History Main / GirlOfTheWeek

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' also often used Girl of the Week. Though the [[MinorFlawMajorBreakup increasingly petty reasons those relationships ended]] (liking a certain commercial, eating peas one at a time, having "man hands," etc.) could be considered LampshadeHanging. They actually did hang a lampshade in one episode where Elaine asked Jerry, who is worrying about his new girlfriend, "What are you worried about? You're dating a new girl, like, every week." Larry David said they absolutely loved ending an episode with a girl storming out and Jerry asking "What!?" as she went down the hallway.
** ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' was one of the first shows to continually use the gender-flipped version too -- Elaine didn't have as many guys of the week as Jerry had girlfriends, but she still comes second and ahead of George and Kramer with the partner count, even if for the last two seasons she had a more or less steady boyfriend in David Puddy. Not only that, but quite a few of these plots (episodes include "The Beard", "The Fusilli Jerry", "The Sponge", "The Rye" and "The Abstinence") make clear that sex is as much a major part of a relationship to her as it is to the male leads.
*** There’s some lampshade hanging of this as well in the final season episode “The Apology” where Elaine is forced to deal with a germaphobic coworker who thinks Elaine is unclean because all the men she’s slept with.

* The whole premise of Franco-Belgian comic ''[[NiceGuy Julie]], [[DumbBlonde Claire]], [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Cécile]]''. The work is nothing, but one page gags about the three girls' dating life. No guy ever stay longer than one page except for Claire eventually got a permanent boyfriend.

** Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari not only had one, but he also had three wives (all at once, perfectly legal on his homeworld). He ends up divorcing two of the wives and then the girlfriend [[spoiler: gets StuffedIntoTheFridge as part of an a {{plan}}]].

** This was such a common event that characters who keep getting the Girl of the Week in a TV series are sometimes referred to as 'Kirk' or 'a Kirk', either as criticism or compliment, often by [[HollywoodNerd geeky]] characters. See various episodes of Stargate Atlantis as an example, with Rodney [=McKay=] calling John Shepherd 'Kirk' after he has met and conquered the girl - but then he's jealous! The epitome of this was when Shephard tried to hit on Rodney's married sister in the episode '[=McKay=] and Mrs Miller' (S3 E08).

* Milked for all it was worth in an episode of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' where everyone is thrilled that HollywoodNerd Justin is dating someone, and he rattles off a list of girls that's been with, only for his brother to say "Nope, don't remember them."

** By contrast, Creator/TimothyDalton is by far the safest Bond to bed down with; only Della dies across his two films, and she's Felix Leiter's wife, not his (although it's strongly implied he and Della may have had a history). All four of the women Dalton's James sleeps with (Kara Milovy, Lupe Lamora and Pam Bouvier) live to be ignored in the sequels.[[note]]Short tenure aside, Dalton's Bond was supposedly the least promiscuous because of the contemporary AIDS panic.[[/note]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart and Lisa have occasional love interests, or at least someone romantically interested in them. Also a non-romantic example with Lisa when she befriends some one-episode girls.

[[SocietyMarchesOn Changes in social gender roles]] mean that it is starting to become acceptable for female protagonists to have relations with male guest cast members that fit into this trope, [[MyGirlIsNotASlut although]] examples are less likely to lead to actual sex and usually tend to be more emotionally significant than a pure one-night-stand.

** So far, just about every girl that Daniel Craig's Bond has had sex with has died before the closing credits. The only four Daniel Craig-era Bond girls to survive so far are Camille Montes (who Bond doesn't even get in bed with) in ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', the random woman he is seen with at the beginning of ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', Estrella (the girl he's with in the opening sequence of ''Spectre''), Lucia Sciarra and Madeleine Swann.

* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' has these in several of the [[AnachronicOrder chronologically earlier]] books. Interestingly two of them do make an appearnace in later books, one of them is friendly to him while the other wants to [[WomanScorned steal his soul]]. Of course once he meets Amberley (in ''For The Emperor'') he settles down so the chronologically later books don't have any.

* Virtually every DomCom with teen-aged characters has or has had stories where one of the male or female teen-aged characters would become involved in a (almost always, temporary) relationship. The catalyst to the relationship's failure -- usually by episode's end -- provided that episode's [[AnAesop Aesop]]. Other times, the date would be successful, but -- since most of the family sitcoms didn't have story arcs -- the relationship would end without explanation and never be referred to again.

* Most early seasons of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' rarely had Frasier Crane with a girlfriend who stayed around longer than an episode; sometimes they didn't even break up, she simply wasn't there any more an episode later. In later seasons, the girlfriend might stay for a mini-arc but would likely be gone after. Often a focus of LampshadeHanging as Frasier obsessed about his inability to commit. In one memorable episode, most of the former love interests made a cameo in a DreamSequence on the subject.

* The guys in ''Series/TheProfessionals'' never have the same girl for more than one episode. Generally, if Girl of the Week is blonde, she will be dumb and annoying. If she's brunette, she will be mildly intelligent, but still in need of looking after. Most notable Girls of the Week are Ann in "Involvement" (Doyle's girlfriend) and Marikka in "Fall Girl" (Bodie's girlfriend).

** ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' was one of the first shows to continually use the gender flipped version too - Elaine didn't have as many guys of the week as Jerry had girlfriends, she still comes second and ahead of George and Kramer with the partner count, even if for the last two seasons she had a more or less steady boyfriend in David Puddy. Not only that, but quite a few of these plots (episodes include "The Beard", "The Fusilli Jerry", "The Sponge", "The Rye" and "The Abstinence") make clear that sex is as much a major part of a relationship to her as it is to the male leads.

