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

[Laura Holt]

Another faux school related thing on TV, usually sitcoms, is how the kids who goofed off for 4 years suddenly buckle down at the last minute and ace their SATS and get into university.   I know kids who realized in their senior year that they should have taken their education more seriously but they certainly weren't able to undo 4 years of neglect with an 11th hour successful Hail Mary pass!

[Notabug]

7 hours ago, paulvdb said:

I'm not an American, but do kids really not graduate from high school if they forgot to return a book to the school library? And another high school graduation related thing: people finding out that they never graduated high school many years ago because they failed one assignment. And now having to do the assignment so that they can pass that subject and get their high school diploma.

As others have said, a student can be excluded from the formal graduation ceremony and the school can refuse to provide transcripts to them if they owe money for something like lost library books or a lab fee. However, once all the academic requirements have been met, the student is considered a graduate whether they attend the ceremonies or not.  

Once you're a graduate, you're a graduate.  If some requirement wasn't met, it doesn't matter once the degree has been awarded.  My high school, and probably most others, kept close track of this and all potential graduating students meet with a counselor to be sure they're on track early in their senior year so accommodation can be made, if needed.  No one has to return years later to make classes up.  The only time there might be a problem is if it later is revealed that the graduate somehow cheated in some classes.

 I started at one high school, we moved in the middle of my sophomore year and I finished at a different school.  During my freshman year at the first school, we had health classes but no phys ed due to structural issues with the gym as a new one was being built.  There was undoubtedly some plan in place of us to make up the class later.  However, after I moved to the new school and took phys ed as required for my grade level, it never occurred to me that I was lacking credits.  Early in my senior year, I met with a guidance counselor who saw the problem.  I was able to submit a letter from a Red Cross swim instructor whose class I'd taken over one summer and that was considered sufficient and I was given credit so I didn't have to figure out a way to add gym to my already full schedule.

[Zella]

Most of the real-life horror stories I know that involve credits being missed and causing snarls in one's senior year involve college rather than high school and almost always is due to indifferent or incompetent academic advisers.

I knew what was needed to graduate from my undergraduate college better than some of the advisers--because like a totally normal, well-adjusted person, I would obsessively write out the requirements instead of taking notes during lectures when I hated a class. LOLOL Some of my friends had really rude awakenings about those requirements that would have been avoided if their adviser gave a shit. 

[JustHereForFood]

Speaking of things revealed years later, can anyone in real life only learn that their divorce has not been finalized and they are officially still married years later when they are planning another wedding? I hope not.

[AstridM]

17 minutes ago, Zella said:

Most of the real-life horror stories I know that involve credits being missed and causing snarls in one's senior year involve college rather than high school and almost always is due to indifferent or incompetent academic advisers.

I knew what was needed to graduate from my undergraduate college better than some of the advisers--because like a totally normal, well-adjusted person, I would obsessively write out the requirements instead of taking notes during lectures when I hated a class. LOLOL Some of my friends had really rude awakenings about those requirements that would have been avoided if their adviser gave a shit. 

I also had to take one summer school course to complete my BA degree, the summer after my graduation ceremony, because my advisor didn’t tell me until my last semester that I still needed one science course (I thought another course I had taken had met that requirement, but it didn’t!) I was allowed to graduate with the rest of my class in May, but they didn’t mail me my diploma until after I finished the summer course. 

[Katy M]

28 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

Speaking of things revealed years later, can anyone in real life only learn that their divorce has not been finalized and they are officially still married years later when they are planning another wedding? I hope not.

My sister's first husband thought his divorce was finalized and had to scramble in the days leading up to their wedding to get it through. I don't think it was "years" later, though.

[Notabug]

28 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

Speaking of things revealed years later, can anyone in real life only learn that their divorce has not been finalized and they are officially still married years later when they are planning another wedding? I hope not.

