History Main / WellIntentionedReplacement

* ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' has Harold Hill painting a mental picture of the forthcoming band in fancy perfect uniforms in order to get everybody to support the band. The ones that really come are basic red coats and white pants that just barely qualify. I suppose it's an Inversion, as it's a Knockoff, but not good-natured by any definition.

* This was the entire setup for ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle''. Inverted, because they start with an inferior item breaking and have to replace it with something better. MadScientist Dr. Fred makes a time machine, using a giant cubic zirconium instead of a real diamond. It shatters, stranding one kid a century in the past, one kid a century in the future, and one kid doesn't go anywhere. The kid in the present has to find a way to get a real giant diamond to fix the time machine to get his buddies back.

** When Ned Flanders' house is destroyed, the people of Springfield get together to rebuild his house. Only it sucks and Ned goes bonkers. Apu stands outside one room (one of the few human-sized doors in the house) and announces "This is the room with electricity, but there is too much electricity. So I don't know, you might want to wear a hat". Both his and Ned's hair reacts as you would imagine.
** When Homer is spending a lot of time away from the family as he tours the world with the Be Sharps, Marge makes a fake Homer for the children by stuffing his clothes with balloons and using a tape recorder for the voice. The result is grotesque enough before the head falls off and bursts his arm, scaring the kids.
* When WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls decide to create a fourth sister, this trope fully comes into play. The creation of the Rowdyruff Boys is sort of an inversion of this, isn't it?

** In the Season 3 premiere the cast hosts a festival for the Crystal Ponies based on information found in a history book. The book lists the centerpiece of the festival the "Crystal Heart", so Twilight carves one... only to find out later that that Crystal Heart is a magical artifact that's kinda important: it can protect the Crystal Empire from being enslaved by an evil unicorn, who's currently knocking on the door. A good chunk of the premiere from that point on consists of the cast trying to keep everyone away from the fake heart while Twilight and Spike try to get ahold of the real deal.
** In the season 4 episode "Rarity Takes Manehattan", Rarity is basing a new fashion line on a new fabric she designed, but she lends some of the spare fabric to her old friend and fellow designer Suri Polomare, who uses it in her own fashion line, so Rarity will look like she's copying Suri instead of the other way around. Realizing that she needs a new style immediately, Rarity scavenges her hotel room for material (curtains, carpets, lampshades, couches). Since she's Rarity, ''it works''.

* One of the ''Literature/ChickenSoupForTheSoul'' books depict a heartrending version of this. The child wants a bicycle, but the parents don't have the time to find a proper one, so the dad makes a small bike model. The child is told that the model can be exchanged for a real one, but then the TastesLikeDiabetes moment comes. Cue the tears. The child would never trade the bike made for them by Daddy!

* In ''Film/{{Bean}}'' after the title character accidentally destroys the famous painting of Whistler's Mother [[WhatAnIdiot (by trying to clean it after it gets wet and rubbing the paint off her face)]], he tries to restore it by drawing a crude face in its place with a marker pen.

* ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' has Harold Hill painting a mental picture of the forthcoming band in fancy perfect uniforms in order to get everybody to support the band. The ones that really come are basic red coats and white pants that just barely qualify. I suppose it's an Inversion, as it's a Knockoff, but not GoodNatured by any definition.

** Chandler and Monica have promised to make their anniversary presents instead of buying them. Yet another one of those ideas that sound better in theory. The day arrives, and both frantically think of things to present as their own creation. Monica ends up giving Chandler one of the sock bunnies that Phoebe makes (claiming that Phoebe actually makes sock rabbits, ugh), and he gives her a mix tape that Janice made for him.
*** To be fair to them both, it is strongly implied that Chandler just couldn't think of anything to make for Monica, whereas Monica apparently ''forgot'' about their plans to make gifts in the first place.

