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

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

Well, she didn't pay any rent but I agree about the closet space to stow it. 

OTOH, I liked how in Keeping Up Appearances both in their home and when they were attempting to travel to the QE II, Hyacinth's wardrobe was shown taking up a HUGE amount of space that poor Richard and everyone else had no choice but have to somehow contend with it. There ARE comic possibilities re having too many clothes and what it does to everyone else. 

In the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Midge uses what should be her bedroom as a closet for her wardrobe and she sleeps in what used to be the maid's room.  She would rather sleep on a twin bed in a tiny room than get rid of her extensive wardrobe.  I appreciate the show acknowledging that.

[Llywela]

On 5/2/2021 at 1:55 PM, Hiyo said:

Lived? Hell any place she just visited probably had bodies dropping.

Miss Marple had much the same effect. Murder, murder, everywhere she went!

[Lady Whistleup]

Doctor scrubs are always clean and neat and don't have any snot, blood, spit, or other bodily fluids splashed all over them.

[DrSpaceman73]

12 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

Haha sometimes more so when clubbing! If you're dressed in super skimpy clothes but just standing there, it's not as risky as when you're dancing. 

Back to topic, I always admire how perfect perfect homes are on TV. Even those of us who try to be clean and organized can have clutter now and then. On TV everything is beautiful unless a messy room is part of the storyline. 

Roseanne and the middle were both good about realistic messy houses,at least as far as tv goes  

 

The middle did a story where they went on vacation and a neighbor thought they'd been robbed and the house ransacked because the house was a mess.  

[Hiyo]

Characters carrying suitcases like they weigh nothing.

Yeah I get for filming they are probably empty but you’d think the directors would tell them to put in a tiny bit of effort and pretend they had some weight to them.

[WinnieWinkle]

2 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

Characters carrying suitcases like they weigh nothing.

 

I've noticed this with cups as well.  Especially the take out kind that have a lid.  There is a difference in how you hold something that is empty as opposed to something that has liquid in it.  You'd think they'd put some water in there at least but most of the time they don't seem to bother.

[praeceptrix]

1 minute ago, WinnieWinkle said:

I've noticed this with cups as well.  Especially the take out kind that have a lid.  There is a difference in how you hold something that is empty as opposed to something that has liquid in it.  You'd think they'd put some water in there at least but most of the time they don't seem to bother.

You beat me to it! I was just about to type out a rant on the topic of obviously empty cups! Drives me batty.

[RealHousewife]

6 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Roseanne and the middle were both good about realistic messy houses,at least as far as tv goes  

 

The middle did a story where they went on vacation and a neighbor thought they'd been robbed and the house ransacked because the house was a mess.  

I never watched Roseanne but have always heard it was more realistic. 

People hanging up the phone without saying goodbye. Isn't this rude in real life? 

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, Llywela said:

Miss Marple had much the same effect. Murder, murder, everywhere she went!

Who do you think taught Jessica Fletcher the serial killer ropes? 

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

The middle did a story where they went on vacation and a neighbor thought they'd been robbed and the house ransacked because the house was a mess.  

I loved that one, because I have a friend who's house is that messy. How she finds anything I will never know. 

As much as I do enjoy looking at the fancy, opulent home decor and clothes, I also appreciate shows like The Middle that are far more what I'm used to seeing in my and my friends lives. 

[WinnieWinkle]

2 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I also appreciate shows like The Middle that are far more what I'm used to seeing in my and my friends lives. 

For me the show Roseanne was the first time I saw a house on TV that looked like the house I grew up in.  We were  better off financially than the Connors but my parents were raising 4 kids on one income.  On Roseanne their furniture actually looked like furniture people used and they wore the same clothes and they ate the kind of food my family and the families I knew were eating.  

[Trini]

4 hours ago, praeceptrix said:

4 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

I've noticed this with cups as well.  Especially the take out kind that have a lid.  There is a difference in how you hold something that is empty as opposed to something that has liquid in it.  You'd think they'd put some water in there at least but most of the time they don't seem to bother.

You beat me to it! I was just about to type out a rant on the topic of obviously empty cups! Drives me batty.

I think I may have ranted about this (in this thread?) before.

I get that there are probably good reasons for the actors to not be carrying around cups of liquid, but there must be some way to weigh them down, because yes, empty cups are so obvious.

Edited May 4, 2021 by Trini
ugh dropped word!!

[Blergh]

4 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Characters carrying suitcases like they weigh nothing.

Yeah I get for filming they are probably empty but you’d think the directors would tell them to put in a tiny bit of effort and pretend they had some weight to them.

