Huh, I Never Knew That: True Facts That I Learned From Watching TV

[proserpina65]

Schoolhouse Rock taught me that 3 is a magic number and how a bill turns into law. Can't forget "Conjunction Junction, what's your function."

 

It's the only reason I can recite the preamble to the Constitution.  Although I AM likely to sing it instead.

[auntjess]

 

Yes it is - I've learned I never want to go in the ocean again!

Well for heaven's sake, don't go in fresh water.

I've learned both from Monsters Inside Me, and ---Dr. G.--that fresh water may contain parasites that can kill you.

[SPLAIN]

I learned from Nova that crows are very intelligent creatures due to the brain-to-body ratio.

 

Forgot what show I learned this, but there is a fish called the bony-eared assfish. Sounds like a name I called an ex-boyfriend many years ago.

[zxy556575]

Well for heaven's sake, don't go in fresh water. I've learned both from Monsters Inside Me, and ---Dr. G.--that fresh water may contain parasites that can kill you.

 

Between Medical Mysteries, Monsters Inside Me, Mystery Diagnosis, and scripted shows like House, I'm pretty sure I could pass any medical school test on rare diseases!

[shapeshifter]

Between Medical Mysteries, Monsters Inside Me, Mystery Diagnosis, and scripted shows like House, I'm pretty sure I could pass any medical school test on rare diseases!

My alma mater is more of Law & Order, The Closer, Major Crimes, the CSIs, and also Perry Mason and Matlock. I sometimes spout off terms like "probable cause" and worry that my pedigree is showing. Edited February 7, 2016 by shapeshifter

[Haleth]

Between Medical Mysteries, Monsters Inside Me, Mystery Diagnosis, and scripted shows like House, I'm pretty sure I could pass any medical school test on rare diseases!

Start with lupus.

[ABay]

It's never lupus!

[methodwriter85]

Every time you say goodbye to someone going away (or you're going away), there's a shot of you slowly walking backward as you wave goodbye.

Edited February 8, 2016 by methodwriter85

[meep.meep]

Well for heaven's sake, don't go in fresh water.

I've learned both from Monsters Inside Me, and ---Dr. G.--that fresh water may contain parasites that can kill you.

River Monsters will give you nightmares! Plus none of these shows teach you self defense. That's why Shark Week is so great.

[Raja]

My alma mater is more of Law & Order, The Closer, Major Crimes, the CSIs, and also Perry Mason and Matlock. I sometimes spout off terms like "probable cause" and worry that my pedigree is showing.

What a minute CSI? Horatio will have you failing the Bar exam

[Tabbyclaw]

I learned about the hyoid bone was because of its appearance on so many forensics shows, reality and scripted. Not terribly useful to me, but a fun piece of trivia.

[DeLurker]

My alma mater is more of Law & Order, The Closer, Major Crimes, the CSIs, and also Perry Mason and Matlock. I sometimes spout off terms like "probable cause" and worry that my pedigree is showing.

At least it isn't Hudson University...

[shang yiet]

I learned when your waters break, you're about to go into labour.

[shapeshifter]

I learned when your waters break, you're about to go into labour.

Or, if not, they will artifically induce (not learned on TV and I can't recall ever being seen on TV).

At least it isn't Hudson University...

Ha!

[Rick Kitchen]

My alma mater is more of Law & Order, The Closer, Major Crimes, the CSIs, and also Perry Mason and Matlock. I sometimes spout off terms like "probable cause" and worry that my pedigree is showing.

 

I saw a Judge Show (maybe Judge Judy) the other day where a defendant shouted out "Probable cause!" in the middle of the plaintiff's presentation.

[Guest]

My alma mater is more of Law & Order, The Closer, Major Crimes, the CSIs, and also Perry Mason and Matlock. I sometimes spout off terms like "probable cause" and worry that my pedigree is showing.

 

Well I was the most boring teenager in the world.  So TV and movie shows like 70's Show and Freaks ad Geeks are my rebellious childhood  So I sometimes spout off terms like 'you're harshin my buzz."

[bosawks]

From police procedurals I learned that case breaking information will come in a file with two pieces of paper in it max.

[methodwriter85]

At least it isn't Hudson University...

 

Speaking of college, if you have a very studious student who dreams of going to a prestigious college (usually Harvard, Princeton, or Stanford), they'll instead wind up at a local university that keeps them close to home, and usually with their friends. (Although in Rory Gilmore's case, she had to "settle" for Yale.)

 

Also, poor kids never take out student loans. They either get a full-ride scholarship to an expensive college, or their soulmate gives them money for college. Sometimes, they'll have a partial scholarship that doesn't cover board, which forces them to live over a bakery with their high school friends in a room that looks suspiciously like their old high school dorm.

Edited February 17, 2016 by methodwriter85

[CoderLady]

I never realized these things have been true for so long until I put on the first episode of Columbo (1971) as background TV while I worked on a craft project:

• never try to dissolve a partnership with someone where you're providing all the talent and without you the other person, who has been living an extravagant lifestyle, will now have no income. And for God's sake do not go off alone with that person on the last day of your partnership after handling various objects that could point to your death / disappearance as something you brought on yourself.
• and if you're someone just observant enough to see something that could incriminate the killer but not smart enough to consider what that person might do if you try a bit of blackmail, consider instead that it might not be a good idea to meet the killer alone. Just sayin'

[caci]

Coderlady, it sounds like you were watching the Jack Cassidy episode about the authors.  I kept wondering what Jack Cassidy was going to do now that his meal ticket was gone!

