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

[Mabinogia]

45 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I also need time to emotionally prepare for things, and I hate surprises.

I am an emotional preparer too. Also, as an introvert, I need to have at least one weekend day that has no socialization. If I'm going to my mum's on Saturday, I need Sunday off. If I am going out with friends one of the days I need the other with no plans. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I like giving out the candy. Lately, they've been doing this trunk and treat garbage where they all go to some parking lot and everyone just goes car to car. I'm not buying a bunch of candy with no one coming. 

One year I ran out with 300 pieces, the next year less than 100. 

[methodwriter85]

I was watching the Lucy Show with my mother and saw the whole "let's send the grown character back to high school for an episode or two while they get a diploma" trope. You'd never actually see that, unless either 1.) you're sending someone to college or 2.) the character is under the age of 21. My high school allowed a guy who failed to graduate his senior year a few years back to come back and complete his degree, but that's only because his 21st birthday wasn't going to hit until a month after graduation. If he had been born in May instead of July, he would have had to go to night school to study for a GED.

 

[Bastet]

39 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I was watching the Lucy Show with my mother and saw the whole "let's send the grown character back to high school for an episode or two while they get a diploma" trope.

While I loved it, Schitt's Creek - which I recently binged in its entirety - required some suspension of disbelief.  One instance of which was Alexis, in her mid-to-late 20s (I don't remember exactly when in the show's timeline it happened, since I plowed through so quickly), literally going back to high school instead of getting her GED (or Canadian equivalent) as an alternative to the HS diploma she'd left behind long ago.

[andromeda331]

My dad and I have had to skip giving out candy on Halloween for health reasons. But we always feel bad about it. Its always so much fun seeing the kids in their costumes.   

[DoctorAtomic]

I would think the GED would be much more efficient than going back to HS and dealing with all that BS. 

6 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Its always so much fun seeing the kids in their costumes.

I enjoyed that. Or the little kids whose first time it is. It's fun to see your neighbors. I'm not a candy person either. The kids would go nuts because I always let them pick their own and they could take more than one. 

[Blergh]

8 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I was watching the Lucy Show with my mother and saw the whole "let's send the grown character back to high school for an episode or two while they get a diploma" trope. You'd never actually see that, unless either 1.) you're sending someone to college or 2.) the character is under the age of 21. My high school allowed a guy who failed to graduate his senior year a few years back to come back and complete his degree, but that's only because his 21st birthday wasn't going to hit until a month after graduation. If he had been born in May instead of July, he would have had to go to night school to study for a GED.

 

Ah, but let's not forget that just a few seasons earlier, Lucy Carmichael took her teen daughter and Viv to her college reunion (with the always charming Tina Cole playing a collegian tour guide)- and the running gag of Viv trying to get Lucy to fess up WHEN she'd graduated from college. IOW, no point in counting on The Lucy Show for any kind of realism! 

[methodwriter85]

2 hours ago, Blergh said:

Ah, but let's not forget that just a few seasons earlier, Lucy Carmichael took her teen daughter and Viv to her college reunion (with the always charming Tina Cole playing a collegian tour guide)- and the running gag of Viv trying to get Lucy to fess up WHEN she'd graduated from college. IOW, no point in counting on The Lucy Show for any kind of realism! 

Didn't the Little House in the Prairie do a high school reunion episode which made absolutely zero sense given the time period and their social class. High school wasn't even mandated until the 1930's.

[Zella]

13 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

Didn't the Little House in the Prairie do a high school reunion episode which made absolutely zero sense given the time period and their social class. High school wasn't even mandated until the 1930's.

I think they actually did more than one reunion episode, and yes, they didn't make any sense! 

[Katy M]

46 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

Didn't the Little House in the Prairie do a high school reunion episode which made absolutely zero sense given the time period and their social class. High school wasn't even mandated until the 1930's.