Only if they were dumb enough not to use an attorney and didn't bother to follow the court proceedings to conclusion.  I would think most people would realize that there is some official paperwork that needs to be in place when a divorce is finalized and would make sure they got a copy.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Speaking of things revealed years later, can anyone in real life only learn that their divorce has not been finalized and they are officially still married years later when they are planning another wedding? I hope not.

In the 80s the Philippines changed how they handled unmarried fathers on their birth certificates. However they still put the red stamp of shame ILLEGITIMATE on the certificates so folks gamed the system to get certificates without stamp so many  50 to 60s year old Filipinos found out years later when trying to marry that they were already legally married.

[SoMuchTV]

3 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Speaking of things revealed years later, can anyone in real life only learn that their divorce has not been finalized and they are officially still married years later when they are planning another wedding? I hope not.

I think (in my vast tv- and movie-viewing experience) I've seen more cases where the long-time couple find out they weren't legally married and have to rethink everything! And hilarity ensues!

[Haleth]

16 hours ago, AstridM said:

I also had to take one summer school course to complete my BA degree, the summer after my graduation ceremony, because my advisor didn’t tell me until my last semester that I still needed one science course (I thought another course I had taken had met that requirement, but it didn’t!) I was allowed to graduate with the rest of my class in May, but they didn’t mail me my diploma until after I finished the summer course. 

My daughter was in this situation.  I'm not sure she ever took the class after graduating and I don't want to ask her.  She's done fine in her career in any case.

[Blergh]

Oddly enough Bob Hope (1903-2003), Porter Wagoner (1927-2008) each had had early 1st marriages that they had kept secret from the public then would have lengthy marriages to their 2nd wives. Yet in both cases, their official biographers disclosed that it was possible the 2nd marriages hadn't been valid. In Mr. Hope's case, he didn't divorce his 1st wife until many months after he supposedly married Dolores Reade (1909-2011)and the biographer found no actual marriage license issued for Bob and Dolores. Somehow they were able to adopt four children without the authorities not having had proof that they were actually married to each other.

In Mr. Wagoner's case, he and his first wife had wed as teens then separated within a year and both went on to marry (and have offspring )with other folks- yet as per Mr. Wagoner's official biographer NO divorce decree seemed to have been ever filed by either party. And oddly enough, Mr. Wagoner was separated from his 2nd wife for about twenty years before they finally agreed to a divorce and an alimony agreement- yet Mr. Wagoner didn't seem to consider that he could have just proven that he was still married to his long ago teen bride to have had the 2nd union annulled.

Of course both Mr. Hope and Mr. Wagoner were notorious adulterers to their alleged spouses.

Point being that truth's often stranger than what any TV show can concoct!

[proserpina65]

23 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

My most common recurring dream is I'm back in high school don't know my schedule and can't make it to any of my classes. 

Or the test is now and I haven't studied or done any assignments for months.

20 hours ago, Notabug said:

Only if they were dumb enough not to use an attorney and didn't bother to follow the court proceedings to conclusion.  I would think most people would realize that there is some official paperwork that needs to be in place when a divorce is finalized and would make sure they got a copy.

I work in a courthouse and occasionally sit in on hearings.  You'd be surprised how many pro se parties do not realize that their divorce is not final until they get the official order.  Hell, half these people don't realize they have to file an answer to a divorce petition even if they aren't opposed.  So while it's stretching it for someone not to know for years, I guess, this is actually something on tv which is not out of the realm of possibility in real life.

[DoctorAtomic]

The only good thing to come out of summer school was the brilliant 80s movie.

[Constant Viewer]

On 10/30/2023 at 1:47 PM, JustHereForFood said:

Speaking of things revealed years later, can anyone in real life only learn that their divorce has not been finalized and they are officially still married years later when they are planning another wedding? I hope not.

Rachel Jackson? She heard her first husband was filing for divorce so married Andrew. Turns out her first husband never actually filed for divorce so she was accused of bigamy. She did divorce the first husband and remarried Andrew. The story came out later when he was running for president.

