History IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy / LiveActionTV

** Blaine does it again in "I Am Unicorn", [[spoiler:deciding not to try out for Tony in the school's production of ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' because he knows Kurt wants the part, even though he really wants it too]].

* ''Series/QueerAsFolk'':
** In the U.S. version, Brian refuses to try to dissuade Justin from leaving him for Ethan, but at the same time continues to lend Justin money for college and pushes him to keep working on his comic with Michael. He even punches Michael when Michael attempts to take Brian's side in the split. Of course, Brian still can't tell Justin he loves him.
** The platonic(ish--more so in the US version) variation occurs in both the UK and US series', when Brian/Stuart outs Michael/Vince in order to piss him off enough to make him leave, because he thinks he's holding Michael/Vince back and preventing him from finding true happiness with David/Cameron.

* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'' Hook decides to stop pursing Emma and let her try again with Neal. [[spoiler: Ultimately, he and Emma get together.]]

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': Non-romantic example. Kate Sharma is famously this toward her younger sister, Edwina. As Kate tells Lady Danbury when the latter presses her for the truth about the dowry deal, she doesn't care about her own happiness. Her step-grandparents, the Sheffields, have never considered her as a granddaughter or an heir that she will work her own way up in the world if necessary. Edwina, however, is another story; if she must marry nobility, Kate wants to ensure that Edwina is with a man she loves and is worthy of her. She even goes as far as to convince Anthony to keep his promise to marry Edwina, when he intended to call it off, despite her growing feelings for him. It becomes clear over the course of the season that Kate is used to ''[[HonorBeforeReason always]]'' putting Edwina first [[HisOwnWorstEnemy at the expense]] of her own needs and feelings.

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': Kate Sharma is famously this. As Kate tells Lady Danbury when the latter presses her for the truth about the dowry deal, she doesn't care about her own happiness. Her step-grandparents, the Sheffields have never considered her as a granddaughter or an heir that she will work her own way up in the world if necessary. Her younger sister Edwina, however, is another story; if she must marry nobility, Kate wants to ensure that Edwina is with a man she loves and is worthy of her. She even goes as far as to convince Anthony to keep his promise to marry Edwina, despite he decided to call it off and her growing feelings for him. It becomes clear over the course of the season that Kate is used to ''[[HonorBeforeReason always]]'' putting Edwina first [[HisOwnWorstEnemy at the expense]] of her own needs and feelings.

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': In season 2, Kate Sharma is famously this. As Kate tells Lady Danbury when the latter presses her for the truth about the dowry deal, she doesn't care about her own happiness. Her step-grandparents, the Sheffields have never considered her as a granddaughter or an heir and she will work her own way up in the world if necessary. Her younger sister Edwina, however, is another story; if she must marry nobility, Kate wants to ensure that Edwina is with a man she loves and is worthy of her. She even goes as far as to convince Anthony to keep his promise to marry Edwina, despite he decided to call it off and her growing feelings for him. It becomes clear over the course of the season that Kate is used to ''[[HonorBeforeReason always]]'' putting Edwina first [[HisOwnWorstEnemy at the expense]] of her own needs and feelings.

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': In season 2, Kate Sharma is famously this. As Kate tells Lady Danbury when the latter presses her for the truth about the dowry deal, she doesn't care about her own happiness. Her step-grandparents, the Sheffields have never considered her as a granddaughter or an heir and she will work her own way up in the world if necessary. Her younger sister Edwina, however, is another story; if she must marry nobility, Kate wants to ensure that Edwina is with a man she loves and is worthy of her. She is even the one who desperately convinces Anthony to keep his promise to marry Edwina, despite he decided to call it off and her growing feelings for him. It becomes clear over the course of the season that Kate is used to ''[[HonorBeforeReason always]]'' putting Edwina first [[HisOwnWorstEnemy at the expense]] of her own needs and feelings.

* Happens both ways in the finale of ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': [[spoiler:Chidi is ready to "end" his time in [[{{Heaven}} The Good Place]] but Eleanor is not yet ready to let him go. When he realizes that Eleanor has figured this out and is trying to convince him to stay longer, he says that he will stay until Eleanor herself is read. However, not long after Eleanor realizes that she is being selfish and gives her blessing for him to go.]]

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': In season 2, Kate Sharma is famously this. As Kate tells Lady Danbury when the latter presses her for the truth about the dowry deal, she doesn't care about her own happiness. Her step-grandparents, the Sheffields have never considered her as a granddaughter or an heir and she will work her own way up in the world if necessary. Edwina, however, is another story; if she must marry nobility, Kate wants to ensure that Edwina is with a man she loves and is worthy of her. Even she is the one who desperately convinces Anthony to keep his promise to marry Edwina, despite he decided to call it off and her growing feelings for him. It becomes clear over the course of the season that Kate is used to ''[[HonorBeforeReason always]]'' putting Edwina first [[HisOwnWorstEnemy at the expense]] of her own needs and feelings.

** Ted also did it earlier for Stella, the woman who [[RunawayBride left him at the altar]], when he has an opportunity to confront her and imagines delivering a devastating TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to her for breaking his heart. However, when he sees her greet the man she dumped him for, his anger dissapates and he leaves them be, noting that "It was the perfect end to a perfect love story. It just wasn't mine." And several months later, he even ''gets the two of them back together'' (on Stella's request!) when they temporarily break up over the guilt about what they did to him. Talk about UpToEleven.

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', there tends to be a lot of this going around. Typically, whenever Lana has moved on from Clark and entered a new relationship, Clark will often be seen sadly saying something along these lines. Meanwhile, this is also Chloe's attitude towards Clark's attraction to Lana. Taken UpToEleven in season five, in which both of them [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex complain to her about their sex life]], then Clark decides to [[spoiler:tell Lana his secret and proposes to her]]. Clark thinks Chloe would say they are too young and whatnot, but instead she provides her support and encouragement. Chloe supportively says "If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, Clark, it's you."And this, in turn, was ''also'' Pete's attitude towards Chloe's teenage crush on Clark during the early seasons of the show. Thankfully, everyone involved eventually moved on to much healthier relationships.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Angel is jealous of the Groosalugg because he's usurping his role as TheChampion, plus Cordelia's interest in him as a LustObject. Nevertheless, at the end of "[[Recap/AngelS03E14Couplet Couplet]]", he tells them to take a long holiday together, "some place in the sun". In "[[Recap/AngelS03E22Tomorrow Tomorrow]]", after realizing that Cordelia truly loved Angel and not him, the Groosalugg chivalrously steps aside to let Cordelia pursue him.

* ''Series/ForeverKnight''. Nick Knight tells Natalie Lambert he just wants her to be happy on finding out she's seeing someone else. This just makes her angry, as she would prefer that Nick would show more interest in her (the fact that they CantHaveSexEver because he's a vampire tends to get in the way of things).

** Spike does this again to Buffy in Season 9 for the ''exact same reasons'' as Angel, [[FoeYay ironically]] [[HoYay enough]]. He thought she'd be happier without him in her life and wanted her to be with some normal guy, even though, once again, it was very clear Buffy still had feelings for him. He continues that behaviour through the first issues of season 10, keeping a close [[JustFriends friendship]] with her but at first making absolutely zero attempt at anything else, despite still being in love with her and there being massive amounts of {{UST}} between them that [[EveryoneCanSeeIt everyone can see]]. ''Once again'', like Angel, he cast this aside in favor of being with her, albeit only after [[ShipperOnDeck Xander]] called him out for how pointless it was.