History Main / DomesticApplianceDisaster

** Taken UpToEleven in "Rome-old and Juli-eh" where Granpa is kicked out of the retirement home, marries Selma and tries to run the house while she's at work: being senile and out of touch with modern appliances, he first mistakes a plastic blender container for a tea kettle and puts it on a gas stove, then he tries to make flapjacks with a stereo set by pouring the batter into the CD changer and he then finally decides to watch a movie by putting a VHS casette in a microwave and setting the "running time" to 2 hours. Obviously enough, when everything catches fire, he then tries to call the fire brigade and mistakes the extendable shower head of the kitchen sink tap for a telephone receiver, remarking "oh, they're already here!" when it starts to spray water on him until he finally realizes he's way over his head, grabs the baby and runs away to get help from Selma. When they return to the kitchen together, it's also revealed that he somehow managed to set the fridge's freezer compartment on fire as well.

* In the episode "Burnin' Down the House" from ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', Will tries to make the dinner but accidentally burns the entire kitchen with his failed flambé attempt.

* In "Is There A Doctor in the House?" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Arthur and D.W. try to take on the household chores after Mrs. Read gets sick with a bad cold. It doesn't go well - Arthur causes the vacuum cleaner to start smoking by vacuuming up paper clips and other objects that are too large for it, the dishwasher doesn't clean the dishes properly because they weren't scraped first and the detergent door wasn't closed, and there's other problems as well that aren't even related to appliances. Mr. Read is less than happy, especially when he discovers D.W. cut a hole in his pajamas to try to hang them, but can't grump about it too much, as he's coming down with the cold too. Fortunately, both of them turn out to be fast learners. The next day they wash the dishes by hand and are otherwise smarter in their chores, negating Mr. and Mrs. Read's plan to call in Grandma Thora for help.

Domestic disasters can be used as an EstablishingCharacterMoment, to show the [[BornUnlucky chronic bad luck]], [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny distraction]], or [[TheKlutz clumsiness]] of a character.

* In "Mademoiselle Mom" from ''WesternAnimation/FancyNancy'', Nancy causes the overflowing bubbles variant when she does the dish after taking over Mrs. Clancy's chores when she has a cold.

* In a 1950s WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} cartoon, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQwopSZiK5E "Father's Day Off"]], [[TheKlutz Goofy]] [[ADayInHerApron replaces his wife for a day]]. A dress gets wet and shrinks immediately. Goofy then tries to iron it, but forgets the iron on it (granted, he had to answer a phone call). The iron not only tears a hole in the dress, but also burns the ironing board, then the floor, [[HilarityEnsues and finally fell on Goofy's head in the room downstairs]].

** Taken UpToEleven in "Rome-old and Juli-eh" where Granpa is kicked out of the retirement home, marries Selma and tries to run the house while she's at work: being senile and out of touch with modern appliances, he first mistakes a plastic blender container for a tea kettle and puts it on a gas stove, then he tries to make flapjacks with a stereo set by pouring the batter into the CD changer and he then finally decides to watch a movie by putting a VHS casette in a microwave and setting the "running time" to 2 hours. Obviously enough, when everything catches fire, he then tries to call the fire brigade and mistakes the extendable shover head of the kitchen sink tap for a telephone receiver, remarking "oh, they're already here!" when it starts to spray water on him until he finally realizes he's way over his head, grabs the baby and runs away to get help from Selma. When they return to the kitchen together, it's also revealed that he somehow managed to set the fridge's freezer compartment on fire as well.

* Akane Tendō of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' isn't just a LethalChef, she's a walking disaster in a kitchen, to her older sister Kasumi's dismay. The most stand-out example is the manga story (and corresponding OVA) introducing Nodoka Saotome. Akane is once again trying to make diner to impress Ranma's mother, but she forgot to cook the eggs. So, pressed for time, she puts them in the microwave oven. The worst part is that even Ranma, who's been pretty much reared on the road, knows you should never do that, and try to warn Akane, who is clueless. Right on cue, the eggs explode from the microwaves, sending the oven door flying across the kitchen, hitting a hot water pipe -- which result in everybody present getting drenched and the rest of the food being ruined.

* ''Fanfic/RealityChecksNyxverse'': In ''Nyx's Family'', after an accident with an inkwell, Nyx tries to wash her aunt and uncle's fancy outfits in one washing machine, and the bedspread inn another, but dumps an entire box of soap pods into each machine because she can't believe just one pod is enough for an entire ink-stained load. The laundry room floods with both water and foam as a result, and Nyx herself has to be rescued because she can't see through all the foam.

