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

[Shannon L.]

5 hours ago, vibeology said:

Snip, snap! Snip, snap! Snip, snap!

So funny but also really sad.

It would be nice if TV presented vasectomies as something other than emasculating because they are a fairly simple and safe family planning option.

Hell, most men on tv can't even bare to get their dogs neutered.  You'd think they were the ones going through it.

4 hours ago, Bastet said:

Probably not, because women on TV are never through having kids.  They can, like Clair Huxtable, have FIVE of the little fuckers, several of which are near grown, and they'll still get baby fever at some point.  Because women love babies, you know. 

Roseanne Conner was going to have her tubes tied after a pregnancy scare (because Dan wouldn't get a vasectomy, which - fuck that noise; no vasectomy, no sex, buddy), but, of course, changed her mind.  Because maybe three kids weren't enough.  And, sure enough, a few years later they decided to have a fourth.

In real life, among people I know well enough to know the state of their reproductive organs, in all the couples I know who have had a kid or two, are done, and now want a permanent form of birth control, the man had a vasectomy.  Based on pure logic - it's less invasive, less risky, less expensive - and fairness - she's had to bear the physical burden of their decision to have children, so it's his turn to take one for the team when they decide not to have anymore.  But among those who are married/otherwise partnered, do not want any kids, and opted for permanent birth control, it's a more even split as to who got fixed.  Because the logic factor is still there, but the "yep, it's my turn, because you went through pregnancy and childbirth" factor isn't.

And this is mostly my age (40s) and a bit older or younger, but my dad had a vasectomy, with no resistance; it was a no-brainer to him based on the same factors my friends use today.

My husband had one and it was my male OB/GYN who recommended it.  His exact words were "Pregnancy and child birth are a lot of work.  Let him do something for a change."  The only reason I'd have gotten my tubes tied would have been if I ended up needing a C-section and they were already in there anyway.

Edited September 25, 2018 by Shannon L.

[doodlebug]

43 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

Hell, most men on tv can't even bare to get their dogs neutered.  You'd think they were the ones going through with it.

My husband had one and it was my male gynecologist who recommended it.  His exact words were "Pregnancy and child birth are a lot of work.  Let him do something for a change."  The only reason I'd have gotten my tubes tied would have been if I ended up needing a C-section and they were already in there anyway.

I am an OB/GYN and every single time a woman asks me about a tubal ligation, I tell her that a vasectomy is simpler, safer and cheaper.  Ususally she tells me that he would never do it.  The patient education information that I give discussed tubal ligation includes a section on vasectomy, pointing out all the reasons that it may be the better option.

I think women are simply more motivated to stop the baby train which is why they are more likely to get their tubes tied.  Getting pregnant, carrying a child, giving birth and even a lot of the dirty work after the kid comes falls on them.  For a woman, having a child requires a far greater lifestyle change than fathering a child does for a man; it is simple biology.  I think that makes many women feel like getting a tubal is not that big a deal compared to going through pregnancy, childbirth and adding a child to the family.

[DrSpaceman73]

5 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I don't know a single man in real life who has gotten a vasectomy. Every woman in my family, including me (who never had kids), has had their tubes tied.

Sure but they don't make the appointment, get to the doctors office and then back out. 

[bilgistic]

This is TMI, but oh, well. My biological father wouldn't get a vasectomy after my sister was born. When my mother got pregnant roughly six weeks later (surprise!), he wanted her to terminate the pregnancy. (He was cheating on her by then.) She didn't terminate, and my youngest sister was born 11.5 months after my middle sister. My mother had her tubes tied immediately after she gave birth to my youngest sister. My parents divorced shortly thereafter.

My father went on to have another unwanted (by him) daughter with his second (now-ex-)wife. Whatta guy, huh?

[auntlada]

7 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I don't know a single man in real life who has gotten a vasectomy. Every woman in my family, including me (who never had kids), has had their tubes tied.

I know several who have (and probably more, but it's not really something that comes up at the dinner table or in casual conversation). I was going to have my tubes tied when my son was born because my doctor and I were going to discuss a C-section at our next appointment. He was thinking given my size and my son's apparent head size, I was going to need one. But then my son decided to be born five days before the appointment. I did have a C-section because my water broke, but he didn't drop, so it was a choice between inducing that probably wasn't going to work but was going to take a while and a C-section. I forgot to talk to my doctor about tying tubes while he was in there, though.

