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

[auntlada]

2 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Would it even be legal to sell liquor by the bottle?  Servers, and the establishment itself, can be held liable for over serving, so even if it were legal in some areas I would think it would go against management policy.

 

Not a drinker, so I have no clue - if you buy a bottle of wine (Champagne) at a restaurant, can you take home what you don’t consume at the table?   So when your date storms out in a huff you can take it home and drown your sorrows.

That used to be the only way you could buy it here, until voters passed liquor by the drink. There may still be one or two dry counties without liquor by the drink. The bar or club would keep the bottle for you with your name on it.

[ratgirlagogo]

1 hour ago, auntlada said:

That used to be the only way you could buy it here, until voters passed liquor by the drink. There may still be one or two dry counties without liquor by the drink. The bar or club would keep the bottle for you with your name on it.

Yes.  My parents got together in Eugene, Oregon in the late forties and that was the only way you could drink in a bar there.  There are hundreds of dry counties in the US even now where this is how it's done.

ETA: List of dry counties in the USA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S._state

The whole thing with the liquor in decanters is another post WW2 thing. more related to styling and decor than anything else I'd bet - like breakfast nooks and formica tabletops.  You could get those Gracious Living type glass and decanter sets at Sears.   Not that pricey.   

I also don't find it odd that many people consider it unthinkable to not offer some kind of drink/food to any guest.  Very common in my experience.

Edited May 1, 2018 by ratgirlagogo

[fishcakes]

On 4/28/2018 at 11:06 AM, Tunia said:

When being chased by a person with a gun, you'll always find a tree large enough to hide behind until the potential killer leaves the area.

Or, if inside a building, the person being chased always runs up the stairs instead of down so that they can have the inevitable showdown on the roof, where the bad guy miscalculates and then plummets to his death.

[auntlada]

3 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

Yes.  My parents got together in Eugene, Oregon in the late forties and that was the only way you could drink in a bar there.  There are hundreds of dry counties in the US even now where this is how it's done.

ETA: List of dry counties in the USA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S._state

The whole thing with the liquor in decanters is another post WW2 thing. more related to styling and decor than anything else I'd bet - like breakfast nooks and formica tabletops.  You could get those Gracious Living type glass and decanter sets at Sears.   Not that pricey.   

I also don't find it odd that many people consider it unthinkable to not offer some kind of drink/food to any guest.  Very common in my experience.

I think it is polite to offer a guest something to eat or drink, although if you drop in unexpectedly, it's probably also polite to decline. Anyone dropping in unexpectedly in my house will get offered water or milk because that's what we have. And the water will be from the tap. If guests are expected, I will buy other stuff. No one who ever visits us drinks alcohol or usually even pop, so tea, coffee and water are acceptable.

[ratgirlagogo]

4 hours ago, auntlada said:

tea, coffee and water are acceptable.

Yes, that would be my expectation also.

[Haleth]

18 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Not a drinker, so I have no clue - if you buy a bottle of wine (Champagne) at a restaurant, can you take home what you don’t consume at the table?   So when your date storms out in a huff you can take it home and drown your sorrows.

I think in most states that's a no; it's illegal to carry open bottles of alcohol in cars.  However I have been to restaurants that will reseal a bottle of wine if you wish to take it.  I've also been to restaurants where I've stayed until that damn bottle is empty.  Not going to waste a good bottle of wine!

[dargosmydaddy]

9 hours ago, Haleth said:

I think in most states that's a no; it's illegal to carry open bottles of alcohol in cars. 

I think it's OK to put it in the trunk?

[OtterMommy]

15 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

I think it's OK to put it in the trunk?

In my state it is...BUT if you drive a station wagon or SUV or another vehicle with a "way back" instead of a trunk, you can't carry an open container.

[ganesh]

I have a way back and I transported a bottle last week. Scandalous!

[ABay]

You menace to society, you!

[ChromaKelly]

Be wary of people requesting a drink when they have unexpectedly dropped by your house. They are going to snoop around or lift a fingerprint from the glass when you aren't looking!

[shapeshifter]

Only on TV will strangers who have some official pretext for entering your home and then ask to use the bathroom never have to relieve themselves, but rather use the excuse to snoop for and successfully find evidence in the form of drugs, papers, fingerprints, blood, weapons, missing weapons, indentations on carpets, missing carpets, or data on your computer (which they will capture onto a flash drive without a moment to spare).