I misread that and thought you said high school reunions weren't mandated.  And I was like, they're mandated? Seriously?  LOL.  But, yeah, people back then did not have the wherewithal to travel for stupid crap like that.  They both grew up in rural areas right?  So, their graduating classes would have had 2 or 3 people, probably.  A Zoom reunion would make more sense in that case.  Don't worry. I'm just kidding.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 8/10/2021 at 1:44 PM, Katy M said:

So, their graduating classes would have had 2 or 3 people, probably.  

My dad's high school graduating class was like this. It was the senior class of the one-room  grade 1 to 12 schoolhouse in the county.  He was the the valedictorian (not a joke).

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

My dad's high school graduating class was like this. It was the senior class of the one-room  grade 1 to 12 schoolhouse in the county.  He was the the valedictorian (not a joke).

I went to college with a girl who bragged about being valedictorian and she had 4 people in her class.  Yes, she was smart, but come on.  Statistically speaking if you had removed a random 176 people from my graduating class, I would have been valedictorian, too.

Something else that only happens on tv. Something dramatic always happens at graduation. Graduation ceremonies are boring.  Nothing dramatic ever happens at them.

[DearEvette]

On 8/10/2021 at 3:14 AM, Bastet said:

While I loved it, Schitt's Creek - which I recently binged in its entirety - required some suspension of disbelief.  One instance of which was Alexis, in her mid-to-late 20s (I don't remember exactly when in the show's timeline it happened, since I plowed through so quickly), literally going back to high school instead of getting her GED (or Canadian equivalent) as an alternative to the HS diploma she'd left behind long ago.

I believe many states have actual laws that do not allow you to newly enroll in high school after you have become 21. 

And honestly, IRL unless you are an undercover cop who looks young for your age and can be used to Narc on those wily high school criminals... what over 21 year old would actually want to go back to high school?

[smittykins]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

I believe many states have actual laws that do not allow you to newly enroll in high school after you have become 21. 

There was a lady I knew from church who’d dropped out of school to marry.  Six kids and a divorce later, she returned to high school(actual high school, not a GED program)to finish her diploma; she would put her older kids on the bus in the morning, take her younger ones to the sitter, and go to school.  But I’m sure things are different now.

Edited August 12, 2021 by smittykins

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

And honestly, IRL unless you are an undercover cop who looks young for your age and can be used to Narc on those wily high school criminals... what over 21 year old would actually want to go back to high school?

I think I watch too many soap operas but maybe someone who was in a coma from 16 to 20.  I know this isn't the same thing, but when I was in college there was a woman who was in her 50s(?) maybe.  And she wanted the whole college experience.  So she lived in the dorm, pledged a sorority, entertained an inappropriately young man in her room almost every evening (no I don't exactly what went on in there, there's a perfectly good chance it was completely innocent).

[Bort]

Yeah, but that’s college. At least everybody there is over 18. Someone over 21 going to high school and matriculating with a bunch of 14-17 year olds is ooky.

I remember my high school having a few 19 year old seniors and thinking it was sad and creepy that it was taking them so long to graduate.

[DoctorAtomic]

And even going back to visit. You get till about 20 to go back to high school to visit. There are legitimately sometimes good teachers you'd like to go back to talk to about your first few years of college. After that, you're creepy. 

[Katy M]

23 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah, but that’s college. At least everybody there is over 18. Someone over 21 going to high school and matriculating with a bunch of 14-17 year olds is ooky.

I remember my high school having a few 19 year old seniors and thinking it was sad and creepy that it was taking them so long to graduate.

A 19 year old could literally have been someone who stayed back for a year in 1st grade.  I would hardly call that sad and creepy.

 

12 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

And even going back to visit. You get till about 20 to go back to high school to visit. There are legitimately sometimes good teachers you'd like to go back to talk to about your first few years of college. After that, you're creepy. 

I never had any desire to set foot in my high school while I was going there much less after I was done.  But, again, I don't necessarily think it's creepy if someone visits a teacher 5, 10, or even 20 years after graduation if the teacher is still there.  Or maybe you want to be a volunteer adult helper for some extracurricular activity that really helped you.  I mean by these standards, teachers would be creepy because they hang out at high schools all day.

