder/unplug the phone if he wasn't sure how to get the tape out without damaging it.\\
'''Instead''': Travis runs off to find Simon and the local policeman, leaving the tape in the fully-functional recorder. By the time they all get back, another call is being recorded over the top of Dodge's message. (Fortunately, the whole thing causes Dodge to panic and give the game away).
* ''Series/{{House}}''
** In one episode, House needs the medical history of a patient who'd been living at a convent and asks the nun running the place for her history.\\
'''You'd expect''': Said nun to simply give him the patient's history, telling him that the woman joined their convent when she was fifteen.\\
'''Instead''': She tells House that said woman was born in the convent because her religion believes anyone who finds religion is reborn, completely ignoring that a doctor needs actual physical history, not her religious beliefs.\\
'''The Result''': House's patient nearly dies before he discovers the problem is a copper IUD that was never removed (she's allergic to copper) because he didn't have an accurate medical history.
** This occurs in the second episode, with a boy (Dan) who is adopted (he doesn't know this).\\
'''You'd expect:''' Dan's adoptive parents to quietly advise House of this when Dan is being admitted, so that their medical history is not used as background for Dan's own history - after all, an incomplete medical history would be safer than an inaccurate one.\\
'''Instead:''' The parents say nothing of the sort, allowing House and his team to proceed with diagnosing Dan based on wholly incorrect assumptions. When confronted with the truth of the paternity, they give an excuse to the effect of: "He's our son, who cares what the DNA says!". They did give the birth mother's medical history, not the adoptive mother's, but it's still a pretty huge omission.\\
'''As a result:''' The team blunder through several incorrect diagnoses until House uncovers the truth using surreptitious DNA tests. The final diagnosis ends up being entirely based on a piece of the birth mother's history that wasn't directly in the file, but the link might have been caught sooner if House had realized the woman he was speaking to wasn't the biological mother.\\
'''To make matters worse:''' Dan was already aware (and didn't care) that he was adopted, having worked it out due to learning that a cleft chin, which he had but his adoptive parents didn't, is a dominant inherited trait. Meaning that if either he or his parents had just ''talked'' to one another about it, he'd have been diagnosed and treated far sooner, with less danger to his life (he almost walked off a roof due to hallucinations).
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'':
** In one Season 3 episode, the BigBad of the season Robert Frobisher-Smythe was found in Fabian's room on the floor, dying and begging for Fabian's help.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Fabian to see through this obvious trick as he knows Frobisher-Smythe is evil, and abandon him in the room while he goes to get help.\\
'''Instead''': Fabian agrees to help him, and takes Frobisher-Smythe to the gatehouse, where people are turned into sinners.\\
'''And then:''' Frobisher-Smythe asks him to complete his research when he's dead. Fabian is delighted and agrees, seeming to forget completely that he's talking to the BigBad...and then, Frobisher-Smythe ends up revealing his evil nature, and tricks Fabian into expressing the sin of pride, which of course gets Fabian turned into a sinner.
** In another episode that same season, Jerome, Patricia, Joy and Alfie are stuck in the gatehouse together to work on an 'extra credit' project that Patricia and Alfie know is actually a ceremony to reawaken Robert Frobisher-Smythe. They try to explain this to their friends and hope to stop the ceremony, even bringing up the mysteries of the past two seasons. \\
'''You'd expect:''' That Jerome and Joy would listen to their two best friends, and remember everything they have been through in the past two seasons. \\
'''Instead''': They refuse to listen and even make fun of their supposed paranoia, right up until it's too late. They have to go through with the ceremony.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': In "Say Cheese", it's Lily's birthday and she gets very annoyed when Ted brings a new date. Apparently Ted does this a lot, and the group has called him out for it.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Ted would learn or have learned after Strawberry ruined Marshall's graduation dinner.\\
'''Instead''': Ted still brings Amanda to Lily's birthday party. Amanda at least is a cake decorator and volunteers to add the finishing touches to the cake.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Amanda would just do a nice, neutral message since she doesn't know anyone.\\
'''Instead''': She gets Lily's name ''and'' age wrong on the cake.\\
'''The Result''': Eventually Marshall blows up at Amanda, who made an honest mistake, rather than at Ted since it was really his fault. Amanda is upset and runs off in tears, and Ted rips into Lily for being a brat and a hypocrite since he met her when Marshall brought her to their first college picture.
* ''Series/ILoveLucy''
** "The Diet": A big one from Ricky. Lucy wants to audition for being Ricky's dancing partner at his nightclub. He agrees to let her try to audition but warns her that it's stiff competition, there will be no nepotism, and she has to fit into a size 12 outfit. Regarding the third condition, Lucy rips the outfit when she tries it on; she then asks Ricky that if she can fit into the outfit, can she get the part?\\
'''You'd Expect''': Ricky would say no, in CruelToBeKind fashion. He knows that Lucy is a stubborn {{Determinator}} about her dreams to get in show business.\\
'''Instead''': He chuckles and says that sure, she can try. Ricky then hires another girl that can dance and fit into the dress.\\
'''You'd Then Expect''': Ricky would put a stop to the excess dieting, exercise, and steaming that Lucy does for the next week to lose twenty pounds in ten days. He knows that Lucy is being stubborn. It gets to the point where she's thinking about food all the time and pretends to be the family dog to get some pieces of steak from under the table. He loves Lucy, and anyone with half a brain can see that this behavior isn't healthy, physically or emotionally.\\
'''Instead''': He goes about his life and doesn't comment on Lucy eating celery sticks or Ethel stopping her from getting even a forkful of mashed potatoes. Rinse and repeat about ten days of this.\\
'''Predictably''': Lucy uses her diminishing reserves of energy to knock out the dancer that Ricky hired, tie her up and lock her in a closet, steal the dress, and go onstage. She shows Ricky that she ''can'' do the routine and become a showstopper. Then the SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs...she collapses backstage, and Ricky has to call for a doctor and paramedics on a stretcher. Ricky goes MyGodWhatHaveIDone for not stopping this, telling Lucy she needs to be on three weeks of bedrest due to suffering malnutrition. It turns out eating only celery sticks and exercising endlessly is a great way to wreck your health. Lucy only has enough strength to gesture to Ethel to open the closet where the BoundAndGagged dancer girl is.
** "The Fur Coat":
** Ricky borrows a $3500 mink coat for an act at his club, but when Lucy sees it, she thinks it's an anniversary present for her. She loves it so much she never takes it off, even when she goes to bed.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Ricky would an ApologyGift, go to Lucy, and explain the misunderstanding. Yes, she'd be disappointed given her tantrum when she initially thought Fred had bought the coat for Ethel but Ricky never bought anything like that for her, but then he wouldn't be out of $3500.\\
'''Instead''': He engages in a ZanyScheme that is equivalent to any of Lucy's, to have Fred dress as a burglar and steal the coat.\\
'''To Make Matters Worse''': Lucy completely understands when Ethel explains the truth, and then becomes mad at Ricky for lying to her.
** Not having the heart to tell her the truth, Ricky makes an arrangement with Fred for Fred to dress as a burglar, break into the Ricardos' apartment and "steal" the coat. But coincidentally, a real burglar breaks into their apartment on the same night.\\
'''You'd Expect''': For Ricky to confirm that the burglar is actually Fred and take a hint that he is a real burglar, given that he was rummaging through the Ricardos' valuables, isn't exactly talking like Fred, holds a gun up to Ricky, and never once "drops the act", even when only Ricky is present. To add to that, a real burglary has been recently reported in the neighborhood, which is in fact what gave Ricky the idea to have Fred pretend to be one.\\
'''Instead''': Ricky assumes that the burglar is Fred, foolishly points out the mink coat Lucy is wearing (which the burglar paid no attention to until Ricky pointed out how much it was worth) and hands the burglar the coat after he threatens to shoot Lucy. It's only when Fred arrives and scares the burglar away that Ricky catches on. If not for that, the coat could have actually been stolen.\\
'''The Result''': The next morning, Lucy vents to Ethel about how disappointed she is in Ricky for being a DirtyCoward, and Ethel is forced to fess up that the whole thing was a ZanyScheme. Lucy then becomes mad at Ricky for lying to her, since it's shown she would have understood if he had explained it was a rental for the club and decides to use a mink fur imitation to troll him. She has Ethel wear the imitation and cuts it up in front of him, causing Ricky to faint. Only then does she reveal the scheme, and Ricky brings a ''real'' anniversary gift for her.
* ''Series/TheInbetweeners'': Given how much time all four characters spend holding the IdiotBall, there's plenty to choose from. The best (or worst) example is in the Warwick episode. Simon and Tara are at the point in their relationship where they want to have sex, but can't do so in either of their parents' homes. Therefore, they plan to go and visit her sister who's at university (in Warwick) and have sex at her place. Upon hearing Simon doesn't really have a "plan", the other boys opt to tag along to help him out.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Simon would have more confidence in himself and just go to Warwick with Tara; or, if he had to take anyone else, he'd opt for Neil as he's had more sexual experience than the others combined. Furthermore, Simon also knows Jay is a [[BadLiar bullshitter]] and is likely trying to [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder sabotage his chances of getting laid]].\\
'''Instead''': He brings the others along. It starts badly when Neil bags the front seat in the car (obliging Tara to sit in the back with the other two) and gasses everyone with his farts. Once they get to Warwick, Will and Neil start drinking with Tara's sister's housemates, while Simon listens to Jay's ''very'' questionable advice. Oh, and Jay [[AbhorrentAdmirer attempts to seduce a female housemate]].\\
'''The Result''': Simon's frustration with [[TheLoinsSleepTonight the inevitable consequences of Jay's advice]] scares Tara. This combined with a series of events involving the others lead to the boys getting kicked out by Tara's sister, and Tara dumping Simon. Who remains a virgin until the [[Film/TheInbetweeners movie]].

