History Main / WhereDidWeGoWrong

* Creator/JeffFoxworthy inverts this on the children in *Games Rednecks Play*, saying if they didn't grow up with craziness or dysfunction in their lives, they should ask themselves, "Now where did I go wrong?"

* ''Series/SeventhHeaven'': The Kamdens have to deal with their rebellious, eldest daughter.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Jack Drake has such a reaction to realizing his son is not who he thought he was, forbidding him from ever contacting the Waynes again or any of the friends he made through them and then mostly distancing himself from his son at home while policing his activities. Jack eventually does come around and accept Tim for who he is.

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', Makarov says this word for word in the English anime when expelling Laxus (his own grandson) for endangering the lives of his fellow guildmates and trying to take over as Fairy Tail's guild master. While not outright stated in the original Japanese or the manga, the implication of Makarov's feelings is still there, especially seeing that Laxus UsedToBeASweetKid.

* Both the [[Film/FreakyFriday1976 1976]] and [[Film/FreakyFriday2003 2003]] versions of ''Literature/FreakyFriday'' or its many rip-offs utilize this trope but also subvert it in that in the end, it's shown that the teenagers and parents weren't quite as different as initially believed.
* Gus of ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding'' agonizes over his daughter [[BlackSheep Toula]] wanting to go to college, work with computers, and date and marry a non-Greek man instead of wanting to StayInTheKitchen and become a Greek BabyFactory like all the other women in the family.

* ''Film/SLCPunk'': Stevo's parents also seem to have this reaction when Stevo is finally able to fully rebel without any parental repercussions. It should be noted that, while he does flip off his parents and shouts "Fuck you!," he also takes the time to mention that he loves them.
* ''Film/AustinPowers'': Dr. Evil asks where he went wrong out loud in response to Scott Evil not living up to his father's expectations in the first two movies. They reconcile in the third movie [[spoiler:although Dr. Evil does a HeelFaceTurn, leaving Scott as the lone BigBad.]]
* Played in the most serious, dramatic, and painful manner possible in "Film/TheForceAwakens" with Han and Leia [[spoiler: and their son, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. They debate various potential reasons, from Vader's Force echo to the usefulness of Luke's training to the influence of BigBad Supreme Leader Snoke. They try to bring him back home and for a moment he seems to respond to Han's plea but then cements himself in his grandfather's legacy by murdering his father in cold blood.]]

* Much of the focus of ''Literature/WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin'' (and the FilmOfTheBook) is Eva trying to work out whether she ''did'' do anything wrong during her school-shooter son's upbringing. While Eva seems to think that there was something wrong with Kevin from the moment he was born (he seemed to spurn contact and affection from the moment he left the womb), she is also well aware that she was a bad mother, and that this may have contributed to his apparent sociopathy. [[spoiler: The question is not answered; Eva comes to no conclusion one way or the other, and the fact that she's an UnreliableNarrator means any thoughts she does have are suspect anyway.]]

* ''Series/That70sShow'': Red is usually disappointed at how goofy and nerdy his son is.
** Eric's sister Laurie starts off as the favorite, but as the series progresses Red begins to see the strong character in Eric while becoming more and more disappointed in how the promiscuous Laurie turned out.
** Interestingly, before either was born Kitty wanted a girl but wound up with the selfish and promiscuous Laurie, while Red wanted a son but wound up with the goofy and nerdy Eric, so they both wound up [[ParentalFavoritism favoring]] the child of the opposite gender because they had no prior expectations to disappoint.
* ''Series/FamilyTies'': Alex P. Keaton was a business suit wearing Republican teenager born to hippy parents.

* Robin's dad on ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' tried his best to raise his kid up to be just like him... despite being a girl. He was more than upset when he caught her kissing a boy for the first time.
* George and Angie on ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' feel this way about Carmen, especially after she runs away and becomes a groupie for some rapper.
* The Pinkmans (Jesse's parents) spend pretty much all of their time embodying this trope in ''Series/BreakingBad''. As Jesse's mom says to him at one point (while throwing him out of his house): "Why are you like this?".
* This is what drives ''Series/IHateMyTeenageDaughter.''
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' episode "The Fairest of Them All" as a throwaway gag in which a girl named Tyreesha ([[spoiler:the real one; as soon after this incident Cody gets DraggedIntoDrag entered into a child beauty pageant]]) angrily lets her StageMom know she wants to go to science camp instead of another pageant; leading to Tyreesha's mom using the trope name verbatim.
* Played for drama in ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' where Sophia has a strained relationship with her son, Phil, after he got married to Angela. This in turn, has Angela acting cold towards Sophia. After Phil passes away, Angela and Sophia meet at the funeral and get into an argument over Angela owing Sophia $47 in dowries. Eventually, Sophia reveals the real reason why she is so upset; Phil was a crossdresser and she wondered if she did or say anything to him that made him crossdress and blamed herself for it. Angela assures Sophia that regardless of what Phil was, he was a good man. Sophia completely breaks down in tears.
* The short-lived 2003 sitcom "Happy Family" has a pair of parents (John Larroquette and Christine Baranski) thinking their kids are doing great. In one day, they discover their oldest son is cheating on his fiancee with his dental assistant; their other son dropped out of college a year ago and has been having an affair with their neighbor; and their daughter is a neurotic mess who talks to her parrot. The pilot ends with the two sitting on a couch and openly asking "what the hell happened?"
-->'''Father''': We were so focused on keeping them off drugs...maybe drugs would have helped!