IRL, if some previously unknown person gains ostensibly friendly access to your home and asks to used the bathroom, that person is just looking for drugs for personal use, or perhaps looking for valuables to steal now or later.

Edited May 3, 2018 by shapeshifter
Typo

[Anela]

3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Only on TV will strangers who have some official pretext for entering your home and then ask to use the bathroom never have to relieve themselves, but rather use the excuse to snoop for and successfully find evidence in the form of drugs, papers, fingerprints, blood, weapons, missing weapons,mindentations on carpets, missing carpets, or data on your computer (which they will capture onto a flash drive without a moment to spare).

IRL, if some previously unknown person gains ostensibly friendly access to your home and asks to used the bathroom, that person is just looking for drugs for personal use, or perhaps looking for valuables to steal now or later.

I always wonder what will happen if they actually need to use the bathroom, five or ten minutes later. Sometimes that comes on fast. "Um, yeah, I have to go again. Do you mind?" Of course that never happens. 

[ChromaKelly]

Also thinking of the drink-request and/or bathroom snooping. On TV, kitchens are separate from the living area where the guest is waiting for the drink. Also, there's no powder room right off the kitchen/living area/front hall like most modern homes have. As one can see on House Hunters, "everyone" wants an open floor plan, and most homes built (or renovated) in the past 15ish years have an open kitchen/eating/living area. So, it makes it hard to snoop while someone fetches that glass of water. Also, you aren't going to find anything in most people's powder rooms. How do they make the excuse to use someone's master bath to hunt for medications/murder evidence?

[Anela]

14 minutes ago, ChromaKelly said:

Also thinking of the drink-request and/or bathroom snooping. On TV, kitchens are separate from the living area where the guest is waiting for the drink. Also, there's no powder room right off the kitchen/living area/front hall like most modern homes have. As one can see on House Hunters, "everyone" wants an open floor plan, and most homes built (or renovated) in the past 15ish years have an open kitchen/eating/living area. So, it makes it hard to snoop while someone fetches that glass of water. Also, you aren't going to find anything in most people's powder rooms. How do they make the excuse to use someone's master bath to hunt for medications/murder evidence?

The houses are so big, it seems like they're walking a mile to that bathroom. You would think with houses that big, there would be one downstairs. 

[Katy M]

21 minutes ago, ChromaKelly said:

Also thinking of the drink-request and/or bathroom snooping. On TV, kitchens are separate from the living area where the guest is waiting for the drink. Also, there's no powder room right off the kitchen/living area/front hall like most modern homes have. As one can see on House Hunters, "everyone" wants an open floor plan, and most homes built (or renovated) in the past 15ish years have an open kitchen/eating/living area. So, it makes it hard to snoop while someone fetches that glass of water. Also, you aren't going to find anything in most people's powder rooms. How do they make the excuse to use someone's master bath to hunt for medications/murder evidence?

That's why I always leave my murder evidence in plain sight.  Then when I see someone looking at it, I know I have to kill them, too.

But, actually the rest doesn't seem that weird to me.  We had a kitchen, then a dining room, more or less together, but you had to go around the corner to the  living room (where guests would probably be if we were offering them drinks).  And, then we had one bathroom and it was down the hall near the bedrooms.  

[auntlada]

30 minutes ago, ChromaKelly said:

Also thinking of the drink-request and/or bathroom snooping. On TV, kitchens are separate from the living area where the guest is waiting for the drink. Also, there's no powder room right off the kitchen/living area/front hall like most modern homes have. As one can see on House Hunters, "everyone" wants an open floor plan, and most homes built (or renovated) in the past 15ish years have an open kitchen/eating/living area. So, it makes it hard to snoop while someone fetches that glass of water. Also, you aren't going to find anything in most people's powder rooms. How do they make the excuse to use someone's master bath to hunt for medications/murder evidence?

So that's why open plan homes are so popular.

[ratgirlagogo]

11 hours ago, Katy M said:

That's why I always leave my murder evidence in plain sight.  Then when I see someone looking at it, I know I have to kill them, too.

Damn straight.

[SparedTurkey]

Quote

Back when I used to watch soaps, all the rich people - both at home and in the office- had these glass water pitchers and accompanying glasses just sitting out. Who does that? They also have tea/coffee service sets.

My work does this though. But only in the conference rooms and they have conferences at least 2 times a day and the people attending are very busy so I think it gets used and isn't a waste.

