False Arrest

A character is mistakenly arrested for something they didn't do.

Sanford and Son

Appearances

The Odd Couple: Season 3, episode 19, "My Strife in Court" (1973). Oscar and Felix are arrested for ticket scalping when Felix tries to invite a woman to be Oscar's date for a play.
Sanford and Son: Season 2, episode 24, "Rated X" (1973). When Fred, Lamont, and Rollo audition for a film that turns out to be a porno, they're all arrested in a raid.
The Bob Newhart Show: Season 5, episode 9, "The Slammer" (1976). When Bob and The Peeper try to buy some football tickets from two women in a bar, they end up getting arrested for trying pick up prostitutes.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Season 2, episode 141 (1977). Tom tries to stop Tex from murdering Dewey, and Vernon knocks him out with a flashlight. While Tom's unconscious, Vernon and Tex frame him for the murder and have Detective Trask arrest him.
Rhoda: Season 3, episode 17, "Somebody Has to Say They're Sorry" (1977). Rhoda is arrested for solicitation when an undercover cop investigating her neighbor goes to her apartment instead, and she mistakes him for a potential new client.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Season 2, episode 41 (1976). Charlie travels to New Jersey for an operation he believes will fix his problem, but he discovers his new body part will come from a dog, and before he can even process that, he and the doctor get arrested for "animal cruelty." Of course, Charlie had nothing to do with it, but he doesn't have a chance of getting out of jail until he meets a man named Sue, who has connections in town and gets both of them out.
Soap: Season 1, episode 14 (1977). Everyone is shocked when Chief Tinkler arrests Corrine for Peter's murder, but it's not long before the Chief absolves Corrine and arrests someone else.
Soap: Season 1, episode 16 (1978). The Tates and Campbells are shocked again when all the evidence from Peter's murder points to Jessica as his killer, and Chief Tinkler arrests her. Eventually, someone else will confess to the crime.
What's Happening!!: Season 3, episode 4, "The Creep Detective" (1978). When Rerun gets tricked into holding stolen merchandise in his and Roger's apartment, their new detective neighbor arrests them and Dwayne for burglary.
WKRP in Cincinnati: Season 4, episode 16, "Circumstantial Evidence" (1982). A woman Venus is dating turns out to be a criminal, and when she gets caught with stolen jewels, she claims Venus is the ringleader of a string of robberies in the area, and he's arrested and put on trial.
Newhart: Season 3, episode 6, "Tickets, Please" (1984). Dick gets arrested for unpaid parking tickets that Stephanie secretly racked up with his car.
The Golden Girls: Season 2, episode 2, "Ladies of the Evening" (1986). While the house is being fumigated, the gang stays at a beachside hotel that Blanche chose because it had the most men in the lobby, and it turns out to be a hotbed of prostitution, and Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche all get arrested when the police raid the place.
Newhart: Season 5, episode 18, "Jail, Jail, the Gang's All Here" (1987). Officer Shifflett arrests Larry, Darryl, and Darryl, for stealing a cow from a neighboring farm, but it turns out to be a setup so the farmer could take their land.
Seinfeld: Season 3, episode 10, "The Stranded" (1991). A guy Jerry met at a party shows up at Jerry's apartment while he's on his way out the door, so Jerry lets him hang out while he's gone. When he comes back, he finds an angry prostitute demanding to be paid. As Jerry is handing her $50 in cash, two police officers come in and arrest him for patronizing a prostitute.
The Nanny: Season 2, episode 6, "The Nanny-Napper" (1994). When a woman leaves her baby with Fran on the subway, she's mistakenly arrested for kidnapping.
Seinfeld: Season 7, episode 18, "The Wig Master" (1996). Kramer borrows "The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat," and Elaine gives him a "Squire's Walking Stick" from the J. Peterman catalog, then he finds a furry hat on the street and struts to the parking lot to pick up his loaner car, a pink Mary Kay Cadillac, where he finds a prostitute and a John in flagrante delicto. As he's fighting with the prostitute, the cops arrive and arrest him for being a pimp.
Seinfeld: Season 8, episode 11, "The Little Jerry" (1997). Elaine's new boyfriend, Kurt, is miserable because he just discovered he's going bald, so George gives him a pep talk. When Kurt goes to George's apartment to thank him, the police show up and arrest him for harboring a fugitive (George's girlfriend escaped from jail).
Still Game: Season 3, episode 3, "Cairds" (2004). Shug is in the building opposite, watching Tam and Joe playing poker through binoculars, when a woman downstairs spots him and think he's peeping on her. When two cops question Shug, he tries to show them the window where he was watching the game, but Tam has closed the curtains, so Shug gets arrested.