** Averted with [=DS9=]: everybody was in love on that show. Ben Sisko, who nurtured a SecondLove with a civilian freighter Captain, eventually married her near the end of his series. Ditto with Jadiza Dax and Worf. Odo ended up with Kira. Bashir had a (mostly-offscreen) relationship with Leeta, one of the girls from Quark's casino, before ending up with another series regular, Ezri. Bashir and Odo had one-off girlfriends in "Melora" and "Simple Investigation" respectively.

*** Chakotay had two major relationships in the series: the first one turned adversarial (Seska), and the other hastily-whipped up by the writers, seemingly to torment the actor (Beltran complained that the far superior Creator/JeriRyan was stealing his screentime; as punishment, his few remaining scenes were spent courting Jeri. The lesson: Don't fuck with Brannon Braga.) In "Unforgettable", his romance with Virginia Marsden is thwarted when her people blank out the memories. Even before she got the Will Smith treatment, there was a constant impression that both actors [[NoSparks would rather be elsewhere]].

** Jeffrey Sinclair, the first commander, had Carolyn Sykes in the {{pilot}}, with Catherine Sakai being another on-again-off-again girlfriend in the series proper[[note]]interestingly enough, both had the same job, being prospectors [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]].[[/note]] Sakai notably had the ability to recite Tennyson and make it sound [[GeekyTurnOn incredibly sexy.]]

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' distinguished between the type of relationship the different characters have. Both Joey and Phoebe have numerous relationships which last barely an episode. Ross and Monica preferred long-term relationships that lasted for at least a few episodes (Julie, Elizabeth, Mona/Richard and Pete). Rachel switches between Guy of the Week and long term interests. Chandler interestingly ''tried'' to pick up Girl of the Week one night stands but struggled and was actually happier in his longer relationships. (Janice and Kathy).

** Chandler {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this in an episode, where the group discovers a man in an apartment in their building had died lonely. Chandler reads the man's reasons for dumping his girlfriends- all of which were done for petty reasons- and realizes he's been doing the same thing. He resolves not to do that anymore and decides to give his former girlfriends a second chance. The first one he sees, Janice, is pregnant and thus unavailable, but he actually goes on a date with the second one- a girl he dumped for having "big head". He then realizes he actually liked her big head, and the episode ends with him smiling.

** Madeleine Swann, introduced in ''Film/{{Spectre}}'', is the first time a main Bond Girl appeared in more than one movie, coming back for ''Film/NoTimeToDie''.

* Whenever ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' was on a major adventure, It wasn't uncommon for him to be accompanied by an attractive LoveInterest. ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' gave us Marion Ravenwood (Creator/KarenAllen), ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Temple of Doom]]'' brought along Willie Scott (Creator/KateCapshaw), while ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Last Crusade]]'' had Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody).

* Subverted in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', where the original love interest returns as a major character.
** It's even revealed [[spoiler: that her son is also his son]] and [[spoiler: they get married at the end of the film]].
** There's also a line that justifies why it was played straight in the first three films. Indiana tells the love interest that it didn't last with any of the other girls because they all had the same problem: "They weren't you."

*** Also, the second film is actually chronologically the first, so in that film Marion was still in his past.

* ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'' (''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' WesternAnimation, [[{{Series}} TV Series]], and ComicBooks.): More like girl of the chapter since the point is that Danny goes on a series of blind dates, meeting a new girl that he hits it off with...most of the time anyway.

* Subverted throughout the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, as Brock generally never has even a slim chance of actually getting the girl. There have been some ''very'' rare instances of girls actually being interested in Brock, but they always go their separate ways by the end of the episode, anyway. Also subverted in that half those girls are either Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny, [[InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals who all look/sound/act the same.]]

* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu's'' second season, this trope is combined with VictimOfTheWeek to give [[spoiler:Mytho]] a new conquest in many episodes.
* Makoto of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' usually fell for each minor male character shortly after their introduction. And they all remind her of an ex-[[SempaiKohai senpai]], even [[spoiler:Haruka]].

%%* This theme is basically the premise of ''Manga/GoldenBoy''.

* In ''Manga/CityHunter'', Ryo Saeba accepts assignments almost exclusively from beautiful young women, most of whom are never seen again in further episodes. During the rare instances when Ryo accepts a job from a man, it would usually involve protecting a young woman.
* Cobra from ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'' often gets a new female sidekick[=/=]{{Love Interest|s}} in each of the one-shot stories.
* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', there are quite a few Girls of the Week during the WalkingTheEarth segments. Even more are added during the filler episodes. Strangely enough, Goku's eventual wife Chi-Chi is originally introduced as a Girl of the Week and when she makes her second appearance in the manga over a hundred chapters later, there's a LampshadeHanging where no-one can remember her except Oolong.

* Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}: In ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 1972}} her 70's series]]'', Kara falls over a new guy in each episode, but she never gets the guy or they break up before the end of the issue. Regardless, the guy is never seen again.

* ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'' (''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' WesternAnimation, [[{{Series}} TV Series]], and ComicBooks.): More like girl of the chapter since the point is that Danny goes on a series of blind dates, meeting a new girl that he hits it off with...most of the time anyway.

