Some people wonder what there life would be life if they taken a different path in life. This is especially true for those who feel their current life isn't great. They are then given a chance to live a new perfect life. However, they learn that it isn't so perfect.
At first these "perfect" life would seem good but gradually turn out bad. Maybe their new life is boring. Maybe people they cared for are no longer part of their lives. Usually these are friends and love ones. Alternatively they end up as different people with bad personalities. Because of these bad factors, they attempt to fix things and go back to their original lives.
Often times time traveling is involved. A person may have gone backnin time and change something, whether on purpose or accident, and come back to a new life.
Can be use as an aesop to teach others that they should be more appreciative of the life they have.
Can overlap with Grass is Greener. Compare It's a Wonderful Plot which is a world worst of without someone in it.
Examples:
- Arthur: Happened twice. Though, in this case is more they imagine using time travel to change their life.
- D.W. is tired of being the younger sister to Arthur so she used Nadine's time tricycle to go bakc to the past and become the older one. While at first it's a great life because she gets everything she wants, once a young Arthur comes in, it turns sour since now she has responsibilities as a older sister.
- In another episode, Buster believes the reason why he such a underachiever is because a moment in the past when he was distracted during a IQ test. After going back to the past to change it, his new present has him as a much more intellectually student who spends most of school life in a high end school. While he is happy at first, he learns that he isn't friends with Arthur since they never met and is instead part of a still bully Tough Customers.
- Inside Job (2021): In
- The Jetsons.
- Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: In Time is Money, Jimmy is unable to get a encyclopedia set because it's too expensive. He then wish they were rich in which Hugh revealed they could have been rich when he had an chance to invest in McSpanky's but decided to use his last 50 dollars for something more important. Jimmy then builds a time machine and convinced his dad to invest with McSpanky'. However, when he gets back, his parents are now uncaring and are jerks. While Jimmy does get his encyclopedia set, he is upsets over his parents attitude. He then fix his mistakes and learned that Hugh used his money to buy Judy's engagement ring.
- Rick and Morty:
- The Simpsons Treehouse.
