Faux Life: Things That Happen On TV But Not In Reality

[MaryPatShelby]

On TV (mostly commercials, actually) people dance when something good happens all the time. They dance when they get their degree from a for-profit university, they dance when they get a mortgage, they dance when they move into their new house, they dance when their team scores, they dance when their kid eats a Hot Pocket (ok I made up that last one, but I wouldn't be surprised).  I have never seen people in real life dance as much, or at all, as people on TV.

[CoderLady]

In real life there's no (mostly) appropriate and sound-edited background music that automatically fires up to mark the occasion or maybe more people would dance. I wouldn't, because I know what I look like dancing, but maybe other people would. :) 

[rue721]

2 hours ago, MaryPatShelby said:

On TV (mostly commercials, actually) people dance when something good happens all the time. They dance when they get their degree from a for-profit university, they dance when they get a mortgage, they dance when they move into their new house, they dance when their team scores, they dance when their kid eats a Hot Pocket (ok I made up that last one, but I wouldn't be surprised).  I have never seen people in real life dance as much, or at all, as people on TV.

IBR I do a little happy dance at those sorts of occasions -- graduating, buying a house, whatever. Or I'll just randomly start dancing if a good song comes on the radio. Or, honestly, if I'm waiting around for something to finish cooking in the microwave. I dunno, just whenever. I don't look especially good doing it or anything. But who can just stand there if they're feeling excited, and especially if they're excited AND a good beat comes on?

[MaryMitch]

I did a little dance when I left the building after my last college exam. There were a lot of people dancing that day!

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, rue721 said:

IBR I do a little happy dance at those sorts of occasions -- graduating, buying a house, whatever. Or I'll just randomly start dancing if a good song comes on the radio. Or, honestly, if I'm waiting around for something to finish cooking in the microwave. I dunno, just whenever. I don't look especially good doing it or anything. But who can just stand there if they're feeling excited, and especially if they're excited AND a good beat comes on?

Same :D. Sometimes if I'm in a store and I hear a song I like there, it's all I can do to try and keep from doing more than simply tapping my foot or humming along :p. 

[Shannon L.]

I shared a meme on FB this weekend that said "People who hate musicals because 'no one in real life would break out singing and dancing' have obviously never been to my house  :)

Only on tv do people stand so close to each other to talk with the exception of needing to whisper or with the hopes of starting a romantic/sexual encounter.  I noticed this a few times over the last two weeks and it occurred to me that it happens all the time.  When the character is being serious or angry or humorous--whatever--their faces are always inches away from each other. 

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, Shannon L. said:

Only on tv do people stand so close to each other to talk with the exception of needing to whisper or with the hopes of starting a romantic/sexual encounter. 

Not true.  I work with a guy who is a Very Close Talker.  The only way I can keep him out of my face is if I'm sitting down, and even then he's right by my knees, as close as possible.  Not whispering, not interested physically, just a Close Talker.

[riley702]

Had a coworker with no concept of personal space. We're giving report around a table and he keeps hitching his chair closer and me edging further down the table. He was the only one who didn't notice - everyone else was snickering. When I got to the end of the table, I planted myself, pushed him away to the length of my arms, and told him, "This is my personal space - stay out!"

[auntlada]

1 hour ago, riley702 said:

Had a coworker with no concept of personal space. We're giving report around a table and he keeps hitching his chair closer and me edging further down the table. He was the only one who didn't notice - everyone else was snickering. When I got to the end of the table, I planted myself, pushed him away to the length of my arms, and told him, "This is my personal space - stay out!"

"This is my meeting space. That is your meeting space."

[ratgirlagogo]

6 hours ago, MaryPatShelby said:

On TV (mostly commercials, actually) people dance when something good happens all the time. They dance when they get their degree from a for-profit university, they dance when they get a mortgage, they dance when they move into their new house, they dance when their team scores, they dance when their kid eats a Hot Pocket (ok I made up that last one, but I wouldn't be surprised).  I have never seen people in real life dance as much, or at all, as people on TV.

An old friend of mine who had been a drug dealer back in the day used to say that he loved his business because he sold the only thing that really DID make people as rapturously, ecstatically happy as they always appeared to be in TV commercials.

