Best Excuse Movies & TV Shows

A spotlight on the elite world of hip-hop majorette competitions. Coach Dianna Williams (aka "Miss D") and her Dancing Dolls troupe refuse to lose, pushing themselves to the limit each week in the relentless pursuit of victory. Every pump, thrust and high kick on "Bring It!" highlights the triumphs and struggles of intense competition, where errors aren't tolerated, mediocrity isn’t excused and only a win is acceptable.

Building on the success of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals, this show squeezes the cooking process even further, with each half hour episode featuring two delicious, nutritious, super-fast family meals back-to-back. So even if you're rushed off your feet at work, there's no excuse for not giving these meals a go.

Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese, and this provides an excellent excuse for the duo to take their holiday to the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese.

A bitter old miser who makes excuses for his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve.

A diamond advocate is attempting to steal a collection of diamonds, yet troubles arise when he realizes that he is not the only one after the diamonds.

Matthew Bennell notices that several of his friends are complaining that their close relatives are in some way different. When questioned later they themselves seem changed, as they deny everything or make lame excuses. As the invaders increase in number they become more open and Bennell, who has by now witnessed an attempted 'replacement', realises that he and his friends must escape or suffer the same fate.

A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.

Stan and Ollie are on their way to Atlantic City with their wives, when Ollie gets a phone call from a lodge buddy telling him that a stag party is taking place that night in their honor. Ollie pretends to be sick and sends the wives on ahead, promising that he and Stan will meet them in the morning. The pair dress in their lodge gear, but their wives return having missed their train. With no obvious escape route, Stan and Ollie take to a bed in fear and in response to Stan's plea of "What'll I do?", Ollie replies "Be big!".

In occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her.

Eight-year-old Roger Court is in Venice expecting to reunite with his father, British diplomat Major Court (Trevor Howard), whom he hasn't seen in three years. Roger lives with his Aunt Rose since his mother abandoned him.

Barbie swaps the sunny shores of Malibu for the bright lights of Broadway to attend an excusive summer performing arts program and meets…Barbie! Fast friends, the two discover they share more than a name as they explore New York City and all the amazing things they have in common. As they compete for the coveted once-in-a-lifetime Spotlight Solo from Times Square, the friends discover competition isn’t all about winning, it’s about striving to be your best, overcoming doubts, and sharing the spotlight.

Paris, 1933. The daughter of a respectable lower middle class couple, Violette Nozière, leads a disreputable double life. Far from being the innocent 18-year-old her parents mistake her for, she spends her nights with dissolute young men in the less salubrious areas of the city.

At one of his many visits to his doctor, hypochondriac George Kimball mistakes a dying man's diagnosis for his own and believes he only has about two more weeks to live. Wanting to take care of his wife Judy, he doesn't tell her and tries to find her a new husband. When he finally does tell her, she quickly finds out he's not dying at all (while he doesn't) and she believes it's just a lame excuse to hide an affair, so she decides to leave him.

Two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, are assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, referred to as “Powers.” Set amidst today’s paparazzi culture, Powers asks the questions, what if the world was full of superheroes who aren't actually heroic at all? What if all that power was just one more excuse for mischief, mayhem, murder, and endorsement deals?

London, 1956. Genius actor and film director Laurence Olivier is about to begin the shooting of his upcoming movie, premiered in 1957 as The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe. Young Colin Clark, who dreams on having a career in movie business, manages to get a job on the set as third assistant director.

A group of rambunctious toddlers travel a trip to Paris. As they journey from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame, they learn new lessons about trust, loyalty and love.

John Nelson, a well-to-do businessman, is escorting a woman he knows as Ethel Barry to the door of her apartment suite when a man steps out of the shadows and angrily demands to know where she has been. The embarrassed Nelson excuses himself and goes to his rooms in the same hotel. The woman rushes into his apartment followed by the man who met her in the hall. The man threatens her with violence and Nelson comes to her defense. In the ensuing fight, the man is knocked out of the window and falls to his death to the pavement many stories down. He is charged with the killing and his only witness that can prove self-defense for him has disappeared, and can not be found.

