Giving Things Up Competition
Two or more characters challenge each other to quit their bad habits. They always give up by the end of the episode.
Father Ted
Appearances
- Barney Miller: Season 3, episode 13, "Community Relations" (1977). Yemana (ironically) bets Harris that he can go without gambling longer than Harris can go without smoking.
- Mr. Belvedere: Season 2, episode 15, "Rivals" (1986). The family wants George to quit smoking, so George challenges Mr. Belvedere to give up sweets, and whoever can abstain from his vice the longest, wins.
- Herman's Head: Season 1, episode 20, "Sweet Obsessions" (1992). To help Mr. Bracken stop smoking, Herman stops eating sweets, Heddy tries to quit men, and Louise struggles to find something to give up.
- NewsRadio: Season 1, episode 3, "Smoking" (1995). Dave announces that they now work in a non-smoking building, and Bill is struggling to kick the habit, so Dave agrees to quit coffee if Bill will quit smoking.
- Father Ted: Season episode 8, "Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading" (1996). It's Lent, and Father Dick Byrne is even more smug than usual, bragging about how he and the Rugged Island gang have given up their vices and experiencing "peace" and "serenity." Ted, who refuses to lose to Dick Byrne in a "giving things up competition," insists that he, Dougal, and Jack give things up too, but it proves to be much harder than Dick made it sound.
- Malcolm in the Middle: Season 7, episode 3, "Reese vs. Stevie" (2005). Dewey has been smoking for some reason, and to help him kick the habit, Hal says he'll quit drinking coffee if Dewey quits smoking.