[Anela]

I'm full of TMI, this year, when posting. So I may as well add that my dad had a vasectomy, after having us girls. He loved his daughters, but didn't want any more kids. That kind of caused problems when my parents were divorced for a decade, he remarried, and his wife wanted children. He tried to get it reversed, but I guess it didn't work.

A guy friend of mine also had one, after he and his wife had their two little girls, and they both decided they didn't want any more children (he was also a step-father to her son from before they were together). Another friend was talking about it, because his wife got pregnant accidentally, the second time, and her first time being pregnant was awful for her (he hated seeing her in such a bad way). They love their babies, who are beyond adorable. I don't know if they've changed their minds, or if he's going through with it. One thing that was amusing was that on April 1st, he posted an ultrasound, and then told everyone that it was just an April Fool's joke. it turned out his wife really was pregnant, and didn't know it. their beautiful baby girl was born on Christmas Day. 

[shapeshifter]

I knew a family in which the father of their 2 kids had a vasectomy, and then they had another kid. Their story was that the wife had a dream before she was pregnant in which she was told she would have another son. Whatevs. I don't watch soap operas, but I'm guessing that generally only happens on TV.

[Dr.OO7]

When TV cops have to arrest a doctor, they will always barge into the doctor's office/exam room/operating room. Nevermind the gross violation of the privacy of whatever patient might be in there, nevermind contaminating the sterility of the OR.

I HATE that.

Edited September 27, 2018 by Camille

[Jacqs]

And if it's a female patient, they STILL  send male police officers to barge in! 

[merylinkid]

8 hours ago, Camille said:

When TV cops have to arrest a doctor, they will always barge into the doctor's office/exam room/operating room. Nevermind the gross violation of the privacy of whatever patient might be in there, nevermind contaminating the sterility of the OR.

I HATE that.

The ONLY time this was justified was on Law & Order with the autistic kids who were being given shock treatment.   They barged in to stop one treatment.   I'm good with that.

The rest of the time, it's MONTHS after the crime, the guy is NOT going to flee in the next 2 hours.   Let him finish what he is doing THEN arrest him.

L & O is the worst at this.   Doctors, lawyers, whatever.   They just barge in and arrest.    Because waiting 5 minutes will ruin the whole (pacing of the show) case.

[Dr.OO7]

I was especially stunned at one example where they went barging into the exam room without even knocking and there WAS a patient present. Luckily, the poor woman was still clothed, but she could have been undressed for all they knew.

[dalek]

In terms of vasectomies, I only know one guy in real life who had one. I'm not on the sort of terms with most of my male friends where we'd talk about that stuff.  The only reason I know about the one guy is because I was going on a rant about waiting periods for abortion and why didn't they make men wait before getting snipped, and my friend said "well actually..." because in the state where he lives, yes he did have to go home and think about it.  He got his done before he was 30 mostly because on one side of the family he kind of "won" the bad genetics lottery and didn't want to pass those genes on, and at the time he didn't want to have kids.  When he eventually got married, he and his wife ended up adopting, first a 6 year old boy and then a 12 year old girl.

[ganesh]

I know a few. 

[DrSpaceman73]

In reference to TV and vasectomies, yes, there are some men why have had them on TV. 

But its a cliché story on sitcoms and dramas both, guy goes in for a vasectomy and ends up cancelling once he gets there, reconsiders. 

I doubt very much it happens that often in real life.

And vasectomies are safer than tubal ligations. 

I certainly know men who have had them.  One of my friends have one, then had it reversed, had more kids.  My brother in law had a vasectomy, then my sister still got pregnant.  I didn't ask for the details on how or why that happened, but then the baby had a genetic defect and died shortly after birth. 

[janie jones]

4 hours ago, merylinkid said:

L & O is the worst at this.   Doctors, lawyers, whatever.   They just barge in and arrest.    Because waiting 5 minutes will ruin the whole (pacing of the show) case.