[ABay]

16 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I never had any desire to set foot in my high school while I was going there much less after I was done. 

Amen.

[Bort]

32 minutes ago, Katy M said:

A 19 year old could literally have been someone who stayed back for a year in 1st grade.  I would hardly call that sad and creepy.

I know that and I knew that then, but 14 year old me still thought it was creepy.

[Zella]

6 hours ago, Katy M said:

I went to college with a girl who bragged about being valedictorian and she had 4 people in her class.  Yes, she was smart, but come on.  Statistically speaking if you had removed a random 176 people from my graduating class, I would have been valedictorian, too.

I was homeschooled through high school, so my graduating class was 2--me and my brother. We have joked for years that I was valedictorian and he was salutatorian but we were also both very close or at the bottom in the class rankings. LOL 

[GaT]

6 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I believe many states have actual laws that do not allow you to newly enroll in high school after you have become 21. 

And honestly, IRL unless you are an undercover cop who looks young for your age and can be used to Narc on those wily high school criminals... what over 21 year old would actually want to go back to high school?

At least the rest of the class would have somebody who can buy them beer!

[Danielg342]

On 6/18/2021 at 9:48 PM, Annber03 said:

And if the characters have a job that has weird hours, it makes their ability to look all perfectly dressed and alert all the more amusing. I'd watch "Criminal Minds" and they'd have a case that called them in at, like, two or three in the morning and yet nobody's falling asleep at the conference table, all the women's hair looks nicely styled and they're wearing makeup, there wasn't a time when someone came in still wearing part or all of their pajamas or a wrinkled outfit they'd conked out in at home earlier....

I don't remember which episode it was, but I do recall one episode where the team was called in late at night and Rossi came in with his tuxedo ruffled and his tie not on straight, causing Morgan to joke, "are you working on wife No. 4?"

I also recall in the S1 finale Elle was sent home because she was tired, but that was merely to set up the cliffhanger.

...but, yeah, there are several times (usually when there's a kidnapping) CM would have its agents working seemingly around the clock at times, coming in to work at weird hours and they're never worse for wear. I know Morgan used to almost always carry a Starbucks cup around with him, but I don't recall the other team members reaching for coffee- unless it's Reid where Morgan can make a joke about how much Reid likes his sugar.

Still, I don't think CM- and many other shows- are really that bad when it comes to the actors' lack of "daily functions" like eating or sleeping. Usually we can handwave that the characters do that off-screen, since each episode is only a snippet of their lives.

The one show where we can't is 24, which is where this really gets me. I mean, fine, Jack Bauer doesn't need to sleep...that's doable. You gotta ask, though, how he avoids needing go to the bathroom or eating any kind of meal. Adrenaline, maybe, but that only goes so far. Perhaps Jack does his business when other characters are on the screen, or his bowels and metabolism are just that good.

I don't know *shrugs*

[Haleth]

55 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

The one show where we can't is 24, which is where this really gets me. I mean, fine, Jack Bauer doesn't need to sleep...that's doable. You gotta ask, though, how he avoids needing go to the bathroom or eating any kind of meal. Adrenaline, maybe, but that only goes so far. Perhaps Jack does his business when other characters are on the screen, or his bowels and metabolism are just that good.

Hey, if he can literally die, be revived and still save the world mere hours later, he can go without eating or peeing all day.

[DrSpaceman73]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I don't remember which episode it was, but I do recall one episode where the team was called in late at night and Rossi came in with his tuxedo ruffled and his tie not on straight, causing Morgan to joke, "are you working on wife No. 4?"

I also recall in the S1 finale Elle was sent home because she was tired, but that was merely to set up the cliffhanger.