[[folder:Live-Action TV 0-F]]
* ''Series/DarkAngel''
** Max comes across a transgenic who can see into the future. At one point he tells Max several actions he can see her taking in the near future, then is shocked when he sees her die as a result of these actions.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The guy would warn Max that she'll die if she does all the stuff he just told her about.\\
'''Instead:''' He keeps quiet and just starts crying, leaving Max to assume she's supposed to do what he just said. He ends up dying because of his own idiocy when he throws himself in front of the bullet she would have taken.
* ''Series/DeadLikeMe'':
** In the pilot, college dropout George Lass is interviewing for a temp job. George is a sarcastic young adult with a nihlistic view. It's revealed her mother pulled strings to get George this interview, which isn't for a great job but is for something.\\
'''You'd Expect''': She'd have followed basic job interview etiquette, even with the series set before the 2000s economic crash: dress business professional, prepare her answers, and be respectful. It isn't rocket science, it's just practice and selling yourself in the heat of the moment.\\
'''Instead''': George comes wearing a t-shirt and headphones, hasn't prepared her answers, and insults her interviewer when Dolores Herbig suggests she could smile and it would brighten her day.\\
'''The Result''': Delores, still smiling, gives George the worst possible job at Happy Time Temp in the office basement. George's mother calls out her daughter for being disrespectful.\\
'''Fortunately''': When George dies and becomes a Grim Reaper, she learns from her mistakes. When she interviews again at Happy Time Temp, she's wearing the same clothes she died in -- "funeral clothes" as George called them -- which are business professional, she isn't sarcastic, and she makes an effort to smile. That allows her to get a better job and Delores's friendship.
** After George becomes a Grim Reaper, she's having a LogicalLatecomer approach to all the arbitrary rules. Namely, she's upset at having to reap people who don't deserve to die, that she can't ever go back home or tell her family that she's undead, and that no one else will do the job or even pay you for it. Rube is the head of the local Reaping team, who is seeing George struggle with all the adjustments. It's implied that George reminds him of his daughter.\\
'''You'd Expect''': After George nearly messes up her first reap because she feels awful about having to "kill" a little girl, he would sit her down and lay all the rules on the table, and answering her questions. We're not sure how it went with Roxie, Betty and Mason, but surely Rube would empathize with George's FreakOut attitude.\\
'''Instead''': Rube takes a BecauseISaidSo attitude and only explains each of the rules after George breaks them and discovers the consequences. He hopes that eventually she will adjust to how arbitrary death is, especially in their department of "murders, suicides and accidents".\\
'''The Result''': Eventually, George's attempt at LoopholeAbuse to save a CEO creates massive consequences, in that dozens of people die from the CEO's faulty product. George keeps denying what she did, even as she's crying alone in the bathroom from [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone remorse at her actions]], and Rube gives her a WhatTheHellHero speech about how she can't play God because God is upper management and they are middle management.
** Meanwhile, George's family is grieving her. George's little sister Reggie is feeling pain the most, since she and George weren't close in life and she can't comprehend how a toilet seat flew out of the sky and immolated her sister.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The family would go to grief counseling after the funeral.\\
'''Instead''': Joy and her husband Clancy act on their grief in varying ways, and leave Reggie to her own devices. George wants to reconnect with her family but can't because if she tries, she loses her memories\\
'''The Result''': Joy and Clancy separate when it comes out that George's father is having an affair with one of his students, a sweet girl named Charlotte. Reggie in turn starts acting out; this includes developing a phobia about using the bathroom at home, stealing toilet seats from her school and hanging them on a tree in the woods as a shrine to George, and talking to what she thinks is her sister using an Ouija Board. George finding the branches with hanging toilet seats is taken aback but can't do more than return some of them. Joy finally takes Reggie to counseling when she sees the tree shrine, after a lot of damage has been done. [[spoiler:In the GrandFinale TV Movie, the rules bend for George to reveal herself to a teenage Reggie when the latter threatens to kill herself, which finally allows Reggie to move on from George's death]].
** In the GrandFinale movie ''Life After Death'', [[spoiler:Rube is allowed to move on and a new head Reaper replaces him.]] This guy believes that the reapers are AboveGoodAndEvil and can selfishly use their positions to attain luxury.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Mason is one thing since he is a former drug addict and not the brightest tool in the shed, but that [[spoiler:Roxie and Daisy would know better. Roxie has seen the consequences of reapers using their powers for selfish purposes]].\\
'''Instead''': George is the OnlySaneMan who has to remind everyone that the rules for reapers exist for a reason, since she spent most of Season One learning that the hard way. Her reap also gets messed up so that [[spoiler:the person who should be dead is in a coma. Roxie, Daisy and Mason without question follow their boss's lead and engage in selfish pursuits]].\\
'''The Result''': Massive consequences ensue, with all of the reapers feeling remorse for their actions. [[spoiler:They have to brutally murder their boss, and George has to reap the boy in a coma, who happens to be Reggie's secret boyfriend, in Reggie's presence. Then once the chaos winds down, a reluctant George becomes their new boss due to being the only person that thought through the consequences of her actions]].
* ''Literature/TheDemonHeadmaster'':
** In the second episode, Lloyd, Dinah, and Harvey end up in trouble when Harvey starts up a snowball fight, the Prefects punish them by making them shovel snow, even after they manage to make a pile of snow, Rose and the Prefects take the punishment further by pushing them into the snow, not caring that Harvey has asthma, Dinah is not happy about this. \\
'''You'd expect''': That Dinah would wait till they got home and talk to Mrs. Hunter about what happened. \\
'''Instead''': She goes and yells at the Headmaster, and as a result the Headmaster hypnotizes her into telling a completely different story.
* In the second to last episode of ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' season 6, Lynette finds out that Eddie, the strangler's mother, has been killed. she arrives at Eddie's house, and Eddie tells her that he just spoke with his mother and he's running away to Florida to see her.\\
'''You'd expect''': Lynette to play dumb as it appears she is ACTUALLY DOING at first, then get out of there and CALL THE POLICE.\\
'''Instead''': Lynette says that then that must not have been his mother, and Eddie now knows that she knows and the episode ends with her being held hostage as Eddie closes all the blinds.
* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': Sybil is about to give birth to her child. Two men - Doctor Clarkson, the professional, and Sir Philip, a knighted Doctor from Harley Street - are both there to help. When problems occur, arguments begin.\\
'''You'd expect''' - that Robert, Sybil's father, would side with his wife, Cora, and listen to '''the freaking professional who has known Sybil for all of her life and will be able to save her!'''\\
'''Instead''' - Robert sides with Sir Philip. Sybil gives birth. Everything '''appears''' to be fine... then, Sybil has convulsions and dies from Eclampsia... as Doctor Clarkson said she would unless they operated. Cue the almost divorce between Robert and Cora.
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'': Exercised several times by Boss Hogg and Rosco:
** An episode from the series' final season – "When You Wish Upon a Hogg" – is built around this premise: two people so naive, child-like and stupid they are unable to question what's going on. Here, Boss Hogg's unethical, corrupt nephew, Hughie, has convinced Boss and Rosco into believing that an antique oil lamp contains a genie, who will help grant them wealth and a way to get rid of the Duke boys once and for all. The whole scheme is the result of Hughie's insight into his uncle and right-hand stooge (gullible individuals with the mentality of 7-year-olds, who can be tricked into believing anything with little to no convincing). Sure enough, everything unfolds exactly as Hughie plans, as the shockingly beautiful Trixie (Hughie's girlfriend, who played the seductress "genie") plays her part perfectly. Boss and Rosco – who should know that Hughie is corrupt and would normally have thrown him out of the county immediately – are so convinced that Trixie is legit that Bo and Luke can't even talk them out of taking the bait ... and the final steps toward their doom.
** Of course, beautiful seductresses have caused plenty of trouble for Boss and Rosco before. Three years earlier, in "New Deputy in Town," Rosco fails to notice a simple FBI alert about a pair of criminals wanted for bank robbery and murder, one of whom is a beautiful, shapely, 20s-something woman named Linda Mae Barnes. One day, after Bo and Luke easily outwit Rosco for the day, Linda arrives and, impersonating a police officer, easily captures the Duke boys. An impressed Boss is SO turned on by Linda (as is Rosco) that he hires her on the spot ... neglecting to perform a simple background check that would have revealed many red flags. Coincidentally, Linda's arrival comes just as her boyfriend is scheduled to arrive for an overnight stay at the Hazzard County Jail... and it is left to Bo and Luke to do what Boss and Rosco should have done.
** Even Enos – easily the most competent, honest lawman on the Hazzard County Sheriff's Department's force – has fallen into this trap several times. Most notably, he (along with Bo and Luke, surprisingly enough, and Boss (not surprisingly as all)) fail to immediately identify a criminal who exactly resembles Rosco as an imposter in "Too Many Roscos." '''Setup''': Rosco had gotten into another accident during his usual daily cat-and-mouse game of the Duke boys, but this time, he is kidnapped by a trio of bank robbers, the ringleader being a man named Woody, who exactly resembles Rosco (James Best in a dual role). Days after Rosco is declared "dead," he is seen again and there is much joy and jubilation in Hazzard. Later, Rosco bungles simple facts, all while remembering in exact detail information about an expected armored car delivery to Hazzard Bank. When the fake Rosco talks about the armored car delivery, Enos – knowing that the phony had just bungled several facts about Bo and Luke – fails to call out Woody and instead begins to cry at Rosco's "weird" behavior; Bo and Luke, who normally would be very suspicious by "Rosco"'s unusual preoccupation on the armored car delivery, instead chalk it up to amnesia and a concussion and don't suspect a thing.
*** And what about the robbers themselves? '''You’d think:''' Having seamlessly pulled all of this off (see the entry in CriminalDoppelganger), they would leave it at that and just hightail it out of town before anyone catches on. '''Instead:''' They bring the Dukes to their lair, where the imposter reveals himself and shows them where the real Rosco is being held. Rosco puts two and two together, and he is ''not'' pleased.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'': Kerry Weaver is contacted by a private detective she hired to find her birth mother, who tells her that he's found the woman.\\
'''You'd Expect''': For her to make proper arrangements to meet with him to get the information.\\
'''Instead''': She leaves in the middle of her shift, with the ER clearly getting busy, without telling anyone where she's going. The result? A patient dies thanks to the errors made by the two less experienced doctors treating him. Doctors she should have been present to supervise.
* ''{{Series/Extant}}'': After Ethan goes missing in the woods John gets angry at the Sheriff postponing the search for the morning. After the Sheriff questions the need to search for a robot he punches him and ends up getting not only himself but also his stepfather thrown into jail for the night. Enabling the ISEA to get to Molly without any interference.
* ''Series/FakingIt'': Shane Harvey, CampGay most popular man in an extremely liberal school, pegs Amy and Karma as lesbians, and outright says Amy is gay at a party, though she continuously and vociferously denies it.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Shane would allow Amy to come out when she's ready, at the very least; at the very most, acknowledge he was wrong about her.\\
'''Instead''': He publicly outs the two as gay at the party, and tries to get them elected homecoming queens.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Totally straight Karma to be pissed at being outed as gay even though she's not.\\
'''Instead''': Popularity-starved Karma sees how popular they are now, and decides to milk it for all it's worth, dragging Amy along with her. Thus, she inadvertently unlocks Amy's latent sexual attraction to her, gets the hottest guy in school to fall for her, and then for all hell to break loose when all the secrets come out.
* ''Series/FallingSkies'': Tom Mason, who was a history professor before aliens came down and killed almost everyone, was on an alien ship. The BigBad cites Hitler, Pol Pot and other dictators as examples of humanity to justify the aliens actions.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Professor Mason would point out the opposites of those, or at least cite a few visionaries who have overcome odds and lead in peace, helping their citizens. Ghandi. Nelson Mandella.\\
'''Instead''': Tom stammers a bit and drops the ball.
* ''Series/FamilyMatters'': In one episode, Eddie is given the opportunity to be a judge at a bikini contest at the same time he's supposed to work as a peanut vendor at the Chicago Bears game. He decides to get someone to cover his shift so he can go to the contest.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Eddie would ask ''anybody'' but Steve Urkel to do it given the latter's reputation as TheKlutz and the several accidents he's caused that Eddie has witnessed firsthand.\\
'''Instead''': He gets Steve to do it. Steve's clumsiness causes several mishaps and Eddie is fired as a result. Afterwards, Laura tells Eddie he should've known this would happen and he has no one to blame but himself.
* ''Series/FatherTed'':
** In "Competition Time", Mrs. Doyle tries to tempt Henry into drinking a glass of sherry without realising that he is [[TheAlcoholic a man who is currently on the wagon]]. At that point, Ted walks in.\\
'''You'd Expect''': For Ted to remind Mrs. Doyle that they already have an alcoholic in the house (Father Jack, a priest well-known for keeping absurd amounts of alcohol) and that she might want to put it away. Sure he might say Jack would go berserk if he saw Henry with what he would believe to be his alcohol, but it would be a start.\\
'''Instead''': He supports Mrs. Doyle's fanatical refusal to let any of her guests turn down any drink of any description, which [[OffTheWagon naturally leads to disaster when she forces him to drink the sherry]].\\
'''But You'd Also Expect''': That Father Dunne, who had brought Henry to Craggy Island, would have called ahead to warn Ted not to allow Henry near any alcohol, especially given that he's going to be sharing a house with Father Jack.\\
'''Instead''': He apparently forgets to do this.
** In "Think Fast, Father Ted", Ted discovers that the car Brennan gave him for the raffle has a slight, but noticeable dent in it.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Ted to just leave it as it is; anyone who wins a ''car'' for the miniscule price of a raffle ticket isn't going to be bothered about a slight dent. At most, contact Brennan and try to persuade him to pay for the car to be repaired.\\
'''Instead''': Ted decides to try repairing the dent himself with a hammer... and after a few hours of tapping, [[EpicFail manages to completely destroy the car]].
** In "A Song for Europe", Ted and Dougal are listening to a B-side from a previous [=EuroSong=] entrant, and realise that its music matches the lyrics of their song perfectly.\\
'''You'd Expect''': They would check up on the song's history to ensure that it is really as obscure as they think it is.\\
'''Instead''': They decide to plagiarise the song's music for their lyrics without checking its history. Cue Ted panicking when he realises that it is actually well known.
** "[[ArsonMurderandJaywalking Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading]]" contains a phone conversation with Ted and his rival Dick, in which Dick tells Ted that he is [[BlatantLies giving up smoking for Lent, with his two companions also giving up their vices]], and asks Ted to do the same.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Ted would quiz Dick on whatever he is telling the truth or not.\\
'''Instead''': He believes Dick without any question, and naturally it eventually turns out that Dick is still smoking like a chimney, Father Johnson is drinking copious amounts of booze, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Father MacDuff is still rollerblading]].
** This label can be applied to Dougal in general, between placing rabbits in a Bishop's bedroom, selling the house to a feminist and [[TheFunInFuneral ruining a funeral]].
*** Speaking of the funeral, he only volunteered to do it since Ted (who was supposed to have been doing it) was distracted by unrelated matters and had gone for a walk.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Mrs. Doyle to persuade Dougal to wait for Ted to come back, and/or try to convince whoever is doing the funeral to delay it for about a day.\\
'''Instead''': She lets Dougal on his way.
** In "Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep", Ted has just realised that a champion sheep's recent troubles with a 'beast' in the build-up to a new sheep competition are due to the farmer who owns the sheep arranging to have him scared. Effectively, that means the competition has been rigged, because the sheep has been entered into that competition.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Ted to remember that he bet the heating budget for the parochial house on that particular sheep, and confront the farmer on his way home from the ceremony where the winner is announced, and threaten to expose the scam if the farmer does not admit to it in front of the islanders.\\
'''Instead''': He interrupts the aforementioned ceremony and exposes the scam there and then. This results in the parochial house being without heating for the winter.
** In "Film/{{Speed}} 3", Ted is stuck in a situation involving Dougal on a milkfloat that, because of a bomb, will blow up if it goes below 4 mph.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Ted and those helping him to realise that this is (A) too dangerous for them to get Dougal out of without either having something handy to keep the speed of the milkfloat above 4 or killing themselves, and (B) a situation similar to [[Film/{{Speed}} a certain Keanu Reeves film]].\\
'''Instead''': First they try performing a Mass dangerously close to the milkfloat. Then they fail to spot the WholePlotReference and get caught up with talking off-hand about ''Film/TheToweringInferno'', and irrelevantly watching ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'' only because 'Gene Hackman stars as a priest in it'.\\
'''Implications''': Firstly, the Mass example. If Dougal had let the milkfloat's speed fall below 4, not only would he be dead meat, but it's possible Ted and the others would have been caught in the explosion and been either burnt alive or get killed by flying debris. The second one relates to the film example; by the time they are able to figure out that they should 'put a brick on the accelerator', Dougal could have let the milkfloat's speed slip below 4, leaving no-one to save.
* In ''Series/FlashForward2009'', there is a group called the Blue Hand. None of the members have had flashforwards, implying that they will die between the present and the time of the flash forward.\\
'''You'd Expect''': They'd try to find out when they will be killed, and orchestrate events so that everything will be as they want it when they die, possibly using the Mosaic site or even the other members of the Blue Hand to put their plans on fast-track. In short, doing what Demetri is doing. Or they'd even consider possibilities like being ''asleep'' at the time flash-forwards were showing.\\
'''Instead''': They start committing suicide together. SelfFulfillingProphecy, anyone?
** The people who did have flash forwards weren't much smarter. The flash forwards are all of the same 2-minute period, and they're all consistent with each other, i.e. if you saw yourself discussing work in a London office with a co-worker, the other co-worker had a flash-forward of themselves discussing work with you. Plus, thanks to everyone putting their flash-forwards into the FBI's Mosaic database, you don't have the ProphecyTwist excuse either; the details as well as the exact date/time of the flash-forward period should be available to everyone. Some people had bad flashforwards that seemed to predict horrible, tragic or life-altering events.\\
'''You'd Expect''': As far as ScrewDestiny goes, this is the easiest one ever. To stop your flash-forward from coming true, just make sure that on April 29th, you are as far away from wherever you saw yourself at the time. Only Olivia seems to comprehend this when she suggests to her husband Mark that the family move to a different house to avoid the flash-forward of her being involved with Lloyd (and effectively separated from Mark).\\
'''Instead''': Through various contrivances, most everyone who didn't die is exactly where they should be to have their flash forward vision or some approximation of it [[spoiler:including Olivia who doesn't sleep with Lloyd but kisses him anyway.]] This isn't YouCantFightFate, it's "You didn't even try".
* ''Series/FlavorOfLove''
** In Season 2, episode 7, Bluckeey overhears Krazy gossipping to [[ManipulativeBitch New York]] about the other girls in the house. Buckeey wants to give Krazy a piece of her mind.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Buckeey to only confront Krazy ''verbally'' only, since Krazy never made any attempt to assault Buckeey.\\
'''Instead:''' Buckeey does confront Krazy verbally, ''at first.'' When Krazy attempts to shove Buckeey to get her out of her way, Buckeey uses it as an excuse to assault Krazy and almost push her off of the balcony.\\
'''The Funny Thing Is:''' Buckeey lampshades that [[GullibleLemmings Krazy]] is foolish for speaking with New York because New York was only using Krazy to start a fight to get someone eliminated. By Buckeey attacking Krazy, Buckeey foolishly took the bait.\\
'''As A Result:''' Buckeey is eliminated because she was discovered to be the aggressor of the fight between her and Krazy.
* In the first season finale of ''Series/{{Forever}}'', Adam (a 2,000-year-old evil immortal) shoots protagonist immortal Henry with the flintlock that could cause Henry's [[ImmortalBreaker death]]. As Adam gloats over Henry's dying body, Henry quickly stabs Adam in the neck with a syringe and injects air into Adam's brainstem. This visibly affects Adam.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Adam to quickly kill himself and use his ResurrectiveImmortality to heal himself and undo whatever damage Henry just did.\\
'''Instead:''' Adam stumbles into a crowded subway station, which is stupid because his body disappears whenever he dies, and that might draw unwanted attention. But he doesn't die, he just collapses -- the air injection causes an embolism and causes Adam to get Locked-In Syndrome, meaning that [[AndIMustScream he can see and hear but can't move or communicate]], confining him to a hospital bed indefinitely since he never ages and now can't kill himself. And to top it all off, Henry resurrects anyway.
* In ''Series/FortBoyard'', there's a game ("''Ventouse''" in French; "''Burglary''" in English) in which the player has to cross a room containing ladders, hammocks and tables without letting anything touch the floor. If at any time anything touches the floor that shouldn't, game over, the player gets locked in. Also, the key they need to get is inside a sealed container, which can only be opened using a suction cup carried with them.\\
'''You'd expect''': The lock-ins to be caused by the genuinely hard final obstacle, the unstable hammock, or the time running out.\\
'''Instead''': Quite a few times, once they get the key out, they suddenly forget the floor is alarmed. They throw the suction cup on the floor, alarms go off, locked in. It gets worse though. [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2tnrg_ventouse-un-temps-record_fun One player in 2006]] thought that the first (about half-meter) jump onto a table couldn't be done straight, so stuck the suction cup onto the wall, began to swing from it, and looked genuinely shocked when he realised that the suction cup (that was only supposed to lift up a bit of plastic) couldn't take his body weight, it popped off, and so he dropped to the floor in what was probably the quickest lock-in ever.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': In the episode "Can't Buy Me Love", Frasier wins a date with an attractive model named Kristina at a bachelor auction. On the night of the date, Kristina had a last minute shoot scheduled and has to postpone the date while leaving her bratty daughter Renata in Frasier's care, promising to make it up to him when she returns. During their unpleasant evening together, Renata tells Frasier about how neglectful and abusive Kristina is to her (abandoning Renata to get a shoulder tattoo, lying about her age, making her do daily weigh-ins), all the way up until Kristina comes to pick her up.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Frasier, being a highly experienced psychiatrist, would calmly ask Kristina her side of the story, on account of the fact that Renata might have lied through her teeth to get attention.\\
'''Instead:''' Frasier takes Renata's word for it and tears into Kristina for her poor treatment of Renata.\\
'''As a Result:''' Kristina gets angry, debunks Renata's stories (particularly by showing that she has no shoulder tattoo) and leaves Frasier alone for the evening.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''
** Will is offered amphedimines from a classmate to help him stay awake and keep up with all his extracuricular activities. He reluctantly accepts them even though he's not really interested.\\
'''You'd expect''' Will would simply throw the pills in the trash or flush them down the toilet. Just Get rid of them by any means nessecary.\\
'''Instead''' he throws them in his locker and eventually forgets about them.\\
'''As A Result''' Carlton get a hold of them, mistakes them for Vitamin E pills and ends up nearly dying for an overdose. After Confessing to his Uncle Phil, He rightfully asks how Will "Could be so stupid"!
* ''Series/{{Friends}}''
** Ross is known to do a lot of stupid things due to being more interested in being proven right than getting along with people, but the whole "we were on a break" saga probably takes the cake. When their relationship is strained, Rachel suggests they take a break (from the relationship), which Ross understands as a breakup since he's already convinced himself she's been cheating on him anyway. He is very upset and gets drunk, and wakes up with the girl from the copy place. He seems remorseful and doesn't want Rachel to find out or it'll ruin things. Eventually, Rachel finds out.\\
'''You'd expect''' Ross to say something like "I was so upset over losing you that I got drunk and this just happened. I'm sorry."\\
'''Instead''' he claims he was completely justified and it was all her fault.
** Rachel eventually then decides to write a very lengthy letter to Ross, telling him that if he accepts full responsibility for his actions, she can start to trust him again.\\
'''You'd Expect''' Ross to simply forget about trying to justify his actions in the past and move on so he can be with Rachel. Even Joey and Chandler point this out to him!\\
'''Instead''', Ross, during sex with Rachel while she gives him credit for manning up to his mistakes, wants to prove that he isn't fully responsible for what he did. He screams "WE WERE ON A BREAK!" and then proceeds to admit that never read the letter before accepting its terms simply because it was too long and when he did finally read it, he didn't agree with it because he feels the break up wasn't all his fault. Ross and Rachel promptly break up and proceed to make each other miserable as possible for the next season or two as revenge.
** Phoebe in "The One with the Cop" finds a police badge in the coffeehouse.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Phoebe to hand the badge over to a police precinct so they can find the owner.\\
'''Instead:''' [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer Phoebe uses the badge to pretend to be a cop]]. In case you're unaware, this happens to be ''illegal''. She eventually gets caught by a real cop who is the owner of the badge. You'd also expect the cop to arrest Phoebe for impersonating him, but he decides to ask her out on a date instead.
** In the season 9 finale, Chandler uses Ross' laptop to check his e-mails. Chandler, being knowledgeable about computers and the internet, should know about the pitfalls about e-mails from strangers.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Chandler to not open strange emails, especially ones promising free porn.\\
'''Instead:''' Chandler opens the e-mail anyway and gets Ross' laptop infected with a virus, which deletes Ross' keynote speech that he had typed up. This would have gotten Ross in trouble since he had to make a speech the next day but Charlie managed to help him recreate the speech.
** In "The One with the Sharks", Monica walks in on Chandler masturbating to porn; When she enters the room, Chandler jumps up and quickly changes the channel to a shark documentary.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Monica to understand that Chandler simply changed the channel away from his porn when he heard her come in.\\
'''Instead:''' Monica thinks that Chandler has a shark fetish.
** In "The One with Ross's Grant", Ross is a finalist for a big scientific grant, but unfortunately, the grant is being administered by Benjamin Hobart, the ex-boyfriend of Ross's girlfriend Charlie. Hobart asks Ross to break up with Charlie. When Ross refuses, Hobart sabotages him during a group interview with all the finalists, then informs Ross that the grant is his if he'll break up with Charlie.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Ross to file a formal complaint against Hobart, whose actions constitute a ''major'' ethics violation.\\
'''Instead:''' Ross's only action is to tell Charlie that her ex-boyfriend sabotaged him because he's still in love with her. Charlie finds this notion romantic and gets back together with him. And even after losing both the grant and his girlfriend, Ross still does nothing.
** During season 5, Monica and Chandler are having an affair. At first it's just sex, and they decide to keep the whole thing a secret from everyone, because it probably won't last long. However, after a while it becomes evident to the them they're actually in a serious relationship.\\
'''You'd expect''': Monica and Chandler to finally tell the truth to their friends, since most likely they would be nothing but happy for the couple.\\
'''Instead:''' For reasons that aren't quite clear, Monica and Chandler feel they're "not ready" to spill the beans on their relationship. So in order to cover their tracks, they have to keep telling increasingly complex and ludicrous lies ''to their best friends'' for months. And when said friends eventually discover the truth, they're nothing but happy for the couple.
** In Season 2's "The One with the List," Ross is torn between his feelings for Julie and Rachel and doesn't know who to be together with. Chandler and Joey convince Ross to make a list of their pros and cons. After they list some cons for Rachel, when thinking of a con for Julie, Ross comes to the realization that her con is she isn't Rachel.\\
'''You'd expect''': Realizing that Rachel is the one he truly loves, Ross would get Joey and Chandler to have the list deleted immediately.\\
'''Instead:''' They leave it on the compueter the whole time. When Rachel eventually comes into Joey and Chandler's apartment, she notices her name on the computer and is curious to what it says. Chandler closes his computer's screen, but then his printer ends up printing the list. Chandler quickly snatches the paper.\\
'''You'd then expect:''' Chandler to completely rip up the paper before Rachel is able to get a look at it.\\
'''Instead:''' Chandler, Joey, and Ross try to keep playing keep away and pass the paper to each other so Rachel can't see it. She's eventually able to snatch it from the three and gets a good look at the list.\\
'''You'd also expect:''' Joey and[=/=]or Chandler to step forward and say the list was their idea (which ''is'' true) and claim Ross didn't know about it.\\
'''Instead:''' [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere The two immediately bail]] [[WithFriendsLikeThese and leave Ross alone]] to face Rachel's wrath.\\
'''As A Result:''' Rachel angrily [[WhatTheHellHero calls out]] Ross and tells him that she refuses to ever date him.
* In the ''Series/FullHouse'' episode, "Sisters in Crime", D.J. is forced to [[BabysittingEpisode babysit Michelle and Stephanie]] while their Father, Danny and Uncles Joey and Jesse participate in a charity ice hockey game and Becky takes her twin sons out to her Aunt's. D.J.'s boyfriend, Steve comes over to take her to the movies, but instead of staying home to babysit, D.J. takes both Stephanie and Michelle with them. Later, D.J. gives Stephanie and Michelle some of the money and they decide to buy some food.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Michelle and Stephanie to come to their sister before buying food, since the money D.J gave them goes to two extra tickets while Steve buys her the other two tickets.\\
'''Instead:''' They spend all their money on food. Unfortunately, Steve doesn't have any more money to buy them two extra tickets.\\
'''As A Result:''' DJ hatches a plan to get her friend, Kimmy to let Michelle and Stephanie sneak into a movie with her and Steve when they only have two tickets. They later get busted for sneaking.
[[/folder]]

