History Main / ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime

* In ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}'' you're given the opportunity to remove BigBad [=GLaDOS=]' control over the facility and replace her with Wheatley, a cheery, kindhearted robot that's done nothing but help you. Seems like a great idea, right? [[spoiler:Turns out whoever is put in charge of the facility is driven insane, good job turning your only friend into a [[FaceHeelTurn homicidal maniac]].]]

** The biggest blunder of all was the arrogant view of the World Government that Whitebeard was just another pirate, albeit a very powerful one. [[BigGood Whitebeard was far more than that to many people]] and it was the respect he commanded from others that caused [[PersonOfMassDestruction Red Haired Shanks]] to make sure that [[DueToTheDead Whitebeard and Ace would get the burials they deserved.]] The World Government couldn't even put the heads of both Whitebeard and Ace on display as a warning to other pirates like they wanted to. What if anything did the World government get out of this?

[[folder: Video Games]]
* In ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}'' you're given the opportunity to remove BigBad [=GLaDOS=]' control over the facility and replace her with Wheatley, a cheery, kindhearted robot that's done nothing but help you. Seems like a great idea, right? [[spoiler:Turns out whoever is put in charge of the facility is driven insane, good job turning your only friend into a [[FaceHeelTurn homicidal maniac]].]]
** This statement could probably be the unofficial motto for Aperture Science in general. Which is exemplified by the Mantis DNA project, in which the second batch of test subjects gets used for a new test: fighting an army of Mantis Men.
* A Real Life example for VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim. Introducing paid mods into a passionate, decades-old community with no prior warning wasn't the most well-thought out plan. Insisting it was for the best intentions didn't help. The feature was removed amid intense backlash mere days later.
* Another real life example. Back in 1988 Nintendo wanted to develop a CD peripheral for the SNES. They first partnered with Sony, but after discovering the deal gave Sony unprecedented control over the games on it, they bailed and partnered with Philips. This made Sony none too happy at the betrayal. The SNES never got a CD add-on, Philips got temporary rights to misuse Nintendo IP, and Sony got busy preparing for the formal announcement of the Playstation. NiceJobBreakingItHero indeed.
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', if you tease the bandit "Narf" about his name, he mocks yours (your username) in return, and your character replies that [[NoFourthWall it seemed like a good idea when they were signing up!]]
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* ''TheAmazingChanAndTheChanClan'' episode "The Gypsy Caper". Suzie, Alan, Anne and Tom are exhausted, Tom spots a hive and suggests they partake of the honey as a natural energy source. Unfortunately, the bees aren't too thrilled about that and the group ends up getting a second wind by ''fleeing'' and diving into a lake.

* On ''Series/AttackOfTheShow'', they tested [[VinceOffer the Sham Wow!]] and [[Creator/BillyMays the Zorbees]], and used substances such as [[{{Squick}} vomit]]. Kevin nearly threw up on camera.

* ''Series/AirCrashInvestigation'': The root cause of some of the disasters caused by pilot error. "Kid in the Cockpit" concerned a famous Russian case where a senior airline pilot allowed his teenaged son to take the controls of a brand new Airbus A310. The teen inadvertently disabled the plane's autopilot and the flight crew, unfamiliar with the state-of-the-art aircraft, failed to bring it back under control. [[HilarityEnsues Tragic hilarity ensued]]. An especially needless tragedy given that the investigators found that everything would have been fine if [[ForWantOfANail they had just let go of the control column]].
* In the 2nd episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', when Malcolm's Mother ([[spoiler:who had been interrogating Malcolm and the boys believing that they were responsible for the destruction of one of her dresses]].) finds out how the boys had been survive her punishments, Malcolm and the boys get desperate and they attempt to flee once they get found out by creating a tunnel. When their mom (who had calmed down) goes to re-confront them. She finds their room completely destroyed, while Malcolm putting the icing on the cake:

* The song [[TitleDrop A Good Idea At the Time]] by OkGo both expresses SympathyForTheDevil and is an [[ShoutOut explicit homage]] to Music/TheRollingStones song ''Sympathy for the Devil'', portraying Lucifer as simply a guy after a good time who keeps winding up causing horrific situations throughout history, usually because of [[ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime this trope]] and the consumption of [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy ludicrous amounts of booze]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Haley [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0959.html says this]] about her tendency in older strips to both [[{{Stripperiffic}} dungeon delve with a bare midriff]] and get into {{Designated Girl Fight}}s "while hurling offensively gender-charged insults".

* Another real life example. Back in the 1988 Nintendo wanted to develop a CD peripheral for the SNES. They first partnered with Sony, but after discovering the deal gave Sony unprecedented control over the games on it, they bailed and partnered with Philips. This made Sony none too happy at the betrayal. The SNES never got a CD add-on, Philips got temporary rights to misuse Nintendo IP, and Sony got busy preparing for the formal announcement of the Playstation. NiceJobBreakingItHero indeed.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' - Tina is backed into a corner when classmate Tammy blackmails her with the threat of reading Tina's 'erotic friend fiction' to her crush Jimmy Junior - her mom reassures her, and tells her to take control of the situation and read her fiction herself to the whole class. [[ExplaindExplainOhCrap It's only after she repeats her advice to Bob that she sees what a bad idea it is]].

* This explanation gets used a lot in ''{{Nodwick}}''. Especially by [[CloudcuckooLander Yeagar]], who has the wisdom of a lemming.