* Creator/LesDrew wrote and animated ''WesternAnimation/EveryDogsGuideToCompleteHomeSafety'', which ends with BumblingDad Bernard demolishing his own house with a circular saw. The events that led to this event... make one wonder how he ''survived'' to become an adult. He's trying to cut some wood to level a wobbly table, and somehow manages to accidentally use a reciprocating saw to cut its own power cord. Then he goes and gets a circular saw, notices the trigger spring is broken, so he ''tapes it closed.'' He plugs it in, but it doesn't start because cutting the cord blew a fuse. ''Many'' would think of that as a lucky warning to ''quit while one's ahead'', but he instead heads to the fuse box to replace the fuse, reads a clear warning -- "15-amp fuse only" -- and stuffs in a 30-amp. The saw promptly springs to life and starts shooting around the house like a ''Film/{{Tron}}'' lightcycle, sawing clear through floors, walls, and ceilings. When Bernard's boss arrives and rings the doorbell, the whole structure collapses. Happily, Wally the dog and the couple's toddler escaped unharmed. Viewable here: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTNRFvvrSsc]].

* Creator/LesDrew wrote and animated ''WesternAnimation/EveryDogsGuideToCompleteHomeSafety'', which ends with BumblingDad Bernard demolishing his own house with a circular saw. The events that led to this event... make one wonder how he ''survived'' to become an adult. He's trying to cut some wood to level a wobbly table, and somehow manages to accidentally use a reciprocating saw to cut its own power cord. Then he goes and gets a circular saw, notices the trigger spring is broken, so he ''tapes it closed.'' He plugs it in, but it doesn't start because cutting the cord blew a fuse. ''Many'' would think of that as a lucky warning to ''quit while one's ahead'', but he instead heads to the fuse box to replace the fuse, reads a clear warning -- "15-amp fuse only" -- and stuffs in a 30-amp. The saw promptly springs to life and starts shooting around the house like a ''Film/{{Tron}}'' lightcycle, sawing clear through floors, walls, and ceilings. When Bernard's boss arrives and rings the doorbell, the whole structure collapses. Happily, Wally the dog and the couple's toddler escaped unharmed. Viewable here: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNkKyCUlWHw]].

* Creator/LesDrew wrote and animated ''WesternAnimation/EveryDogsGuideToCompleteHomeSafety'', which shows BumblingDad Bernard use a circular saw on a 30-amp outlet. The tool goes haywire and starts sawing up the whole house. When Bernard's boss arrives and rings the doorbell, the whole structure collapses. Happily, Wally the dog and the couple's toddler escaped unharmed. Viewable here: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNkKyCUlWHw]].

* ''Series/APrincessForChristmas''
** The "wave of bubbles" occurs in the first scenes. Six years old Maddie just wanted to wash the shirt she just stained, without disturbing her nanny. Unfortunately she's too young to have been taught how to deal with the washing machine.
** Later on, a rare voluntary example of "giant iron hole" occurs with ''benevolent'' intentions. A maid of Castelbury castles burn the evening dress of the heroine to the fiber with her iron...Actually a pretext to buy her another, more spectacular [[SheCleansUpNicely dress]] for the Christmas ball.

* In ''[[Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids Honey, I Blew Up the Kid]]'', Wayne lets the dinner in the oven catch fire during [[ADayInHerApron his wife's day out]]. Cue Wayne and his sons having a meal of peanut butter sandwiches.

* In "Is There A Doctor in the House?" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Arthur and D.W. try to take on the household chores after Mrs. Read get sick with a bad cold. It doesn't go well - Arthur causes the vacuum cleaner to start smoking by vacuuming up paper clips and other objects that are too large for it, the dishwasher doesn't clean the dishes properly because they weren't scraped first and the detergent door wasn't closed, and there's other problems as well that aren't even related to appliances. Mr. Read is less than happy, especially when he discovers D.W. cut a hole in his pajamas to try to hang them, but can't grump about it too much, as he's coming down with the cold too. Fortunately, both of them turn out to be fast learners. The next day they wash the dishes by hand and are otherwise smarter in their chores, negating Mr. and Mrs. Read's plan to call in Grandma Thora for help.