* In the fifth season of ''Series/TwentyFour'', Jack Bauer finds himself on an airplane with a dictaphone recording which proves that President Logan supplied nerve gas to terrorists. Bauer finds out through a phone call to CTU that Logan has arranged for the plane to be shot down on the pretext that it's fallen under the control of terrorists.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Bauer to play the recording into his mobile phone, and CTU to use it to make their own recording, meaning that they'll still have the evidence even if Bauer's plane gets shot down.\\
'''Instead:''' They don't do anything of the sort, and Bauer ends up having to force the plane into an emergency landing, then escape Logan's forces on the ground. Fortunately he manages to do all this successfully and returns to CTU, where he hands the dictaphone to Chloe. We then find out that a conference call with the Attorney General has been scheduled for about a half hour or so later, and that the dictaphone uses a flash memory chip.\\
'''You'd Then Expect:''' Chloe, being a computer expert, to make copies of the conversation in every medium humanly possible; one on her own computer, one on Buchanan's computer, one on CTU's network, and one on optical disc for good measure.\\
'''Instead:''' She ''doesn't make a single copy'', giving a corrupt [=DoD=] staffer time to call Logan (preventing him from committing suicide in the process), set up a deal involving a cushy job at the White House, then upload a virus which completely wrecks the dictaphone's memory chip, forever destroying the all-important conversation and forcing Bauer to find a means of extricating a confession from Logan.

* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'': Judith, who is an absolute bitch to Alan and an abusive harpy in general, kicks her husband, Herb, out of her house because he stood up against her abuse. Alan hears it from Charlie and is sadistically happy about his ex-wife's trouble. Then he goes to her house as soon as he heard about it.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Considering that Judith, up to this point, stole everything from Alan in the divorce, including his house, meddled in his relationship with Kandi out of petty vengeance, gave Kandi the divorce lawyer she used to screw him even further and uses the child support money that's supposed to pay Jake's expenses for herself, you'd expect Alan to finally put her in her place.\\
'''Instead''': [[RuleOfFunny It's a sitcom, so he doesn't]]. Instead, he starts [[TurnTheOtherCheek comforting her]], despite laughing at her suffering from the inside. However, it ends up with Alan ''getting back with her'', [[IdiotBall as if he forgot]] [[KickTheDog all the crap she put him through]] [[ForTheEvulz for her own amusement]]. As expected, it ends with Judith deciding to break it up again, instead of Alan having the balls to reject her in the first place, and next time we know, she's back into abusing him and [[HenpeckedHusband Herb]] again.
** Judith always threatens Alan with going to the court if he doesn't pay everything unnecessary for her, not covered by the ridiculously high alimony.\\
'''You'd expect''': For him to say 'okay, let's go, let the judge see that even the amount of alimony I already pay isn't your rightful share'.\\
'''Instead''': He gives in and pays.

* ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'' is a show that, by its very nature, has this trope pop up about OnceAnEpisode. For example...
** "Love Bugged": A French man with an interest in lizards and bugs decides to try and build an immunity to black widow spider venom by letting one bite him.\\
'''You'd Think:''' He would first try to find out if it's a good idea, before letting the spider bite him.\\
'''Instead:''' He lets the spider bite him, and he grows weaker until he dies from a heart attack.
** "Wet Dream": A man with a deep love of fish constructs a fish suit out of waterbed material and goes to a lake to test it out.\\
'''You'd Think:''' He would put it on near the water or use it on a cooler day.\\
'''Instead:''' He puts it on far from the water on a hot day.\\
'''As A Result:''' He starts overheating, but the suit prevents his sweat from cooling him and he dies of hyperthermia, just inches away from the water.
** "Butt F***ed": A man ends up in the hospital with serious burns all over his body ''after falling asleep in bed while smoking.''\\
'''You'd Think:''' He'd take this as a sign from the man upstairs that it's high time he kicks the habit.\\
'''Instead:''' He bribes the night nurse to take him out back for a smoke. The ash from his cigarette holds enough of a spark to ignite the highly flammable ointment his bandages are soaked in. Set ablaze, he rolls uncontrollably down the wheelchair ramp and at the bottom his oxygen tank explodes into a ball of fire, burning him to a crisp.\\
'''On Top Of That:''' The nurse had just told him, "Okay Mister Burns, you've got 2 minutes, don't do anything stupid."
** "Tanked Girl": A female diver was in the decompression chamber after a spot of trouble down below. A maintenance worker was making his rounds when he came upon the chamber door.\\
'''You'd Think:''' He'd have the presence of mind to ''ask if the chamber was occupied before opening the pressure door''.\\
'''Instead:''' He opened the door without asking, changing the pressure in the chamber and killing the poor woman inside. One can only hope that this moron was, at the very least, fired.\\
'''Also:''' that episode was all sorts of FridgeLogic: why didn't the chamber have an intercom, window or some sort of signal light or sign to indicate when it was being occupied, and why exactly did the maintenance man open the door? Curiosity? Or did he have a legitimate reason to go into the chamber? As for the maintenance man opening it without asking, the occupant was presumably screaming out loud to warn him of what he was doing and the chamber was either soundproofed or so sound-shielded that he couldn't make out her words and thought someone was stuck in there and trying to free them, which again brings up another question of why there wasn't a speaker/intercom hooked up to the outside.
** "Exhaustdead": A cruel man named Mark is abusive towards is girlfriend, Julie, and one month later, she dumps him for a nicer man. Mark finds out about Julie through a friend and drives to the restaurant where Julie is with her new boyfriend. Being too much of a coward to confront them, he decides to pelt them with paintballs and drive off. He backs up his car to hide, but begins to feel lightheaded because he backed up his car into a garbage heap, therefore, trapping the carbon monoxide exhaust in the car.\\
'''You'd Think:''' He would get the idea that something's wrong with him and step out for a bit or at least open the window for fresh air.\\
'''Instead:''' He does neither and he eventually passes out and dies of asphyxiation.
** "USSR-Dead": A Ukrainian immigrant hooks up with the Russian mob. After bumping off three men who owe debts to the mob, the immigrant's fingertips are burned off with sulfuric acid so he can't be identified by the cops. To celebrate his joining, the mobsters order a round of vodka.\\
'''You'd Think:''' The mobsters would keep the vodka and the sulfuric acid in different-looking bottles, or at least label the containers so that they don't get the two liquids confused. [[note]]Both vodka and sulfuric acid are colorless liquids.[[/note]]\\
'''Instead:''' The two liquids are kept in identical containers with no labels, so the senile barkeep couldn't tell the difference between the vodka and the sulfuric acid, so the barkeep serves sulfuric acid to the two mobsters and the immigrant, resulting in all three of them dying from internal damage.
** "Jaw Boned": A meth cook/addict chews gum while he works and occasionally dips it in citric acid to keep it fresh.\\
'''You'd Think:''' He'd keep the citric acid away from all the dangerous chemicals.\\
'''Instead:''' He places the citric acid right next to red phosphorus, an explosive substance in meth and fireworks. Eventually, during a meth-fueled rush, the addict dips the gum in red phosphorus and when he bites down on the gum, his jaws apply 120 lbs of pressure, igniting the red phosphorus, blowing his lower jaws off, and causing his brain to compress to the back of his skull, killing him.\\
'''Also:''' He even kept a can of soda near a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, which he nearly drank earlier but spitted out before he could swallow.
** "Dog Dead Afternoon": An animal abuser sneaks into an animal shelter to steal a pit bull named Michael, the man tranquilizes Michael and is about to leave, but a security guard comes by and takes a nap in his car.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The thief to just leave Michael behind and flee while the guard is asleep.\\
'''Instead:''' He decides Michael is a too good of a catch and tries to wait for the guard to leave. An hour later, the guard awakes and sees the cage open, prompting the thief to tranquilize the guard. However, this causes the guard to fall in front of the cage and shut it. As the thief tries to get the cage open, the tranquilization on Michael wears off, and Michael bites the thief, ripping out his trachea.
** "Vertigo, Going, Gone": A sociopathic accounting worker who was fired for his {{Jerkass}} attitude and general incompetence, climbs an oak tree to kill his boss with a single-shot, bolt-action rifle. However, he is revealed to have an allergic reaction to oak pollen and starts sneezing uncontrollably.\\
'''You'd Think:''' He would get the idea that something's wrong with him and come down.\\
'''Instead:''' He stays up in the oak tree with tens of thousands of pollen particles and ends up with an allergy-induced vertigo.\\
'''As A Result:''' When his former boss comes out of the building, he misses the shot, falls out of the tree, and dies of a paralysis resulting from the compression of his cervical spinal cord.\\
'''Ironically:''' The sociopath wanted his former boss dead, but instead it was he who ended up dead.
** "Lesboned": A horny real estate agent is selling a house to a fellow nymphomaniac and they decide to start having fun.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For them to go to the bedroom or living room to do the nasty.\\
'''Instead:''' They do it in the laundry room where any number of accidents could happen during coitus. They end up rocking the dryer so much that it unhooks, releasing natural gas and causing an explosion that kills them both.
* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'':
** "Double Dose": Two villains get caught by Superman. One tries to shoot him, [[ShootingSuperman to no effect]]. Superman demands to know, "What have you done with [[{{Protectorate}} Jim Olsen]]?"\\
'''You'd Expect''': The two cooperate, hoping that this scary invulnerable guy recommends their cooperation as grounds for leniency during sentencing.\\
'''Instead''': One tells the other to "[[HighVoltageDeath give [Jim] the current]]." And the other ''listens''.
** Two crooks who have captured Perry and Lois ([[RevengeByProxy and who have previously said that they are going to kill all four members]] of the ''Planet'' staff) ask Perry how he'd describe the route if he were telling Jimmy how to get to that house.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Perry realizes that the only reason they'd ask this is to record his voice for a trick phone call to Jimmy.\\
'''Instead''': He describes the route. Jimmy is almost killed when his acid-eaten brakes give out. NiceJobBreakingItHero
* ''Series/AfterSchoolSpecial'':
** "The Cheats":
*** In a prep high school, three friends -- Holly, Lynnie, and Robin -- steal final exam answers. Holly's best friend Beth refuses to look at the answers, while preparing to earn her grade honestly and get into her dream college Cornell. The trio's perfect A's wreck the curve, and overcome with guilt, Lynnie and Robin confess. Dr. Daniels, the principal, makes it clear that any person involved with the cheating will be suspended, even if they had merely taken a glance at the answers, and given a failing grade if they confess, but they will be expelled if they are caught and don't confess.\\
'''You'd Expect''': After they had taken the exam, that all the girls, having gone this far, that all the girls would have disposed of the answer papers, left them at home, or not left them lying around.\\
'''Instead''': Robin put her test answers in a library book. When she returns it, by some bad luck Beth checks it out.\\
'''The Result''': The librarian finds the copy of the test answers when Beth returns it and has to report it to the principal.
*** Due to the test answers being in Beth's library book, Dr. Daniels busts Beth for what she knew about the cheating, and asks her who else was involved.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Beth knows that Dr. Daniels isn't bluffing. She should turn in Holly and save herself. That's classic game theory with the PrisonersDilemma.\\
'''Instead''': Invoking HonorBeforeReason, Beth says that she feels that telling on the person who did the cheating would be as bad as the cheating itself.\\
'''The Result''': Dr. Daniels likes Beth, and knows that Beth is telling the truth. She also knows that the school board and she will have to expel Beth unless there's some kind of leeway. Intuiting that Beth is trying to protect Holly, Dr. Daniels asks Beth to tell whoever cheated to confess, so that the school board would go easy on Beth.
*** Following this, Beth tells Holly about what happened and begs her to turn herself in, or Beth will be expelled. Holly, for all her shallow selfishness, values their friendship.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Holly would do the right thing and confess to Dr. Daniels, for Beth's sake.\\
'''Instead''': She tells Beth that nothing will happen and it will work out, despite the fact that Lynnie and Robin were suspended.\\
'''The Result''': Beth is expelled, and shoots a DeathGlare at Holly as she leaves the school with her locker's contents. Dr. Daniels is forced out by the school board, and gives a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Holly after graduation that she knows that Holly was the instigator of the cheating in the first place, despite there not being any proof, asking her WasItReallyWorthIt. In addition, Holly and Beth's friendship is irreparably damaged; when they encounter each other two years later, Beth tearfully tells her that she had to go to state school for a year before Dr. Daniels, who got another administrative position, vouched for her at Cornell admissions; despite this, she can never forgive Holly for what she did, and didn't do. While Holly is a KarmaHoudini, in that she got into her dream college, she truly regrets that she sacrificed her friendship with Beth for that perfect A.
* In ''Series/{{Alf}}'' finale "Consider Me Gone", ALF has been contacted by radio by two friends of his who survived the nuclear explosion of Melmac. As he arrives at the coordinates in a forest to depart, the government agency Alien Task Force (who tracked down the [=UFO=]) are also coming.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Just as Willie said, for Alf to run back to the Tanners so they can drive away.\\
'''Instead''': Alf just stands there begging his friends (who [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere bailed because of the government agents' intervention]]) to pick him up. The ATF surround him and who knows what happens next, most likely it involves [[DownerEnding they torture and dissect him]].
* ''Series/AllMyChildren'': Adam Chandler disapproves of ex-wife Dixie's behavior--sleeping around, and her latest conquest is the 18-year-old Brian--and starts making plans to file for full custody of their son. Adam's daughter Haley--Brian's ex-girlfriend--tries to warn Dixie about this.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Dixie to cool it with Brian, especially since she knows full well how ruthless Adam can be (he once had her declared insane and committed to a mental hospital)\\
'''Instead''': The moron invites Brian to move in with her. The private detective Adam hired snaps photos of this, giving him the final evidence to prove that Dixie is an unfit mother. Dixie caps off her stupidity by evoking the NeverMyFault trope and refusing to see where she bears any responsibility for the whole mess.
* In ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum'': Lana [[spoiler: manages to escape from Bloody Face's shackle and inject him with his own paralyzing agent.]]\\
'''You'd Expect:''' [[spoiler: That knowing he'll be unconscious and helpless for a while, she either kill him or shackle him ''using the shackle she just opened and which was a foot from his body'' and call the police. She doesn't even have to be there when they arrive, all they need is to find his TortureCellar and Wendy's body and he's cooked.]]\\
'''Instead:''' [[spoiler: She runs away on foot, failing to so much as steal his car or figure out where she is first. After nearly getting run down on the road, she winds up picking a ride with a suicidal misogynist, who kills himself, wrecks the car, and gets her caught and sent back to Briarcliff. Threadson awakes and destroys all the evidence in his house.]]
* ''Series/AmericasGotTalent'': In Season 8, The Greg Wilson appears in the preliminaries to perform a stand-up comic act.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Wilson to come up with his own material and check to make sure any bits he plans to do haven't been attempted by other comedians.\\
'''Instead:''' In a segment that never makes it to air, Wilson performs a bit that is eventually revealed to be plagiarized from Frank Nicotero, the audience warm-up man, who happened to be ''right in the studio'' at the time. Howie Mandel picks up on this immediately, saying he previously heard Nicotero doing the exact same routine before the show started taping.\\
'''To Make Matters Worse:''' Instead of disqualifying Wilson, the judges ''advance him to the next round'', much to the disdain of Mandel. Thankfully, the producers review the case and disqualify Wilson under their own power.
* The "[[{{Recap/AngelS05E11Damage}} Damage]]" episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' has Spike act dumb even by his own standards. Going off on his own and revealing himself to Dana, a crazed Slayer, and dropping hints on who he is is pretty standard stuff. However it's revealed Spike knows Slayers have visions, which would include Spike killing two of them, and Dana confuses herself with Nikki Wood.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Spike would at the very least keep his mouth shut.\\
'''Instead:''' He mentions to Dana she's thinking about the Slayer he killed. Spike immediately goes OhCrap as Dana flies into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and cuts his hands off.
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': Gob is getting divorced, but hasn't consummated the marriage which is a good thing because his wife would be entitled to a larger settlement if they had. Just before the hearing, he encounters his soon-to-be ex-wife in the judge's chambers and they start to talk.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Gob to remember that having sex with her would be a bad thing in this case and abstain.\\
'''Instead:''' They do it.\\
'''Result:''' She takes a picture of them in the act and presents it at the hearing.\\
'''However, You'd Expect:''' Her to take a picture in which they both can be identified.\\
'''Instead:''' The picture shows Gob with a hood over his head.\\
'''Result:''' The judge points out that the man in the photograph cannot be identified.\\
'''Now, You'd Expect:''' Gob to say nothing or maybe accuse his wife of cheating.\\
'''Instead:''' "Oh, that's me, your honor! I ([[SoundEffectBleep bleep]])ed my wife!"\\
'''Result:''' His lawyer says it best: "I ''really'' lost this case."
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': In Season 3, it seems that the Arrow (Really Ra's Al Ghul) has started killing again, Quentin Lance (Who recently stopped working with the Arrow [[LockedOutOfTheLoop due to him not being told of]] [[spoiler: Sara's death]]) orders a manhunt on the Arrow. Reasonable enough right ''now'', right? So during this manhunt and killing spree, the Arrow repeatedly tells any and all of his lawful enemies that the killer is actually an impostor from a really evil group. Okay, so might want to think about that for a little while, considering what's been happening for the last few years, but the Arrow might be lying just to save his ass, so let's continue our nice little manhunt. But then, [[spoiler: Quentin is kidnapped by a group of dark and cryptic individuals, who tell him that Oliver Queen is the Arrow, and that Sara was with him on Lian Yu.]]\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Quentin would realize that this group of dark and cryptic individuals are probably not just telling him all this out of their natural sense of justice, call off the manhunt, and talk to Oliver about all of this, in a ''calm'', ''mature'' conversation.\\
'''Or Maybe:''' If he truly cannot get over his anger, realize that A. He probably isn't all that rational right now, with the whole bomb of [[spoiler: Sara being dead]] on him, and take a better look at all the evidence or B. See that he honestly has an ''incredibly flimsy'' case, previously tried to implicate Oliver and failed, and has no real testimony admissible in court ("I was told by a group of people in dark hooded gear with weapons that Oliver Queen, who has to have a large amount of enemies who are rich enough to hire mercenaries, and everyone knows Quentin hates is the Arrow which pretty much is the same, only a ''much'' larger group and enemies who have weapons of their own").\\
'''Instead:''' Blinded by his hatred for Oliver, Quentin becomes a [[TookALevelInJerkass total dick]] who turns the manhunt UpToEleven and is responsible for [[spoiler: Roy having to fake being the Arrow to get Oliver out, being thrown into prison and faked his death]] and [[spoiler: Pushing Oliver into becoming the next leader of the League of Assassins.]]
* In the failed PilotMovie ''Film/BatesMotel1987'', Alex West is left the titular motel by the now-deceased Norman Bates, and goes to MorallyBankruptBanker Tom Fuller for a loan, which Fuller agrees to, after it becomes clear that Alex has absolutely no clue how to properly run the motel, which is located on some highly valuable real estate.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Fuller to give Alex his loan, let him screw up running the motel, then foreclose on the land and get rich by selling it to a developer.\\
'''Instead:''' He decides to dress up like Norman's mother and scare Alex away... despite the fact that Alex never saw either the real Mrs. Bates, or Norman when he was pretending to be her. As a result, all that he succeeds in doing is confusing and mildly unnerving Alex, before getting unmasked by Alex's handyman, Henry. Despite the failure of his plan, Fuller points out that Alex still won't be in a position to repay the loan... until ''someone else'' dressed as Mrs. Bates appears and starts threatening him.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Fuller would realise someone else is trying to turn his own scam back on him, and high-tail it out of there. As he himself points out, no-one's likely to believe Alex, who spent 27 years in an insane asylum, or Henry, who is a hard-up handyman with a well-documented grudge against Fuller.\\
'''Instead:''' Fuller freaks out and confesses to all his misdeeds. "Mrs. Bates" turns out to be Alex's friend and chef, Willie, who was hiding a tape recorder in her outfit, thus allowing her to blackmail him into agreeing to defer Alex's loan payments until he's in a better position to repay them.
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'':
** In the season 1 finale "Kobol's Last Gleaming," Kara asks Commander Adama about Earth, having been told by the President that his knowledge of Earth's location was just a MotivationalLie.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Adama would realize what's going on and reassure Kara that they won't ''need'' to find Earth anymore if they can take Kobol.\\
'''Instead:''' He keeps up with cryptic hints about Earth, which confirms Kara's suspicions about him.\\
'''The Result:''' Kara takes the captured Cylon Raider to Caprica, deserting the fleet. Even though this would later turn out okay, a lot of things went to hell while she was gone.
** In the much-reviled episode "The Woman King," Helo meets this doctor working in the Galactica's refugee camp who's prejudiced against Sagittarons. His reason for this is almost understandable, in a way, since he's a doctor and all and the vast majority of Sagittarons apparently fear modern medicine, so the antagonism is mutual.\\
'''You'd expect''': He would have a hearty respect for the Sagittarons who go against their people's superstitions and seek his care, since that's clearly the only thing about the Sags that he finds objectionable. In time, word of mouth from the patients he's cured might start to bring other Sagittarons around on the idea.\\
'''Instead''': He develops a policy of ''murdering'' Sagittarons who seek treatment from him. Yes, that is correct: he hates Sagittarons, and his plan for correcting this is to kill all the ones that ''aren't'' suspicious of doctors, which coincidentally would give all the other Sagittarons a pretty damn good reason to be suspicious of doctors, wouldn't it? His fancy Colonial med school neglected to teach him anything about ''basic logic''.
** In the "Exodus" arc during the third season, the story culminates with Lee Adama swooping in with the Battlestar Pegasus to save the heavily-battered Galactica from being destroyed while the people on New Caprica evacuate. The Pegasus is a bigger, more heavily-armored and tactically superior Battlestar, and Lee (and his executive staff) stay behind to fend off the Cylons while the rest of the population escapes (which only takes minutes).\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Lee would jump the ship out after everyone escapes New Caprica. After all, the first time Lee took command, it was against ''three'' Cylon basestars who continually pummeled the ship with nuclear weapons - and they escaped. The Pegasus has also been able to outright '''destroy''' Basestars if it has the advantage of surprise (something that was shown twice in the series).\\
'''Instead:''' Because the StatusQuoIsGod, Lee decides to evacuate the Pegasus and ram it straight into a Basestar for no discernible reason (he even thought up the plan several hours before!). Sure, it looked cool, but the Colonial Fleet sacrificed a ''very'' valuable tactical advantage (the ability to make new Vipers at will) and their most powerful ship for the sake of leaving the Cylons with a couple less Basestars. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Great work, Lee]].
** In "The Plan", Cavil finds himself aboard ''Galactica'' with six other Cylons, after their attack falls short of exterminating the entire human race. While the Cylon fleet is initially able to track the Colonials, they lose this ability after the destruction of the ''Olympic Carrier''. Cavil therefore takes it upon himself to wipe out the fleet.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That given the limited manpower available to him, Cavil would focus on carefully co-ordinated attacks to cripple ''Galactica'' and as many other ships in the fleet as possible.\\
'''Instead:''' He almost immediately orders three of his six Cylons to commit ''suicide bombings'', ordering Boomer to blow up the water tanks on ''Galactica'', a Five to blow up the Cylon detector that Dr. Baltar is working on, and a Four to blow up the ship that he's serving on.\\