-->She (What did we do that was wrong?)
-->Is having (We didn't know it was wrong)
-->Fun (Fun is the one thing that money can't buy)

* Theatre/ByeByeBirdie: PlayedForLaughs in "What's the Matter With Kids Today".
-->Kids! I don't know what's wrong with these kids today
-->Kids! Who can understand anything they say?
-->Kids! They are nothing but disobedient, disrespectful oafs
-->Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy loafers
-->And while we're on the subject...

* Played with in [[http://joshnickerson.deviantart.com/art/Tattoo-Rebel-168895732 this]] comic on Website/DeviantArt.

* In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDoctorMcNinja'', the good Doctor's parents have this problem with him. Mitzi [=McNinja=] doesn't know how to raise ninja children, having become one by training, and Dan [=McNinja=] was never taught this, as it's supposed to be the mother who does this. They tried to teach him via Batman, but instead of a ruthless killer, they raised a vigilante doctor.

* This is parodied in a sketch in a later WebAnimation/{{ASDFMovie}}, where an officer brings a boy home and explains that he was caught "doing homework". The mother screams the singular variant of this phrase in horror.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': PlayedForLaughs in "Dirty Politics". In a possible future, Dr. Blight has a daughter, Betsi, who turns out to be essentially the opposite of her, especially regarding the titular team. [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Although Dr. Blight is still fond of her]], she laments having somehow raised a child who is an environmentalist and takes her frustration out on MAL, whose files on the Planeteers Betsi viewed.
* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'': Played straight on the Creator/AdultSwim show with a heavy case of CerebusSyndrome. This is also a case in which it's seen as a very good thing that the kid will not end up like his parents.

* Dick Dastardly asks this in the ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' episode "Race To Racine" after Muttley [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder sabotages him]] instead of the intended victims the Ant Hill Mob.
* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' where B.J. and Lydia are involved in a road race with their car Doomie. Scuzzo and Fuzzo set a booby trap along a short cut, but Doomie refuses to take it in spite of B.J.'s wishes. "Where did I go right?" B.J. asks.

** JockDadNerdSon

** Heteronormative parents with gay children.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime V'', the gang meets Chomper, the baby T-rex they befriended in the first sequel. During the "Friends For Dinner" song, Chopper is collecting various leaves and other flora for his herbivore friends to eat. As he's doing this, his parents are watching (and apparently unclear on what he's doing) and one says to the other, "Sometimes I worry about that boy."

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' devoted an episode on Francine and Stan figuring out what they did wrong with Hayley by cloning Steve and experimenting with parenting styles.
** It's eventually revealed that Francine's parenting alone would turn Steve into a lazy, slovenly, spoiled brat, whereas Stan's parenting alone would [[spoiler: turn Steve into a cat-killing sociopath.]]
* On ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', most plots involving Hank and his son Bobby will take a turn through this trope. Most of the episodes end with Hank learning AnAesop about accepting that his son's talents and interests are different from his, then StatusQuoIsGod will kick in and they get to recycle the plot with [[AesopAmnesia a different disappointment of Bobby's]].
** Finally averted in the GrandFinale when Hank and Bobby bond over Bobby's talent for grilling.

* In ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', the American Revolution is pretty much portrayed this way. [[spoiler:PlayedForDrama, the scene with the rainy battlefield where a desperate England, with his army lost, attacks, disarms but still can't shoot America, before breaking down in tears, is a famous TearJerker.]] To quote America's thoughts... "You used to be... so big..."

* In ''Webcomic/NerfNow'', a father is horrified to discover his son is [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a casual gamer!]] He's later relieved when he sees him playing a game with a ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' character.