On Second Thought

Someone is given an option he doesn't like, and promptly rejects it. The person who made the suggestion returns with something far worse, and On Second Thought, the first suggestion was just fine.

Summed up well by the following joke:

"Genie: I can give you one wish.

Guy: I wish for world peace.

Genie: Sorry, that's far too hard to do.

Guy: Oh. Okay, I wish I could understand women.

Genie: ...Define "peace"."

"Light: Can you stop calling me Light?
 * Death Note:

Misa: Then can I call you "Knight" instead of "Light"? Because you're like my knight.

Light: Light is fine."

"Russ: Look, we'll get it fixed, okay. We'll take it out of his allowance.
 * Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, when Ron breaks the Szalinskis' window:

Ron: What? My allowance? No way!

Russ: Okay, we'll just have Dad pay for it, huh?

Ron: We'll take it out of my allowance."

"Hurley: Let me ask you something, Arnzt --
 * Lost:

Arzt: Arzt.

Hurley: Arnzt.

Arzt: No, not Arnzt. Arzt. A-R-Z-T. Arzt.

Hurley: Sorry, man. Your name's hard to pronounce.

Arzt: Oh, yeah? Well, I know a bunch of ninth graders who pronounce it just fine.

Hurley: How about I just call you by your first name?

Arzt: How about you don't?

Hurley: Why not? I remember it from the plane's manifest. I think Leslie's a bitchin' name.

Arzt: Arnzt is fine."

"Bree: How about "Boise"?
 * Desperate Housewives. Rex asks Bree to pick a "control word" for the sexual roleplay they're planning to do:

Rex: "Boise"?

Bree: What's the matter with "Boise"?

Rex: We’re going to be doing psychological role playing here, Bree, and a funny word like "Boise" would ruin the mood. We need something that sounds serious.

Bree: Hmmm. How about "Palestine"?

Rex: "Boise" will be just fine."

"Noelle: "So what is your name?"
 * Corner Alley 13

[...]

Kh'ohl: "Bat's clan Kh'ohl Kankaar Vree."

Noelle: "Ah! Cole!"

Kh'ohl: "No, Kh'ohl. And don't use my first name."

Noelle: "Mr. Cancan-tree?"

Kh'ohl: "...Cole will do.""

"Phoebe: "Okay. We can, um, we can burn the stuff they gave us."
 * Friends. Phoebe has suggested that they should have a cleansing ritual, to lose the curse of bad boyfriends:

Rachel: "Or?"

Phoebe: "Or... or we can chant and dance around naked, you know, with sticks."

Monica: "Burning's good.""

"Stan: I have tickets to a Dodgers spring training game. Want to come?
 * The Golden Girls:

Dorothy: I can't think of anything I would rather do less.

Stan: Want to go to bed with me?

Dorothy: Take me out to the ball game."

"King Pentagon: Come now, there is much to discuss between us two lords. Won't you join me for tea?
 * Circle Versus Square.

Circle: Do I have a choice?

King Pentagon: Of course! TEA or DEATH.

Circle: And those are my only options?

King Pentagon: Well, I suppose if you prefer we can have tea AND death.

Circle: Just the tea, thank you."

"(Homer wakes up in the morning, puts on the Grim Reaper robe)
 * The Simpsons, when Homer became the Grim Reaper in a Halloween episode:

Homer: All right, who am I giving the finger to today?

(The name on the list is Marge Simpson, his wife)

Homer: No! Not that! Anything but that!

(name on list changes to Homer Simpson)

Homer: ...what was that first one again?"

"O'Malley: It's quiet... too quiet."
 * Red vs. Blue, when O'Malley approaches Blue Team's base.

(a sniper round whizzes past his head)

O'Malley: Now it's suddenly too loud. I preferred it when it was quiet."

"Sarge: Alright, blues! First off, we want your flag...
 * Also, during the Blue Team's  surrender:

Simmons: Wait, wait, wait just a second. The last time we got the flag, the chick in the black armor showed up.

Sarge: ...to stay right where it is. Keep the flag."

"Dr. Paulson: We might have to amputate.
 * Evolution: An alien bug has entered the body of Harry Block.

Harry Block: Whoa, Doc! Don't take the leg! Ira, don't let them take my leg.

[...]

Dr. Paulson: It's headed for his testicles.

Harry Block: (shocked look) Take it! Take it! Take the leg!"

"Baby New Year 2009 and Jon Stewart discuss the assault of Israel on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
 * The Daily Show:

Baby New Year 2009: Can't we talk about the lighter side of 2009? You know, celebrity pregnancies, sports predictions, stuff like that?

Jon Stewart: Okay, I'll go with that. How are the Mets going to go this year?

Baby New Year 2009: Oh. Uh... you know what, let's get back to Gaza."

"Zoidberg: So do your worst. Because no punishment could be worse than denying my freedom.
 * Futurama

Chief Justice: You are hereby sentenced to death.

Zoidberg: Wait, let me finish!"

"The Doctor: I'll call you 'Romana'.
 * Subverted in Doctor Who when the Doctor's companion actually prefers the second alternative to her Overly Long Name, but he continues to use the first one anyway:

Romana: I don't like 'Romana'.

The Doctor: Well, it's either 'Romana' or 'Fred'.

Romana: Fine, call me 'Fred'.

The Doctor: All right. Come on, Romana."

"Nerd: Don't kill me!
 * The Angry Video Game Nerd, when cornered by Jason Voorhoes

Jason: *Shows the Friday the 13 th NES cartridge, silently telling him to play it*

Nerd: ... Kill me!

(Wish not granted)"

"Kimbrough: And Elaine! I wouldn't mind seeing something happening between those two!
 * Seinfeld: In the final episode, NBC bigwigs have rekindled their interest in Jerry's pilot.

George: I tell you, I really don't think so-called 'relationship humor' is what this show is all about.

Kimbrough: Or, we could not do the show altogether, how about that?

George: Or we could get them together!"

"Zuko: If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed.
 * In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Iroh and Zuko ponder which is worse, the Earth Kingdom, or the Fire Nation.

Iroh: But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula.

Zuko: Earth Kingdom it is."

"Angel: You're my secretary?
 * In Penny Arcade, a matter of word choice.
 * Angel:

Harmony: Hello! Assistant.

Angel: Explain why I shouldn't kill you.

Harmony: Secretary's fine."


 * At the end of the Danger Mouse episode 100 Million Years Lost, the narrator turns the mic over to Henry V who drones on about the Battle of Agincourt before he switches to the weather forecast.