'''The Result:''' The Five screws up his mission immediately, gets spotted by Tigh and Adama, and when cornered only succeeds in blowing up an unimportant corridor. The Four, due to being genuinely in love with his human wife, is DrivenToSuicide and blows himself out of an airlock without damaging his ship. Boomer does carry out her mission, but fails to kill herself, leaving her alive to try taking out Adama... which she ''also'' screws up, leading to her being arrested and eventually shot dead herself by Cally. Combined with the Leoben getting caught and spaced by Roslin, and Cavil himself spacing Shelly Godfrey in a YouHaveFailedMe move, this leaves him with only another Six... who can't actually get anything accomplished due to the risk of being caught and spaced.
* ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'': Samantha's witch and warlock family do not like Darrin due to both a prejudice against mortals and the fact that Darrin wants Samantha to suppress her powers and live like a normal 1960s {{Housewife}}.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Darrin to do his best to not anger beings with supernatural powers.\\
'''Instead''': He insults them at every beck and call.\\
'''As a result''': They continually cast spells on him and transform him into various animals and objects as punishment, and were it not for Samantha intervening, Darrin would either be dead[[note]]No exaggeration, Samantha's father magically obliterated Darrin during their first meeting; though that time Darrin didn't really do anything to deserve it[[/note]] or permanently transformed/disfigured, etc..
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'':
** The show has this in the backstory. [[spoiler:Becca was an employee HappilyMarried to Billy Butcher]]. Despite Butcher's surly temperament and bad temper, he's gotten better thanks to being happy with her. [[spoiler:Then Homelander rapes her over a slight that Butcher seemingly made. Butcher is furious and swears revenge on a SupermanSubstitute, which is always a bad idea no matter the genre. Worse, Becca ends up pregnant with a superhuman baby. She knows that Butcher will not take this lying down, and won't be thrilled about her wanting to keep the kid, the living reminder of what Homelander did to her]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': She would [[spoiler:sit down Billy in a private area, make it clear that she's planning to keep the child, and say bluntly that if he can't accept that then they are done. As we see in Season Two, Butcher is a bit off-the-rails, but when Becca turns him down, he accepts it sadly. He also promises to raise Ryan if anything happens to Becca because Becca asked him, showing he's an honorable man]].\\
'''Instead''': Becca, knowing that Butcher is violent and vengeful, [[spoiler:agrees to fake her death with Vought's cooperation and spend the rest of her life living in seclusion within a corporate compound. She can't even see her sister or mother, both of whom have to presume that she's dead. It also puts her at the mercy of the corporation that allowed her to be raped in the first place]].\\
'''The Result''': While this decision results in [[spoiler:Ryan being a SuperiorSuccessor to his biological father with Becca's good parenting and choosing Butcher over Homelander, because he knows Butcher will protect the kid with his life, it also sends Butcher down a dark path. Former CIA operator Mallory recruits him for a group called The Boys, which is determined to take down the Supes and Vought to expose their crimes to the world. Butcher becomes an AntiHero willing to murder all Supes blindly, regardless of their intentions, guilt, or innocence, and starts mentoring Hughie down the same path when seeing he wants to do something about Robin's death. This all could have been avoided with an honest breakup]].
** Another backstory moment is that [[spoiler:Vought actually has a history of covering up for Supes that kill civilians. Lady Liberty was the worst, who killed a black man driving a car for the crime of his skin color. His sister Valerie was paid off to buy her silence, only a couple thousand dollars.]] The amount has since increased to $45,000 per dead person in the 2020s. As far as we know, only a handful of people had rejected the money but lacked the power to take down Vought]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': Vought would realize that one day generating Supes with no moral code or consequences is going to bite them, and a vengeful survivor will have the means to retaliate and expose their crimes to the world.\\
'''Instead''': They've followed the same M.O. for practically half a century.\\
'''The Result''': A group called the Boys emerges, [[spoiler:founded by an FBI agent wanting to bring Supes to justice by any means possible]]. The Boys knows that Vought's pattern is so predictable that they can take advantage of the odd cogwheel that falls out of alignment. Butcher finds one of the latest victims, a man named Hughie. It turns out that Hughie wants to fight to avenge his fiancee Robin, who A-Train ran over due to losing control over his powers, and he's hesitating on taking the money because Robin was not a blank check. While Hughie claims to not be brave or competent, he thinks about the future he would have had with Robin and agrees to at least plant a bug in Vought headquarters under the pretense of accepting the settlement. This starts a DisasterDominoes for Vought.
** The plan goes wrong when Hughie drops the bug in the bathroom and quickly installs it. Translucent, who has a habit of creeping out in bathrooms, notices the plant, and recognizes Butcher when he picks up Hughie.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Given Vought has a tight leash on the Supes, or at least the legal authority to protect them, that Translucent would notify the building security about the bug. They can arrest Hughie and interrogate him to get a lead on Butcher.\\
'''Instead''': He takes the bug with him, the evidence that Hughie committed espionage, and follows him to the electronics store. Then Translucent's idea of interrogation is being Hughie, who is defenseless, to a pulp ''before'' asking him questions.\\
'''The Result''': Hughie may be scared but he's not going to sell out the man who would help him avenge Robin. The Supes's luck runs out; Butcher was keeping an eye on Hughie and comes to rescue him. They manage to incapacitate Translucent and take him to a man that has been looking for a way to kill Supes.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': Several times, alleged by Robert Reed in his negative critiques of various episodes. As published in "Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenaged Greg" (which published three of those critiques):
** "The Impractical Joker," wherein Reed suggests that the tag scene – Alice thinking that an ink stain on one of her uniforms is a gag stain placed there by Jan, and ends up tearing and ruining one of her uniforms by trying to pull the "gag stain" off – makes Alice out to be an idiot. Reed suggests that Alice, as reasonably intelligent, should have been able to tell whether the stain was real and that perhaps a pen (with its cap left off) would have been noticed before placing the uniform in the washing machine.
** Various aspects of "And Now a Word From Our Sponsor," most notably:
*** In a scene after two competing laundry detergents are tested (to determine if the Bradys will accept an offer to star in a TV commercial for one of the soaps), Alice forgetting which pile is which (as she forgot to mark down which pile corresponded with which). Reed also takes the writers to task for having Mike and Carol turn their kids loose and damage their clothing (with paint, motor oil and so forth) before the washing the clothes to test the soaps, saying no level-headed parent would do such a thing.
*** Mike claiming to not be able "to make sense of this legal double-talk"; Reed says that, as Mike is an adult in business and therefore capable of understanding contracts. (Although it could be argued that even "an adult in business" who is "capable of understanding contracts" should consult an attorney, as the script suggests.)
*** Carol's "We'll have to wait until Mr. Brady gets home" comment after a delivery truck brings dozens of crates of laundry detergent, the thank you gift for starring in the commercial (Reed suggests she could have called a number printed on the delivery receipt).
** In Reed's famous critique of the final episode "The Hair-Brained Scheme," he references an earlier episode, "Two Petes in a Pod," where Peter (Christopher Knight in a dual role) meets his exact double, Arthur, at school. Reed was irritated that the earlier episode's script suggested that even Mike and Carol are fooled by the "faux Peter," and that even with such an exact resemblance they would or should be able to tell who this boy was. (Note also that Mike and Carol never say anything as Arthur literally gropes Jan at the kitchen table as he helps her with a homework assignment, and Jan doesn't even speak up about why "Peter" seems so fond of her today.)
** In the 1969 episode "Every Boy Does It Once", when Bobby wants to go to the movies with Marcia and Jan, they say, "Hi and bye, small fry", and "see ya later". Since he is wearing Greg's and Peter's hand-me-downs, they add, "Besides, we couldn't take you looking like ''that''", and "Of course not. Who'd look at the screen?".\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Mr. and Mrs. Brady to tell Marcia and Jan that they couldn't go to the movies and/or make them apologize to Bobby.\\
'''Instead:''' Marcia and Jan receive no consequences at all.
** In the 1971 episode "The Winner", Bobby feels worthless because unlike everyone else in the household, he doesn't have a trophy. When Bobby's siblings beat him at games that they play with him, he gets angry about it. Greg and Marcia tell Mr. and Mrs. Brady that Bobby's been a real stinker, but Carol tells them she doesn't like that word. Greg and Marcia say that's what Bobby's been.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Mrs. Brady to tell them that the term "poor sport" is nicer and more mature, and make them say that's what Bobby's being.\\
'''Instead:''' She soon finds the word "stinker" amusing, and agrees (as does Mr. Brady).
** In the 1973 episode "Never Too Young", from the fifth and final season, Bobby's classmate Millicent gives him a kiss for defending her from a school bully. Cindy notices this, and she seems happy about it.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For her to thank Bobby for this as well, since she and Millicent are friends.\\
'''Instead:''' She blackmails him.\\
'''Fortunately:''' She decides to keep it a secret.
*** Later, Bobby visits Millicent and kisses her as well. She informs him that he shouldn't have done this, because her doctor thinks she may have the mumps.\\
'''You'd Have Expected:''' For her to tell Bobby through her locked door that she might be contagious, and therefore can't have any visitors.
*** Afterwards, Bobby tells the rest of the family about this.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Cindy to call her friend and tell Millicent that if she thought she was contagious, she shouldn't have opened the door to anybody.\\
'''Instead:''' She tells everyone that if they catch the mumps, it will be all Bobby's fault (and she still doesn't thank Bobby for defending her friend against the bully). It's rather dysfunctional, even for a blended family.\\
'''Fortunately:''' Millicent turns out to be fine.
** In the episode "My Brother's Keeper", from the same season and year, Bobby saves Peter from being injured by a falling ladder. As a result, Peter vows to be Bobby's 'slave for life', which Bobby soon takes advantage of, which leads to him and Peter no longer speaking to each other.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Mr. and Mrs. Brady to remind Peter about the time he saved a little girl named Tina Spencer from a falling wall in Driscoll's Toy Shop (in the 1970 episode, "The Hero", in the first season), and took advantage of her mother's gratitude when she was willing to buy him anything he wanted from the toy shop. \\
'''You'd Also Expect:''' For Cindy to remind Peter of how he made Bobby take out the trash instead of him, when Bobby didn't even benefit from Peter's heroism.\\
'''Instead:''' Mr. and Mrs. Brady go out for the evening, and Greg goes on a date, and Marcia, Jan, and Cindy go to spend the night at Marcia's friend Helen's house because of the smell of the wallpaper paste in their bedroom. Alice goes to bed early, because she apparently watched a monster movie called "The Demon That Devoured Detroit".\\
'''The Result:''' Peter and Bobby continue bickering for a while, until Bobby gets locked in their bedroom closet, and Peter saves him. Only then do they consider themselves even.
* ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'':
** Having already failed his attempt at breaking the "Most Ferrero Rochers eaten in a minute" record the previous year, James Boyd shows up to the 2010 auditions intending to beat the "Most After Eight mints eaten in a minute without using hands" record.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Seeing as the current record was 8, James to put out at least 9 or 10 mints.\\
'''Instead:''' He only puts out '''5''' mints even though Simon Cowell actually asks whether or not he needs more time to get ready. This naturally dooms his attempt to failure from the word go. Adding insult to injury, co-host Declan Donnelly tries the same challenge at the same time, and actually equals the world record.
** The 2014 auditions had stand-up comedian Paul Stark have an attempt. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' Paul to come up with several original jokes and to rehearse them well, and know them off by heart.\\
'''Instead:''' He simply read them off a piece of paper. To make matters worse, the three jokes he told were at best outdated and unfunny ("My nan took a shower the other day, I said I want it back") and at worst downright nonsensical ("Knock Knock." "Who's there?" "Funny." "Funny who?" "A funny joke!") that were told as if he expected the crowd to be dying of laughter.\\
'''Even Worse:''' When the crowd started booing at the painfully awful jokes, instead of taking it with good humor and laughing it off, he began screaming that he was better than them and saying something was wrong with them. Unsurprisingly, he didn't make it through.
*** '''Then again:''' "Paul Stark" was actually a character act by a guy called Tom Pinks, who deliberately portrayed "Starks" as an unfunny, overconfident comedian.
* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''
** "Payback": Jake finds out that Terry and his wife are having a third child. Terry tells Jake to keep it quiet, since they haven't told anyone, and allows Jake to prove himself that he can be a potential godfather candidate if he pays back a debt to Jake and keep the secret. Jake doesn't have that much money in his bank account, but he knows this is important to Terry.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Jake has been pretty discreet thus far. He should give the "first installment" with little fanfare. After all, he owes money to ''everyone'' in the Nine-Nine, except for Captain Holt who has been too smart to let Jake bum money off him.\\
'''Instead''': He deposits a briefcase at Terry's desk, revealing it's all the money in his bank account, in singles. Jake proceeds to announce loudly that this is an "installment" and he will pay back the rest.\\
'''Predictably''': The other cops take notice, and note [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's weird for Jake to be this honorable]]. They demand that he either pay back the loans, or they'll split the money that he gave to Terry. Jake has to make excuses and start doing embarrassing chores for everyone else, with Boyle trying to blackmail him with dog bathing to give up the secret. After all this, Jake ends up blabbing in a "Reply All" email anyway, angering Terry, and he sells his car to pay the rest of the debt.
** "The Defense Rests":
** Jake starts a relationship with a defense attorney named Sophia. She's worried about their relationship, due to cops and defense attorneys having bad blood between them on principle. At one point when they start to founder, Sophia asks Jake to not attend a ball where her boss Geoffrey Hoytsman will be. She does want her boss to like Jake, which is a feat due to the whole bad blood, but she thinks it would be awkward at such an important event.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Jake would respect Sophia's wishes and give her some space. Terry advises Jake to do such a thing because she's feeling awkward by how he loves her more than she loves him.\\
'''Instead''': Jake goes to the ball and does all he can to win over Sophia's boss. Who, unknown to him, [[spoiler:is high on cocaine]].\\
'''The Result''': He succeeds almost too well; he does win over Geoffrey by making increasingly ridiculous bets, at the risk of making Sophia very uncomfortable since he did the exact opposite of what she wanted. The RageBreakingPoint comes when Jake [[spoiler:catches Geoffrey doing cocaine in the men's bathroom and has to arrest him; he tries to vouch for Geoffrey to get the lightest sentence possible, but it backfires when Geoffrey does his community service while high. ]] While Terry tells Jake YouDidTheRightThing [[spoiler:about arresting Geoffrey, Sophia breaks up with Jake, and Geoffrey seeks revenge on Jake by sabotaging him as a cop, kidnapping him, and planning to kill him.]]
** Jake has [[spoiler:arrested Sophia's boss, and feels very guilty about having to do his job as a cop. He later talks with the DA out of pressing charges, and the DA's only request is that Geoffrey does a little bit of Community Service, and maybe a little bit of rehab to get clean]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': He would do it discreetly, escorting the man out of a backdoor and then talking to Sophia in private. At least if she still breaks up with him, she could at least see that he made an effort to not humiliate Geoffrey or her. [[spoiler:Not helping is that Geoffrey is on a cocaine high and shooting his mouth off loudly]] . You don't have to make the optics worse especially when the whole point of his GrandRomanticGesture was to help Sophia get back the good cases at her firm so that her career wouldn't stall.\\
'''Instead''': In a case of HonorBeforeReason, Jake marches Geoffrey to where Terry and Sophia are talking to announce what he's doing. Geoffrey proceeds to humiliate himself by saying [[spoiler:Sophia's boyfriend is arresting him for doing drugs]]. As Sophia later lampshades, "There are ''fifty different ways'' you could have handled this better!"\\
'''The Result''': Sophia is shaking in anger when she confronts Jake at the precinct, [[spoiler:announces she will serve as Geoffrey's defense lawyer]], and breaks up with Jake. While she's more understanding when Jake runs down the stairs and begging PleaseIWillDoAnything, because he really loves her, Sophia apologetically tells him that he basically torpedoed her career chances by accident, that to maintain their relationship would require putting in work that she's not willing to put in because [[WhamLine she doesn't love him]], and that he wasn't able to respect her wishes for needing a pause in their loving meetings.
** "The Boyle-Linetti Wedding": Gina has put Jake in charge of getting the rings for her mother and Boyle's father Lynn. She tells him he absolutely cannot screw this up because the titular wedding has to be absolutely perfect. Jake gets the ring, but Amy gets a tip that her archnemesis, a counterfeiter named Minsk, is nearby. She's driving so she says they have to get him.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Jake would lock the ring box in the car. They're chasing after a dangerous perp which means there will be some physical altercation going on if he fights.\\
'''Instead''': Jake tucks it into his rental tuxedo jacket pocket. He trudges after Amy to help her, more focused on the fact that they are acting out a James Bond movie than that Gina is counting on him.\\
'''Predictably''': During the altercation where they successfully catch Minsk, Jake loses the ring. Gina is beyond upset, and Jake and Amy have to go back to the dumpster area to locate it.
** "Yippie Kayak"
** In the ColdOpen, Amy wants to give Holt a Christmas present. It's a RunningGag that he doesn't accept gifts, and he explained last year to Amy that he doesn't like syncophants. People who give gifts are trying to butter him up and don't actually give him meaningful feedback or relationships.\\
'''You'd Expect''': She would give it up this year, or give him a nonmonetary gift like a holiday card from the Nine Nine staff again.\\
'''Instead''': Amy decides to give him a gift, '''again'' and disguise it as not a gift. So she delivers it on a random Monday in an unmarked box, with the lettering scrawled in her non-dominant hand ordering him to open it up\\
'''The Result''': Jake can't stop grinning when he summarizes how dumb this was: "So, just to recap, you left an unmarked package on a police captain's desk on a random Monday, with a suspicious message written on it that looked like it was scrawled by a crazy person." Cue Holt coming out of the office announcing that a bomb was delivered to him and they all need to evacuate. 
** Later, Jake goes ConvenienceGiftShopping with Gina because he forgot Charles's Christmas gift, and Charles tags along when Jake lies that he forgot to get a gift for Amy. They end up locked in the store when a group of criminals take the entire store hostage while barricading entrances and exits. Gina wants to get hairspray and make a flamethrower, but Jake and Charles try to dissuade her. They say that it's their job to protect her and also free the hostages.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Gina would listen to the two professional cops. As Terry tells Jake repeatedly, Gina is a civilian and not trained in tactics or firearms. Keeping her safe is their highest priority.\\
'''Instead''': As they hide in the Santa workshop area, Gina sneaks off to get hairspray from the aisle.\\
'''The Result''': The crooks grab her from behind and take her hostage as well. All Jake and Charles can do is start capturing the gang one by one, locate the hostages, and hope that Terry can stop the Vulture from ordering an armed raid that could get innocents injured in the crossfire.
** ""Moo Moo": Sergeant Terry Jeffords, played by Creator/TerryCrews, asks his coworkers to babysit his twin girls while he works on a long application to be a city council liaison. Due to them accidentally losing Moo Moo, his girls' favorite toy, he ends up stopped and searched by a cop for walking around his neighborhood and looking for the toy. Terry is obviously upset about being racially profiled, but is willing to let it go if the cop apologizes.\\
'''You'd Expect''': At the dinner where they meet that the cop would just eat HumblePie and not try to justify what he did.\\
'''Instead''': The cop apologizes and says if he had known Terry wasn't a cop, he wouldn't have stopped him. Terry points out that he shouldn't have been stopped even if he were a civilian, and that he was just ''walking''. The cop says that Terry looked like he didn't belong in the neighborhood, where ''Terry lives''.\\
'''The Result''': Terry files a complaint, despite Captain Ray Holt worrying that Terry will ruin his career trying to report an injustice.
** A RunningGag is that Amy's ex Teddy is still pining after her, jealous that she ended up with Jake, and insulted that she called him boring as the reason for their breakup. He takes it as an incentive to make himself less boring, by training and eventually becoming part of a bomb squad.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Teddy at some point would get the memo that Amy is no longer interested in getting back together with him. We see that he has a slew of girlfriends, and he eventually gets married and starts expecting a child around the same time that she does. He even acknowledges at one point that he's being a jerk about it and apologizes by letting a bomb robot serve as [[spoiler:the ring-bearer to their wedding]].\\
'''Instead''': In practically every conversation they have, Teddy admits he's still obsessed with her.\\
'''The Result''': It gets to the point where Amy screams a BigNo after he proposes for the umpteenth time.
** "Balancing": Amy and Jake learn that [[spoiler:their son's daycare is closed due to a headlice infestation, leaving them with no babysitter. They and Mac also get infested with headlice, and the only place that can remove them has a wait for several hours. Jake says that his mom got rid of headlice with maple syrup, but Amy isn't keen to try it]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': They would go to the trusted Internet and find other remedies [[spoiler:for headlice. Some people recommend rosemary oil, for example or specialized shampoos]].\\
'''Instead''': Amy, the supposed smart one, reluctantly agrees with Jake to [[spoiler:try the maple syrup remedy, dousing everyone's heads with the substance and covering it with a shower cap]].\\