But at home? Yeah that is not happening.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Driad said:

People on TV get airline reservations at the last minute and change them with hardly a second thought. Sheldon and Leonard must make good salaries, and and we don't need to see them hassling with airlines, but it's so much easier for TV characters that it's practically a trope, like how there is always a parking space where someone wants to go.

Just thought I'd make use of the multi-quote feature to copy this from The Big Bang Theory board.

[Lugal]

On 4/30/2018 at 8:08 AM, DearEvette said:

One thing I always wondered about beverages on tv is when it comes to liquor.  Admittedly I am not rich, nor do I know any rich people so maybe it is just a rich people thing, but do people IRL keep their brown liquor in nicely cut crystal decanters, with matching crystal whiskey glasses on a silvered wine cart sitting at the ready in the living room?  Or is that an 'only on tv' thing?

And they continue doing that even when one or more members of the household are alcoholic.

[shapeshifter]

This was posted on the Timeless board:

7 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

But I have to ask. Did every law enforcement character on TV pick their job because they had a parent killed violently? 

[Anela]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

This was posted on the Timeless board:

Just like the doctors, who chose their profession, because someone they loved died in front of them. 

[Blergh]

OK, ONLY on TV do    doctors and nurses working in a hospital make sure that not just their closest friends but every single other person they come in contact know every nitpicking detail of their past and current offtask lives- be it fellow medical colleagues, patients, patients' visitors,  security detail , cleaning crew,etc.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Blergh
extra n

[shapeshifter]

I'm pretty sure Only On TV do all doctors and other hospital employees contract life threatening illnesses or sustain life threatening injuries on a regular basis.

Likewise, Only On TV do detectives and others in law enforcement regularly get kidnapped, mugged, robbed, stalked, or almost murdered.

IRL, the medical and criminal justice professionals use their expert knowledge to more often avoid such mishaps that the rest of us fall prey to.

[Picture It. Sicily]

And collecting forensic evidence at a crime scene makes all criminals want totake revenge on you. Not cops, not the DA, not the jury. The guy who dusted for fingerprints needs to be kidnapped, shot, buried alive, stalked etc.

[Raja]

3 minutes ago, Picture It. Sicily said:

And collecting forensic evidence at a crime scene makes all criminals want totake revenge on you. Not cops, not the DA, not the jury. The guy who dusted for fingerprints needs to be kidnapped, shot, buried alive, stalked etc.

That is because everyone else in the system bows down to the science. Defense lawyers don't even get in the way.

[Orillia]

At a crime scene , all the best people are there ,  the big boss shows up and finds the one piece of evidence that everyone has missed.

[andromeda331]

An amazing amount of people love to tell cops and detectives that their going on an expensive vacation, buying a new expensive car or boat, or retiring despite not having a job that would allow them to afford to do any of that. That'll be handy later when cops uncover embezzling, theft, payoffs, blackmail and other crimes that'll will lead the police right back to the person they never would have suspected had they not said anything.      

[theredhead77]

Any police officer or fire fighter with a nice house, boat, fancy cars, etc... must be accepting bribes. Their income plus their spouse couldn't possibly have a job that affords those nice things, they couldn't have received an inheritance or come from money. 

[merylinkid]

12 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Any police officer or fire fighter with a nice house, boat, fancy cars, etc... must be accepting bribes. Their income plus their spouse couldn't possibly have a job that affords those nice things, they couldn't have received an inheritance or come from money. 

Subverted once on original flavor L & O.   Logan was investigating bribes.   Goes to talk to Cragen and sees a new pool going in.   He thinks Cragen is dirty.   At the end Cragen says "My wife paid for the pool.   All you had to do was ask."   His wife worked as a flight attendant.

[MaryPatShelby]

On 5/7/2018 at 1:11 PM, shapeshifter said:

Likewise, Only On TV do detectives and others in law enforcement regularly get kidnapped, mugged, robbed, stalked, or almost murdered.

I enjoy police procedurals, hate-watch some of them (like CSI: Miami), but if the episode synopsis says that anyone on the "team" is in danger, I refuse to watch. I gave up on SVU long ago because it seemed like the Great Olivia was being stalked, being shot at, being kidnapped, her kid being kidnapped, etc. every other episode. And yeah, the Criminal Minds team having a stalker, and the CSI lab guys being in physical danger nearly every episode - it's insane.

[Mittengirl]

Not just the actual law enforcement folks, but their family members as well.   If a cop has a daughter, she will get kidnapped at some point during the series run.