* The ''Film/JamesBond'' film franchise is famous for its Bond Girls, the {{disposable|Woman}} companions that Bond acquires in each of his various adventures. Bond Girls have a very high mortality rate, and, with some exceptions, never appear in more than one movie. Unless of course we count Miss Moneypenny. Despite the mortality rate, almost every film will feature at least one Bond girl surviving, and given how many girls Bond tends to get- even in a single film- versus the amount who actually die, maybe the ratio isn't so bad after all.
** Vesper Lynd in ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' has a direct effect on the plot of the film immediately following it, ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', in which she casts a long shadow but appears onscreen for all of two seconds.
** Madeleine Swann, introduced in ''Film/{{Spectre}}'', is the first time a main Bond Girl appeared in more than one movie, coming back for ''Film/NoTimeToDie''.
** Bond's murdered wife [[ILetGwenStacyDie Tracy di Vicenzo]] also gets brought up every now and then, but always indirectly (possibly to hide the ContinuitySnarl of Creator/PierceBrosnan's Bond being called upon to mourn a woman Creator/GeorgeLazenby's Bond married over thirty years earlier), though this was the unspoken reason Creator/SeanConnery's Bond was so pissed at Blofeld and frantically hunted him down at the beginning of the immediate sequel to ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''.
*** Tracy would have appeared in the film after ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' and be killed early in the film. Before filming of Lazenby's first film ended he had already decided not to do another, so she was killed at the end of the film.
** Maud Adams, meanwhile, has appeared as two different Bond girls: Andrea Anders in ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'', and the title character in ''Film/{{Octopussy}}''. The former doesn't make it.
** So far, just about every girl that Daniel Craig's Bond has had sex with has died before the closing credits. The only four Daniel Craig-era Bond girls to survive so far are Camille Montes (who Bond doesn't even get in bed with) in ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', the random woman he is seen with at the beginning of ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', Estrella (the girl he's with in the opening sequence of ''Spectre''), Lucia Sciarra and Madeleine Swann.
** By contrast, Creator/TimothyDalton is by far the safest Bond to bed down with; only Della dies across his two films, and she's Felix Leiter's wife, not his (although it's strongly implied he and Della may have had a history). All four of the women Dalton's James sleeps with (Kara Milovy, Lupe Lamora and Pam Bouvier) live to be ignored in the sequels.[[note]]Short tenure aside, Dalton's Bond was supposedly the least promiscuous because of the contemporary AIDS panic.[[/note]]
** Everybody else hovers vaguely in the neighborhood of a 65-80% survival rate, with Connery being the second safest behind Dalton (owing largely to the "Dead Bond Girl" trope not manifesting until his third film, he clocks in at a 76% survival rate), Moore being probably the next safest (despite his films sometimes leaning cartoonishly misogynistic, just under 74% of his women survive). Only 2/3s of Lazenby's women survive (although he'd trade 'em both for the one that didn't), and Brosnan's lovers have an exactly 70% survival rate. EON Bond has slept with 57 total women (Sylvia Trench appears in two films, so if you count her as two it's then 58), of whom just about 70% (40) survive. That's... still not great.
** Interestingly, Sylvia Trench was meant to be an ''inversion'' - recurring in every movie, but always excluded from the actual adventure. However, she was dropped by ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' (there are rumors she was meant to eventually become ''the'' Bond love-interest).
** With ''all'' of that said, there's [[SexySecretary Miss Moneypenny]], with whom Bond constantly has UnresolvedSexualTension but adopts a strict SleepsWithEveryoneButYou policy[[note]]However, he is definitely ''not'' of the CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest persuasion[[/note]], likely because it would be [[OfficeRomance mixing business with pleasure a bit too close to home]].

* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' had several:
** [[Film/ThePinkPanther1963 The 1963 original]]: Mme. Clouseau -- she divorced her inspector husband for Sir Charles Litton;
** ''Film/AShotInTheDark'': Maria Gambrelli
** ''Film/InspectorClouseau'': Lisa Morrell
** ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'': Olga
** ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'': Simone
* Subverted in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', where the original love interest returns as a major character.
** It's even revealed [[spoiler: that her son is also his son]] and [[spoiler: they get married at the end of the film]].
** There's also a line that justifies why it was played straight in the first three films. Indiana tells the love interest that it didn't last with any of the other girls because they all had the same problem: "They weren't you."
*** Not to mention the fact that when they meet [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk in the first movie]], they've already had a past relationship,[[spoiler: making "Kingdom" the third and final(?) time they hook up!"]]
*** Also, the second film is actually chronologically the first, so in that film Marion was still in his past.

* Peter Sterling (Creator/DonaldOConnor) gets involved with a different beautiful woman in every film of the ''Film/FrancisTheTalkingMule'' series.

* Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian does not always get a girl. But when he does, she vanishes without a trace before the next story. Justified in that there are huge gaps in time between many stories, and that they weren't written in chronological order. Conan had several lengthy relationships, and eventually married. Also before his marriage Conan is specified to run out of money a lot.
* Thomas Lewellyn, of Will Thomas's Barker and Lewellyn Victorian-era mysteries, will fall in love at least once a book, but it never works out. (Then again, it never gets far- twice he's warned off by the young lady's father or guardian and immediately gives up on the matte and twice it turns out she's seeing someone else and lied about it. The one time he manages to entertain serious thoughts of a relationship until the end of the book? Turns out [[spoiler: she's the BigBad]]. Oops.)
* ''Literature/TheJenniferMorgue'' discusses, lampshades, and generally plays hell with this trope: the opposition is using a Hero-trap geas, meaning that all efforts to oppose him will be funneled into the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality; since he cast himself as the villain, he can only be successfully resisted by a Film/JamesBond archetype, which is played by [[TheHero Bob]]. He is quickly paired up with a female [[EagleLand Black Chamber]] agent, making her a Bond girl. [[spoiler:And then the trope is turned completely upside down: it turns out that [[TheChessmaster Angleton]] was able to successfully end-run the geas by making Bob's girlfriend, Mo, the true Bond-figure in the geas, meaning that ''Bob'' is the [[DamselInDistress actual Bond girl]], allowing Mo to save the day in a Bond-worthy BigDamnHeroes moment. The narrative also notes that there's almost always two Bond girls, one "[[TheChick light]]", one "{{dark|ActionGirl}}", thus making room for the Black Chamber agent in the geas.]]
* Bernie Rhodenbarr, Lawrence Block's GentlemanThief protagonist, sleeps with at least one female love interest per novel, and none of them reappear or are mentioned again after that. The closest person in Bernie's life is Carolyn Kaiser, a lesbian pet-groomer who describes herself as his "minion", and is PlatonicLifePartners with him.
* [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Bertie Wooster]] runs through love interests quickly and frequently ends up engaged (often against his will), but never actually gets married because StatusQuoIsGod.
* The pre-WWII ''Literature/TheSaint'' novels and short stories switch randomly between having Simon dating his long-term love interest Patricia Holm and having Girls of the Week (some of which he is clearly indicated to have sex with). It is implied that he and Patricia have an open relationship.

* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' has these in several of the [[AnachronicOrder chronologically earlier]] books. Interestingly two of them do make an appearnace in later books, one of them is friendly to him while the other wants to [[WomanScorned steal his soul]]. Of course once he meets Amberley (in ''For The Emperor'') he settles down so the chronologically later books don't have any.

* A few episodes of ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' had a Girl of the Week plot:
** "New Girl In Town" is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Walter Denton dates the new girl, while Miss Brooks' {{Love Interest|s}} Mr. Boynton is attracted to the girl's widowed mother.
** "Life Can Be Bones" sees Miss Brooks romantically threatened by Mr. Boynton's temporary laboratory assistant.
** In "Hello, Mr. Chips", Miss Brooks tries to date an English schoolmaster to make Mr. Boynton jealous.
** In "Clay City English Teacher", scheming Clay City High School principal Jason Brille tries to lure Miss Brooks to his school with the eponymous male teacher. [[spoiler: Miss Brooks won't go unless there's a job for Mr. Boynton too.]]
* ''{{Series/CHiPs}}'': Ponch often had one (or more) of these per episode, and they were the hottest, most babelicious girls you could ever feast your eyes on.
* In ''Series/HappyEndings'', Penny, is usually breaking up or having problems with a new guy each week, although mostly off screen. Also happens sometimes with Dave.

* The Girl of the Week was frequently used on ''Series/MagnumPI'' In fact, when they weren't Girl of the Week episodes, they were probably TemporaryLoveInterest episodes. Pretty much a staple of PI series from the 50's to the 80's (e.g. ''Series/{{Vegas}}'')
%%* ''Series/KnightRider''.
* The guys in ''Series/TheProfessionals'' never have the same girl for more than one episode. Generally, if Girl of the Week is blonde, she will be dumb and annoying. If she's brunette, she will be mildly intelligent, but still in need of looking after. Most notable Girls of the Week are Ann in "Involvement" (Doyle's girlfriend) and Marikka in "Fall Girl" (Bodie's girlfriend).
* ''Series/HogansHeroes'' did this a lot. The women could be German civilians, members of the underground, foreigners, or even German officers, and the Heroes would still go for them. However, the only recurring women were [[LaResistance Tiger]] and [[GloriousMotherRussia Marya]]. Even [[ButtMonkey Klink]] got a few women, although the one non-spy lady wound up leaving with Burkhalter by the end of the episode.
* [[NerdsAreSexy Billy]] from ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had enough of these to give almost any other character on this list a run for their money. He got more romantic subplots than any other Ranger and probably still holds the record as the franchise's biggest in-canon stud.
* Every romantic interest on ''Series/SilverSpoons'' for ''anyone'' besides Kate and Ricky's father Edward.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' also often used Girl of the Week. Though the [[MinorFlawMajorBreakup increasingly petty reasons those relationships ended]] (liking a certain commercial, eating peas one at a time, having "man hands," etc.) could be considered LampshadeHanging. They actually did hang a lampshade in one episode where Elaine asked Jerry, who is worrying about his new girlfriend, "What are you worried about? You're dating a new girl, like, every week." Larry David said they absolutely loved ending an episode with a girl storming out and Jerry asking "What!?" as she went down the hallway.
** ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' was one of the first shows to continually use the gender flipped version too - Elaine didn't have as many guys of the week as Jerry had girlfriends, she still comes second and ahead of George and Kramer with the partner count, even if for the last two seasons she had a more or less steady boyfriend in David Puddy. Not only that, but quite a few of these plots (episodes include "The Beard", "The Fusilli Jerry", "The Sponge", "The Rye" and "The Abstinence") make clear that sex is as much a major part of a relationship to her as it is to the male leads.
*** There’s some lampshade hanging of this as well in the final season episode “The Apology” where Elaine is forced to deal with a germaphobic coworker who thinks Elaine is unclean because all the men she’s slept with.

* ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' - Steve Austin made out with a lot more women than just Jamie Sommers and Farrah Fawcett....
* The repeated use of Girls of the Week in later seasons of ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' was criticized by fans, although they were usually {{temporary love interest}}s since most of the time they died tragically at the end of the episode.
* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr.'' featured several Girls of the Week. Brisco got kissed by many beautiful women, but his heart always belonged to Dixie Cousins.
* Most early seasons of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' rarely had Frasier Crane with a girlfriend who stayed around longer than an episode; sometimes they didn't even break up, she simply wasn't there any more an episode later. In later seasons, the girlfriend might stay for a mini-arc but would likely be gone after. Often a focus of LampshadeHanging as Frasier obsessed about his inability to commit. In one memorable episode, most of the former love interests made a cameo in a DreamSequence on the subject.
* All of the main male characters of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' spinoffs (even including ''[[CreatorsPet that]]'' [[CreatorsPet main male character]], who actually is the ''reigning champion'' of [=TNG=]) got at least one (and occasionally Crusher and Troi would get a Guy Of The Week). As for the original? They were all hogged by Kirk, Spock, and [=McCoy=]. Mostly Kirk.
** Lies! Chekov once got a girl. She didn't even die! (Like Kirk, Chekov insisted the ''Enterprise'' was [[MarriedToTheJob his true love]] and told his flower child girlfriend to hit the street. This scenario would be replayed, ad nauseum, throughout each of the five ''Star Trek'' series. Walter Koenig was ''pissed''.)
** Scotty once got a girl too. Really, the only regular male character on TOS who ''never'' got one was Sulu. [[AscendedMeme Oh]] ''[[StraightGay my!]]'' (Though he already had a wife, with whom he had a daughter, back home.)
** Picard had a few dalliances with his female crewmembers, but he only consummated one of them (annoyingly, he did not bed Beverly, a series regular, but a science officer who disappeared as quickly as she came). He also came ''this'' close to performing the... Picard Maneuver on Creator/FamkeJanssen.
** Riker also had several, including a holographic one in Minuet. But, of course, his heart from the start belonged to Deanna.
** Averted with [=DS9=]: everybody was in love on that show. Ben Sisko, who nurtured a SecondLove with a civilian freighter Captain, eventually married her near the end of his series. Ditto with Jadiza Dax and Worf. Odo ended up with Kira. Bashir had a (mostly-offscreen) relationship with Leeta, one of the girls from Quark's casino, before ending up with another series regular, Ezri. Bashir and Odo had one-off girlfriends in "Melora" and "Simple Investigation" respectively.
** Captain Janeway teased at a romance with her Number Two, Chakotay, but for various reasons (syndication concerns, the two actors hating each others' guts, etc.), nothing ever came of it. She had three 'boyfriends' over the course of VOY: the smarmy Hans Landa lookalike in "Counterpoint", the veteran actor James Read in "Workforce", and a piece of rough in "Fair Haven/Spirit Folk". The latter was a hologram, if that counts. A downside of the series premise is that ''Voyager'' never revisited old locations, and officers are forbidden from intermingling with the crew, so a long-lasting relationship was out of the question.
*** Chakotay had two major relationships in the series: the first one turned adversarial (Seska), and the other hastily-whipped up by the writers, seemingly to torment the actor (Beltran complained that the far superior Creator/JeriRyan was stealing his screentime; as punishment, his few remaining scenes were spent courting Jeri. The lesson: Don't fuck with Brannon Braga.) In "Unforgettable", his romance with Virginia Marsden is thwarted when her people blank out the memories. Even before she got the Will Smith treatment, there was a constant impression that both actors [[NoSparks would rather be elsewhere]].
--->'''[[http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/voyager-season-four.html Joe Ford]]''': A Chakotay romance almost seems like a contradiction in terms. [[TheGenericGuy The guy is a robot]], plain and simple, and all of his actions are fairly mechanical so to suggest that there is a heart beating underneath all that New Age mysticism and Starfleet procedure is a joke...Beltran makes the plea ‘[[DullSurprise don’t go]]’ with all the passion of a Speak’n’Spell reading poetry.
** This was such a common event that characters who keep getting the Girl of the Week in a TV series are sometimes referred to as 'Kirk' or 'a Kirk', either as criticism or compliment, often by [[HollywoodNerd geeky]] characters. See various episodes of Stargate Atlantis as an example, with Rodney [=McKay=] calling John Shepherd 'Kirk' after he has met and conquered the girl - but then he's jealous! The epitome of this was when Shephard tried to hit on Rodney's married sister in the episode '[=McKay=] and Mrs Miller' (S3 E08).
** This specific example was hilariously lampshaded in the ''Series/InLivingColor'' skit ''The Wrath of Farrakhan'': '' 'You even take the ugly ones, Captain!' ''
%%* ''Literature/TheSaint'', especially during Ian Ogilvy's time as the hero.

* ''Series/QuantumLeap'' loved this trope - justifying it in that Sam's scrambled brain would pick up on the feelings of the person he replaced and that his pursuit would set the GOTW and the person Sam leapt into "on the right path".
** Besides which, unless it was a two-parter Sam would be forcibly "leaped" out of the situation, therefore he ''couldn't'' have an ongoing relationship with any of them. [[spoiler:(He had a wife in his "present" but didn't remember her. She decided that was for the best: because if he knew, she knew he'd feel obliged not to pursue any GOTW no matter how right it would be for the person he leaped in to. Ironically, his wife originally ''was'' a GOTW from an earlier episode, but because Sam helped her solve her commitment issues in the past she didn't leave him at the altar like she had originally, a fact we don't find out until nearly four seasons later.)]]
* A common trope on ''Series/TheWildWildWest'' -- many episodes ended with West and Gordon on a double date, either with women they'd worked with during the story, or with previously-unmentioned female characters.
* ''Series/TheMonkees'' often had a token female love interest for one of the guys (but mostly for the cute heartthrob and ChickMagnet, Davy Jones.) Sometimes, it was one of the Monkees themselves who acted as the girl, whenever they were so hilariously DisguisedInDrag. They did {{lampshade|Hanging}} it from time to time, though. "Well well, he's in love, for the very first time today!"
* Most of the episodes of ''Music/FlightOfTheConchords'', mainly because most of the duo's songs are love songs. Mel is the only regular female character, and she's a stalker that they cannot stand. The only recurring girlfriends are Sally (3 episodes) and Coco (2). Possibly {{lampshade|Hanging}}d with the song "Carol Brown", in which Jemaine imagines being sung at by a choir of his ex-girlfriends...all of whom we've never seen before.