 

 

[Mrsmaul2021]

On 10/23/2023 at 10:01 AM, Notabug said:

On the same note, every single character's home, no matter how humble, looks like Santa's elves vomited $10grand in Christmas decorations all over it.  Even the kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms are crammed with Christmas crapola.  Nobody goes the minimalist route.

Also, every single town has a massive Christmas festival lasting for days in which all the citizens come out to participate.  And, the crowning event of said festival is that everyone, having nothing better to do, turns out on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day for the grand finale.

 

 

 

I read this comment last week but I watched a Christmas episode of Family Matters and it seemed every inch of their home had Christmas decorations. They even had special Christmas curtains in the living room and kitchen. Red bows everywhere, streams and tinsel up and down the walls.  I'm sure they had special Christmas lamp shades. In the kitchen they are baking these elaborate gingerbread houses and cookies.  Who has that kind of time?? 

[andromeda331]

On 10/31/2023 at 9:50 PM, Constant Viewer said:

Rachel Jackson? She heard her first husband was filing for divorce so married Andrew. Turns out her first husband never actually filed for divorce so she was accused of bigamy. She did divorce the first husband and remarried Andrew. The story came out later when he was running for president.

My great-grandparents got married twice. My great-grandmother filed for divorce before moved to another state. She met and married my great-grandfather, after their wedding they found out the place she filed the divorce burned down. They weren't sure if that meant their marriage was legal or not since the proof of the divorce was gone.

[Ohiopirate02]

On 11/4/2023 at 1:57 AM, andromeda331 said:

My great-grandparents got married twice. My great-grandmother filed for divorce before moved to another state. She met and married my great-grandfather, after their wedding they found out the place she filed the divorce burned down. They weren't sure if that meant their marriage was legal or not since the proof of the divorce was gone.

I laugh, but am not surprised by that.  So many counties across the US did the absolute least when it comes to keeping records.  From fires to floods to just not giving a shit, there are a lot of lost marriage licenses, divorce decrees, and birth certificates.  

[Laura Holt]

I notice this on sitcoms all the time - when they want to show a woman has given up they always show her at home in sweat pants or a bathrobe as if this just shows us how low she has gone.  Because no normal woman goes around her own home in comfy clothes unless life has done her wrong.

[KittyMom4]

On 10/23/2023 at 2:36 PM, Laura Holt said:

My favourite "faux" thing is when the big city gal is in advertising and is tasked with coming up with a big Christmas campaign that is supposedly going to launch at Christmas - and for reasons of the plot has to juggle doing this while going home to help Aunt/Mother/Grandma run the Christmas cookie drive/win a Christmas contest of some kind/save the family business.

Where I work (retail) our campaigns are all finished by June of that year, if we waited until December we'd be out of business.

 

On 10/30/2023 at 6:34 AM, paulvdb said:

I'm not an American, but do kids really not graduate from high school if they forgot to return a book to the school library?

My youngest was almost denied a HS diploma because she skipped too many gym classes her senior year. I had a meeting with the AD and we worked it out but jeez-louise, seriously? 

[DrSpaceman73]

On 10/23/2023 at 1:57 PM, Ohiopirate02 said:

This is why all those "single big city girls who go home for the holidays for the first time in a decade" all work in publishing.  

And they all want to open a small town bakery or knick knack shop. Which would fail in like a month in real life from lack of customers. 

[Ohiopirate02]

30 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

And they all want to open a small town bakery or knick knack shop. Which would fail in like a month in real life from lack of customers. 

I do love a TV bakery.  No one works baker's hours, they work banker's hours and can pop out for a quick cup of coffee or lunch or whatever other shenanigans the writers come up with.  No cute single baker is covered in flour and dough, if they are female they always sport a perfect manicure. There's no morning rush of disgruntled customers impatiently waiting for their breakfast/donuts for the office.  

[JustHereForFood]

People who work in restaurants or bars on TV have some special schedules too. I am still amazed how many evenings could Monica from Friends hang out with everyone else.