It's doesn't have to ruin the pacing of the show.  Instead of them cutting to the cops busting into an exam room, they can cut to the cops standing in the hall when the doctor comes out of the exam room.  That just isn't as dramatic.

I know of about the same number of people who have had vasectomies as have had their tubes tied.  But since I don't go around asking people what their birth control situation is, I have absolutely no idea which is more common among the people I know.

[andromeda331]

This is probably terrible. But it cracks me up how many different ways men will end up unable to have kids. Very common in soaps but also comes up other shows. Car accident where he's got broken bones everywhere. He may even be paralyzed from the waist down. Everything heals expect that part, plane crash same thing, injured in the war (what kind of fight were you in during the war?). How is that part so easily a injured? Maybe men need to be even more protect put metal cups or something? Everything else heals but that? At least until the its a miracle its fixed episode.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I certainly know men who have had them.  One of my friends have one, then had it reversed, had more kids.  My brother in law had a vasectomy, then my sister still got pregnant.  I didn't ask for the details on how or why that happened, but then the baby had a genetic defect and died shortly after birth. 

They don't always take and you're supposed to get your sperm count checked shortly after the procedure to make sure.  The birth defect was most likely coincidence.

[ratgirlagogo]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

This is probably terrible. But it cracks me up how many different ways men will end up unable to have kids. Very common in soaps but also comes up other shows. Car accident where he's got broken bones everywhere. He may even be paralyzed from the waist down. Everything heals expect that part, plane crash same thing, injured in the war (what kind of fight were you in during the war?). How is that part so easily a injured? Maybe men need to be even more protect put metal cups or something? Everything else heals but that? At least until the its a miracle its fixed episode.

I know we're just talking TV tropes here so I don't think this post makes you terrible, but "that part" is so easily injured because it is external.   Geez!   didn't your parents explain that to you? All kinds of accidents and injuries can affect (i.e., smash)   the male genitalia.  As far as that goes there are so many things ( injuries, illnesses, medications)  that can affect a woman's ability to have kids as well.

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

They don't always take and you're supposed to get your sperm count checked shortly after the procedure to make sure.  The birth defect was most likely coincidence.

Oh yes I know that......probably they didn't wait long enough to have sex after the procedure and didn't use back up birth control in the meantime. 

Not a detailed conversation I am going to have with my sister though

And I know it was a coincidence about the birth defect.  vasectomies don't play a role in that

[Dr.OO7]

During tax season, people fumble around with a million receipts.

I was so shocked when I got my first job and simply received a statement in January.

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, Camille said:

During tax season, people fumble around with a million receipts.

I was so shocked when I got my first job and simply received a statement in January.

That's definitely a real thing.  My mom always did my grandmother's taxes.  My parents moved down to Florida, but my grandmother still wanted my mom to do her taxes.  So, I had to drive up to my grandmother's get this grocery bag full of paperwork, and figure out the best way to ship it to my mom.  

[Orillia]

Speaking of doctors .....  it always gets me when one of the bad guys get shot and they grab a doctor to perform a life saving operation on him using something like a pair of scissors and a roll of tape. Then they stand over the doctor pointing their gun at him. What are they going to do ? Shoot him ? Yeah , good luck to your buddy then.

[shapeshifter]

10 hours ago, Katy M said:

So, I had to drive up to my grandmother's get this grocery bag full of paperwork, and figure out the best way to ship it to my mom.  

So not the shoe box trope?

[Katy M]

10 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

So not the shoe box trope?

A shoe box wouldn't have been big enough.

[merylinkid]

Oh the shopping bag of receipts is STILL a trope.   Despite it being 2018 and having things like SCANNERS to track your receipts.

Yeah, they have your average schmoe (who lives in a HUGE house or apartment) sitting at the kitchen table with a pencil in his teeth and a calculator doing his taxes.   The guy works in an office and is a W-2 employee, not self-employed.   Because no one has Quickbooks or even Excel to track and add the receipts.    He is all sweating and worked up.    Because you know, you get a W-2, you sit down with the software and enter from the boxes (the software even tells you what boxes on your W-2 to look at). 

[auntlada]

5 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Oh the shopping bag of receipts is STILL a trope.   Despite it being 2018 and having things like SCANNERS to track your receipts.