* A few episodes of the Lee Van Cleef/Timothy Van Patten series ''Series/TheMaster'' that appeared on [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] followed this trope to a tee, the first featuring a young Creator/DemiMoore. They weren't all pining for Tim, but there was always a young woman or two, of variable relevance to the plot.
* ''Series/TimeTrax'' had very few episodes without one of these.
* A very commonly used trope in TheSixties spy series ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' (befitting the series's status as a ''Film/JamesBond'' knockoff). Usually the girl wound up in the arms of suave operator [[HandsomeLech Napoleon Solo]], but the occasional episode would give her to [[EstrogenBrigade distaff fan favorite]] Illya Kuryakin.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': A recurring joke during Sharona Fleming's tenure in the first three seasons is her love life. Despite her astuteness in both helping Monk navigate his life and in assisting him in solving homicide investigations, her judgment regarding potential romantic partners for herself is remarkably poor. Besides her ex-husband Trevor Howe, she's dated, among others: an architect who turns out be a streaker that is regularly interrupting Stottlemeyer and Disher's press conferences ("Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger"), a mob enforcer ("Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather"), several married men, and sometimes the very murderer who Monk is investigating. The seeming common denominator between these and many other men is a compulsive inability to be honest with her.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' is filled with this. Ascended Ancients, non-ascended Ancients, Princesses, Female Starship Captains, etc etc.
* Likewise, ''Series/StargateSG1'' had its fair share, including one episode where O'Neill [[spoiler: accidentally marries]] a woman who is never seen again.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''. How many candidates have we had for the mother, now? A few dozen? And let's not even get into Barney's numerous conquests.
* ''Series/ThirtyRock'' has girls/boys of the season for both Liz and Jack. They also tend to break up with people around the same time. It's eerie.

* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete'', Big Pete had several Girls of the Week, especially in the last season.
* Milked for all it was worth in an episode of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' where everyone is thrilled that HollywoodNerd Justin is dating someone, and he rattles off a list of girls that's been with, only for his brother to say "Nope, don't remember them."
%%* Frequently used in Creator/DisneyChannel shows.
* Any of Zack's love interests on ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' that wasn't Kelly, Tori, or Stacy. Including Lisa, even though she was a main character for the entire run of the series, Slater's sister (never seen before or after), and the homeless girl that moved into his house with her father.
%%* Little Joe on ''{{Series/Bonanza}}'' was an early example of this.
* Omnipresent during the early seasons of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', where for all but the most important of mythology episodes there would be a new girl in every episode, usually but not always at least an implicit love interest for one of the brothers. In season 4 when the {{Filler}} ratio has become far lower this becomes much less common, and then by season 6 it has disappeared altogether. It's almost jarring going from season 1 where Dean could seemingly not go five minutes without meeting and flirting with some hot girl to seasons 8-10 where through which he doesn't go on a single on-screen date.
* The cast of ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' has a handful of these for both genders: Buffy's one date with Owen, who she has to dump because living in her world would get him killed; Cordelia has several of these in seasons 1 and 2. Not to mention Xander's tendency to have possible love interests turn out to be demons trying to kill him - one of the few instances where the girl and MonsterOfTheWeek are actually one and the same.
* ''Series/TheATeam'' had tons of these, and they almost always ended up with [[HandsomeLech Face]], except for a handful of times when they ended up with [[BunnyEarsLawyer Mur]][[SuccessThroughInsanity dock]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** Happened not infrequently in the first season, before the iconic ''Doctor Who'' NoHuggingNoKissing was in effect. A notable example is an elderly Aztec woman named Cameca, the first love interest the Doctor is ever given.
** Barbara had a few:
*** A male Thal who she apparently had an offscreen romance with in "The Daleks", although we see no indication of this beyond an extremely sexual goodbye kiss and he is never mentioned again. The expanded universe suggests that she had been sleeping with him but it wasn't a big deal.
*** Leon in "The Reign of Terror".
** Samantha in "The Faceless Ones", a PluckyGirl with a Scouse accent who Jamie {{Honey Trap}}s in order to steal her plane tickets. The director wanted her to stay on as a companion to replace the departing Ben and Polly, but the actress declined.
** The sexual tension between Jo and King Peladon in "The Curse of Peladon" is definitely two-way, despite his sudden and entitled initial proposal to her, and she seems to genuinely consider abandoning her life on Earth for him.
** In the last couple of series of the original run of ''Series/DoctorWho'', Ace seemed to find a new young female best friend to hang out with almost everywhere (and everywhen) they went -- Shou in "Battlefield," Gwendoline in "Ghost Light," Susan Q in "The Happiness Patrol" and Kara in "Survival," for starters. The level of [[HoYay subtext]] varied, but was [[WordOfGay later confirmed]] to be deliberate with at least some of them (especially the latter two).
* ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'': Girl of the Week is probably an understatement, seeing how Charlie has even had more than one per day.
* A few characters on ''Series/BabylonFive'' had partners-of-the-week, generally justified by a mix of the characters being career military or politicians, or by the space station being a major travel junction.
** Jeffrey Sinclair, the first commander, had Carolyn Sykes in the {{pilot}}, with Catherine Sakai being another on-again-off-again girlfriend in the series proper[[note]]interestingly enough, both had the same job, being prospectors [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]].[[/note]] Sakai notably had the ability to recite Tennyson and make it sound [[GeekyTurnOn incredibly sexy.]]
*** Catherine Sakai doesn't meet the strict definition of a Girl of the Week, as she appeared in 3 episodes and their story was continued in a novel.
** Dr. Stephen Franklin had several one-off romantic interests, though it is implied that at least a few of these relationships continued OutOfFocus after they were no longer important to the plot.
** Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari not only had one, but he also had three wives (all at once, perfectly legal on his homeworld). He ends up divorcing two of the wives and then the girlfriend [[spoiler: gets StuffedIntoTheFridge as part of an a {{plan}}]].

