What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Difference between revisions

* ''[[The Incredibles]]'' has "We're superheroes. What could happen?" {{spoiler|Cue giant robot.}}

* Invoked in ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'':

'''Flint''': Don't worry. I have a dangeometer that lets us know if the food is going to overmutate.

'''Sam''': What happens if the food overmutates?

* Let's test a new model of [[RoboCop|robot police enforcer]] with live ammunition! [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]? OCP never learned their lesson - they do the same again later on with the "new and improved" Robocop 2.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by the ever [[Genre Savvy]] Peter Venkman in ''[[Ghostbusters]]'': [[Sarcasm Mode|"Why worry]]? Each one of us is carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back".

* In ''[[Megamind]]'', the titular character [[Victory Is Boring|is bored]] after he defeats his nemisis, [[The Cape|Metroman]]. So he decides to create a new nemesis by giving someone else Metroman's superpowers. [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]] (IIRC, [[The Dragon|Min]][[The Lancer|ion]] asks this ironically. Well, instead of giving an altruistic person superpowers, he accidentally gives them to an average joe [[Stalker with a Crush|(at best)]]. He decides to go along with the plan anyway. Then, ''after'' said average joe {{spoiler|decides he would rather be a supervillain, Megamind pushes all of [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]] at once}}. [[Sarcasm Mode|Great plan]].

* In ''[[Babes in Toyland]] (1986)'' one of the good guys explains that he's been collecting the evil of the world, distilling it to its essence, and sealing it into a bottle.

* [[Terminator|"There's over 30 cops in this building. You're perfectly safe here." ]] Oh, how wrong you are, Detective Traxler.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* The premise of every episode of the 1984-86 US TV series ''[[Crazy Like a Fox]]''. The series starred Jack Warden as Harry Fox, a free-spirited private detective who lived by his wits and John Rubinstein as his high-strung attorney son Harrison who unwillingly and frequently found himself dragged into his father's cases. The show's opening would always feature Harry and Harrison talking on the phone in their offices like this:

'''Harry:''' Harrison, I need your help.

'''Harrison:''' Dad, you keep forgetting. I'm a lawyer. You're the detective!

* Jeremy Clarkson saying,"How hard can it be?" on ''[[Top Gear]]'',<s>often</s> always uttered before they show a segment where the presenters have to work on cars.

** Lampshaded once, after the series came off hiatus:

** And lampshaded pretty much every time he says it by Hamster and May ever since.

* In the ''[[Angel]]'' episode "Spin the Bottle," Lorne introduces the [[Phlebotinum]]:

'''Angel:''' Guaranteed?

* A fine example in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode ''Once More With Feeling'':

{{quote|'''Dawn:''' Come on, songs, dancing around... What's gonna be wrong with that?}}

** Snap cut to the demon Sweet looking at one of the dancers {{spoiler|burst into flames}}.

** Lampshaded in an earlier episode:

'''Buffy:''' Are you crazy? What did you say that for? Now something bad is gonna happen!

'''Xander:''' Whaddaya mean? Nothing's gonna happen.

'''Willow:''' Not until some dummy says, 'as long as nothing bad happens!'

'''Buffy:''' It's the ultimate jinx!

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] on ''[[The West Wing]]'':

{{quote|'''Toby''': It's not going to be a big deal.

{{quote|"Right, perfect, look at that; what could possibly go wrong? ''(bit falls off the console with a crash)'' That's fine; that always happens."}}

** ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S17 E5 The Horns of Nimon|The Horns of Nimon]]'' it gets lampshaded:

'''DOCTOR''': No, I don't. What could possibly go

''(Lurch. The Doctor falls.)''

'''DOCTOR''': Ow! Wrong. You know, I've simply got to stop saying that. Every single time I say what could possibly go wrong, something goes

* The predictable [[Sitcom]] variety is parodied on ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Look]]'', in the "Get Me Hennimore" sketches. The boss gives his [[The Ditz]] employee a truly preposterous set of tasks to do, with maximum scope for confusion, embarrassment and general disarray, and tops it off by [[Tempting Fate|wondering aloud how his instructions could possibly be misconstrued]]; [[Gilligan Cut]] to the smoking aftermath. "[[First Name Ultimatum|HenniMOOOORE!]]"

* In the [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]] episode "Our Man Bashir", Garak ends the teaser by saying "What could possibly go wrong?" Well, it's probably a [[Lampshade Hanging]] for the frequency of a [[Holodeck Malfunction]] in a fairly trope-heavy episode. The holodeck later malfunctions and they're stuck in a [[James Bond]] simulation for the entire episode.

== Video Games ==

** It's also the name of the pilot episode, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|appropriately enough.]]

* ''[[Dead Space (video game)|Dead Space]]''; breaking down entire planets for their mineral resources, hmm, not too bad, already pretty dangerous, but it's mundane dangerous, what are the odds of finding some [[The Virus|VERY unwanted cargo]] when you start mining the place? {{spoiler|Though you eventually discover it's closer to [[Gone Horribly Right]].}}

* ''[[Half-Life]]''. [[For Science!|Black Mesa]]. "The possibility of a Resonance Cascade scenario is extremely unlikely". Guess what happens.

** [[Freeman's Mind|Yeah, well, that's why we have insurance.]]

* ''[[Persona 2]]'': ''Innocent Sin'', when the party is at [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon|Xibalba]], where it's revealed later on that {{spoiler|their thoughts become reality there}}: ([[Fan Translation]] version.)

'''Eikichi''': Quit whining!! How about this idea? Would you be happier if there had been a waterfall or somethin'? Huh!?

'''Maya''': Shh! Be quiet... That noise... Could it be!?

* In ''[[Chzo Mythos|Seven Days A Sceptic]]'' practically everything on the ship is built on the assumption that nothing will go wrong (whereas in [[Real Life]] the opposite holds true). Examples include escape pods that need to be fueled up for hours before use and the captain's suite emergency unlock, which is installed on the inside. The ship's scanners can also track the number of living beings on board but not their locations, the power source is mounted in a huge shaft with no railings, there's a glass-domed observation deck with no apparent protections against micrometeorites (or radiation, for that matter) and the prison cell uses a force field instead of metal bars that won't vanish in case of power failure. No wonder the engineer spent most of his time hiding in the dining area and making the counselor fix things for him - he must've had a breakdown on the first day and been in denial since.

* The haiku that describes the Black Cat familiar in ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' is "What a cute kitty!/What could possibly go wrong,/with her at your side?" It is one of the two most actively harmful familiars in the game, reducing experience gains, depleting MP, destroying randomly dropped items, and occasionally preventing the use of skills and items in combat.

* The bunny - [http://www.scarygoround.com/sgr/ar.php?date=20080314 Oh God the Bunny].

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', one strip is titled "[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2004-11-15 Surely Nothing Bad Can Come from This]"

{{quote|'''Sam Starfall:''' Hey, even '''''I''''' don't say that out loud.}}

* [http://www.the-whiteboard.com/autowb657.html this strip] of ''[[The Whiteboard]]''.

'''Guy''': Aw, ''c'mon, Beth!'' I know it's a ''bit'' creepy, but what's the ''worst'' that can happen?

{{smallcaps|Suddenly, the worst happens!}}

== Web Original ==