One thing I liked about the MTM classic episode "Support Your Local Mother", in addition to the main comedic plot of introducing and then having to deal with Rhoda's overwhelming but endearing mother Ida (Nancy Walker), one of the running gags had to do with the downright tiny Ida being able to easily carry this enormous suitcase that both her taller daughter Rhoda and the towering Mary barely were able to lift! Yeah, I know it HAD to be empty inside for all three performers to pull that off but at least each of the performers realistically reacted as to how their characters would have re that suitcase! 

[Moose135]

9 hours ago, Blergh said:

It was funny how, on Bonanza, Ben Cartwright was virtually the wealthiest landowner in Nevada whose ranch seemed to take up almost the entire Lake Tahoe area- yet he and his sons almost always wore the very same outfits day after day, week after week, year after year. 

Of course, the reason that was done was so they could shoot scenes out of order AND reuse stock footage without having to worry about  the clothes matching .

On Dragnet, they did the same. They could use footage of Sgt. Friday and Officer Gannon getting out of their car or walking down the hall of the station and not worry about matching other stuff already shot.

[Blergh]

12 hours ago, Moose135 said:

On Dragnet, they did the same. They could use footage of Sgt. Friday and Officer Gannon getting out of their car or walking down the hall of the station and not worry about matching other stuff already shot.

True. However, it's more believable that not only would these police detectives have not   had large  clothes budgets but also that Sgt. Friday in particular would have been too unimaginative to have considered wearing more than one or one kind of suit (and Officer Gannon likely had to use  a good part of his 'suit budget' for his wife's household expenses) than it was for Ben Cartwright - Virginia City's richest man to have not attempted to make use of the growing city's tailors for more than one outfit for himself and/or his sons. I can't imagine that those tailors wouldn't have begged for the Cartwrights'  patronage to enhance their reps among the upper crust.

Edited May 4, 2021 by Blergh

[Zella]

8 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

People hanging up the phone without saying goodbye. Isn't this rude in real life? 

I think it is extremely rude, but I am also from the South, where all goodbyes are extremely protracted and elaborately ritualized. LOL 

[Llywela]

9 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

People hanging up the phone without saying goodbye. Isn't this rude in real life? 

I had a colleague who used to do this - she was a receptionist, as well, you'd think she'd have picked up some basic telephone etiquette over the years! Lovely woman, but she would just hang up as soon as she'd said what she needed to say, and the person on the other end, cut off mid-sentence as often as not, would just be left going, "Oh. Well. Goodbye, then, I guess."

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Zella said:

I think it is extremely rude, but I am also from the South, where all goodbyes are extremely protracted and elaborately ritualized. LOL 

I'm also Southern born and bred and never end legit calls without a polite goodbye. However, my late father was from NYC, so I use that to give myself a dispensation when hanging up on telemarketers and robocalls! 

[Zella]

3 minutes ago, Blergh said:

I'm also Southern born and bred and never end legit calls without a polite goodbye. However, my late father was from NYC, so I use that to give myself a dispensation when hanging up on telemarketers and robocalls! 

This is . . . questionable in the etiquette department, but my brother quacks at them like Donald Duck--he does a killer Donald Duck imitation--and since I can't compete with that, I just don't answer for numbers I don't know. 🤣🤣🤣

[KWalkerInc]

18 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

While I love Fran Fine's fashion, there is no way that she could afford her wardrobe on her nanny salary. 

But it was all on sale at Loehmann's!  (At least that was their excuse.)  😄

[FormerMod-a1]

And her cousin Toddy ("hot" at the time, fashion designer Told Oldham).

[janie jones]

21 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

I've noticed this with cups as well.  Especially the take out kind that have a lid.  There is a difference in how you hold something that is empty as opposed to something that has liquid in it.  You'd think they'd put some water in there at least but most of the time they don't seem to bother.

My eye is always drawn to cups for this reason. I want to see how bad they are at holding the cups. They'll often do things like put the spout of the creamer container deep into the cup so you can't see there's nothing in there, but every so often they'll hold it at a normal height and you can see that they're just miming adding sugar to their coffee.

I think I've mentioned it in here before, but I don't blame them for leaving out the back and forth that usually takes place to wind down a phone conversation. But the character could at least say "Okay thanks." It literally takes less than a second of screen time.

[ABay]

I was just watching a show where it looked like there might actually have been something in the cups, or at least the actor was better than most as holding it as if it was. There should be an award for things like this.

[DoctorAtomic]

There should totally be fake awards for all this stuff. 