* For the first few seasons, Shawn from ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' had this. Even in episodes where they tried to establish a backstory of a serious relationship, you only saw the girl for one episode. Eventually they lampshaded it in the episode where he finally takes a permanent girlfriend who sticks around for most of the rest of the series. Justified (kinda) by Shawn's "two-week rule".
* Averted with ''Series/PeterGunn''. Pete had a steady girlfriend in Edie, the [[GlamorousWartimeSinger local nightclub singer]].
* ''{{Series/Highlander}}'' loved this after the first season. Mac did have Amanda around on and off, but he had a lot of Girls of the Week too. The series even had a parody song on one of its commercially released outtake reels that lampshaded it. "He'll chop a head, then land in bed with this week's guest star..." It used to make fans complain because Richie and Joe so rarely had girlfriends.
* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' had the genderflip of this, with most of the girls having frequent *guys* of the Week.
* ''{{Series/Merlin|2008}}'' had a milder form of this in the earlier seasons, with several princesses of the Week that came at Uther's behest to try and get Arthur married to someone the king approved of. It didn't work.
* In ''Series/ElleryQueen'', Ellery had several girlfriends in the series, none of whom appeared in more than one episode.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' distinguished between the type of relationship the different characters have. Both Joey and Phoebe have numerous relationships which last barely an episode. Ross and Monica preferred long-term relationships that lasted for at least a few episodes (Julie, Elizabeth, Mona/Richard and Pete). Rachel switches between Guy of the Week and long term interests. Chandler interestingly ''tried'' to pick up Girl of the Week one night stands but struggled and was actually happier in his longer relationships. (Janice and Kathy).
** The show also had a rather interesting way of using this trope. Often the way relationships worked was that a character would pick up a new love interest, become overly-idealistic and excited about the person. And then some sort of "big reveal" would happen, either immediately ending the relationship (Phoebe and Gary in S5) or gradually ending it throughout the corresponding episode (Rachel and Paul in S6). By the next episode, the character would be totally over it and ready to pursue a new love interest.
** Chandler {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this in an episode, where the group discovers a man in an apartment in their building had died lonely. Chandler reads the man's reasons for dumping his girlfriends- all of which were done for petty reasons- and realizes he's been doing the same thing. He resolves not to do that anymore and decides to give his former girlfriends a second chance. The first one he sees, Janice, is pregnant and thus unavailable, but he actually goes on a date with the second one- a girl he dumped for having "big head". He then realizes he actually liked her big head, and the episode ends with him smiling.
** Also lampshaded in an episode after Chandler and Monica started dating. After they had their first fight, Chandler assumed the relationship was outright over.
-->'''Monica:''' Why exactly?\\
'''Chandler:''' Because of the weekend. We had a fight.\\
'''Monica:''' Chandler, that's crazy. If you give up every time you have a fight with someone, you'd never be with anyone longer than... ''(realizing)'' Oh...
* [[TheVamp Irene]] [[FemmeFatale Adler]] is the protagonist's Girl of the Week in [[Recap/SherlockS02E01AScandalInBelgravia episode 4]] of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', though her disappearance from Sherlock's life at the end of the episode is more out of a desire to adhere to the [[Literature/SherlockHolmes source material]] than a firm belief in maintaining the status quo.
* Played for laughs on ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''. There were many episodes where Bud Bundy brought a girl back to his house, using a fake [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys tough guy persona]], only for one of the family members to embarrass him and run her off.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' mainly had shipping within the regular cast, but several regulars had a Boy/Girl of the Week in at least one episode. These ranged from casual sex to love tragically ended by death or betrayal.
* As indicated by its title, a major theme of ''Series/TheManyLovesOfDobieGillis'' was Dobie's pursuit of various Girls of the Week. Two of the girls lasted long enough to become major characters: the money-hungry Thalia Menninger and the hyperintelligent Zelda Gilroy.
* Iolaus had countless flings with women on ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', most of which he never saw again given the nature of the series. Hercules had quite a few as well, but he had more qualms about romance given his history with women. He was more likely to have long-lasting relationships than Iolaus.
* It isn't quite the serial-romance version, but every episode of the ''Series/{{Casablanca}}'' TV series centers on a woman who interacts with Rick in some way.
* Happens pretty often in ''Series/SiliconValley''. The only character who had a girlfriend for any amount of time was Gilfoyle. Dinesh and Richard have had a handful of Girls of the Week, and one episode implies that the seemingly shy and awkward Jared ReallyGetsAround when he wants to, but there haven't been any relationships lasting more than a few episodes.
* In the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' recurring sketch "Whiskers R We", Barbara [= DeDrew =] has a new girlfriend every sketch (played by the show's host) to help her showcase the cats in her adopt-a-thons.
* In the early seasons of ''Series/MacGyver1985'', Mac seemed to get involved with a different woman every week. It was toned down in later seasons.
* ''Series/FullHouse'' would frequently have plots that see Jesse, Danny, and/or Joey paired up with women, who would rarely make more than one appearance. Jesse eventually became an OfficialCouple with Becky after she was introduced in the second season, and while Danny did get a recurring girlfriend in the fifth season and went as far as to get engaged with her at the sixth season finale, they eventually realize the relationship isn't working and break up in the seventh season.
* ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Jessica gets a different boyfriend for each season: Luke Cage in season 1, Oscar Arocho in season 2, and Erik Gelden in season 3.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]

* At least the radio show of ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' has the main character Paladin returning from his adventures to a new girl. Subverted in that he wasn't always successful in the attempt.
* Harry Lime almost always had one of these (generally some girl he was attempting to scam) in ''Radio/TheLivesOfHarryLime''.
* ''Radio/{{Ectoplasm}}'' has a DamselInDistress of the Week, played each time by Creator/SophieAldred.