** Chandler thinks he has lost the photos of his and Monica's wedding. With Ross's help, he crashes another wedding and takes a bunch of pictures of himself and Ross in an attempt to pass that wedding off as his own. For the finishing touch, he walks up to the bride (who fortunately happens to resemble Monica from the back), kisses her while Ross takes a picture, then runs. When Chandler later shows Monica the pictures, she informs him that she had their wedding photos all along... leaving Chandler to try to explain why he took a photo of himself kissing another woman.

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* Not quite Good-Natured, but in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' the gang has to bring a prototype to a tech show. It's a prototype for a holographic AI interface. They don't have anywhere near enough time or money to do this, so they gut a computer monitor, punch a hole in the bottom and the table, and have Wally stick his head up. He's supposed to pretend to be the interface. Too bad they are visited by the Dark Angel of Product Demos (Phil the Prince of Insufficient Light, his "hello, Wally" would've been bonechilling if heard in animation).
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* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', Albert kicks this trope in the nuts. ''Hard.'' He talks about how he wanted a rocking horse as a kid, but his parents could never afford it, so his dad carved him a little wooden horse instead. When Death asks him if that was more important because of the effort the dad put in, Albert snorts and says that's how ''adults'' think. You're a greedy little bastard at 7-years-old.

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* This ''seriously'' happened in a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comic book, soon after Dr. Kafka was fired as head of the Ravencroft Institute after her mistake allowed the Chameleon to escape. Despite government claims that Doc Sampson would take over, her first replacement was a guy who caused a bigger disaster ''on the first day''. He actually thought that the abundance of high-tech security used to keep Carnage restrained was wasteful and unnecessary, and despite panicked warnings from veteran guards, he ordered the extra security removed. As soon as he turned even ''one'' of the devices off, Carnage broke free. (What happened to the guy after that wasn't revealed, but it is ''very'' unlikely that he survived.)

* ''Film/TheParentTrap''. The original Hayley Mills one. The girls (with the assistance of Hickey and Verbina) have recreated the restaurant from their parent's first date. Everything is quite homemade and primitive, but it's touching, nonetheless.
** Averted in the remake, where apparently they try to one up the first movie by recreating the photograph from their wedding as closely as possible, down to a decorative life-buoy. It's mentioned that one of their grandparents paid for most of this.

Whether intentionally or accidentally something has been destroyed, or else it never arrived via delivery or whatever. Our hero feels the need to replace it, but budgetary and/or time constraints have forced him to make a few cutbacks. Like, actually having it be what it's supposed to. It is not uncommon for it to be a ShoddyKnockoffProduct.

* Oddly enough, it's actually successful in one episode of ''NorthernExposure''.

* In ''Film/MeetTheParents'', Gaylord Focker accidentally sets the cat of his parents-in-law out of the house and the cat escapes. He then fakes 'finding' the lost cat by getting a similar looking cat at a shelter, then spraypainting its tail to completely the resemblance. Not only is he found out when a neighbor finds the real one, but the fake cat pees on the bride's wedding dress.

This is a sister trope to BrokenTreasure.

** Even more prevalent is the fact that [[spoiler: Death]] is acting as the [[spoiler: missing]] Santa. It is constantly emphasized that he can only copy, not create or understand the underlying concepts of life and living, he only understands that Santa must be. While going about these duties, he has to be warned not to greet any more children with "Cower, brief mortals."

** When Ned Flanders house is destroyed, the people of Springfield get together to rebuild his house. Only it sucks and Ned goes bonkers. Apu stands outside one room (one of the few human-sized doors in the house) and announces "This is the room with electricity, but there is too much electricity. So I don't know, you might want to wear a hat". Both his and Ned's hair reacts as you would imagine.

* In ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'', the wife finds out that the husband had proposed using a cubic zirconium ring, (there was some extended story about how the original diamond had been lost and the guy had replace it with zirconium), so she went out and bought a diamond to replace. Only to discover that the man had purchased a replacement real diamond to secretly replace his original knockoff replacement. (Since he really felt guilty about the knockoff- it just took him a few years of saving his beer money to buy the real thing). Of course the new diamond wasn't nearly as expensive as the old diamond which the wife had discarded.