[andromeda331]

Toy Stores, Stores and Bakeries in Christmas shows never have the holiday rush that real stores have. The owner can chat with one customer and leave when ever she wants. There would be a line of people outside her store waiting for her to open. Employees should be exhausted, frazzled and praying for it to be over as they run around trying to help customers and check them out.

I watched an old 911 Christmas episode where an employee of a warehouse/catalog company managed to fall into a box and get ship. That would never happen he'd be to big and too heavy for the convayor belts. It would have jammed somewhere. The one I worked at had some boxes that were too big for convayor belts and they'd be put on a cart and taken to shipping. Clearly none of them worked in a warehouse/catalog company before because no one was rushing around, there weren't thousands of boxes on the belt, it wasn't stopping every five minutes because it was jammed, no one looked exhausted because your working fourteen to sixteen hour days for the past month. It looked like a normal day not days before Christmas. 

[Raja]

7 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

And they all want to open a small town bakery or knick knack shop. Which would fail in like a month in real life from lack of customers. 

I think you're wrong as the entire community will support her until that single guy everybody  in the town wants to see married off finally kisses her. 

[DrSpaceman73]

8 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I do love a TV bakery.  No one works baker's hours, they work banker's hours and can pop out for a quick cup of coffee or lunch or whatever other shenanigans the writers come up with.  No cute single baker is covered in flour and dough, if they are female they always sport a perfect manicure. There's no morning rush of disgruntled customers impatiently waiting for their breakfast/donuts for the office.  

Well they might playfully get some flour all in their face and hair to show how adorably clumsy they are. 

[Shannon L.]

Apparently, people with OCD will start kidnapping and/or killing people if they stop taking their medication. This is why I set my alarm daily to remind myself to not miss a dose.

[DrSpaceman73]

5 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Apparently, people with OCD will start kidnapping and/or killing people if they stop taking their medication. This is why I set my alarm daily to remind myself to not miss a dose.

We thank you for your diligence. 

[proserpina65]

On 11/3/2023 at 5:20 PM, Mrsmaul2021 said:

 

 

 

I read this comment last week but I watched a Christmas episode of Family Matters and it seemed every inch of their home had Christmas decorations. They even had special Christmas curtains in the living room and kitchen. Red bows everywhere, streams and tinsel up and down the walls.  I'm sure they had special Christmas lamp shades. In the kitchen they are baking these elaborate gingerbread houses and cookies.  Who has that kind of time?? 

My mother, after she retired.  Not this year, though.  I'd say thank goodness, but since it's because of her declining health, not really.

On 11/6/2023 at 11:01 PM, Laura Holt said:

I notice this on sitcoms all the time - when they want to show a woman has given up they always show her at home in sweat pants or a bathrobe as if this just shows us how low she has gone.  Because no normal woman goes around her own home in comfy clothes unless life has done her wrong.

Hell, this is pretty much my weekend wardrobe and what I wear on work-from-home days.

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by proserpina65

[SoMuchTV]

Birthday parties for adults. Not just for “milestone” years. If you’re being honored at a birthday party (surprise or otherwise) by 20 or 30 of your closest friends, doesn’t that imply that you’re going to two or three parties a month for everyone else in that friend group? Who has time for that? Or are you just that special?

[Kel Varnsen]

One thing I have noticed recently is how readily available private jets are for tv people. I was watching Watchmen on DVD last week and 2 FBI agents were flying from Washington to Oklahoma and they were on a US government private jet. I get that from a production standpoint it's probably cheaper since your set can be smaller and you don't need extras. And you can be all dramatic and have face to face conversations. But at the same time is there any reason these people wouldn't fly commercial? I have a family member who used to work for the premier of a Canadian province (basically the equivalent of a governor) and when they were travelling with the premier they almost always flew commercial. The only time they were allowed to take a private plane if the group travelling with the premier was big enough where they coul make a business case that it was more effective to charter one than to book a bunch of full fare refundable business class tickets. And yet I see it on tv all the time, and other than maybe on Succession it doesn't really make sense.