...but, yeah, there are several times (usually when there's a kidnapping) CM would have its agents working seemingly around the clock at times, coming in to work at weird hours and they're never worse for wear. I know Morgan used to almost always carry a Starbucks cup around with him, but I don't recall the other team members reaching for coffee- unless it's Reid where Morgan can make a joke about how much Reid likes his sugar.

Still, I don't think CM- and many other shows- are really that bad when it comes to the actors' lack of "daily functions" like eating or sleeping. Usually we can handwave that the characters do that off-screen, since each episode is only a snippet of their lives.

The one show where we can't is 24, which is where this really gets me. I mean, fine, Jack Bauer doesn't need to sleep...that's doable. You gotta ask, though, how he avoids needing go to the bathroom or eating any kind of meal. Adrenaline, maybe, but that only goes so far. Perhaps Jack does his business when other characters are on the screen, or his bowels and metabolism are just that good.

I don't know *shrugs*

I don't really need to see him using the bathroom or eating.   I just assume it happens and doesn't add to the show

Probably more annoying was the fact he could get anywhere in LA any time of day by car in like 20 minutes and way back 20 years or so ago never had any problems with cell phone or data signals, all of which had instant downloads 

'just send me the specs for the building.....ok, wait, only one bar, lost it.  Send it again.  Ok will have that in an hour.  I'll just sit here until then. Maybe I can get some lunch, pee.....'

 

.......' dang it lost it again...wait what type of file is that?  I have to upgrade my phone, download an app that's compatible, that will take another 15 minutes.....'

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by DrSpaceman73

[vibeology]

5 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

The one show where we can't is 24, which is where this really gets me. I mean, fine, Jack Bauer doesn't need to sleep...that's doable. You gotta ask, though, how he avoids needing go to the bathroom or eating any kind of meal. Adrenaline, maybe, but that only goes so far. Perhaps Jack does his business when other characters are on the screen, or his bowels and metabolism are just that good.

I always assumed that Jack peed when Kim was fighting off cougars or whatever dumb plot they gave poor Elisha Cuthbert. 

Also, if you barely eat and drink all day, you don't need to use the washroom too often.

[KittyMom4]

6 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

The one show where we can't is 24, which is where this really gets me. I mean, fine, Jack Bauer doesn't need to sleep...that's doable. You gotta ask, though, how he avoids needing go to the bathroom or eating any kind of meal. Adrenaline, maybe, but that only goes so far. Perhaps Jack does his business when other characters are on the screen, or his bowels and metabolism are just that good

I used to always wonder how bad he stunk! All that exertion, sweating, rolling in the dirt without a shower in 24 hours, that man had to have bad body odor and nasty breath!

 

On 8/10/2021 at 10:19 AM, andromeda331 said:

My dad and I have had to skip giving out candy on Halloween for health reasons. But we always feel bad about it. Its always so much fun seeing the kids in their costumes.   

I liked giving out candy to the little ones, always so cute!! Things have changed so much in recent years though that I don't have as much enthusiasm about Halloween. Between having to worry about allergies or having decorations that might scare or offend it just stresses me out. I just decorate for fall minus my witches and spiders and make sure the house is dark on the 31st so no one knocks on my door. 

[Danielg342]

17 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Probably more annoying was the fact he could get anywhere in LA any time of day by car in like 20 minutes and way back 20 years or so ago never had any problems with cell phone or data signals, all of which had instant downloads 

'just send me the specs for the building.....ok, wait, only one bar, lost it.  Send it again.  Ok will have that in an hour.  I'll just sit here until then. Maybe I can get some lunch, pee.....'

 

.......' dang it lost it again...wait what type of file is that?  I have to upgrade my phone, download an app that's compatible, that will take another 15 minutes.....'

Never thought of that, but that's true too. Even in a fantasy world where there's no traffic in LA it can take an hour to get to some places. Heck, in Toronto (where I live) it takes half an hour at least to get from one end of the city to the other (and that's without traffic).

As for the cell phone reception...I guess we could handwave that being in the CTU means he'd get an ultra-fast phone. Hollywood likes to think government agencies have better tech than they actually do.