Yeah, they have your average schmoe (who lives in a HUGE house or apartment) sitting at the kitchen table with a pencil in his teeth and a calculator doing his taxes.   The guy works in an office and is a W-2 employee, not self-employed.   Because no one has Quickbooks or even Excel to track and add the receipts.    He is all sweating and worked up.    Because you know, you get a W-2, you sit down with the software and enter from the boxes (the software even tells you what boxes on your W-2 to look at). 

I still do my taxes at the table by hand. I don't use a calculator, though, until I'm checking my math. I add everything up by hand first.

[Silver Raven]

11 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Oh the shopping bag of receipts is STILL a trope.   Despite it being 2018 and having things like SCANNERS to track your receipts.

Yeah, they have your average schmoe (who lives in a HUGE house or apartment) sitting at the kitchen table with a pencil in his teeth and a calculator doing his taxes.   The guy works in an office and is a W-2 employee, not self-employed.   Because no one has Quickbooks or even Excel to track and add the receipts.    He is all sweating and worked up.    Because you know, you get a W-2, you sit down with the software and enter from the boxes (the software even tells you what boxes on your W-2 to look at). 

Scanner?  It is to laugh. Weuse a manila envelope to hold all the receipts.  :)

[ganesh]

What receipts are people using to do their taxes? 

[auntlada]

Just now, ganesh said:

What receipts are people using to do their taxes? 

I assume those are people who itemize deductions. We don't, so I don't need receipts, just information from employers and daycare.

[Bastet]

That's the thing that bugs me - it's not just that everyone on TV has a shoebox of receipts and a calculator rather than a files, Quicken, and TurboTax type of system also being represented, it's that everyone itemizes (apparently, because otherwise they don't need all those receipts).  Even characters who almost certainly wouldn't in real life.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Bastet

[Nordly Beaumont]

And the receipts (on tv) seem to always be a year's worth of receipts for groceries, haircuts, shoes, etc. Even itemized those aren't deductible, are they?

Mary Tyler Moore kept a popsicle stick with a dollar amount on it to show she bought popsicles for some girls she took on an outing, like a $1.25 or something. Of course her rent was $110 per month so I guess $1.25 would be a fair amount. Although not at all deductible, as Paul Sand informed her.

[shapeshifter]

15 minutes ago, Bastet said:

That's the thing that bugs me - it's not just that everyone on TV has a shoebox of receipts and a calculator rather than a files, Quicken, and TurboTax type of system, it's that everyone itemizes (apparently, because otherwise they don't need all those receipts).  Even characters who almost certainly wouldn't in real life.

Yes. I've never owned property or had a triple digit salary, so I've never itemized, and I would assume that should be the same for all those apartment dwellers we see on TV—but no, far too often someone has to do their taxes from a shoebox (or bigger box) of receipts. I guess TV writers must be itemizers themselves.

[Annber03]

I remember being a little freaked out as a kid whenever I saw adults on TV with boxes of receipts and whatnot during tax time. It always looked so complicated and seeing the adults all panicked made it look kinda scary :p. 

But yeah, since I'm not married and don't have kids and don't own property or any of that sort of stuff, and they allow you to do taxes online nowadays, I have a much simpler time with it all than the adults on TV always seem to :D. 

[jennblevins]

I always feel like I’m cheating becaus my taxes take about fifteen minutes, tops.   Even the year that I had income from four jobs in two states and a foreign county, my taxes were a heck of lot simpler than on TV and the returns they made us fill out in high school math class.

I assume that on TV, the boxes of receipts are either for humor or dramatic purposes.

Edited September 30, 2018 by jennblevins
Can’t spell.

[theredhead77]

My tax guy (due to my cross country move - worth his fee) said I was one of the most organized people he's seen. People do bring in envelopes, folders and shoe boxes full of receipts. 

[ganesh]

Honestly, I do turbotax and it takes a half hour. 

[Browncoat]

I own property, and am way past the point where it makes financial sense to itemize.  I do my taxes with paper and pencil (and calculator), and it takes me about 15-20 minutes.  Even when I did itemize, I never had a box of receipts and papers, just a small folder.  