Edited June 11, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[Nordly Beaumont]

6 hours ago, MaryPatShelby said:

On TV (mostly commercials, actually) people dance when something good happens all the time. They dance when they get their degree from a for-profit university, they dance when they get a mortgage, they dance when they move into their new house, they dance when their team scores, they dance when their kid eats a Hot Pocket (ok I made up that last one, but I wouldn't be surprised).  I have never seen people in real life dance as much, or at all, as people on TV.

Weight loss! Oh how they dance when they lose weight! But only women. I guess it's just not a danceable moment for men.

[Shannon L.]

Wow, I guess I got lucky.  I don't recall anyone in my life who had a habit of standing so close when they spoke to me.  I take it all back, then  :)

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Shannon L. said:

Wow, I guess I got lucky.  I don't recall anyone in my life who had a habit of standing so close when they spoke to me.  I take it all back, then  :)

A former coworker from an Eastern European country used to get very close to talk. I just accepted it as part of her culture, although it might be that within the country of her youth she was also considered a "close talker" (©Seinfeld).

For a bit more on cultural differences of personal space: https://www.interexchange.org/articles/career-training-usa/2013/05/06/proxemics-and-communication-styles/

But on TV there's the whole "blocking the shot" thing that probably creates a lot more close talking than IRL.

[Anela]

7 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Same :D. Sometimes if I'm in a store and I hear a song I like there, it's all I can do to try and keep from doing more than simply tapping my foot or humming along :p. 

I do this, too. I've learned to listen to something like Gilmore Girls on my phone (thanks, Netflix), when I'm grocery shopping - sometimes that's because I don't like whatever music they're playing, but the rest of the time, it's to stop me from starting to dance in an aisle, the way they do in the Full Monty, in line. 

7 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I shared a meme on FB this weekend that said "People who hate musicals because 'no one in real life would break out singing and dancing' have obviously never been to my house  :)

Only on tv do people stand so close to each other to talk with the exception of needing to whisper or with the hopes of starting a romantic/sexual encounter.  I noticed this a few times over the last two weeks and it occurred to me that it happens all the time.  When the character is being serious or angry or humorous--whatever--their faces are always inches away from each other. 

My mum hated musicals. I thought it was weird that everyone automatically knows what dance to do, as the music starts. 

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, Anela said:

I do this, too. I've learned to listen to something like Gilmore Girls on my phone (thanks, Netflix), when I'm grocery shopping - sometimes that's because I don't like whatever music they're playing, but the rest of the time, it's to stop me from starting to dance in an aisle, the way they do in the Full Monty, in line. 

LOL, good idea :D.

Quote

My mum hated musicals. I thought it was weird that everyone automatically knows what dance to do, as the music starts. 

There was an episode of "Rocko's Modern Life" where they did a musical once, and they had a running joke about Rocko not knowing the words to any of the songs 'cause he missed the rehearsals :p. 

[SVNBob]

7 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

There was an episode of "Rocko's Modern Life" where they did a musical once, and they had a running joke about Rocko not knowing the words to any of the songs 'cause he missed the rehearsals :p. 

[riley702]

I actually floved the Buffy musical episode.

[Browncoat]

10 hours ago, Anela said:

the way they do in the Full Monty, in line. 

That bit is one of the funniest scenes in that movie -- which I unabashedly love.  The twirl Gerald does really sells the scene.

[Joe]

One that can't happen in real life currently, is the child somehow being older than the parent. Fallout 4, the parent spends many years in cryo-stasis. Highlander, the parent is immortal, while his adopted daughter isn't. Marvel comics, the child is taken to the future, and only returns to the present when he's old and grizzled. Slightly touched upon in Shadowrun, where Bull's son will probably die of old age in his 40s.

[Katy M]

And in the same vein, children aging faster than they're supposed to.  And practically catching up to older siblings.  And, in some cases surpassing older cousins.  I'm talking about soap operas, of course.  I hate SORASing. I always have. I always will.  I'm lobbying to make it illegal.  Free speech be darned.

[kassygreene]

Does anyone beat the case of Alice Horton (Days Of Our Lives)?  The actress played the part for over forty years before retiring, but the character lived on until Francis Reid's death in 2010.  According to wiki, Alice had five children, ten grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and to date five great-great-grandchildren, at least two of whom are adults, one of them recently SORASed.

