Wasteful Wishing: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Drew Carey:''' "Bad Choices to Make When Your Genie Grants You Three Wishes"

'''Colin Mochrie:''' Uh, I'll have two Cokes and some chips.|''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]''}}

A comedy trope where, quite simply, a character is given an opportunity to [[Make a Wish]] or [[Three Wishes|three]], and completely wastes them on something stupid and/or frivolous. [[Satiating Sandwich|Sandwiches seem to be a particular favorite.]]

 

 

Even wasted, these wishes can be subject to [[Be Careful What You Wish For]].

 

== Anime & Manga ==

** According to [[All There in the Manual|supplemental materials,]] {{spoiler|Charlotte actually did wish for one last cake to share with her dying mother. Upon realizing that she could have used this wish to ''heal'' her mother, she rocketed past the [[Despair Event Horizon]] and immediately became a Witch.}}

* Seen in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', where Nagi's mother is telling a young Nagi about wishing on a shooting star.... and she proceeds to wish on one for manju buns. Nagi chastises her.

* There is a well-known joke regarding this trope that goes something like this-

{{quote|Three friends who have been lost in the desert for days come across a genie's lamp and rub it at the same time. After being freed, the genie promises to grant them all one wish. The first man wishes he lived on a tropical island surrounded by beautiful women. The second man wished he was a successful business man in the big city. The third man says, "I'm lonely, I wish my two friends were here."}}

 

== Literature ==

{{quote|'''Homer''': Well ''that'' was a big bust. ''[to Apu]'' [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Is he]] ''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|really]]'' [[Crowning Moment of Funny|the head of the Kwik-E-Mart?]]}}

* [[The Stinger]] for one episode of ''[[Sheep in The Big City]]'' had General Specific doing pretty much the same thing to a "question genie", repeatedly asking him to make sure it didn't matter what question he asked.

** While many of Timmy's wishes seem wasteful, they don't qualify because he has unlimited wishes. In fact, it's actually bad for the fairies if he doesn't constantly wish for things

* An accidental example occurs in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin and the King of Thieves]]''. The thieves try to steal a staff. Iago flies over to the staff and wonders aloud why they'd be looking for it. An oracle appears, revealing that the holder of the staff will get the answer to any one question they ask. Iago prepares to ask his question... but the oracle reveals that Iago already got his one question when he asked why the thieves wanted the staff.

* In a sketch from ''[[Robot Chicken]]'', Oprah promises to fulfill everyone's dream and asks a member of her audience, "What can Oprah do for you?" The man is surprised, and asks for a pastrami sandwich. She tells him to look under his chair, and lo and behold, he finds a sandwich. She then tells all the other audience members to check under their chairs, and they all pull out boxes containing keys to brand new cars. The man who got a sandwich is disappointed.

* In an episode of ''[[Paw Paws]]'', Dark Paw does this. For his first wish, he asks the genie to eliminate the totem. For his second wish, he asks that the princess and Brave Paw be eliminated. Finally, he says offhandedly, "I wish I could see the look on their faces!" and the good bears return.

* ''[[Family Guy]]'': Peter goes to the Mafia's Don, since it's the Don's daughter's wedding (and the Don can never refuse a request at his daughter's wedding), intending to ask to have the price taken off his wife's head. Peter then gets distracted, and instead asks for a piece of tiramisu.

* One ''[[My Little Pony]]'' episode starts with the discovery of "The Magic Coins", each of which grants one wish. Most of these are quickly used up so that they don't have any easy way to counter it when one of the baby ponies [[Be Careful What You Wish For|wishes away the rain]] after a sudden shower spoils their picnic.

* The MTV animated short ''Genie Junkie'' was built on this trope. A total couch potato had freed a genie from her bottle, making her his slave and bound to grant his every wish... and his every wish turned out to be for things like a fresh glass of cherry coke, or that she change the channel on the television, or that she do his laundry, or get him a new bag of Cheetos. The only "extravagant" thing he ever asked her for (if you could call it extravagant) was a plate of the shrimp combo advertised in an in-universe seafood restaurant commercial, because man that looked good and he was hungry...

* In ''[[South Park]]'', God appeared at the turn of the millennium and offered to answer exactly one question before returning to heaven. While the adults were brainstorming the best possible question, Stan butted in and [[It Makes Sense in Context|demanded to know why he hadn't had his period yet]]. The adults were not amused.

* ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' was at one point allowed to ask one question of his deepest subconscious, which could answer any mystery in life. He asked "How's it going?". He got a thumbs up. His spiritual guide is not amused.

* In an episode of ''[[Adventure Time]]'', Finn and Jake escort some Hot Dog Knights through a dangerous maze, with most of the knights getting [[Death as Comedy|killed in amusing ways]] along the way. When they get to the wish-granting entity who lives at the middle of the maze, the last two surviving knights wish for a box and to "blow up", while a thoroughly exhausted and worn-out Jake wishes for a sandwich.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]