[Lugal]

Yeah, a lot of the time the cups look empty, but ever notice how TV characters can always carry multiple plates and/or cups at a time?  I guess that the actors probably waited a lot of tables between gigs before they hit it big.

[Mittengirl]

On 5/3/2021 at 8:45 PM, Trini said:

there must be some way to weigh them down, because yes, empty cups are so obvious.

Jello.  It would approximate the weight but would not spill or slop.

[Hiyo]

And a ready made snack for when they're done filming! And for those not into jello, use custard or pudding.

 

[janie jones]

21 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Jello.  It would approximate the weight but would not spill or slop.

Don't you want something that spills or slops, though? Because otherwise people are still going to gesticulate wildly with what's supposed to be a cup of hot coffee.

[Shelbie]

Equally irritating to me as the empty cup is when actors hold the bottom of coffee pots while they’re talking in a scene. These pots are supposed to be filled with very hot liquids and it makes it so obvious that they aren’t.

[Madding crowd]

On 5/3/2021 at 10:15 AM, WinnieWinkle said:

It's like Hallmark Christmas movies where the heroine travels somewhere with one small suitcase that magically contains at least 5  winter coats and a ball  gown!

This reminds of the Bachelor shows. They always show the contestants with one suitcase yet they bring 8 ball gowns, 10 cocktail dresses, numerous bikinis and cover ups, winter coats and boots, shorts and tee shirts and more. 

[Hiyo]

They probably buy their suitcases from the Mary Poppins Luggage collection.

[Leeds]

 

On 5/3/2021 at 1:19 PM, RealHousewife said:

 

People hanging up the phone without saying goodbye. Isn't this rude in real life? 

 

Yes it is, and would you please let my sister-in-law know?  (Also, that she shouldn't eat while she's on the phone or talk with her mouth full at the dinner table.  Is there a thread for irritating in-law traits?)

[praeceptrix]

2 hours ago, Leeds said:

Is there a thread for irritating in-law traits?

Probably. Check out the threads in the Everything Else section. I remember checking out that section way back when TWoP died and I found this site. I kinda forgot about it until the Royals topic got moved there, but have only looked at a few of the threads.

[Ambrosefolly]

Bumping into things if you aren't wearing glasses, even if you are in your own home. I walk around my home in the morning without glasses all the time and I have very poor eyesight. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Ambrosefolly

[WinnieWinkle]

1 hour ago, Ambrosefolly said:

Bumping into things if you aren't wearing glasses, even if you are in your own home. I walk around my home in the morning without glasses all the time and I have very poor eyesight. 

Or on sitcoms acting like you're somehow completely blind if for some reason you have to have a bandage over one eye!  The amount of times I've seen people missing chairs, pouring milk next to the glass, walking into a door etc it's just silly.  No denying it can be a little disorienting at first but if you still have one fully functioning eye you are not blind.

[dalek]

2 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

Bumping into things if you aren't wearing glasses, even if you are in your own home. I walk around my home in the morning without glasses all the time and I have very poor eyesight. 

Or when you have your eyes dilated so the eye doctor can photograph the back of your eyeball.  The first time I had my eyes dilated, the flash was so bright I couldn't see color for around 20 minutes and the dilation meant I couldn't focus well enough to read for a couple hours until it wore off, but I certainly wasn't tripping over furniture in the doctors office and I managed to navigate my way back to the office on the subway just fine.  

[Shannon L.]

You can fling yourself or someone else over a railing a couple of stories or more off the ground, holding onto a rope or hose (or tied by the wrists) and not dislocate a shoulder when you hit the bottom.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Shannon L.

[Lugal]

4 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Or on sitcoms acting like you're somehow completely blind if for some reason you have to have a bandage over one eye!  The amount of times I've seen people missing chairs, pouring milk next to the glass, walking into a door etc it's just silly.  No denying it can be a little disorienting at first but if you still have one fully functioning eye you are not blind.

Speaking as someone with visual problems, I can speak from experience that lack of depth perception can make it more difficult to catch a ball (school phys. ed. was hell) it can actually be an advantage in other ways (photography for example).  Like on Elementary where they proved that one guy could not have been the shooter because he was blind in one eye.  If anything it would have made him a better shooter (but there was also the time Elementary confused cyanoacrylate glue with resin glues).

[kiddo82]

6 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

Bumping into things if you aren't wearing glasses, even if you are in your own home. I walk around my home in the morning without glasses all the time and I have very poor eyesight. 