'''The Result''': While the remedy indeed works, it has the added side effect of [[spoiler:ants invading Jake and Amy's bed, as well as Mac's crib]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Following the events of the season two finale, Buffy has been missing for several months. She finally returns to Sunnydale, to find the Scoobies are hard at work covering her Slayer duties and her mother remains in a state of denial about kicking Buffy out of the house. Tensions are growing, with how Xander and Willow resent Buffy leaving them in the lurch. Ironically enough, Cordelia is the only one who can understand Buffy's point of view with a few of her boyfriends having either died or gone evil since [[spoiler:Buffy had to kill a re-ensouled Angel to stop the apocalypse]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Giles and Cordelia would conduct a sitdown discussion and find out exactly what happened to motivate Buffy to leave.\\
'''Instead''': They try to host a welcome-back party for Buffy when she's clearly not comfortable about it. While Cordelia isn't nice about how she puts how Buffy must be feeling, she gets to the heart of the matter: Buffy was dating someone that ended up betraying her trust and threatening all of her friends, but she still loved him.\\
'''The Result''': Buffy nearly runs away again, and the whole group comes close to blows. Joyce goes NeverMyFault when Buffy reminds her of the ultimatum, and Willow sarcastically suggests maybe violence is the solution. It takes a zombie invasion for everyone to work off the tension and call truce.
** Faith [[spoiler:after her FaceHeelTurn has shot Angel and injected him with a slow-acting deadly poison. As the Scoobies prepare for the Mayor's plan on graduation, they find out the only cure for Angel's condition is if he drinks "the blood of a slayer". Cue the MassOhCrap as they look at Buffy. She and Faith are the only two candidates]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': Someone would tell a raging Buffy that [[spoiler:donating her blood via a transfusion is the best option to save Angel. They're on awkward territory given the two broke up, but a transfusion is safer than forcing Angel to actually drink since the amount of blood isn't specified. We also know that Giles and Cordelia are the only combat medics that know how to do basic patchwork]].\\
'''Instead''': Realizing that Buffy means to [[spoiler:go after Faith, the Scoobies only warn Buffy that Angel doesn't drain people. She says Angel won't have a problem if Faith is dead]].\\
'''The Result''': All Buffy manages to do is [[spoiler:put Faith in a coma, and before that the latter manages to make her getaway. She has a knife with Faith's blood, but doesn't think to gather that in a vial and hope it heals Angel. Instead, she punches Angel in the face to make him vamp count and places her neck to his teeth. This nearly kills Buffy, and Angel needs to take her to the hospital to treat her for blood loss. He has to save her from a vengeful Mayor that tries smothering an unconscious Buffy. To top it all off, Angel goes WhatWereYouThinking towards Buffy and leaves quietly after they stop the Mayor's snake form]].
** When Faith wakes up from her coma, she realizes [[spoiler:the Mayor's plan failed, and he left a video, as well as a device for her. She doesn't know what this device does, only that it's supposed to give her a second chance. The Scoobies are debating if they should hunt down Faith or let her go; now that Buffy has broken up with Angel and moved on with Riley, she feels really guilty about her attempt to stab Faith and make Angel drink blood from her corpse]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': The Scoobies reasonably assume that Faith would have fled the moment she woke up from her coma and "gone to Mexico" in Buffy's words. That would be the most sensible course of action given she's a fugitive from the law and wanted for murdering the sheriff's deputy the previous season. The Watcher's Council also has painted a target on her back for breaking the rules and evading their initial capture of her. There is no reason to stay in Sunnydale at this juncture.\\
'''Instead''': She tries seeking revenge on Buffy for the aforementioned murder attempt by attacking her and later her mother. Yeah, she takes on the previous Slayer that nearly killed her in their last fight and attacks the one adult who has been consistently nice and polite to her even as she [[spoiler:betrayed the Scoobies and tried to usher in another apocalypse]]. Faith's legitimate point is that she and Buffy were fighting over a guy, albeit not in the traditional sense, but she is outmatched and outnumbered. That's not even counting what Tara and Willow are able to do once they cut loose.\\
'''The Result''': While Faith successfully [[spoiler:uses the device to switch bodies with Buffy, she realizes her mistake in that Buffy's body influences her to be a better person and she sleeps with Riley, who has only learned about Faith's attack on Joyce but is gentle with "Buffy" and asks if she's okay. Willow and Tara figure out the switch, as does Giles when Buffy-in-Faith's body convinces him that she's Buffy due to knowing some embarrassing details about his life including that he slept with her mother and he hasn't kept a job since they blew up the school. They go with a vengeance to confront Faith, and all she can do is beat her body senseless. When they switch back, Buffy is full of murderous rage (again) that she was raped-by-proxy as was Riley, and tracks down Faith in Los Angeles where Faith seriously thought she could convince Angel to kill her when taking a bounty on him in Wolfram & Hart. Faith even acknowledges that what she did was stupid and is perfectly willing to let Buffy strike her down. It's only because of Angel's interference that Faith decides to turn herself in when the police come instead and go to jail to atone for her crimes. To top it all off, Faith's actions indirectly lead to Buffy and Angel no longer being AmicableExes because they have a nasty fight over the fact that Angel protected her]].
* ''Series/{{Cadfael}}'': In "The Devil's Novice", Tristan, Janyn, and Rosanna secretly support Maude, so [[spoiler:Janyn]] murders Stephen's diplomat, Clemence, and the other two help cover up the crime. Clemence, as a high-status diplomat, had a lot of jewelry that helps the investigators identify his body when it's found.\\
'''You'd expect:''' The three conspirators to keep anything else hidden until the heat dies down and Stephen's official leaves the area.\\
'''Instead:''' Janyn gives his sister Clemence's very large, very distinctive brooch and she wears it to her wedding at Shrewsbury Abbey, where everyone investigating the murder is in attendance. Stephan's man identifies it immediately, forcing two of them to acknowledge their role in the crime while the actual killer tries and fails to flee.
* ''Canada's Handyman Challenge'': In the final challenge, building a deck, with the guest judge being [[Series/HolmesOnHomes Mike Holmes]], Chris sacrifices building the structure to code (or any acceptable standard ''at all'') in order to focus on his artistic vision.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Since anyone who has ever seen Mike Holmes knows his BerserkButton is not having something meet building codes, that Chris would say some excuse like the time and material constraints meant he couldn't get it to meet code and complete his ambitious design, but in real life he'd of course make sure it was done properly.\\
'''Instead:''' Chris makes a comment that as he understands it building codes are merely ''suggestions'' and can be ignored. The other judges stare at him in disbelief, look at Mike, and then laughingly scramble back to make room for Mike to explode.
* ''Series/CanadasWorstDriver'':
** In Season 2, Colin had already been acting like a jackass throughout his time on the show, and he capped it off by deliberately accelerating into a wall of boxes in a skid avoidance challenge, smashing the car's windshield.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Ideally, that he wouldn't have done something so recklessly stupid to begin with, but given the circumstances it'd be in his best interests to come up with a reasonable-sounding excuse, such as claiming that he panicked when he saw the wall and mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brakes.\\
'''Instead:''' He makes up some story about how he constantly blacks out at the wheel, and did so during the challenge, only for the experts to tell him that if that's true, his driving licence should be taken away on medical grounds, causing him to hastily change his story. As if he wasn't already in enough trouble, he then brags about smashing up the car while on the phone to a friend, which the crew and other contestants overhear. This is the final straw for the experts, resulting in his car key being destroyed, his car towed back to his hometown, and Colin and his equally immature nominator being sent there via taxi.
** Donna, one of the candidates from Season 4, had been diagnosed with the heart condition angina some time prior to being on the show.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' She'd declare this on her medical form. Best case, the show's medical staff will know to be ready for any potential emergencies around her, and likely worst case is that the show just won't accept her as a candidate, since they probably wouldn't get insurance for her.\\
'''Instead:''' She never once mentions it to the experts, the production team or any of the other contestants. This results in her having an angina attack during the water tank challenge, which in turn leads to her being thrown off the show for lying on her medical form. Not only that, but the experts take the unprecedented step of contacting her local licensing board over their concerns, while ultimately results in Donna having her driving licence revoked and getting a lifetime ban from driving.
** Scott from Season 6 has done some ''very'' illegal things, like drinking and driving, driving on a suspended license, driving uninsured, etc. etc. By the way, Cam Woolley, one of the four judges on the show is a former Ontario cop, who has some obligations left, and he ''will'' fulfill them, as he did when Colin deliberately tried to fail every challenge on the show while bragging about his own criminal acts.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Scott to keep his mouth shut about his activities; at most, maybe give some vague hints that he's done some less-than-admirable stuff in the past, and that he wants to move forward and become a better driver.\\
'''Instead''': He brags his head off about them, even leaving his ''nominator'' in visible disbelief, and Cam duly contacts the police in Scott's hometown with this information. Fortunately for Scott, bragging about illegal activities on live television isn't considered acceptable legal evidence in Canada, meaning he'll almost certainly never be prosecuted for them, but it pretty much guarantees he'll be punished much more harshly if he ever does get charged with any more automotive offences. Which happened to him in 2015, resulting in his car being seized after he was caught driving over twice the speed limit.
** In Season 9 (''Canada's Worst Driver Ever''), Kevin, the previous season's joint-worst driver, seems to be getting the experts on-side after doing well in the last few episodes, and sending a letter to the experts apologizing for his NeverMyFault habits in the previous season. Partly because of this, Andrew allows him a forwards run in the Trans Am used for the reversing challenge, an honour he doesn't afford any of the other drivers.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Kevin to follow the very straightforward instructions that Andrew gives him, namely to stick to [=30mph=], and to stop at once should he even clip anything with the Trans Am.\\
'''Instead:''' Kevin drives at [=60mph=], fails to stop after hitting and breaking a wing mirror, then ends up driving through a bunch of wheel rims, bursting one of the car's tires. And ''then'', Kevin proudly (and inexplicably) declares that his performance was worthy of passing the challenge. This leaves the show's panel of experts completely speechless, leads to him getting a ''major'' WhatWereYouThinking reaction from his nominator and Andrew, and utterly destroys any goodwill he had with the experts, beginning a downward spiral that would see him named the worst of the season -- and by extension, of ''any'' of the show's seasons -- and end up being forced to destroy his driving licence.
** In the final episode of Season 12, Krystal has angered just about everyone involved with the show -- including Andrew, the host, the four experts, and the other contestants and their nominators -- and even managed to provoke her brother (her own nominator) into quitting the show after dropping a [[ClusterFBomb Cluster]] AtomicFBomb at nearly all the aforementioned people after they called her out on her rudeness to fellow contestant Daniella. Despite this, she actually does quite well on the penultimate challenge, the Mega Challenge, doing only marginally worse than Tyler, the other remaining contestant.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Krystal, who ''has'' shown herself to be competent driver when she keeps her attitude in check, would give it her all and try to get through the final Road Test as best she can. There's still a chance that either Tyler or Daniella will mess up in their own Road Tests, after all.\\
'''Instead:''' She speeds and drives dangerously throughout the challenge, repeatedly insults and complaints to Andrew, and even winds up damaging the test car's wheel hubs via a badly executed U-turn. After Krystal tries to scare Andrew into being quiet by deliberately taking a corner at a dangerously unsafe speed, Andrew finally declares that he's seen enough and stops the test. Had Krystal not behaved like such an AdultChild then the title would almost certainly have gone to Daniella (who completely bombed in her Mega Challenge run and suffered a major attack of nerves in her own Road Test, forcing Andrew to make her decisions for her), but not only do the experts instantly agree that Krystal is obviously the worst, they decide that she doesn't even deserve the trophy usually awarded to the worst driver, instead turning it into a "Final Graduate" trophy and giving it to Tyler.
* ''Series/{{Caprica}}'' 1x02 "Rebirth": Amanda has just found out about Zoe's involvement in the bombing that sets off the plot, at a memorial service for those who died in said bombing.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Amanda to sit on this information, or talk to Daniel about it, or destroy it, or almost anything other than what she does.\\
'''Instead:''' She tells the entire collected populace, all of whom are bereaved family members mourning the loss of their loved ones, what she has learned. And then is almost surprised when the mourners turn into a mob. This doubles up as a What An Idiot moment on the part of Daniel as well, for allowing Amanda (who was already behaving erratically even before she found out about Zoe's role) to walk around the memorial unsupervised, which led directly to the event described above.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': In one episode, an obsessed killer is stalking Beckett. After it seems the killer has killed himself and the danger has passed, Castle discovers that it wasn’t their killer that died and the real killer is still out there. In the scene immediately before this, it's revealed that the killer was planning on killing Beckett with a bomb that’s activated by her using her cellphone.\\
'''You'd expect:''' That Castle would go there in person or use an alternative means of contacting her in order to warn her she's still in danger.\\
'''Instead:''' He calls her on her cell phone.
* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':
** The Charmed Ones are helping the half-demon Cole redeem himself by preparing a potion to remove his demon side and make him fully human. They complete the potion, but before he gets to drink it, Cole's former mentor shows up and uses magic to take control of his demonic side, forcing him to kill someone the sisters were protecting.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Them to give him the potion, to make sure this doesn't happen again.\\
'''Instead''': They destroy the potion in anger and end their friendship. Obviously, this does not end well.
** In fact, let's consider this the general pattern. Cole's entire arc revolves around his relationship with Phoebe. Said arc lasting about two and a half years. Keep in mind she and the sisters have known he was half-demon since his eighth episode.\\
'''You'd Expect''': The Halliwells, or at least Phoebe, would understand that Cole, having been a trained assassin for about a hundred years who was once hand-selected into the elite group of his profession by the series equivalent of Satan himself, wouldn't become a boy scout overnight. Even that notwithstanding, you would also think they'd remember from their own experiences that anyone can [[TemporarilyAVillain go evil for a day]] with the right magical hit. Acting on this, they would treat Cole with healthy doses of both caution and empathy (not the power, the emotional quality) to allow him the chance to earn his way into the family while keeping him honest and guiding him into his new life as a good guy.\\
'''Instead''': They shun him anytime he even begins to take a moral step backwards. And out of fear, anger, and/or hurt, Phoebe, who otherwise throws herself at him when things are good, is usually first in line. She basically yanks his chain based on her feelings, with no one else ready to correct her if it's not to judge him in the process. This usually only makes the situation worse than it already is.\\
'''The result''': Naturally, after he's eventually infected by the power of the Source of All Evil, they vanquish him thinking he became the new Source of his own volition despite being just about told otherwise (although the vanquish may have been unavoidable in any case). He later comes back with a new mess of powers from the demonic wasteland. Between his return foiling Phoebe's attempt at a rush divorce and the Charmed Ones' run-in with a mermaid, Phoebe ends up going mermaid for awhile herself — not because she hates him, but because she loves him and yet she's scared of him at the same time. For these same reasons, he gains hope that he can regain her trust and her love while she's dead set that they can never be together again.\\
'''You'd expect''': that now she and the sisters would try to help Cole move on, keeping an eye on him in the meantime. If they're lucky, maybe he'll actually see that he can still be good as his own man without Phoebe's love as the measuring stick. At the very least find some way to contain those acidic powers of his while he's still coming to them, remembering what happened to Prue when she was given a power that was never meant for her to have.\\
'''Instead''': their response to his attempts to earn Phoebe's love back by playing superhero with these powers usually consists of telling him that it's a fancy concept to think he'll ever be anything but evil.\\
'''The result''': months of the woman he loved and the family he counted on as his foothold to good treating him almost like he isn't even a person combined with his powers messing with his brain finally sends him [[SanitySlippage off the deep end]] into a FaceHeelTurn that lasts until they have to kill him again in an alternate reality. It takes being eternally tied to a cosmic void for him finally think for himself and come to peace. Meanwhile, Phoebe fast progresses into a jerk for a year and a half, which comes back to bite her all the way into the end of the series.
** Season 8 introduces Billie, a witch who disguises her identity while demon-hunting with a black wig, sunglasses, and black leather outfit which is bound to draw attention (and makes her look like a bad Prue stand-in). She eventually meets with and becomes an understudy to the sisters.\\
'''You'd expect''': The sisters would express their concerns but instead suggest something else, like having Billie protect her identity with magical disguises — the same particular spell ''they were using at the time''.\\
'''Instead''': The sisters simply make Billie stop wearing the wig and sunglasses and do not come up with a backup option. She ends up getting tailed straight to them by a Homeland Security agent, serving as the beginning of the end for their secret identities.
* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': On the episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" Cliff ends up as a contestant on a special Boston edition of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'', and thanks to an incredibly lucky set of categories, goes into the Final Jeopardy round with $22,000. His opponents, meanwhile, have just $3,300 and $750 respectively.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Cliff to wager no more than a couple of thousand dollars, seeing how he's already won an amount far beyond what he had hoped. At the absolute worst you'd expect him to wager no more than $15,399, the maximum amount he can afford to lose and still be guaranteed victory.\\
'''Instead:''' He wagers "22,000 big ones," and promptly comes unstuck when the Final Jeopardy clue turns out to be an obscure one that none of the contestants are able to guess,[[note]]("Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz, and Lucille [=LeSueur=]"; the correct response being "Who are Creator/CaryGrant, Creator/TonyCurtis, and Creator/JoanCrawford?")[[/note]] with Cliff himself giving the particularly FacePalm-worthy response of "who are three people who've never been in my kitchen," and the second-place contestant winning purely because she stopped short of wagering everything. Alex Trebek gives Cliff a WhatWereYouThinking reaction, and Cliff tries futilely to argue that his response was technically correct.[[labelnote:Fun fact!]]Cliff's stupidity in this episode spawned the phrase "[[PersonAsVerb Pulling a Cliff Clavin]]", and the rule against doing what he did [[http://www.j-archive.com/help.php#clavinsrule bears his name on the J! Archive]].[[/labelnote]]
* ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'' sees a lot of terrible decisions, but the standout is the penultimate episode of Part 3. Sabrina is asked by Judas to let him hold his pieces of silver one last time.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Sabrina to remember any one of the following things: She already lost a piece of the infernal regalia by loaning it to someone else instead of claiming it immediately. She has half a dozen other things to do that threaten the lives of those she cares about and should act with haste. The silver is a powerful arcane artifact a damned soul might want to use to try to escape. When claiming the bowl of Pontius Pilate, multiple people were trying to protect it. Judas already gave her a FalseReassurance the guardian of the silver, a vampire, was [[ExactWords dead]], is literally the most famous traitor in Hell, and should probably not be trusted. And on remembering any of those things, would not give them to him.\\
'''Instead:''' Sabrina gives him the silver, and he reveals himself to actually be her rival Caliban under a glamor, then traps her in stone and becomes King of Hell. Given that casting a glamor to look like someone else is a basic trick that's been used half a dozen times including by Sabrina and Caliban when they went after the last piece of the regalia, she should probably have considered this possibility too, but it doesn't really detract from how stupid it would have been to give them to the real Judas anyway.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': The titular character's sister and brother in law are kidnapped by evil CIA agents who demand a dangerous computer virus in exchange for them. Casey and Beckham agree to give them a fake one since giving them the real one is obviously too dangerous. \\
'''You'd expect:''' Chuck to go along with the plan and hope to rescue them at the trade.\\
'''Instead:''' Chuck steals the real virus from his team, and goes ALONE to the trade WITHOUT ANY BACKUP (keep in mind he doesn't have the intersect anymore). [[SarcasmMode Because he can obviously trust these villains to not kill them once they get what they want.]] As a result, the bad CIA agents end up getting the virus (which is later unleashed to the general public) and Chuck nearly gets killed because of his carelessness. NiceJobBreakingItHero
** What's worse is that Sarah actually agreed to hand over the real virus and he still went behind their back!