---> '''Peterman''': Well, I think what's ''going'' to happen to you is punishment enough. Dismissed.

* In ''Series/BlackadderTheThird'', Baldrick accidentally burns Dr. Johnson's dictionary and Blackadder tries to recreate it in one night. In the end, it turns out [[spoiler:the dictionary was fine, what Baldrick burned was in fact Blackadder's autobiography (written under a pseudonym) which took ten years to write and which Johnson loved, saying it would make both of them millionaires.]]

* When the PowerpuffGirls decide to create a fourth sister, this trope fully comes into play. The creation of the Rowdyruff Boys is sort of an inversion of this, isn't it?

* One episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' has Ross accidentally breaking a Brown Bird's (read Girl Scout) leg. She really wants to win the trip to Space Camp, but even with some last-minute purchases of cookies Ross can't win. The guys outfit Joey and Chandler's place as "Sara Tuttle's Special Space Camp!"

** When Ned Flanders house is destroyed, the people of Springfield get together to rebuild his house. Only it sucks and Ned goes bonkers.
** Apu stands outside one room (one of the few human-sized doors in the house) and announces "This is the room with electricity, but there is too much electricity. So I don't know, you might want to wear a hat". Both his and Ned's hair reacts as you would imagine.

* In ''[[Literature/AliceInWonderland Through the Looking Glass]]'' Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee are about to do battle (over a water-soaked rattle, LONG story...), but they don't have any real armor or weapons. Their strategy? Strap pots and pans to their bodies! Yeah, I'm sure that's the same...

* Not quite Good-Natured, but in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' the gang has to bring a prototype to a tech show. It's a prototype for a holographic AI interface. They don't have anywhere near enough time or money to do this, so they gut a computer monitor, punch a hole in the bottom and the table, and have Wally stick his head up. He's supposed to pretend to be the interface. Too bad they are visited by the Dark Angel of Product Demos (Phil the Prince of Insufficient Light, his "hello, Wally" I'm sure would've been bonechilling if heard in animation).

* ''KikisDeliveryService'' has another subversion. Kiki has lost the stuffed cat she's supposed to deliver, so her cat Jiji (who happens to look identical) is called in to play mime while Kiki finds the toy. A more dramatic use of this trope occurs later when Kiki is forced to borrow a street sweeper's broom to fly to Tombo's rescue. She ''can'' make it fly... but not very well.

* This ''seriously'' happened in a SpiderMan comic book, soon after Dr. Kafka was fired as head of the Ravencroft Institute after her mistake allowed the Chameleon to escape. Despite government claims that Doc Sampson would take over, her first replacement was a guy who caused a bigger disaster ''on the first day''. He actually thought that the abundance of high-tech security used to keep Carnage restrained was wasteful and unnecessary, and despite panicked warnings from veteran guards, he ordered the extra security removed. As soon as he turned even ''one'' of the devices off, Carnage broke free. (What happened to the guy after that wasn't revealed, but it is ''very'' unlikely that he survived.)

* The story ''BenAndMe'' has Amos, Ben Franklin's mouse companion, doing a few of these:

* One of the ''ChickenSoupForTheSoul'' books depict a heartrending version of this. The child wants a bicycle, but the parents don't have the time to find a proper one, so the dad makes a small bike model. The child is told that the model can be exchanged for a real one, but then the TastesLikeDiabetes moment comes. Cue the tears. The child would never trade the bike made for them by Daddy!

* On ''{{Frasier}}'' Roz's daughter had started painting in school. Too bad she practiced on Frasier's new painting, too. So off Roz goes with the real painting to the art restorer's, leaving Alice's painting under the cover as a dummy. That night is the grand unveiling. HilarityEnsues.
* Played with on ''{{Scrubs}}''. Carla has lost Turk's stuffed dog Rowdy (she left him on top of the car after going to get him cleaned by a dog groomer). Janitor (a known taxidermy freak) manages to get a replacement stuffed Golden Retriever, but it's not quite as big. Luckily Carla can "[[DistractedByTheSexy distract]]" Turk before he can quite realize the discrepancy. The Janitor tries to blackmail her in a later episode by returning the original Rowdy and thus revealing her deception, but the guys are so excited to have ''two'' stuffed dogs (one for each of them) that they don't even care.