Considering all this...it does make me wonder why 24 could never use Jack needing to make an hour long drive or having to wait on a download a plot point (unless they did and I didn't see those episodes). Waiting on something would have dramatic effect...heck, I've felt dramatic tension waiting on my own downloads, and none of those are (relatively speaking) as urgent as what Jack would receive.

[DrSpaceman73]

8 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Never thought of that, but that's true too. Even in a fantasy world where there's no traffic in LA it can take an hour to get to some places. Heck, in Toronto (where I live) it takes half an hour at least to get from one end of the city to the other (and that's without traffic).

As for the cell phone reception...I guess we could handwave that being in the CTU means he'd get an ultra-fast phone. Hollywood likes to think government agencies have better tech than they actually do.

Considering all this...it does make me wonder why 24 could never use Jack needing to make an hour long drive or having to wait on a download a plot point (unless they did and I didn't see those episodes). Waiting on something would have dramatic effect...heck, I've felt dramatic tension waiting on my own downloads, and none of those are (relatively speaking) as urgent as what Jack would receive.

I'm sure the government had better tech than us back then but there was still a technologic limit that existed.  And the show seemed way beyond the limit at the time.  It's hard to recall it was just 20 years ago but at the time cell phones were just......phones.   nothing else.  

Now as the show progressed I wasore realistic.  But not at the start.  

[Danielg342]

17 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I'm sure the government had better tech than us back then but there was still a technologic limit that existed.  And the show seemed way beyond the limit at the time.  It's hard to recall it was just 20 years ago but at the time cell phones were just......phones.   nothing else.  

Now as the show progressed I wasore realistic.  But not at the start.  

Oh no, I get that part- completely- but you know how lazy Hollywood writers get. They like using "it's top-secret government tech!" as an excuse for having things work just how the plot needs them to work.

[Zella]

I never can get into shows that just magically do all their investigative work with souped-up databases. More than anything, I find it boring as hell (in addition to unrealistic), and the CBS shows like Criminal Minds and the NCIS franchises were some of the worst for it. 

[theredhead77]

On 8/28/2021 at 2:32 AM, Danielg342 said:

Never thought of that, but that's true too. Even in a fantasy world where there's no traffic in LA it can take an hour to get to some places. Heck, in Toronto (where I live) it takes half an hour at least to get from one end of the city to the other (and that's without traffic).

As for the cell phone reception...I guess we could handwave that being in the CTU means he'd get an ultra-fast phone. Hollywood likes to think government agencies have better tech than they actually do.

Considering all this...it does make me wonder why 24 could never use Jack needing to make an hour long drive or having to wait on a download a plot point (unless they did and I didn't see those episodes). Waiting on something would have dramatic effect...heck, I've felt dramatic tension waiting on my own downloads, and none of those are (relatively speaking) as urgent as what Jack would receive.

For me, the most unbelievable part about 24 was being able to get from LA Harbor to Burbank in less than an hour, and the reliability of the Sprint network (that was sponsored). I lived in LA and Sprint SUCKED back then. I could hand wave away all the other stuff, but not those two things.

[Danielg342]

9 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

For me, the most unbelievable part about 24 was being able to get from LA Harbor to Burbank in less than an hour

Bing Maps tells me I can get from LA Harbor to Burbank in 41 minutes. Of course, I looked at 1AM local time, so that could be why.

9 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I lived in LA and Sprint SUCKED back then.

Not a happy customer, I assume. I guess the executives meddling with 24 weren't limited to the network execs- it was also the advertising ones doing it too.

16 hours ago, Zella said:

I never can get into shows that just magically do all their investigative work with souped-up databases. More than anything, I find it boring as hell (in addition to unrealistic), and the CBS shows like Criminal Minds and the NCIS franchises were some of the worst for it. 