* ''Series/ColdCase'':
** "Justice." The brother of the girl you raped is holding you at gunpoint.\\
'''You'd expect''': You slowly back away, acting meek as hell until you could hightail it out of there. You are a psychopath, not stupid.\\
'''Instead''': You approach him, asking him to pass you the gun. When he calls you out for raping his sister, you call her "a hell of a lay" that asked for it. Really, at this point it is not so much a murder as it is assisted suicide.
** "That Woman." After discovering the dirty secrets of the other members of a chastity club, you discover they all wrote "Carrie (you) must die." on the messages in the messenger jar. Sometime later, one of those members comes to your house and asks you to go the woods with him.\\
'''You'd expect''': You would turn him down and call the police, since he mostly likely wants to kill you.\\
'''Instead''': You don't, and go with him to the woods. You can guess the result.
** "A Time to Crime": You discover that your mom is having an affair with an illegal arms dealer and decide to kill him, not wanting him to ruin your family. One night, you decide to buy a gun from him.\\
'''You'd expect:''' You would shoot him right then and there. It's a dark alley and you are the only two people in that spot.\\
'''Instead:''' You choose not to, instead trying to kill him in a crowded park. This backfires badly for not only do you miss your target, but [[spoiler:hit your own sister by mistake.]]
** “The Promise”:
*** You and your friends have just stormed out of a frat party where they humiliated you in a “pig pen.” Understandably furious, you propose burning their house down. Later, your friend Dirk, who unknowingly led you to the party, comes out, begging you to come back in and talk to him. \\
'''You’d expect:''' You’ll take a rain check, offering to speak to him the next day, or speak to him outside the house. \\
'''Instead:''' You follow him inside for a heartfelt talk, only for the frat bros to reappear, shove your friend aside and take you back in the pig pen to torture you, and later leave you for dead when the house is burned down.
*** Dirk and Manny also get this. It's revealed that Dirk was already an idiot for luring Laurie to the party in the first place. She gave him a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about lying to her and becoming one of the bullies from their high school, which makes him apologize. Dirk tries to save her from Manny when the latter locks her in a room. Cue one of the humiliated girls starting a fire.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Manny would fucking not lock the door. Otherwise he's down for murder. Let them all escape since the girls already said they can't tell anyone.\\
'''Instead''': Manny locks the door, tosses the key and leaves Dirk to either choose to save himself or die with Laurie.\\
'''The Result''': Dirk tries to keep Laurie alive only to hear her die from smoke inhalation as he attempts to break down the door and window.
*** Dick reveals he didn't tell anyone because a dying Laurie made him promise to take care of her father, who is a single parent.\\
'''You'd Expect'''': He would have come clean about what happened to the police. Taking care of her father would mean getting justice for Laurie.\\
'''Instead''': He covers it up under the misguided belief that it's easier to say Laurie died happy than to admit she was humiliated, tortured, and left to suffocate.\\
'''The Result''': Laurie's father was not an idiot; he reveals that Laurie sent him a photo of being force-fed tequila, which implies she was murdered, and brings it to the detectives' attention. Scotty and Lily investigate Dirk for murdering Laurie and force him to confess what happened. It also meant that Manny and Avery, a politician, had a KarmaHoudini for ''years'' on end. When Dirk finally talks with Laurie's father and apologizes, it's revealed that he would have done more good if he had come clean in the first place.
** "Revenge". The angry father of the boy that you kidnapped, molested and are suspected of killing a year earlier confronts you with a gun. \\
'''You'd expect:''' To be humble, apologetic or not do anything that would provoke him.\\
'''Instead:''' You brag about your exploits with the dead boy without a hint of remorse. You wind up being shot dead for your troubles and although your murder is solved, no one but your pathetic son gives a shit about your death.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** "Modern Warfare". A massive paintball game takes over the college campus with the grand prize being priority registration (meaning the winner gets first pick of classes the following semester). Leonard comes upon Jeff talking with Garrett (who's already been eliminated). They don't even notice him due to their conversation.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Leonard to shoot Jeff and eliminate him.\\
'''Instead:''' Leonard shoots Garrett and Jeff runs for it. As a result, Leonard gets eliminated by Abed while he's chasing Jeff, and Jeff [[spoiler:goes on to win the prize.]]
** "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking": Pierce overdoses on his painkillers and lies to his study group that he's dying. To this end, he bequeaths gifts on the group. Annie is the only one who gets a crown with no strings attached, Abed gets nothing but the power to observe, and Pierce ensures that Troy, Britta, and Shirley have back-handed presents. Pierce in revenge for Jeff being an ass to him, decides to lie that his estranged father is coming back. Jeff agrees but warns Pierce that if this is a trick, he is going to beat the tar out of the old man, and "there will be nothing madcap or wacky about it." Pierce goes OhCrap because he knows Jeff is not bluffing.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Pierce would abort the plan and choose something else. Even if he wants to hurt Jeff with a mind-game, he's also recovering from an overdose. This is not the time to bully someone who is in prime physical shape and has every reason to destroy you.\\
'''Instead''': He goes through with the prank, driving up in the limo and trying to pose as Mr. Winger with BadBadActing.\\
'''Predictably''': Jeff makes good on his threat, dragging Pierce out of the limo and engaging in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. Even after the other study group members pull Jeff off Pierce, they are forced to concede that Pierce deserved it for messing with a personal hot button. Pierce himself admits that he went too far when Jeff points out the reason he's excluded from their events is because he is a petty, selfish {{Jerkass}} with little to no regard for other's feelings. [[spoiler:When Pierce dies for real in season 5, he seems to learn from this and leaves no mind-games in his will for Jeff, just a stream of insults]].
** "Chang Dynasty": The study group figures out that [[spoiler:Chang took over the school and is using a Dean impersonator. They can't prove it, however, and Office Cacowski is sympathetic but tells them he'll be legally obligated to arrest them if they go back on campus; plus, as he puts it, the story is too ridiculous to be believed]]. Abed votes that they do an elaborate heist. Troy mentions he could enroll in the AC Repair School to solve this problem, but Jeff vetoes it because he's not sacrificing Troy to a group of ambitious-hungry cultists. This episode takes place after "Digital Estate Planning" where they met Gilbert, [[spoiler:PIerce's half-brother]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': They would call Gilbert for help. Gilbert owes them for [[spoiler:forfeiting Cornelius's inheritance to them]] and it's revealed he and Pierce bonded. As a lawyer, he could challenge their [[spoiler:expulsion]] and gain access to the grounds to find proof about the scheme while gathering information or serving subpoenas. He could prove to the cops that [[spoiler:the group's story is true and get them to extract the innocent bystanders]]. Or, he could use the amount of money he has to achieve the same results.\\
'''Instead''': They do an elaborate heist to [[spoiler:rescue the Dean]].\\
'''Predictably''': [[spoiler:They get caught, and are nearly killed if not for Troy agreeing to the AC guys watching them]].
** After the events of season three, [[spoiler:Chang has gone on the lam after trying to blow up the school and replacing Dean Pelton with an impersonator -- who didn't get paid and also is on the run -- and the Dean resumes his spot, promising the school board members that he'll cover up their incompetence]]. After season four, Chang resurfaces and [[spoiler:is forced to admit he was FakingAmnesia while serving as a {{Mole}} for City College]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': As soon as Chang confesses, [[spoiler:the Dean would press charges against him for kidnapping and terrorism]]. Technically there should be a manhunt out for him, with the number of witnesses, and that he used child labor to enact his plan. If anything, you'd think the [[DontTellMama parents would be notified to punish the children]] accordingly, considering [[spoiler:they were using nightsticks and pepper spray]].\\
'''Instead''': The Dean [[spoiler:hires him as a math professor in season 5 after serving time in prison]]. It gets even lampshaded in-show that this is really dumb.\\
'''The Result''': The study group files a lawsuit [[spoiler:against Greendale, decide to reenroll and save the school. Jeff makes no bare-bones about how angry and disappointed he is in the Dean. While Chang eventually reforms for real, he still would have gotten hundreds of adults and children killed]].
* Abed and Britta get into a feud when he spoils season one of a show they're both watching while she's being a {{Hipster}} and only watching shows after they've done a few seasons. Mind that Abed is petty about it, mocking Britta for not reading ahead. Britta promises to read the books and return the favor by spoiling how the series will end. As a result, Abed wears noise-blocking headphones and bonds with a deaf girl, including making an effort to learn sign language.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Britta to realize it's amazing progress that Abed is talking with someone outside of their group. Save the feud for another day, when he's not expecting it.\\
'''Instead''': She [[spoiler:]]pays the deaf girl to spoil ''Bloodlines'' in sign language]]. Note that Britta is constantly broke and bad with money.\\
'''The Result''': The money ends up being a PyrrhicVictory; [[spoiler:Abed tells Britta "I'm devastated" because he liked the girl, and walks away in disgust when she tries to justify her actions by saying she taught him a lesson and "gave a disabled person a job". Britta, to her credit, goes from EvilGloating to OhCrap when she realizes she hurt Abed's feelings and he won't accept her "attempt at being sincere" apology]]. On top of that, she's broke. Again. [[RunningGag She really is the worst]].
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
** In one episode, JJ and Reid go to talk to a witness. When they get there, the witness denies having called the cops and claims to know nothing. JJ and Reid realize that he's one of the [=UnSubs=], and know they need to do something. The rest of their team knows where they are, but without cell phone coverage, they can't call for back-up, and the 'witness' knows that they know who he really is.\\
'''You'd Expect''' them to go investigate together, or try departing from the scene and come back with a lot of backup.\\
'''Instead''' they split up. JJ ends up in a barn with three ravenous dogs who have killed a woman, and Reid ends up knocked out and imprisoned by the [=UnSub=]. ''Brilliant.''
** Agent Elle Greenaway has rejoined the team after spending months away from work, recovering after being shot in her home. She has become distant and hypervigiliant, and has shown signs of PTSD. The team is working on a case where a man is raping women in their homes, and they get to the point where they need someone to go undercover.\\
'''You'd Expect''' that as they are working with police, they'd get a female cop to go undercover, or maybe get JJ, since they have more than one female agent on their team.\\
'''Instead''' they send Elle, and everything goes wrong, as anyone with a brain would have expected.
** Frank Breitkopf, a serial killer, has been cornered at a train station. He has demanded the return of his girlfriend, Jane, whom the FBI have in custody. At the end of a long talk, he manages to talk Jane back into coming with him, despite the fact that they are surrounded by federal agents with guns.\\
'''You'd Expect''' that the agents would do something, ''anything'' to stop Frank. Shoot him, cuff him, get Jane away from him, anything.\\
'''Instead''', all of them just stand around and watch as Frank and Jane leap in front of an incoming train. Because apparently that's what federal agents do.
** Spencer's backstory is that his mother has schizophrenia. His father eventually suffered too much stress when [[spoiler:a neighbor murdered a child pedophile and Spencer's mother was a witness to the crime]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': He would take Spencer with him. Spencer had nothing to do with what happened.\\
'''Instead''': He leaves his prepubescent son to take care of his mentally ill mother.\\
'''The Result''': A very bitter and older Spencer, who is now an FBI agent, investigates his father when he recalls memories of seeing a dead man. Spencer bluntly tells off his father for what he did and suspects him of being the murderer in a cold case. It's very ironic that his mother [[spoiler:exonerates her ex-husband and identifies the real killer]].
** Due to being captured and [[spoiler:nearly killed by an old enemy, Prentiss faked her death and entered witness protection for a few months. Only Garcia and J.J. know, while Reid has been coming to her house to grieve on a regular basis]].\\
'''You'd Expect''': J.J. would know that [[spoiler:Reid takes betrayal seriously and tell him Prentiss is alive. The kid's a genius and knows how to keep a secret, even one as big as this.]]\\
'''Instead''': She keeps quiet.\\
'''Predictably''': [[spoiler:Reid refuses to speak to her or Prentiss after the latter returns to the team. He also reveals to J.J. that he was thinking of taking Dilaudin again and facing the cravings. When J.J. tries to apologize, Reid says that's not good enough for letting him grieve senselessly. They do repair their bond but it takes a lot more work than a simple "I'm sorry"]].
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'':
** CSI Sara Sidle is kidnapped and trapped under a car by the Miniature Killer, right before a thunder storm hits the Las Vegas area and causes flash flooding. Fortunately, Sara is able to free herself before the flood waters can drown her, but she is still stranded in the middle of the Nevada desert with a broken arm, a head wound, and the rearview mirror she used to escape the car with.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Sara would set up camp by the car that her colleagues at the Las Vegas PD and Crime Lab will no doubt be looking for, and use the mirror to signal to them when they get close.\\
'''Instead:''' She wonders off into the desert, and nearly dies of heat stroke and dehydration before she can be rescued.
* ''Series/CutthroatKitchen'':
** Each round starts with Alton announcing the target dish followed by the chefs getting 60 seconds to grab their ingredients.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For the chefs to prioritize ingredients vital to the target dish. Even if a sabotage takes them away, there's no guarantee that the chef would be targeted by said sabotage in the first place.\\
'''Instead:''' An alarming number of chefs go in the pantry and grab everything in sight in a frenzy - except for a major ingredient. Sometimes, a major ingredient ''in the dish's title''.
--> '''Chef Psilakis:''' "How am I gonna make Kung Pow Chicken without chicken?"
** The chefs are told at the start of each episode what they're supposed to make.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' They'd focus on the dish they're told to make and only include side dishes if the challenge calls for it. After all, they're being judged on everything they put before the judge.\\
'''Instead:''' A number of chefs add side dishes that have no place being with the dish they're making. This usually gets them called out by the judge, if not outright eliminated. Two notable examples of this:
*** In "[=SaBOOOTage=]", Chef Skylar is stuck with a sabotage that forces her to get the chocolate for her Devil's Food Cake from a bag of candy. She then gets inspired to add a fruity Ice Cream using the rest of the candy in the sabotage. Alton, who was pretending to be a vampire for the episode, broke character and explicitly warned her not to include it.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Given that Alton broke character to say this and rarely gives advice that explicit, she'd immediately dump it.\\
'''Instead:''' She ignored him, included it, and lost. Hell, in the ''After-Show'' even Jet Tila said that she could've won if she left it out.
*** In the final heat of "Superstar Sabotage", the chefs are told to make an Eggplant Parmesan.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Again, they'd stick to the Eggplant Parmesan.\\
'''Instead:''' Melissa D'Arabian added a pasta side dish. Her Eggplant Parmesan was perfect, but her pasta was bad enough to get her cut.
** Like many cooking shows, the addition of anything inedible on the plate is a big no-no, and can get a chef eliminated even if they had the best dish otherwise.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The chefs would make sure everything on the plate is edible, including any decorations.\\
'''Instead:''' Some chefs have included inedible things on their plate intentionally, including a plastic fishing lure that looked like a gummy worm.
** In a Club Sandwich round, an Italian chef spent over $15,900 over two auctions to give the sabotages of golf clubs and gloves that HAD to stay food-free to one chef. A wise investment if the victim is sent off. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' The Italian chef would play the round safe and make a Club Sandwich that's simple. The rules don't punish a lack of creativity, so he can't be eliminated for making a Club Sandwich that's not creative.\\
'''Instead:''' The Italian chef put salmon and bleu cheese in the sandwich. In cooking (''especially'' Italian cooking), pairing fish and cheese is usually a big no-no, but the decision to use salmon and ''bleu'' cheese was beyond idiotic. In fact, the chef he was trying to sabotage mentioned this trope by name. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard He got sent off instead]].
** In the Superstar Sabotage tournament, celebrity chefs compete for charity.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' They'd remember that their winnings is what their charity earns when they win. Barring that, they'd at least remember the general ''Cutthroat Kitchen'' rule of not bidding too much in the early rounds, as it can leave you vulnerable in the later rounds, where the pressure is higher.\\
'''Instead:''' Johnny Iuzzini forked over $17,000 to make his two opponents hold hands for the rest of the Croque-Monsieur round, leaving him with only $100 left for the final round.\\
'''The Result:''' He's hit by both sabotages in the final round and loses. He actually made out better by losing, because losing got his charity $2,500 while winning would have only gotten them the $100.
** In a southwest salad round, one chef decided a salad is whatever you wanted it to be.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' She'd keep the general idea of a salad in mind, focus on vegetables, and toss the ingredients, no matter what she uses.\\
'''Instead:''' Not only does she use a steak instead of lettuce, she doesn't toss the ingredients to resemble a salad. She was eliminated due to not presenting a salad. She stuck to her views even as she left.
** One chef in the first season won an auction that allowed him to steal one ingredient from each of his two opponents.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He'd use this advantage to its fullest and take something from both of them.\\
'''Instead:''' While he took the puff pastry of the female chef, he opted not to take anything from the other chef because the other chef "helped" him in the first round.\\
'''The Result:''' He eventually [[HoistByHisOwnPetard blew the competition to that chef]] in the finals when he made spicy teriyaki (a move he defended in his exit). Alton more or less implied this trope in the after show.
** One chef in the final round initially went all out and bid her entire remaining pot ($8,900) to force her opponent, who had more than twice that, to outbid her. Then the second sabotage came out.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' She would keep in mind that her opponent no longer has twice as much as her and let the next bidding round play out like a normal one.\\
'''Instead:''' In a move she called herself on in a ConfessionCam, she jumped the gun and accidentally bid her entire pot again even though her opponent's pot wasn't much bigger than her own now. He doesn't bid again, meaning she lost all of her remaining money and would be walking away with absolutely nothing even ''if'' she won.
** For a Salisbury steak round, one chef had his meat supply switched out for a Jell-O mold full of mixed berries and ground beef.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' After melting it apart with hot water, he would pick the meat out of the berries. After all, steak and berries don't taste good together at all.\\
'''Instead:''' He used the berries ''and'' the meat in his dish, presenting it as a "Salis-Berry Steak," and promptly got cut because the berry flavor was so overwhelming. When Jet Tila learned of the sabotage in the episode's after-show, he wondered aloud why the chef hadn't simply picked the meat out.
** During a Spaghetti and Meatballs round in Season 1, Chef Glick pays $6,500 for the right to confiscate all of a single ingredient type from one opponent. He goes to Chef Davidi, whose basket is crammed with boxes of pasta, and takes...\\
'''You'd Expect:''' ... all of the pasta.\\
'''Instead:''' ...the single bulb of garlic she got from the pantry. No one can believe that he chose the ''garlic'', including Alton and Chef Davidi herself.[[note]]Amazingly, this ''kinda worked'': Jet Tila called out Chef Davidi's dish for being low on flavor and specifically cited the lack of garlic, to which Chef Glick reacted with [[SmugSnake the smuggest grin imaginable]]. Granted, it didn't get Chef Davidi ''eliminated'', but still.[[/note]]
--> '''Chef Davidi:''' I've got all the boxes for spaghetti, and ''that's'' what you're gonna take?\\
'''Alton:''' ''(to Chef Davidi)'' I woulda taken every stinkin' piece of spaghetti you had.
** During the Carbonara round in "Evilicious: Canoe Jack City," one of the sabotages was to replace all of an opponent's eggs with huevos rancheros. As Chef Matt points out, the sabotage wouldn't be that bad if the yolks are runny.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Considering the yolks looked uncooked (and therefore runny) and the other chefs may not have realized what he has, he would avoid bringing it up.\\
'''Instead:''' He asked if the eggs were runny and Alton answered by poking the yolks, causing them to run into the salsa covering the eggs, making the sabotage much worse. Then he gets stuck with it.
--> '''Chef Matt:''' "What did they say: when you're in a hole, don't keep digging?"
** The first course of "Evilicious Tournament Finale" had a doozy; The first sabotage is to pair up the chefs, with the winner deciding the pairs. After the teams are decided, Chef Matt (yes, the same Chef Matt from above) spent ''$31,500'' to take away a chef's ability to use salt.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He would give it to one of the chefs on the other team. The best way to avoid elimination is to make sure your dish is the best, after all.\\
'''Instead:''' He gives it to the person who's supposed to be making ''his spaghetti and sauce'', [[InsaneTrollLogic on the "logic" that if their dish is worse, he will have the better component]]. [[LaserGuidedKarma He didn't, and got sent home for dry meatballs.]] Simon Majumdar was quite baffled by that one, stating in the After Show that "[Matt] should have been thrown out just for being a doofus."
** During the oatmeal raisin cookie challenge, Chef Rocky wants to "sabotage-proof" his recipe.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He would create a "plan B" for anything that could be taken away. After all, he doesn't know what will be taken away until it's about to go.\\
'''Instead:''' He attempts to make a cookie that requires as few things a sabotage could possibly take away as possible, including not baking it and only clumping some oats and raisins together with some syrup into a cookie shape. When he receives a sabotage that replaces all of his raisins with regular grapes, he continues with his plan and serves something that ''barely'' resembles an oatmeal raisin cookie, along with an unnecessary bowl of ice cream. For comparison, his opponent's only issues were not having quite enough oats in his cookies and only having one cookie on the plate. Naturally, Rocky didn't win.
** The first round in "Carne Diem" tasked the chefs to make a French omelet. Chef Paul won the first two auctions (replacing each of his opponents' mixing vessels and forcing one chef to cook everything on a spiral-shaped spatula) and was spared from the third (strapping two chefs together with a French flag).\\
'''You'd Expect:''' He would keep in mind it's supposed to be a ''French'' omelet and shape it like one, and, again, not add anything he doesn't need to.\\
'''Instead:''' Paul not only presented his omelet in the wrong style, he overcooked his omelet and added tomatoes and a chakalaka sauce to a dish that judge Jet Tila thought didn't work with it[[note]]Interestingly, chakalaka sauce is very traditional on eggs in Chef Paul's home country of South Africa.[[/note]]. Despite having no sabotages, Chef Paul was the first contestant axed.
** In "The Full Monte Cristo", the contestants are challenged to make a Monte Cristo (a fried ham and cheese sandwich). A fairly simple challenge.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The chefs to focus on the Monte Cristo, grab the right ingredients, bid on the sabotages... You know. Play the game right.\\
'''Instead:''' Chef Jourdan makes almost every mistake she could have. First, she stands around in the pantry, meaning she doesn't leave in time. Alton confiscates some ''broccoli'' she intentionally grabbed, saying [[LampshadeHanging "I'm doing you a favor"]]. She then makes no effort to bid during the auctions, allowing a competitor to switch out her bread for French onion soup for a mere $700. After this, She learns later that she grabbed ''butter'' from the pantry instead of cheese, so the only cheese she has to work with is whatever was melted onto the soup. For her dish, she decides to serve a chorizo flipped-up French onion soup alongside an heirloom tomato and herb salad with her Monte Cristo. When Alton warned her that chefs have been sent home for trying to do two things, her response is a glib [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "Yeah? I'm doing three things."]] Finally, when she can't dry out her bread in the oven, she tries to hide the soggiest pieces INSIDE the sandwich. In the end, Judge Jet Tila chides her for the extraneous side dishes and tastes no ham and cheese in her sandwich, [[EpicFail resulting in Chef Jourdan getting sent home]].

* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVOToR
* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVSToU
* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVVToZ

* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVAToC
* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVDToF
* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVGToI
* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVJToL
* WhatAnIdiot/LiveActionTVMToN

* WhatAnIdiot/

Shows that have their own page:

** "Helgaween-A-Rooney": Maddie has returned home and grabs the magic wish amulet, ready to wish Helga away. \\

'''Instead''': She only vaguely wishes, "I wish I was a twin again." As a result, this erases Liv from existence, but keeps Helga. Maddie even lampshades it.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''':
** Faith [[spoiler:after her FaceHeelTurn has shot Angel and injected him with a slow-acitng deadly poison. As the Scoobies prepare for the Mayor's plan on graduation, they find out the only cure for Angel's condition is if he drinks "the blood of a slayer". Cue the MassOhCrap as they look at Buffy. She and Faith are the only two candidates]].\\

* ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'':

* ''Series/TheBoys2019'' has this in the backstory. [[spoiler:Becca was an employee HappilyMarried to Billy Butcher]]. Despite Butcher's surly temperament and bad temper, he's gotten better thanks to being happy with her. [[spoiler:Then Homelander rapes her over a slight that Butcher seemingly made. Butcher is furious and swears revenge on a SupermanSubstitute, which is always a bad idea no matter the genre. Worse, Becca ends up pregnant with a superhuman baby. She knows that Butcher will not take this lying down, and won't be thrilled about her wanting to keep the kid, the living reminder of what Homelander did to her]].\\

* ''Series/TheBoys(2019)'' has this in the backstory. [[spoiler:Becca was an employee HappilyMarried to Billy Butcher]]. Despite Butcher's surly temperament and bad temper, he's gotten better thanks to being happy with her. [[spoiler:Then Homelander rapes her over a slight that Butcher seemingly made. Butcher is furious and swears revenge on a SupermanSubstitute, which is always a bad idea no matter the genre. Worse, Becca ends up pregnant with a superhuman baby. She knows that Butcher will not take this lying down, and won't be thrilled about her wanting to keep the kid, the living reminder of what Homelander did to her]].\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Hank to call Dr. Sacani, who is still on call, to go check on the patient. In fact, the patient is a volleyball patient at a tournament where [=HankMed=] is already the onsite medical care, so Dr. Sacani would be ''right there''. Plus, Dr. Sacani helped Hank treat the patient before, so he's well aware of her symptoms and history.\\

* ''WhatAnIdiot/GameShows''

** The Trotters get arrested by Del Boy's former childhood friend and long-standing rival, Roy Slater, for possession of a stolen microwave. While at the police station, Del tries offering Slater £50 to let them go. Slater, probably not wanting this long-awaited arrest to be even easier than Del is already making it, says "I didn't hear that," in a manner clearly hinting to Del that he should shut up.\\