I've always wondered but never cared enough to research it: does any other soap character match that?  I mean, Alice's husband was born in 1910, she married him in 1930, had twins in 1931, one of whom was presumed killed in Korea in the Fifties.... And oh yeah, their wedding in 1930 was invalid, so they had another one....  

Why do I remember this crap??

[Katy M]

13 minutes ago, kassygreene said:

Does anyone beat the case of Alice Horton (Days Of Our Lives)?  The actress played the part for over forty years before retiring, but the character lived on until Francis Reid's death in 2010.  According to wiki, Alice had five children, ten grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and to date five great-great-grandchildren, at least two of whom are adults, one of them recently SORASed.

I've always wondered but never cared enough to research it: does any other soap character match that?  I mean, Alice's husband was born in 1910, she married him in 1930, had twins in 1931, one of whom was presumed killed in Korea in the Fifties.... And oh yeah, their wedding in 1930 was invalid, so they had another one....  

Why do I remember this crap??

Shawn and Caroline also have at least one great-great grand, I think.  Roman's their son, Sami granddaughter, will great grandon, Ariana great great granddaughter.  She's still little last I checked, but Caroline is still alive (last I checked, but it's been a while).

[kassygreene]

Yes, I take your point; the Bradys did a lot of SORAS.  But Alice Horton was born before World War I, and had I believe all of her kids before World War II.

Both families are equally freaky - two Romans vs the son who didn't die in Korea and came back with amnesia and fell in love with his little sister until they finally realized he was Tommy, and little sister went and became a nun, just as an example.

Edited June 13, 2018 by kassygreene

[andromeda331]

Was Alice's husband on Days of Our Lives the one who was a doctor and still a doctor when his great-great-grandson Scotty became a doctor and worked with him? 

[kassygreene]

39 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Was Alice's husband on Days of Our Lives the one who was a doctor and still a doctor when his great-great-grandson Scotty became a doctor and worked with him? 

Could be.  Tom Horton died in 1994 (when Macdonald Carey died), and Scotty Banning was born in 1977, so he could have SORASed his way through medical school.

More weird trivia I remember: Scotty's great-grandmother Addie was killed in a car crash three years (1974) before he was born, but shortly after she gave birth to Hope Williams, her daughter with Doug Williams, who two years later (1976) married Addie's elder daughter Julie, after she divorced Bob Anderson.  So, Scotty's grandmother (Julie) raised her little sister (Hope) with her former stepfather-turned-husband (Doug).  And Scotty's great-aunt (Hope) was only three years older than he was.

Could any other American soap have this kind of family history?  The Bradys try, I'll grant you, but they appeared fifteen years later, and have only had five generations on the show (so far), and the last of those contains only one kid (so far) who is still a little kid.

Sheesh, I don't even watch this show any more.

[MaryPatShelby]

I guess I have been proven wrong about spontaneous dancing in real life!!  I don't know the right people.....

[Raja]

Police surround a suspect all with their guns drawn and pointed at their fellow officers behind the suspect 

[Bastet]

Only on TV does everyone coming in from a run or other vigorous exercise look the same as they did when they left, except for some artful glistening on their face.  No one is red-faced with a frizzy hairline and sweaty pits.  (Unless they're fat, and thus the brunt of a joke.)

[Joe]

I saw two people carrying a pane of glass or maybe a mirror today. Hijinks didn't ensue. They didn't drop it. No one crashed into or through it. Nothing like that. I feel cheated.

[merylinkid]

1 hour ago, Joe said:

I saw two people carrying a pane of glass or maybe a mirror today. Hijinks didn't ensue. They didn't drop it. No one crashed into or through it. Nothing like that. I feel cheated.

As well you should.   The sole purpose of carrying a pane of glass on a public street in daytime is so hijinks can ensure.

[shapeshifter]

9 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

 

1 hour ago, Joe said:

I saw two people carrying a pane of glass or maybe a mirror today. Hijinks didn't ensue. They didn't drop it. No one crashed into or through it. Nothing like that. I feel cheated.

As well you should.   The sole purpose of carrying a pane of glass on a public street in daytime is so hijinks can ensure.

But, OTOH, if two people were pushing a cart of spherical objects, a fleeing suspect will run into them momentarily.

Edited June 22, 2018 by shapeshifter

[Raja]

Or at least I hope it is only true on TV and not in real life. In a if they told me they would have to kill me. The CBS and History Channel Naval Special Warfare Development Groups of SEAL TEAM and SIX.