[CoderLady]

That's the one!

[Sandman87]

Tonight my TV taught me that there is such a thing as Michelob Ultra Dragon Fruit Peach Beer. The knowledge has not made me happier.

[maraleia]

That window screens are unnecessary even in areas where bugs would be a menace if the window was opened. See any sneaking to the bedroom scenes on sitcoms.

[zxy556575]

My previous knowledge was zilch, but various car restoration shows plus Jay Leno's Garage have taught me what a Wankel engine is, among other automotive esoterica.

[Sandman87]

Wankle rotary engine! That was the big selling point of the new Mazda cars back when I was a kid. I even remember the jingle from the TV commercial:

A piston engine goes (boing, boing, boing, boing, boing, boing)

But the Mazda goes (hmmmmmmmmmmmmm)

Bonus: YouTube remembers it too.

[Moose135]

I remember that jingle!

[Constantinople]

I don't recall when I first came across the word penultimate.  Perhaps I saw it in a book once as a kid, looked it up in a dictionary and promptly forgot its meaning.  Back then, as a rule, no one particularly cared that an episode was the penultimate episode of the season.

That's all changed now, possibly due to shorter seasons.  For many series the penultimate episode of the season is now "the episode" of the season, with the final episode serving to wrap-up loose ends and set the table for the next season.

So on this, the penultimate day of the year, I can say that I learned the meaning of the word penultimate from watching television.

[Popples]

I learned "penultimate" from Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl.

If there was a Last Supper, there must have been one before that.

[Sandman87]

On a related note, I learned an awful lot of British and European terminology from Monty Python, particularly acronyms. I was probably the only 8-year old in my town who knew what the EEC was.

That's also where I learned what an Aldis lamp is, and it inspired me to look up just who exactly Sir Philip bleedin' Sydney was...which made the references in that episode even funnier.

[backformore]

I learned from TV:

Never have a conversation with one woman about another woman  in the women's bathroom - at least, not until you have checked every stall.

Avoid elevators - they break down, you will get stuck.  And NEVER get into an elevator with a pregnant woman.   Unless you're an obstetrician.

Don't open the door without checking to see who is on the other side.   If you're expecting someone, do not yell "It's open" and let them come in.  It's never who you think it is. It's always someone who wants to kill you. 

  If you want to poison someone's drink -  don't pour two identical drinks into two identical glasses.  You need to be SURE which glass has the poison.  Drink your wine out of a coffee mug if necessary.

Don't leave your phone where someone can get it.  They will put a tracker on it, and come and kill you. 

If you're going to an interview and you bump into someone spill on someone, or in any way embarrass yourself in front of someone -  THAT is the person who will interview you. 

Avoid parking garages. If you're lucky, you'll lose your car and wander around for hours.  Otherwise, you will stumble across a dead body, witness a crime, get caught in a car chase, or have your car hit by a bad guy escaping.  Seriously, parking garages are where crime happens.  If there's no street parking, just go back, its not worth the risk.

Edited January 4, 2017 by backformore

[Moose135]

8 hours ago, backformore said:

And NEVER get into an elevator with a pregnant woman.

That's one rule I've always lived by!

[shapeshifter]

I learned from TV: Never enter your home if the door is ajar, unless you have a license to carry a gun permit, in which case you must first draw your weapon. There will likely be a dead body, a trashed room, or a villain with a weapon.
Last week I returned to a hotel room to find my door ajar. I immediately went back to the front desk and did not enter alone. I tried to convince the maintenance guy who accompanied me not to touch anything because of fingerprints, but he too watches too many crime shows and pointed out that they would have to exclude his anyway.

[ABay]

I think we're getting confused about the Only on TV v. What I Learned From Watching TV threads again. Is there a better way to name one or both?

[Joe]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I learned from TV: Never enter your home if the door is ajar, unless you have a license to carry a gun permit, in which case you must first draw your weapon. There will likely be a dead body, a trashed room, or a villain with a weapon.
Last week I returned to a hotel room to find my door ajar. I immediately went back to the front desk and did not enter alone. I tried to convince the maintenance guy who accompanied me not to touch anything because of fingerprints, but he too watches too many crime shows and pointed out that they would have to exclude his anyway.

You can't leave us hanging. What happened?

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Joe said:

You can't leave us hanging. What happened?

Nothing was missing. No crazed killers popped out of hiding. The maintenance guy was very calming and said he would report it. When I came back to the room the next night, housekeeping had not been done: Wet towels on the floor, no dry towels available, bed unmade, coffe pot not rinsed — all things I wouldn't have left if I'd not expected it to be taken care of, and then housekeeping claimed they had taken care of it. I had planned on leaving a tip at the end of my stay, but I guess I was supposed to do it every morning and they resented not getting one? How am I supposed to know? They never show it on TV.