I can't remember specific examples but I do agree those "magical databases" get quite comical. It's not like the shows leave it to looking up things that are actually in a database, like medical history, bank records or one's criminal past- we've got Penelope Garcia being able to find a man with crimson (not red!) hair who wears it in a ponytail, cuts his grass on the Wednesday the week of the murders, lives off the grid and sings E-Type's "Life" every morning in the shower!

I suppose, in theory at least, social media can expand what the police can find online about a suspect, since there are a lot of us who are literal open books on their social media accounts. This can only go so far though, and only applies to people with social media accounts- which isn't everyone.

[Haleth]

24 lost all credibility for me when they were talking something about the mountains of Iowa.  (I suppose cougars lived in those mountains too.)

[Annber03]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

24 lost all credibility for me when they were talking something about the mountains of Iowa. 

Ahahahaha, what? 

That's amazing. 

[smittykins]

18 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

and the reliability of the Sprint network (that was sponsored). I lived in LA and Sprint SUCKED back then.

Can confirm.  I briefly tried Boost Mobile, which used Sprint towers, and the reception sucked monkey balls.

[Ohiopirate02]

8 hours ago, Haleth said:

24 lost all credibility for me when they were talking something about the mountains of Iowa.  (I suppose cougars lived in those mountains too.)

That's right up there with Revolution on NBC.  I recall the show having a lighthouse on the Ohio River.  Incidentally, the Ohio River also had zero rocks.  There was zero attempt to make the coastal plain of NC look like Appalachia.

[Zella]

We joke about this a lot on the Little House thread, but I laugh my ass off every time the dry towering mountains of California Minnesota are shown. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Zella

[DoctorAtomic]

You all must remember the mountains of Miami on Dexter. At least on the reboot they'll be there for a reason.

[Bort]

Nothing beats the mountains of Smallville, Kansas.

[praeceptrix]

The current conversation is making me nostalgic for TWOP. We had a forum dedicated to TV geography. Many laughs and much gnashing of teeth in there.

[DoctorAtomic]

You could probably make the thread here then. 

[ratgirlagogo]

7 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Nothing beats the mountains of Smallville, Kansas.

Why, I never!  I mean,  they are the exact same mountains we all saw for twenty years in Dodge City, Kansas, on Gunsmoke.

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, Zella said:

We joke about this a lot on the Little House thread, but I laugh my ass off every time the dry towering mountains of California Minnesota are shown. 

Ha.  During the pandemic, when most soaps ran out of new episodes (except for the freaky Days of Our Live who had like 100 years of episodes banked up), they aired reruns.  One of the reruns for The Young & The Restless was the very first episode.  

In it, a truck driver drove through Wisconsin.  And I laughed when I saw the mountains in the background. 

[paulvdb]

It probably happens occasionally in real life, but not as often as on tv: the open mic. Characters don't realize the microphone is on and everybody hears their private conversation.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think it even happens that much. On the panels I've seen, the speakers turn them on to test and then the producer/tech tells them to turn it off because they're battery powered. On tv, they walk into the bathroom and everyone can hear them. There's no way a producer would let them walk out of the room with the equipment. 

[Bort]

40 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't think it even happens that much. On the panels I've seen, the speakers turn them on to test and then the producer/tech tells them to turn it off because they're battery powered. On tv, they walk into the bathroom and everyone can hear them. There's no way a producer would let them walk out of the room with the equipment. 

Too bad, because I’d love for it to really happen, it’d be hilarious. Like this:

 

[Shannon L.]

58 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Too bad, because I’d love for it to really happen, it’d be hilarious. Like this:

 

Ask and you shall receive!

Forward to the 40 second mark.

[Irlandesa]

6 hours ago, paulvdb said:

It probably happens occasionally in real life, but not as often as on tv: the open mic. Characters don't realize the microphone is on and everybody hears their private conversation.

I think it happens for a comment or two but rarely long conversations involving declarations of love.

But Durnst did kinda confess to murder in his.

[Zella]

And let's not forget when Frank Drebin derailed an important press conference with his open mic. ;)