[ginger90]

I took a screenshot of my W2 , answered a few questions, such as, do you have health insurance, and texted it back. 

[Raja]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes. I've never owned property or had a triple digit salary, so I've never itemized, and I would assume that should be the same for all those apartment dwellers we see on TV—but no, far too often someone has to do their taxes from a shoebox (or bigger box) of receipts. I guess TV writers must be itemizers themselves.

The average TV character on a  local Police department salary has no way of affording the lifestyle that they picture in SoCal or NYC. It is no wonder that  the IRS comes a knocking.

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

The average TV character on a  local Police department salary has no way of affording the lifestyle that they picture in SoCal or NYC. It is no wonder that  the IRS comes a knocking.

Or internal affairs! No wonder they are so suspicious.

[andromeda331]

Only on TV when there's a hostage situation and hostage negotiators do show up they will be jerks. Rude to the cops already there. That way its completely okay that the cops and detectives ignore anything the negotiator tells them and get involved on their own. Sure why should they listen to the person who's entire job is deal with hostage takers and get everyone else out safely. Its much better for cops, detectives, consultants and others to take over even though they have very little to zero experience. Or one of them will end up on the phone dealing with the hostage taker and ignoring everything they were just told about how to "handle" the person but they'll be right and the negotiator will be wrong. 

Edited October 13, 2018 by andromeda331

[Raja]

Just saw it again on The Last Ship. soldiers reloading over 200 rounds into their rifle magazines one bullet at a time rather then using 10 bullet stripper clips to push rounds into the magazines

Edited October 16, 2018 by Raja

[Jacqs]

I mentioned this on the gender thread, but it's only on TV that you have a first bra or first period episode that's several months or even a year or more after the actress.

[ratgirlagogo]

6 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

but it's only on TV that you have a first bra or first period episode that's several months or even a year or more after the actress.

What?

[Jacqs]

6 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

What?

Such as "Lizzie McGuire" where both Lizzie and Miranda are wearing bras in episodes before the we need a bra storyline.

Or "Home and Away" where Kate Ritchie started wearing a bra over a year before her character was made a fuss of for doing so. 

[ratgirlagogo]

1 hour ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

Such as "Lizzie McGuire" where both Lizzie and Miranda are wearing bras in episodes before the we need a bra storyline.

Or "Home and Away" where Kate Ritchie started wearing a bra over a year before her character was made a fuss of for doing so

Thanks for finishing your thought.:)  You do realize that this sentence below:

14 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

it's only on TV that you have a first bra or first period episode that's several months or even a year or more after the actress.

is missing a clause or two.  A year or more after the actress does WHAT?

[HunterHunted]

18 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

I mentioned this on the gender thread, but it's only on TV that you have a first bra or first period episode that's several months or even a year or more after the actress.

I understood what you were trying to say. This often happens because they often cast actors who are older than the character just because they  are trying to get around child labor rules and get more hours of work out of the actor.

I've only run across a handful of instances where a child actor plays an older character. The most disturbing one was a 10 year old actor playing a 12 year old prostitute on Copper. I remember hearing that the producers intentionally cast a younger actress to make the situation as unsettling as possible for the audience.

[Jacqs]

Despite the doubts over at an archive TV forum, this following screenshot is Samantha Reed Smith and she was 13 when she filmed this. She just looks older than 13 because that happens sometimes with human aging.

[proserpina65]

On ‎09‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 10:07 PM, ChromaKelly said:

I've mixed grape kool-aid with vodka. Do not recommend.  It was too easy to drink and made a mess later.

I once tried bourbon with cherry Kool-Aid.  To this day I will not drink either one - it was nasty as hell.

[HazelEyes4325]

I see this all the time...in fact, I just watched an episode of a show where it happened twice!

A person comes to the door of someone's house (bonus points if it is a large house).  They ring the doorbell and wait about 3 seconds.  Then they knock and wait about 3 seconds.  Then they open the door and walk right into the house saying, "Hello?  Anyone home?"

First of all, give it a good 20-30 seconds before re-ringing the doorbell or switching to knocking.  Secondly, don't just walk into someone's house.  I mean, who does that? (Besides burglars, of course...)