[2727]

1 hour ago, MaryPatShelby said:

... if the episode synopsis says that anyone on the "team" is in danger, I refuse to watch.

I'll also click the remote when the police/person investigating ... dun, dun, dun ... becomes the suspect.

[shapeshifter]

I don't know if this Only happens On TV (but I suspect it's not a real life thing), but when the promo for an episode says that a main character in law enforcement is going undercover in a prison, I will not be watching that episode, because gratuitous violence will ensue.

[theredhead77]

4 hours ago, MaryPatShelby said:

I enjoy police procedurals, hate-watch some of them (like CSI: Miami), but if the episode synopsis says that anyone on the "team" is in danger, I refuse to watch. I gave up on SVU long ago because it seemed like the Great Olivia was being stalked, being shot at, being kidnapped, her kid being kidnapped, etc. every other episode. 

 

Back in the day on Hunter it seemed that McCall was always being stalked, kidnapped or raped. All these years later, that is what I remember.

[Raja]

4 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

 

Back in the day on Hunter it seemed that McCall was always being stalked, kidnapped or raped. All these years later, that is what I remember.

I think that she was the first prime time character who was raped. It only happened once but her partner went rogue over the boarder to get revenge over the diplomatically protected rapist 

[shapeshifter]

I suspect Angie Dickinson's character of Pepper on Police Woman (1974-1978) would top any list of most frequent instances for the Only On TV trifecta of strikingly beautiful female law enforcement professional in an undercover operation likely to result in sexual assault. For example (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Police_Woman_episodes):

• Pepper investigates a modeling school which is actually a front for supplying young girls to the porn business and overseas white slave trade
• Pepper and Bill go undercover to catch a rapist/killer who is targeting the wives of patients at a hospital
• A local professor may be involved with a white slavery racket, so Pepper goes undercover as a college student.

—which brings up the larger issue that Only On TV do pretty much all "good" cops have model-level good looks, unless maybe they are trusted veterans. 

[Jacqs]

I just want something really bad to happen to the Great Olivia Benson and she isn't saved. Something BTK or Ted Bundy-esque.

[Jaded]

On 5/12/2018 at 6:44 PM, theredhead77 said:

Back in the day on Hunter it seemed that McCall was always being stalked, kidnapped or raped. All these years later, that is what I remember.

 

On 5/12/2018 at 11:31 PM, Raja said:

I think that she was the first prime time character who was raped. It only happened once but her partner went rogue over the boarder to get revenge over the diplomatically protected rapist 

The people in charge of the show wanted to have McCall get raped a 2nd time  as is mentioned in the linked to list.  Stepfanie Kramer threatened to quit if they went through with it so they "just" had her get attacked.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, Jaded said:

The people in charge of the show wanted to have McCall get raped a 2nd time  as is mentioned in the linked to list.  Stepfanie Kramer threatened to quit if they went through with it so they "just" had her get attacked.

I remember this! Actually, I loved this show and stopped watching after Stephanie left. McCall was attacked from behind; didn't report it; went to her doctor; didn't even tell Hunter; instead she decided to go after the guy; and then her doctor told Hunter that she'd been "assaulted." Yeah, yeah, she shouldn't have told him, but she knew McCall was going after the guy.

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, Jaded said:

 

The people in charge of the show wanted to have McCall get raped a 2nd time  as is mentioned in the linked to list.  Stepfanie Kramer threatened to quit if they went through with it so they "just" had her get attacked.

Interesting. Not that I want a character to be assaulted over and over and over but those are my memories of the show. On the memory note, another friend of mine, who I met as an adult, has the exact same memories I do. I'm certain I watched the show when I was too young, I'm sure and had a very age inappropriate crush on Fred Dryer. But now I think I'm going to set myself up for disappointment and try and find it streaming somewhere to re-watch.

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

Interesting. Not that I want a character to be assaulted over and over and over but those are my memories of the show.

Well McCall being raped happened in the second season--half; and her assault four seasons later. So it wasn't as if they happened back-to-back. And I don't recall her being stalked, but Theresa Saldano (RIP), who had been stalked in real life, guest starred as someone who was being stalked, and she stayed with McCall. And during one of their conversations, McCall told Saldano's character that after she'd been raped in her own home, she sold the house and bought another one. That episode and the assault one were the same season, I think. I could always tell the seasons apart by Kramer's hairstyle! Different each season!

[Shannon L.]