* In the episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' entitled, "Chuckie is Rich", Drew stupidly invests all of Chaz's new money into some stupid invention. He uses this as his excuse.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' - Tina is backed into a corner when classmate Tammy blackmails her with the threat of reading Tina's 'erotic friend fiction' to her crush Jimmy Junior - her mom reassures her, and tells her to take control of the situation and read her fiction herself to the whole class. It's only after she repeats her advice to Bob that she sees what a bad idea it is.

* This was the reason given for the production of ''Film/TheDayTheClownCried'', a movie about a Holocaust-era clown, that has will never be allowed to see the light of day until at least 2025 when the copy Lewis gave to the Library of Congress is finally allowed to be screened.

* This was the reason given for the production of ''Film/TheDayTheClownCried'', a movie about a Holocaust-era clown, that has will never be allowed to see the light of day as long as Creator/JerryLewis is still alive.

* This was the reason given for the production of ''Film/TheDayTheClownCried'', a movie about a Holocaust-era clown.

-->'''Spock:''' (about his mother) "Emotional, isn't she?"
-->'''Sarek:''' "She has always been that way."
-->'''Spock:''' "Indeed. Why did you marry her?"
-->'''Sarek:''' "At the time it seemed the logical thing to do."

** The biggest blunder of all was the arrogant view of the World Government that Whitebeard was just another pirate, albeit a very powerful one. [[BigGood Whitebeard was far more than that to many people]] and it was the respect he commanded from others that caused [[PersonOfMassDestruction Red Haired Shanks]] to make sure that [[DueToTheDead Whitebeard and Ace would get the burials they deserved.]] The world Government couldn't even put the heads of both Whitebeard and Ace on display as a warning to other pirates like they wanted to. What if anything did the World government get out of this?

* The corrupt World Government in {{One Piece}} often makes decisions that are this trope. The biggest one to date it the Summit War. They managed to capture the late pirate king Gol D. Roger's son Portagas D. Ace and wanted to not only end Roger's bloodline but also use Ace as bate to draw in Whitebeard, the strongest pirate in the world at the time, so they could defeat Whitebeard and his crew. Unfortunately several outside factors made things go south very fast. While the World Government had no control over the outside factors that turned what should have been a great victory into a PyrrhicVictory it should have been obvious to the World Government that things wouldn't go down so simply to say nothing of the fact that [[DidNotThinkThisThrough they really didn't consider the ramifications in the long term]]. To wit:

** Taking down Whitebeard created a power vacuum and disrupted the delicate balance of power among the strongest and most influential groups in the world. This should have be obvious with some forethought and the worst part is that after the war, so much of the government's forces were stretched thin that the government could barely keep a lid on the ensuing chaos.

* In ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}'' you're given the opportunity to remove BigBad GLaDOS' control over the facility and replace her with Wheatley, a cheery, kindhearted robot that's done nothing but help you. Seems like a great idea, right? [[spoiler:Turns out whoever is put in charge of the facility is driven insane, good job turning your only friend into a [[FaceHeelTurn homicidal maniac]].]]
** This statement could probably be the unoffical motto for Aperture Science in general. Which is exemplified by the Mantis DNA project, in which the second batch of test subjects gets used for a new test: fighting an army of Mantis Men.

* Milked for all its comedic worth in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. Adam West rolls around in nuclear waste in order to gain superpowers -- and gets lymphoma. The doctor who he explains this to is taking this all in, and concludes that Adam West is an idiot -- much as someone would do were this same feat attempted in RealLife. The catch? Earlier in the story, the Griffins had gained superpowers in a manner quite similar, and Adam West's rolling around in the waste was part of a desperate plot to put a stop to their evil dominion over the town. Of course, he still succeeds -- the Griffins feel extremely guilty realizing that Adam West got lymphoma just because they were using their superpowers to be [[EvilIsPetty petty jerks]].

* In ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'', after the Kremlin explodes, Ethan is taken to hospital and is suspected to be responsible for the explosion. A Russian agent is sent to the hospital to investigate, but Ethan manages to free himself and climbs out of the window to [[TrashLanding jump down into a refuse container]], but realises that it's way to high.
-->'''Russian Agent:''' Not a good idea.

** Sometimes illustrated through the character of Officer Ed Wells, the cocky officer who often acts before he thinks. His attitudes are spelled out perfectly in "A Dead Cop Can't Help Anyone," where the first call we see him work -- Wells and his partner barging in on a domestic dispute and narrowly avoiding getting shot -- turns out well enough, but a second call (a psychotic gunman randomly firing at passersby in a residential neighborhood) ends with him getting shot as he was running toward the house to try to subdue the gunman. [[spoiler Don't worry: Wells is OK, and he'll be back in the future.]]

** Sometimes illustrated through the character of Officer Ed Wells, the cocky officer who often acts before he thinks. His attitudes are spelled out perfectly in "A Dead Cop Can't Help Anyone," where the first call we see him work -- Wells and his partner barging in on a domestic dispute and narrowly avoiding getting shot -- turns out well enough, but a second call (a psychotic gunman randomly firing at passersby in a residential neighborhood) ends with him getting shot as he was running toward the house to try to subdue the gunman. [[spoiler]]Don't worry: Wells is OK, and he'll be back in the future.[[/spoiler]]