* Ribbon is this to Franchise/{{Kirby}} in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', never seen after that game. She never does get a proper replacement, however, unlike most other examples, and fans ''clamor'' for her return.

** The episode "That Sinking Feeling" features Baljeet and his childhood friend Mishti. The titular brothers attempt to create romance for the two during the episode ([[ToyShip even though Isabella mistakenly thinks it's for her]]), and it looks like it worked at the end (kinda). Too bad she's never seen again.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', there are quite a few Girls of the Week during the WalkingTheEarth segments. Even more are added during the filler episodes. Strangely enough, Goku's wife Chi-Chi is originally introduced as a Girl of the Week and when she makes her second appearance in the manga over a hundred chapters later, there's a LampshadeHanging where no-one can remember her (except Oolong).

** Bond's murdered wife [[ILetGwenStacyDie Teresa di Vicenzo]] also gets brought up every now and then, but always indirectly (possibly to hide the ContinuitySnarl of Creator/PierceBrosnan's Bond being called upon to mourn a woman Creator/GeorgeLazenby's Bond married over thirty years earlier), though this was the unspoken reason Creator/SeanConnery's Bond was so pissed at Blofeld and frantically hunted him down at the beginning of the immediate sequel to ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''.
*** Teresa would have appeared in the film after ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' and be killed early in the film. Before filming of Lazenby's first film ended he had already decided not to do another, so she was killed at the end of the film.

* ''Film/TheKarateKid'': Daniel LaRusso had a different {{Love Interest|s}} in each one of the three movies where he appeared. By the time of ''Series/CobraKai'', he's settled down with yet another woman and had two children together.

* ''Film/TheKarateKid'': Daniel had a different {{Love Interest|s}} in each one of the three movies where he appeared. By the time of ''Series/CobraKai'', he's settled down with yet another woman.

** ''Anime/LupinIIIStealNapoleonsDictionary'' has Chieko Kido, an agent of the National Security Bureau.

** And in the ''[[OriginalVideoAnimation "Aloha Lupin"]]'' television special, Lupin helps a deceased scientist's daughter restore her father's good name, by exposing the group of imposters that were using her father's inventions to orchestrate a high-tech crime wave.

* In the ''Film/{{Sallskapsresan}}'' series by Swedish director/actor Lasse Åberg, the protagonist - the {{Adorkable}} CoolLoser Stig-Helmer Olsson - will always hook up with one girl per movie. No matter how well they seem to fit together, the start of the next movie will mention that they broke up or divorced or parted in some other way, to make space for the next girl.

* In the early seasons of ''Series/{{Monk}}'', the title character's assistant, Sharona, would often have a Guy of the Week. He was usually revealed to be either the murderer or some other criminal.

** Vesper Lynd, in ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'', is the only character to have a direct effect on the plot of a second film (''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', in which she casts a long shadow but appears onscreen for all of two seconds).

** So far, just about every girl that Daniel Craig's Bond has had sex with has died before the closing credits. The only two Daniel Craig-era Bond girls to survive so far are Camille Montes (who Bond doesn't even get in bed with) in ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', the random woman he is seen with at the beginning of ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', Estrella (the girl he's with in the opening sequence of ''Spectre'') and Lucia Sciarra.
** By contrast, Creator/TimothyDalton is by far the safest Bond to bed down with; only Della dies across his two films, and she's Felix Leiter's wife, not his. All four of the women Dalton's James sleeps with (Kara Milovy, Lupe Lamora and Pam Bouvier) live to be ignored in the sequels.[[note]]Short tenure aside, Dalton's Bond was supposedly the least promiscuous because of the contemporary AIDS panic.[[/note]]

* ''Film/AustinPowers''. As a Bond spoof, it, too, has its own Bond Girls. In the first film, Vanessa Kensington was a {{Love Interest|s}} with a full back story that made her complex and sympathetic. Because Mike Myers only intended the film to do modestly, Austin learned AnAesop about how life as TheCasanova was far less satisfying in TheNineties, and underwent significant CharacterDevelopment to be with her. After the character became a phenomenon and sequels were planned, the franchise underwent {{Flanderization}} from a quirky, sentimental comedy into DenserAndWackier {{Farce}}. Vanessa was {{Retcon}}ned out of the picture, and this trope was played straight with Felicity Shagwell, [[PunnyName Ivana Humpalot, Dixie Normus]] and Foxxy Cleopatra.

* ''Series/TheATeam'' had tons of these, and they almost always ended up with [[HandsomeLech Face]], except for a handful of times when they ended up with [[BunnyEarsLawyer Mur]][[CrazyAwesome dock]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Barbarella}}''. Given that she's in a FreeLoveFuture the titular heroine hooks up with a handsome guy (she's [[BiTheWay not adverse to women]] either) in every adventure, and is often seen making eyes at her next conquest by the end of it.