Harriet, Walter Craig's wife, is an upper-class woman obsessed with control, material possessions and social status whose behavior makes difficult her relationship with domestic service and family members.

A classic British thriller set in a sinister old house, based on a story by Edgar Wallace.

Idiosyncratic new recruit Francis "Ike" Farrell tries to help the Cubs to the pennant with his pitching and hitting.

During a sunny Sicilian summer Tanino has a sweet and tender story with Sally, a young American tourist. But when summer is over, Sally flies back to the States forgetting Tanino and her camera. He instead cannot forget the girl and he decides to go to the States with the excuse of bringing back her the camera and to see the dreamland of any Sicilian. Tanino will discover that dreams don't always match with reality...

Documentary about rock pioneer Roky Erickson, detailing his rise as a psychedelic hero, his lengthy institutionalization, his descent into poverty and filth, and his brother's struggle with their religious mother to improve Roky's care.

Prince Paris of Troy, shipwrecked on a mission to the king of Sparta, meets and falls for Queen Helen before he knows who she is. Rudely received by the royal Greeks, he must flee...but fate and their mutual passions lead him to take Helen along. This gives the Greeks just the excuse they need for much-desired war.

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

Two not-too-bright party girls reinvent themselves for their high school reunion. Armed with a borrowed Jaguar, new clothes and the story of their success as the inventors of Post-It notes, Romy and Michele descend on their alma mater, but their façade crumbles quickly.

Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda are all married now, but they're still up for a little fun in the sun. When Samantha gets the chance to visit one of the most extravagant vacation destinations on the planet and offers to bring them all along, they surmise that a women-only retreat may be the perfect excuse to eschew their responsibilities and remember what life was like before they decided to settle down.

Major Daniel Kirby takes command of a squadron of Marine fliers just before they are about to go into combat. While the men are well meaning, he finds them undisciplined and prone to always finding excuses to do what is easy rather than what is necessary. The root of the problem is the second in command, Capt. Carl 'Griff' Griffin. Griff is the best flier in the group but Kirby finds him a poor commander who is not prepared to make the difficult decision that all commanders have to make - to put men in harm's way knowing that they may be killed.

In the late 1940s, a murderous couple known as the 'The Lonely Hearts Killers' kills close to a dozen people. Two detectives try to nab the duo who find their targets via the personals in the paper.

Country singer Maury Dann lives life in the fast lane, counting on his rakish charm and raw talent to excuse his reckless behavior. Touring on the road in the rural south with his dedicated manager, his loyal driver and his long-suffering girlfriend, Maury seduces groupies, brawls and breaks the law, brashly relying on his team to cover for him. Heedlessly alienating all those who care for him, Maury blindly keeps the pedal to the metal.

What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? If you're Betty, a small-town waitress and soap opera fan from Fair Oaks, Kansas, you refuse to believe that you can't be with the love of your life just because he doesn't really exist. After all, life is no excuse for not living. Traumatized by a savage event, Betty enters into a fugue state that allows -- even encourages -- her to keep functioning... in a kind of alternate reality.

The career of a disillusioned producer, who is desperate for a hit, is endangered when his star walks off the film set. Forced to think fast, the producer decides to digitally create an actress "Simone" to sub for the star — the first totally believable synthetic actress.

Christabel Caine has the face of angel and the heart of a swamp rat. She'll step on anyone to get what she wants, including her own family. A master of manipulation, she covertly breaks off the engagement of her trusting cousin, Donna, to her fabulously wealthy beau, Curtis Carey. Once married to Curtis herself, Christabel continues her affair with novelist Nick Bradley, who knows she's evil, but loves her anyway.

After one of his class papers is stolen and turned into a movie, a young student and his best friend exact a hilarious, slapstick revenge on the Hollywood hot shot who has taken credit!

A factory foreman with 36 years experience becomes despondent after being laid off by his company which has just been taken over by a Japanese conglomerate and is unable to find any other work. Meanwhile, his son uses his father's unemployment as an excuse to drop out of the pre-med program his father pressured him to enter.

The gory ax-murder of one mousy, suburban Texas housewife by another is nearly as shocking as the excuse offered by the bespectacled defendant's attorney: self-defense.