* In ''EverybodyLovesRaymond'', the wife finds out that the husband had proposed using a cubic zirconium ring, (there was some extended story about how the original diamond had been lost and the guy had replace it with zirconium), so she went out and bought a diamond to replace. Only to discover that the man had purchased a replacement real diamond to secretly replace his original knockoff replacement. (Since he really felt guilty about the knockoff- it just took him a few years of saving his beer money to buy the real thing). Of course the new diamond wasn't nearly as expensive as the old diamond which the wife had discarded.

* In ''BlackBooks'', Bernard and Manny accidentally drink a bottle of priceless, 100 year-old wine that was going to be presented to the pope. Going by a book that describes the taste "a hint of vanilla," "an oaky finish" etc - they try to make their own replacement with cheap wine, vanilla ice-cream and twigs, while a thunderstorm rages outside and they devolve into Hammer horror-style Dr. Frankenstein and Igor.

* In ''HannahMontana,'' Miley's brother accidentally destroys her childhood teddy bear. In revenge, she destroys his priceless, irreplaceable baseball that was signed by some retired (and embittered) pitcher. When her brother has her bear fixed, she has a ZanyScheme to replace his ball before he finds out about the damage. She was successful in getting a genuine signed ball, but the original was actually a forgery.
* In ''{{Blackadder}} The Third'', Baldrick accidentally burns Dr. Johnson's dictionary and Blackadder tries to recreate it in one night. In the end, it turns out [[spoiler:the dictionary was fine, what Baldrick burned was in fact Blackadder's autobiography (written under a pseudonym) which took ten years to write and which Johnson loved, saying it would make both of them millionaires.]]

* ''TheRedGreenShow'' has Red do this once in awhile using nothing more than duct tape and the odd piece of junk.
* The Britcom ''ToTheManorBorn'' has this. Audrey is successfully selling her homemade honey to the droves of birdwatchers that have come to see a rare bird. Since her small beehive is capable of only minimal honey production, she buys jars of commercial honey from the supermarket and puts new labels on them.

* Something similar happens in ''That70sShow'' when Hyde is left to watch his dad's house for a weekend and his dad's prized possession (an autographed guitar) is damaged. When they get the guitar repaired, someone cleaned the autograph from the guitar, thinking it was graffiti. In a panic, Hyde scribbles the autograph back on the guitar.

* ''TheMusicMan'' has Harold Hill painting a mental picture of the forthcoming band in fancy perfect uniforms in order to get everybody to support the band. The ones that really come are basic red coats and white pants that just barely qualify. I suppose it's an Inversion, as it's a Knockoff, but not GoodNatured by any definition.

* A running gag in ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' is that the Kurain pot is never assembled the same way twice.

* In ''LibertysKids'', James turns his mother's ring into a necklace for Sarah after she lost hers.
* In the Season 3 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' the cast hosts a festival for the Crystal Ponies based on information found in a history book. The book lists the centerpiece of the festival the "Crystal Heart", so Twilight carves one... only to find out later that that Crystal Heart is a magical artifact that's kinda important: it can protect the Crystal Empire from being enslaved by an evil unicorn, who's currently knocking on the door. A good chunk of the premiere from that point on consists of the cast trying to keep everyone away from the fake heart while Twilight and Spike try to get ahold of the real deal.

* In an episode of ''HardcastleAndMcCormick'', Hardcastle's basketball that was autographed by Wilt Chamberlain is stolen in a break-in (that was [=McCormick=]'s fault). When they are not able to recover the ball, [=McCormick=] attempts to replace it by getting another ball and forging Chamberlain's autograph. Unfortunately, not being a basketball fan, he signs it ''Walt'' Chamberlain.