Under the Knife
A character is terrified of having surgery and thus refuses to get an operation they desperately need.
The Odd Couple
Appearances
- The Odd Couple: Season 2, episode 3, "Hospital Mates" (1971). Felix is afraid to get an operation on his deviated septum, but when Oscar accidentally severs his Achilles tendon and has to have surgery too, Felix feels better with his best friend in the hospital with him.
- The Odd Couple: Season 5, episode 18, "Two Men on a Hoarse" (1975). Oscar refuses to have an important operation on his throat to save his voice, so Felix has to talk him into it.
- Barney Miller: Season 2, episode 22, "The Mole" (1976). Fish has never had surgery in his life, and he has been refusing one particular operation for 18 years He doesn't explicitly state what it is, but he implies that it involves an inflamed hemorrhoid, but under pressure from his doctor, Bernice, and the pain in his backside, he's finally considering getting the procedure.
- Night Court: Season 2, episode 9, "Inside Harry Stone" (1984). Harry has been having excruciating stomach pains, but he refuses to go to the hospital. After he doubles over in court, he finally goes to the hospital, but he refuses to even get tests done to find out what's wrong with him because his father went into the hospital for tests and never came back.
- It's a Living: Season 3, episode 14, "The Doctor Danny Show" (1986). Nancy needs a hernia operation that could be a matter of life or death, but she refuses to have it done because she's afraid of hospitals.
- Too Close for Comfort: Season 6, episode 19, "Believing is Seeing" (1986). Mrs. Stinson finds out she has cataracts and needs immediate surgery or she'll go blind, but she refuses to get the surgery and instead travels the world so she can see everything before she loses her sight.
- The Golden Girls: Season 1, episode 18, "The Operation" (1986). Dorothy needs surgery to remove a painful benign tumor from her foot, but she doesn't want to do it because she's been afraid of hospitals since her parents didn't come to the hospital when she had her tonsils out.