 

One of our most elite and selective special forces have team leaders who take injured men and drug addicts into the field and the main mission mission seems to be to avenge a soldier who fell in the mission before.

[shapeshifter]

19 minutes ago, Raja said:

Or at least I hope it is only true on TV and not in real life. In a if they told me they would have to kill me. The CBS and History Channel Naval Special Warfare Development Groups of SEAL TEAM and SIX.

 

One of our most elite and selective special forces have team leaders who take injured men and drug addicts into the field and the main mission mission seems to be to avenge a soldier who fell in the mission before.

Seriously? I can only hope this was a cautionary tale about what lead to the My Lai Massacre:

Quote

…
The men of Charlie Company had suffered 28 casualties since their arrival. Just two days before the massacre the company had lost a popular sergeant to a land mine.[22]
…

[22] Cookman, Claude (2007). An American Atrocity: The My Lai Massacre Concretized in a Victim's Face. Oxford University Press.

[Mannahatta]

On 6/1/2018 at 9:20 AM, Shannon L. said:

That reminds me:  On tv, you always see people who hate camping, but no one ever hates the beach.  No one ever hates the sand, or the heat  or is afraid of the water.

And according to all TV meteorologists - temperatures reaching the 80s, or better yet the 90s, is a cause for great celebration. Weird that it can now happen any time during the year - even in northern climes? Not even worth mentioning. Let's all go to the beach!

[Lugal]

On 6/22/2018 at 1:34 AM, Joe said:

I saw two people carrying a pane of glass or maybe a mirror today. Hijinks didn't ensue. They didn't drop it. No one crashed into or through it. Nothing like that. I feel cheated.

To cheer you up, I once almost committed the ladder gag. I was at work years ago carrying a ladder and the boss pointed toward something he wanted done.  I turned my neck and shoulders to see and the end of the ladder kind of carried along.  It didn't hit him, but it did test his reflexes, he stopped it with his hand.  We chuckled about it.  OK, I thought it was funny.

[ChromaKelly]

On 6/12/2018 at 6:50 PM, Katy M said:

And in the same vein, children aging faster than they're supposed to.  And practically catching up to older siblings.  And, in some cases surpassing older cousins.  I'm talking about soap operas, of course.  I hate SORASing. I always have. I always will.  I'm lobbying to make it illegal.  Free speech be darned.

I don't mind a couple years, like skipping from toddler to preschooler, but the sending off to Swiss boarding school at age 7 and coming back a teenager next year got ridiculous. I used to watch Y&R and B&B. It was getting to the point of everyone having a teen/young adult that they must have had in their teens, then the sibling age gaps would close. Plus, they trying to age down the older generation, so you've got grandma still out there having pregnancy scares and whatnot, men dating women that two years ago were in grade school.

[Jacqs]

SORAS in sitcoms - i have a deep and abiding hatred for Andy Keaton and Chrissy Seaver.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

SORAS in sitcoms - i have a deep and abiding hatred for Andy Keaton and Chrissy Seaver.

Is that "You Can't Do that On Television" in your icon?  If so, you must be as old as I am.

[kassygreene]

(Still! on Days Of Our Lives, and I haven't watched it in years) Sami Brady had twins, I think, and the show SORASed only one of them.

The bestest way to watch a soap opera is through snarky, comprehensive, recaps.

[Moose135]

On 6/23/2018 at 12:29 PM, Lugal said:

To cheer you up, I once almost committed the ladder gag. I was at work years ago carrying a ladder and the boss pointed toward something he wanted done.  I turned my neck and shoulders to see and the end of the ladder kind of carried along.  It didn't hit him, but it did test his reflexes, he stopped it with his hand.

Years ago, the wife and I were at a car dealership - we had bought a car there, and had to go back to get a few minor things dealt with, but every time they took care of one thing, the screwed up something else.  We're waiting in the showroom, and a worker was trying to get out the glass doors carrying a large, aluminum extension ladder.  He was struggling with trying to open the door without poking it through the door or one of the large showroom windows.  If I wasn't so pissed off at the dealer, I would have offered to hold the door open for him.  Instead, we just stood off to the side and watched.  He got the door open and got the ladder out, but not before putting a one inch scratch in the hood of a car on the showroom floor.  He looked at me with wide eyes, I just shrugged and smiled.  He left without anyone else seeing what happened.