I'm not in law enforcement, but I can't imagine this happens in real life:

Your partner tells you that he/she is going to dinner with whoever at a specific restaurant.  That evening, you discover that some crazy person is out to kill them and is more than likely on his way to the restaurant.  You can't get through on their cell phone because they've turned it off to ensure a lovely, interruption free evening.  So, instead of calling the restaurant and asking them to find your partner so you can tell them, you rush to the restaurant all the while dealing with traffic and other problems and getting increasingly terrified that you won't make it in time.  9 times out of 10, you'll end up jumping out of the stalled car and running the last few blocks.

[Katy M]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 8:54 AM, theredhead77 said:

Interesting. Not that I want a character to be assaulted over and over and over but those are my memories of the show. On the memory note, another friend of mine, who I met as an adult, has the exact same memories I do. I'm certain I watched the show when I was too young, I'm sure and had a very age inappropriate crush on Fred Dryer. But now I think I'm going to set myself up for disappointment and try and find it streaming somewhere to re-watch.

Don't do it.  The shows that were awesome when you were a kid, just don't retain their awesomeness for whatever the reason. I'm not sure if it's because you get older, or the show is dated, or what.  And, it's probably not every show.  It does ruin your nostalgia, though, IMO, if you end up wondering what you were thinking when you were a kid.

[DearEvette]

14 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

I'm not in law enforcement, but I can't imagine this happens in real life:

Your partner tells you that he/she is going to dinner with whoever at a specific restaurant.  That evening, you discover that some crazy person is out to kill them and is more than likely on his way to the restaurant.  You can't get through on their cell phone because they've turned it off to ensure a lovely, interruption free evening.  So, instead of calling the restaurant and asking them to find your partner so you can tell them, you rush to the restaurant all the while dealing with traffic and other problems and getting increasingly terrified that you won't make it in time.  9 times out of 10, you'll end up jumping out of the stalled car and running the last few blocks.

That is definitely related to the phenomenon when the police officer/detective discovers quite by accident on the basis of some very small clue who the murderer is, meanwhile at that exact moment the murderer is with the detective's partner/spouse about to kill them.  Despite the fact that the murderer could have chosen to kill the partner/spouse at any time, they somehow never do until coincidentally (and without their actual knowledge) the detective has figured out who they are.  Where of course the partner/spouse's cell phone battery has conveniently died and thus can't be warned of the murderer's identity as the detective frantically tries to call them.

[theredhead77]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

if you end up wondering what you were thinking when you were a kid.

I'd probably wonder what my parents were thinking letting me watch Hunter to begin with. No Married with Children or ALF but sure, let's watch cop-drama Hunter as family time.  I still watch The A-Team and I can overlook the sexism (and ignore the behind the scenes horribleness of Peppard and Benedict) and that show is dark! But as a kid all I saw was the good guys saving the day (and Boy George!). 

Topical to the above dealing with traffic instead of making a call is the there's no time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never in my life have I heard someone [seriously say] "we have to go now, I can't tell you where or why, there is no time LETS GO!". Because who in their right mind wouldn't be WTF is wrong with you, where are we going and WHY?!

Edited May 24, 2018 by theredhead77
would be and wouldn't be are not the same.

[ganesh]

I watched Hunter too. I don't remember much though. 

[auntlada]

4 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Topical to the above dealing with traffic instead of making a call is the there's no time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never in my life have I heard someone [seriously say] "we have to go now, I can't tell you where or why, there is no time LETS GO!". Because who in their right mind wouldn't be WTF is wrong with you, where are we going and WHY?!

I try that with my son (who is 6), and even he wants to know where we're going and why.

[Raja]

15 hours ago, ganesh said:

I watched Hunter too. I don't remember much though. 

The first few seasons it was a comedy riff off of Dirty Harry,  the boss didn't actually like the gunfighter cop like the Dirty Harry movies so he was assigned a female partner, and junker cars. Then the next few years when Charles Hallahan took over as the Captain it was a solid for the era procedural . If made today Rick Hunter would be more like the TV Bosch or Raylan Givens of Justified and a female partner was no longer a joke/punishment on the Captain's part. Then to the last season where Stepfanie Kramer left and they tried making Hunter a supervisor of a Metro (where the real LAPD keeps "elite" units of SWAT, crime suppression K-9, etc units) platoon but halfway through rebooted again and had him investigating homicides as his Metro duty, only now without the sports coat and tie that Detective Hunter wore