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

One thing I have noticed recently is how readily available private jets are for tv people. I was watching Watchmen on DVD last week and 2 FBI agents were flying from Washington to Oklahoma and they were on a US government private jet. I get that from a production standpoint it's probably cheaper since your set can be smaller and you don't need extras. And you can be all dramatic and have face to face conversations. But at the same time is there any reason these people wouldn't fly commercial? I have a family member who used to work for the premier of a Canadian province (basically the equivalent of a governor) and when they were travelling with the premier they almost always flew commercial. The only time they were allowed to take a private plane if the group travelling with the premier was big enough where they coul make a business case that it was more effective to charter one than to book a bunch of full fare refundable business class tickets. And yet I see it on tv all the time, and other than maybe on Succession it doesn't really make sense.

I don't remember the private jet being a thing before Criminal Minds and then the jet became a mobile command post as the team did the preliminary work on the flight instead of getting sleep time in. Two scenes for the time cost of one. Showing the boring flight time instead of picking up the story at the scene is just there to show us how special and needed by the local investigators the teams on our shows really are.

[DoctorAtomic]

You seem to be implying that you *don't* have private jet access? 

Seriously though, I was on a commercial flight with Senator Hatch. Not with; he was seated across the aisle. 

If I had access to private flying, I'd do it in a second. I saw an interview with Mark Cuban, who has one, but rents it out when he doesn't need it. He also said, you don't just go and hop on the plane either. You have to plan ahead. I would think the jet needs to be inspected, etc., and you can't just take off. You have to get in line with everyone else. 

[Kel Varnsen]

31 minutes ago, Raja said:

I don't remember the private jet being a thing before Criminal Minds and then the jet became a mobile command post as the team did the preliminary work on the flight instead of getting sleep time in. Two scenes for the time cost of one. Showing the boring flight time instead of picking up the story at the scene is just there to show us how special and needed by the local investigators the teams on our shows really are.

I have never watched Criminal Minds but I definitely feel like I have seen at least one Law Enforcement show where they use private jets. Maybe Bones?

29 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

He also said, you don't just go and hop on the plane either. You have to plan ahead. I would think the jet needs to be inspected, etc., and you can't just take off. You have to get in line with everyone else. 

That makes sense. Owning the plane is one thing, but having it ready to whenever you want would mean having a whole staff of pilots and in-flight crew on call so that people are always rested and ready whenever you need them. It would also mean all maintenance would be rushed so that the owner is never wait on that kind of stuff. And I would have to imagine that kind of service is like next level expensive.

[possibilities]

Plus, you need a runway to take off from, and I assume some kind of clearance from the FAA?

Edited December 11, 2023 by possibilities

[Shannon L.]

Don't pilots on private planes have to submit a flight plan?

[DoctorAtomic]

25 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Plus, you need a runway to take off from, and I assume some kind of clearance from the FAA?

That's what I meant by you have to still get in line. With the commercial airlines on an actual schedule, I would think they have to fit you in. I'm sure everyone has been on the plan when the pilot says 'we're cleared for takeoff and third'. So the private plane would have to get in on that. And a flight plan too. Because you don't want to be getting in the way up there. Or sometimes, you can go on a different flight path. You can't actually fly direct commercially to any cities in my state, but if you charter private you can. One of my friends did that and it was not swanky in the least. I was disappointed. If I'm flying private, it better be like the 60s. Not the sexual harassment, but light flirting. 

 

[possibilities]

Landing would be important, too. You don't want to get up there and find nobody has you clocked in to land anywhere.

[JustHereForFood]

6 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Birthday parties for adults. Not just for “milestone” years. If you’re being honored at a birthday party (surprise or otherwise) by 20 or 30 of your closest friends, doesn’t that imply that you’re going to two or three parties a month for everyone else in that friend group? Who has time for that? Or are you just that special?