[HunterHunted]

5 hours ago, ChromaKelly said:

I don't mind a couple years, like skipping from toddler to preschooler, but the sending off to Swiss boarding school at age 7 and coming back a teenager next year got ridiculous. I used to watch Y&R and B&B. It was getting to the point of everyone having a teen/young adult that they must have had in their teens, then the sibling age gaps would close. Plus, they trying to age down the older generation, so you've got grandma still out there having pregnancy scares and whatnot, men dating women that two years ago were in grade school.

This reminds me of the mess All My Children got themselves into when they cast Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kendall Hart. Originally, Kendall was 16. Erica was 14 when she had her. Lucci insisted on playing 14 year old Erica for a flashback, but the details of Kendall's birth meant that Erica was 30. Susan Lucci was solidly in her 40s during this. Fans didn't love seeing a 40 year old pretending to be a 14 year old. Afterwards, Kendall and Erica were aged up 2 years.

[Jacqs]

5 hours ago, Katy M said:

Is that "You Can't Do that On Television" in your icon?  If so, you must be as old as I am.

Yeah my Icon is Ross from You Can't Do That on Television.

[Bort]

5 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

This reminds me of the mess All My Children got themselves into when they cast Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kendall Hart. Originally, Kendall was 16. Erica was 14 when she had her. Lucci insisted on playing 14 year old Erica for a flashback, but the details of Kendall's birth meant that Erica was 30. Susan Lucci was solidly in her 40s during this. Fans didn't love seeing a 40 year old pretending to be a 14 year old. Afterwards, Kendall and Erica were aged up 2 years.

It was even more than that. They aged Kendall up to 25, yet SMG was 16. Exactly backwards of how shows usually have a 25 year old playing a teenager. They probably would have recasted if SMG hadn't been so good in the role.

[HunterHunted]

8 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

It was even more than that. They aged Kendall up to 25, yet SMG was 16. Exactly backwards of how shows usually have a 25 year old playing a teenager. They probably would have recasted if SMG hadn't been so good in the role.

Yikes! I remember it being bad, but I didn't remember it being that bad. I do remember how awkward SMG looked in all of these very adult storylines they gave the now older Kendall. SMG was fantastic in the role.

[Jacqs]

5 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Yikes! I remember it being bad, but I didn't remember it being that bad. I do remember how awkward SMG looked in all of these very adult storylines they gave the now older Kendall. SMG was fantastic in the role.

There would have been legal limits on what kind of things you could depict with a under-18 actress, yes? Must have been some delicate dancing by the production team?

[HunterHunted]

19 minutes ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

There would have been legal limits on what kind of things you could depict with a under-18 actress, yes? Must have been some delicate dancing by the production team?

I think the answer to that is sort of no. Both Pretty Baby and Taxi Driver were made before the laws that were supposed to limit what you couldn't have minor actors depict. And technically I think SMG's run on AMC was before those laws and regulations passed. However AMC was a daytime soap on network tv, there was no way that the FCC would let them get away with anything too risque even with the adult cast. Since then I've still seen a ton of questionable stories for child actors like the 12 year old prostitute on Copper played by a 10 year old actress.

[Jacqs]

About SORAS, remember the old IMDb board for Step by Step had a poster write out a scene where Lily meets a pedo French hairdresser? SORAS can bring out deep hatred in some people. It's telling that Brian Bonsall has been wiped from all Family Ties reunions and interviews,

[Katy M]

47 minutes ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

About SORAS, remember the old IMDb board for Step by Step had a poster write out a scene where Lily meets a pedo French hairdresser? SORAS can bring out deep hatred in some people. It's telling that Brian Bonsall has been wiped from all Family Ties reunions and interviews,

I certainly don't have anything against the actors taking on the aged parts.  That's just silly.  And, I don't really mind baby to pre-school SORASing.  I actually thought Brian Bonsall was a cutie.  

[Maharincess]

At risk of sounding like an idiot, I have to ask, what the hell is a SORAS?  Google didn't help. 

[Moose135]

Soap opera rapid aging syndrome (SORAS) is the practice of accelerating the age of a television or film character in conflict with the timeline of a series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera_rapid_aging_syndrome