And I guess you're not supposed to complain if housekeeping leaves your hotel door open!

Edited January 5, 2017 by shapeshifter

[Sandman87]

8 hours ago, ABay said:

I think we're getting confused about the Only on TV v. What I Learned From Watching TV threads again. Is there a better way to name one or both?

To clarify, this thread is supposed to be for actual things that you learned. You know, facts. Only On TV is for the bizarre things that seem to pass for universal reality in TV Land.

[BizBuzz]

8 hours ago, ABay said:

I think we're getting confused about the Only on TV v. What I Learned From Watching TV threads again. Is there a better way to name one or both?

Just to let everyone know, we will be doing some general housekeeping over the next few days that should rectify this situation.  Thanks for your patience.

[SVNBob]

On 1/4/2017 at 0:09 AM, backformore said:

If you want to poison someone's drink -  don't pour two identical drinks into two identical glasses.

A possibly true story related to this: Bartender sees man try to slip girl a roofie, so he swaps their drinks.

On 1/4/2017 at 0:09 AM, backformore said:

You need to be SURE which glass has the poison.

It's obvious, isn't it?  The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle.

[ABay]

Yea, verily yea.

[St. Claire]

There was a question on Jeopardy last night (in the category about seas) about Albania and the sea on which it borders. The song from Cheers ran through my head as I enthusiastically exclaimed "What is the Adriatic?"

[Sandman87]

Something that I've learned from a number of documentary shows is that a depressing percentage of the cute, noble, gentle, wonderful animals that everyone loves are actually merciless killers of their own young. Male lions will kill the offspring of other male lions. Male dolphins do the same thing. Female mice and hamsters will kill and eat their own young. Seagulls will raid the nests of other seagulls for tasty eggs. And so on.

[Blergh]

True Sandman,

 

 To say nothing of the fact that cows, chickens, lambs, fish and virtually every other source of meat can be   rather cute and entertaining individuals  which  putsa damper on being a carnivore.

[Moose135]

On 3/16/2017 at 10:25 PM, Sandman87 said:

a depressing percentage of the cute, noble, gentle, wonderful animals that everyone loves are actually merciless killers of their own young.

Whenever I'm out somewhere and see someone trying to deal with some loud, bratty kid, I usually mutter "No wonder tigers eat their young..."

[Anela]

On 3/16/2017 at 10:25 PM, Sandman87 said:

Something that I've learned from a number of documentary shows is that a depressing percentage of the cute, noble, gentle, wonderful animals that everyone loves are actually merciless killers of their own young. Male lions will kill the offspring of other male lions. Male dolphins do the same thing. Female mice and hamsters will kill and eat their own young. Seagulls will raid the nests of other seagulls for tasty eggs. And so on.

I used to have someone on my facebook list, who would comment on pictures of things like the monkey supposedly rescuing a dog from a tsunami, or a baby elephant surrounded by birds. when they told me what the probable reality was, I cried. I can't watch those shows. 

[BooksRule]

I was just a kid when 'M*A*S*H' first aired, but I learned a lot about Korea from that show.  I had never even heard of the Korean War (although I learned about it later in high school and up).  Even though it was a sitcom and wasn't always accurate, it taught me a lot, including the realization that people were actually *living* over there.  What I mean by that is that I always pictured war as soldiers in trenches, fighting in battles in fields, etc. (all my previous knowledge had come from books, TV and movies about the Civil War and WW I and II, I guess).  When I saw that people were living in tents and that this was actually someone's 'home' (at least for a while) and that it had personal touches (such as Margaret's tent with knicknacks, pillows, etc.) it was totally amazing to me.  

[shapeshifter]

I had an opposite sort of experience.  I saw a war movie in the theater as a kid, and, for a long time, I thought that if a soldier was in a war for, say, 3 years, then that soldier had to stay awake in the trench for 3 years. I don't recall exactly when or how I was disabused of that notion, but I think it was from watching more comedic war shows, like F-Troop or Hogan's Heroes. I also learned more SAT-worthy words from reading comic books than from reading most children's chapter books.

[Sandman87]

shapeshifter, that reminds me of how I used to think that all TV shows were broadcast live back when I was a very young child. I remember thinking that it was amazing that they could do everything exactly the same way every single time, even down to the little slip-ups. Eventually I saw one of the shows where the announcer said "this show was recorded live in front of a studio audience", and asked my mom what that meant. Instant disillusionment!

[shapeshifter]

And yet, @Sandman87, whether it's a soldier awake in a trench for 3 years, or if it's actors doing "everything exactly the same way every single time," I think we (and multitudes of audience members — both live and in their living rooms or theaters or cars at drive-ins) ultimately did get a true sense of things as they are.

[roamyn]

I've learned a lot from Mysteries at the Museum.  One of the most interesting was how WD40 developed and got it's name.  You learn a lot of history from that show - enough tidbits to want to google more abt a particular subject.

[BooksRule]

I first learned about Schroedinger's Cat from an early episode of 'Stargate: SG1', although if I hadn't learned about it then, I would have eventually learned about it on 'The Big Bang Theory'.