History Main / ImpossiblePickleJar

* In the first case of ''Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective'', Holmes is looking for someone who is breaking people's necks with his or her bare hands. He crosses the widow of victim number two off the suspect list after seeing her [[DisabilityAlibi fail to pry open the lid of a tin of candies without outside assistance]].

* There's an episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' in which Sabrina and her aunts can't open a jar. Sabrina's father visits and, after a great deal of effort, is able to open the jar - they can't even do it by using magic. Her father is going through some personal problems at the time, so to unwind he sets about opening every difficult jar in the house.

* There's an episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' in which Sabrina and her aunts can't open a jar. Sabrina's father visits and, after a great deal of effort, is able to open the jar - not even using magic. Her father is going through some personal problems at the time, so to unwind he sets about opening every difficult jar in the house.

* There's an episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' in which Sabrina and her aunts can't open a jar. Sabrina's father visits and, after a great deal of effort, is able to open the jar. Her father is going through some personal problems at the time, so to unwind he sets about opening every difficult jar in the house.

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', Marty fails to twist open a bottle of Pepsi. He did not notice that it has an old fashioned bottle cap. George nonchalantly opens it with a bottle opener.

* ''Webcomic/{{Swords}}'' in the strip [[https://swordscomic.com/comic/DCCXXIX/ DCCXXIX - "The Everstabbed"]] - has a man seek out 'The Everstabbed' an entity made up of black void energy that is "kept eternally bound between life and death by the sword that cut through [their] heart"... to ask them to open his pickle jar. [[spoiler:The Everstabbed can't open it either.]]

* ''Webcomic/Swords'' in the strip [[https://swordscomic.com/comic/DCCXXIX/ DCCXXIX - "The Everstabbed"]] - has a man seek out 'The Everstabbed' an entity made up of black void energy that is "kept eternally bound between life and death by the sword that cut through [their] heart"... to ask them to open his pickle jar. [[spoiler:The Everstabbed can't open it either.]]

The jar doesn't just have to be a jar of pickles, either. All jars or bottles with stubborn caps, full of jam and peanut butter or still-moving eyes, still apply.

* A sponsorship spot on UK Creator/DisneyXD for Marvel dressing-up costumes shows a boy dressed as Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk failing to open a jar of pickles until a girl dressed as [[Comicbook/CarolDanvers Captain Marvel]] does it for him.

* Early in ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'', Kenichi's father, Mototsugu, attempts to open a jar of tomato sauce when his wife Saori muses that she can do the task herself. After much straining, Kenichi nonchalantly takes the jar from his dad, instantly opens it, and leaves, much to his father's bewilderment. This is Mototsugu's first clue that his son is beginning to come out of his shell and becoming a stronger, more self-confident person, [[PapaWolf although he initially gets the wrong idea about what's going on the Ryozanpaku dojo]].

* ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'': One of the ways Tsubone, a senior accountant at Retsuko's company, torments her underlings is by ordering them to open a stuck jar of preserves and watching them try and fail. Tsubone is shocked, and rather disappointed when Retsuko manages to open a jar thanks to getting more fit from yoga class. Needless to say, karma gets her ''good'' once she tries to open one herself...and her wrist ends up '''fractured'''.

** September 27th of 1995: [[https://garfield.com/comic/1995/09/27 Garfield's too tired to eat any pickles after struggling (but succeeding) to open the jar.]]
** January 16th of 2005: [[https://garfield.com/comic/2005/01/16 Jon does a victory dance after succeeding in opening a jar of pickles.]]
** January 29th of 2006: [[PlayedStraight A classic version of this trope]] -- [[https://garfield.com/comic/2006/01/29 Garfield succeeds in instantly opening jar while Jon struggles to open it.]]
** June 18th of 2014: [[https://garfield.com/comic/2014/06/18 The day before his 36th-birthday, Garfield has an "age nightmare" that features "the jar of pickles that [Garfield] can't open."]]
** October 28th of 2015: [[https://garfield.com/comic/2015/10/28 Even a monster with super-strength can't open a jar of pickles.]]

* After Po earns the Dragon Scroll in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', he struggles to open the container. After Shifu opens it for him, Po gives him the "after I loosened it up" line.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Jerry's inability to open a jar results in Rick giving him the Meeseeks box, sparking the B-plot of the episode.