Sham Wedding

A character knowingly decides to enter into a loveless sham of a marriage. They almost always change their mind by the end of the episode.

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

Appearances

• The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: Season 1, episode 37, "Here Comes the Groom" (1960). Dobie decides that his only chance to have a committed relationship is to marry Zelda, so he proposes to her. Zelda says she'll do it if her parents give her their consent because she's sure they won't, but to her surprise they do because they're sure Dobie's parents won't give their consent, but Dobie's parents give their consent because they're sure Zelda's parents won't give theirs. It's not until they're standing before a justice of the peace that they all finally break down and admit that no one wants the wedding to happen.
• The Odd Couple: Season 2, episode 11, "Being Divorced is Never Having to Say I Do" (1971). Oscar's ex-wife, Blanche, is getting re-married, but she seems less than enthused about her husband-to-be. After some prodding, she confesses to Felix that she doesn't really love her fiancé and is marrying him because she just wants to be married, so Felix is determined to stop the wedding.
• The Bob Newhart Show: Season 2, episode 21, "A Love Story" (1974). Bob's sister Ellen is about to get married to a much older man because they're "comfortable together" and as long as she's planning to have children she "might as well be married."
• Soap: Season 2, episode 2 (1978). Danny marries Elaine Lefkowitz, even though he doesn't love her and thinks she's a "pig," because if he doesn't, her crime boss father will kill him.
• Soap: Season 2, episode 12 (1978). Jodie plans to marry Carol, even though he's gay, because she's pregnant with his child. However, she doesn't show up, and he's left alone at the altar.
• Mork & Mindy: Season 2, episode 4, "Mork's Baby Blues" (1979). Mork decides to marry a con woman who claims she's pregnant with his child, but she only wants money.
• Cheers: Season 1, episode 5, "Coach's Daughter" (1982). Coach's daughter, Lisa, introduces him to her fiance, Roy, who is an obnoxious, self-centered jerk. When Coach tells Lisa she can't marry Roy, she explains that she's marrying him because she wants to be married and have kids, and she doesn't think any other man will ever propose to her because she's not beautiful.
• Cheers: Season 1, episode 20, "Someone Single, Someone Blue" (1983). Diane's mother comes to Cheers and tells Diane that according to her father's will, Diane has to get married by tomorrow or her mother will lose her fortune, so Sam agrees to marry Diane for a few days and then get divorced, but they get into an argument at the altar over Sam staring at an attractive woman who walked in the bar, they both change their minds.
• Cheers: Season 3, episode 18, "Bar Bet" (1985). Sam's old friend, Eddie, appears to collect on a bet he made with Sam that Sam would marry Jaqueline Bisset or give Eddie his bar, so Sam finds another woman named Jaqueline Bisset who agrees to marry him, but Eddie changes his mind, so Sam and Jaqueline don't have to go through with it.
• It's a Living: Season 4, episode 17, "Amy's Rusty" (1987). After being invited a family wedding in her hometown in Snyder, Texas, Amy starts to worry that she might never get married, so she decides to accept a proposal from Rusty, her old boyfriend from Snyder, but eventually both Amy and Rusty confess to each other that they don't really want to get married, they just wanted to please their friends and families back home.
• ALF: Season 4, episode 15, "Love on the Rocks" (1990). Neal's ex-wife Margaret says she wants him back, and Neal decides to re-marry her out of fear of ending up alone, but before they can go through with the $45 basic wedding package, Alf talks him out of it.
• Herman's Head: Season 2, episode 3, "Herman's Heddy" (1992). A wealthy businessman proposes to Heddy, and she rushes to plan a wedding so she can quit her job and be the trophy wife she's always wanted to be, but Herman tries to talk her out of it because he thinks she's had feelings for him ever since they slept together in Mr. Bracken's office.
• The Nanny: Season 1, episode 17, "Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off" (1994). Mr. Sheffield's sister, Jocelyn, is about to get married to a Duke, but Fran discovers that Jocelyn and the duke's chauffeur are in love with each other, and Jocelyn's reserved British nature is compelling her to go through with the wedding anyway.
• Spin City: Season 1 episode 7, "Grand Illusion" (1996). To protest the mayor coming out against gay marriage, Carter and Nikki decide to get married in front of the press, and Nikki is excited about planning a wedding, but as the wedding date approaches and the wedding starts to feel more real, she starts to have second thoughts.