I think those parties are only for those who specifically said they don't want a party, or are in a situation when being surprised like that will make them feel they are attacked or something. If you actually want a birthday party and are a TV character, you will spend your birthday sitting sadly alone by yourself with a single piece of cake you bought yourself.

[proserpina65]

22 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Birthday parties for adults. Not just for “milestone” years. If you’re being honored at a birthday party (surprise or otherwise) by 20 or 30 of your closest friends, doesn’t that imply that you’re going to two or three parties a month for everyone else in that friend group? Who has time for that? Or are you just that special?

The year I turned 50, several of my friends did as well.  Not all of us had parties but there were about 5 of them in that one YEAR.  So not 2 or 3 parties a month and only for a milestone birthday.  Most of what I've seen on tv didn't involve 20 or 30 closest friends.

 

[meep.meep]

20 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

One thing I have noticed recently is how readily available private jets are for tv people. I was watching Watchmen on DVD last week and 2 FBI agents were flying from Washington to Oklahoma and they were on a US government private jet. 

As a U.S. federal employee I can assure you that most of us fly exclusively on commercial aviation.  That includes elected representatives.  The easiest way to meet Senators and Congresspeople is to take a late afternoon flight on Friday from Dulles.  

Some agencies/bureaus do have their own planes.  Most of them are for accomplishing their mission, not for transporting passengers.  For example, NASA has lots of planes, but their employees fly commercial.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

Some agencies/bureaus do have their own planes. 

Like the NTSB, but investigators may still fly commercial to an accident investigation, depending on circumstances.  Private as a matter of routine is probably even less common within government than in the private sector.

With the private sector TV scenarios being just as unrealistic, presenting mega-rich characters able to spur of the moment jet off somewhere as easily as they'd summon Jeeves to bring the car around.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Bastet

[DoctorAtomic]

The next time I fly private, I'll report back. 

[meep.meep]

It's God's work you do!

[Haleth]

I'd be hugely pissed off if I found out government employees were hiring private planes to fly around the country.  Your tax dollars at work.

[Raja]

33 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I'd be hugely pissed off if I found out government employees were hiring private planes to fly around the country.  Your tax dollars at work.

To be fair the special cops and soldiers are not on private jets, but government small jets for the most part. We just never see the USAF or civilian government service pilot. We do get the occasional PI with the rich patron like Thomas Magnum and Robin Masters on TV.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think run of the mill government employees should be on private planes either. However, there's a lot of charter planes that are small like 8 people, and totally bare bones. So I can see where it would be all right.

We're all talking about the swanky private planes, but there's the others. 

[Ohiopirate02]

31 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't think run of the mill government employees should be on private planes either. However, there's a lot of charter planes that are small like 8 people, and totally bare bones. So I can see where it would be all right.

We're all talking about the swanky private planes, but there's the others. 

And there are some government facilities that are nowhere near a commercial airport.  

[meep.meep]

7 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't think run of the mill government employees should be on private planes either. However, there's a lot of charter planes that are small like 8 people, and totally bare bones. So I can see where it would be all right.

Not to get all real life, but the Federal government puts together big contracts with airlines and hotel chains to guarantee availability of fares that are affordable and refundable as well as hotel rooms at the approved per diem rate for any city.  Once the contracts are in place, government employees are required to use those or have a good explanation why that option couldn't be used.  It would be extremely unlikely that chartering a small plane would ever be more cost effective than using commercial flights, and the cost of doing so would push the purchase price beyond what the employee could handle through normal travel procedures.

The taxpayers are not getting fleeced.

But it's much more glamorous for Mulder and Scully to galivant about on private aircraft so that's what they do on TV.

[DoctorAtomic]

I just meant in general. You can't fly regular direct anywhere in my state. You can charter something small if it makes sense for the amount of people. 

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, meep.meep said:

But it's much more glamorous for Mulder and Scully to galivant about on private aircraft so that's what they do on TV.

The only airplane scenes from The X-Files I can pull up in my memory were regular commercial flights, but it's been some time since my last re-watch -- when did they fly private?