As someone with a decent case of myopia I don't bump into walls either, BUT, if I take my contacts out and don't remember where I left my glasses, it is an adventure trying to find them.  There's only so many places I would have left them but I can't just stand in the center of the room and spot them.  I have to physically go over to the coffee table or the end table, etc., and look.  I have literally used my prescription sunglasses indoors (I always keep them in the same spot because I barely use them) to help me find my glasses.

I feel like this trope works on the Simpsons with Milhouse because they are making fun of it.

[RealHousewife]

7 minutes ago, kiddo82 said:

As someone with a decent case of myopia I don't bump into walls either, BUT, if I take my contacts out and don't remember where I left my glasses, it is an adventure trying to find them.  There's only so many places I would have left them but I can't just stand in the center of the room and spot them.  I have to physically go over to the coffee table or the end table, etc., and look.  I have literally used my prescription sunglasses indoors (I always keep them in the same spot because I barely use them) to help me find my glasses.

I feel like this trope works on the Simpsons with Milhouse because they are making fun of it.

This is me too. No, I'm not sitcom style blind without contacts or glasses, but it is legitimately tricky to find things without them. Very frustrating when you have such poor eyesight and can't find your glasses.  

[Stats Queen]

14 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

This is me too. No, I'm not sitcom style blind without contacts or glasses, but it is legitimately tricky to find things without them. Very frustrating when you have such poor eyesight and can't find your glasses.  

I have a hard time finding my glasses if they are not on my face.

[Zella]

46 minutes ago, kiddo82 said:

As someone with a decent case of myopia I don't bump into walls either, BUT, if I take my contacts out and don't remember where I left my glasses, it is an adventure trying to find them.  There's only so many places I would have left them but I can't just stand in the center of the room and spot them.  I have to physically go over to the coffee table or the end table, etc., and look.  I have literally used my prescription sunglasses indoors (I always keep them in the same spot because I barely use them) to help me find my glasses.

I feel like this trope works on the Simpsons with Milhouse because they are making fun of it.

Same! I've accidentally knocked my glasses off my nightstand, and trying to find them is like a freaking epic poem. I have to feel around for them and hope I don't step on them. 

I have also had to call my brother to help me fix my glasses after a lens popped out because I couldn't see well enough without them to do it myself. In the middle of fhat, I had the dawning realization that if my glasses were broken, I couldn't drive myself somewhere to get them fixed. I keep old glasses with outdated prescriptions as emergency spares now because of it. 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Zella

[Cotypubby]

5 hours ago, Lugal said:

Like on Elementary where they proved that one guy could not have been the shooter because he was blind in one eye.  If anything it would have made him a better shooter

Like the character of Richard Harrow on Boardwalk Empire, a sniper with only one eye.

[Hiyo]

But I am sure all of you are just so much more attractive without your glasses, especially the women who let their hair down at the same time, right?

[RealHousewife]

9 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

But I am sure all of you are just so much more attractive without your glasses, especially the women who let their hair down at the same time, right?

How did you know? 

[Bort]

7 hours ago, Hiyo said:

But I am sure all of you are just so much more attractive without your glasses, especially the women who let their hair down at the same time, right?

And since I got lasik and don’t wear glasses at all anymore, I’m more attractive all the time!

[Shelbie]

And when you all let your down I’m sure it looks picture perfect and ready for a magazine shoot. It never looks weird or has sections that are flat to your head and random chunks sticking up at an odd angle.

[Hiyo]

Quote

And since I got lasik and don’t wear glasses at all anymore, I’m more attractive all the time!

How long did it take all your male friends to recognize it was you the first time they saw you after the procedure? I'll bet most of them probably thought they were meeting you for the first time.

[Lugal]

10 hours ago, Hiyo said:

But I am sure all of you are just so much more attractive without your glasses, especially the women who let their hair down at the same time, right?

Actually, friends tell me I look strange without them because they're so used to seeing me with them.

[Katy M]

11 hours ago, Hiyo said:

But I am sure all of you are just so much more attractive without your glasses, especially the women who let their hair down at the same time, right?

I have no idea. I can't see myself without my glasses on.  I'm sure I'm equally ugly either way.  

[Zella]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

I have no idea. I can't see myself without my glasses on.  I'm sure I'm equally ugly either way.  

Same! I can't even select new frames without help because I can't see what I look like without my glasses. Selfies I've taken without glasses to show off a new haircut are also out of focus and blurry as hell. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

14 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Like the character of Richard Harrow on Boardwalk Empire, a sniper with only one eye.

Because of that show, when I see Jack Huston with his face intact and not obscured by an eerie old-timey mask, I get confused because he just looks weird to me, though he's not a bad-looking guy at all.