Four everyday suburban guys come together as an excuse to escape their humdrum lives one night a week. But when they accidentally discover that their town has become overrun with aliens posing as ordinary suburbanites, they have no choice but to save their neighborhood - and the world - from total extermination.

A petty thief breaks into the home of a psychiatrist and gets caught in a web of a doctor who wishes to experiment on him and a doctor's wife who wishes to seduce him.

While on detention, a group of misfits and slackers have to write a letter to the President explaining what is wrong with the education system. There is only one problem, the President loves it! Hence, the group must travel to Washington to meet the Main Man.

Kevin Shepard is a tech-savvy young genius who uses his intelligence to slack off. When greedy video game executive Alan Wolf gets a hold of his ideas for a video game, Kevin and his best friend Becca set off for San Francisco to make Wolf's life miserable through a series of pranks.

Pretty, popular, and slim high-schooler Aly Schimdt had plans of earning a sports scholarship to college but a knee injury ruins her chances. She decides to enter a documentary contest in the hopes of winning money for college. She believes that overweight people, like her mom and brother, seem to make excuses about how the world perceives them. So Aly decides to attend a rival high school as a heavily overweight person for the documentary, but not change her personality. Aly intends and hopes to prove that personality will outshine physical appearance. But when she's met with ridicule, harassment, and name-calling she begins to see things differently.

In 1908, Sultan Abdul Hamid rules the Turkish Empire, but he is faced with the threat of revolt by the Young Turk party. He allows Hilmi Pasha, the leader of the Young Turks, to return from exile and form the country's first constitutional government. With tensions still growing, chief of police Kadar Pasha assassinates Hassan Bey, the leader of the Old Turk party, and makes it look as if a Young Turk committed the crime, in order to give Abdul an excuse for arresting the Young Turk leaders. Meanwhile, Abdul becomes infatuated with a visiting Austrian singer. When she rejects his advances, she endangers both herself and her fiancé, a Turkish officer who also knows who really shot Hassan Bey.

A failing television station is bought out by a slick TV evangelist and starts making mountains of money in the guise of religious programming, which is actually just an excuse to sell merchandise.

Harry hates being a TV producer and dreams of leaving his job to travel the world. He loves Alex, an aspiring actor who is struggling to create an identity for himself as a performer. Rugby player William's nine-year-old daughter is intent on sabotaging his relationships with new boyfriends, and he's finding it difficult to let Lawrence, the soap star, into his life. Lars is a handsome sometime-model kept by Tom, a successful artist, who will excuse his every betrayal so long as Lars doesn't leave him.

A knight and his valet are plagued by a witch, and to repair the damage they make use of the services of a wizard. However, something goes wrong and they are transported from the 12th century to the year 2000. There the knight meets some of his family and slowly learns what this new century is like. However, he still needs to get back to the 12th century to deal with the witch, so he starts looking for a wizard. Remake of 1993 French film Les Visiteurs (The Visitors).

1939: Rome stands on the brink of World War II. In the midst of this political and social tension famed producer Davide Rieta is making a major film. The two lead actors, the German woman Kristina Baumgarten and the English man James Clavel ace each others' initial antagonism and eventually fall in love. Meanwhile the fascist police are looking for an excuse to arrest the Jewish filmmaker and any other potential "troublemakers." The producer and his crew decide to make one final extraordinary effort to complete the film - against all odds.

With the help of a magical lamp, an impoverished young man transforms himself into a prince in order to win the heart of a beautiful princess. A live-action retelling of the 1992 Disney film of the same name.

An Air Force major feels a volatile mixture of relief and anger when he is excused from performing a dangerous test in a new aircraft.

Light-hearted and occasionally unclothed adaptation of a British comic strip in the over-the-top, on-beyond-Bond spy fantasy vein. Based on the Daily Mail comic strip.

A high-school reunion held at a hotel serves as an excuse for some alumni to resume old relationships and start new ones--sometimes with several people at once.

Paul and Camilla’s marriage is in trouble. They head to a picturesque cottage in the South of France to work through their problems and try to inject some love back into their marriage. As their relationship unravels, the holiday is hijacked by an American and his French girlfriend. Looking for an excuse to pause the hostilities, Camilla invites them to stay at the cottage...