Realities that don't exist in TV land

[QueSyrahSyrah]

Inspired by the ongoing curtains thread, what realities of the world do you consistently see ignored in TV and Film?

I'll start; Car Insurance. We've been watching a show recently where the characters are forever borrowing or swapping cars with family and friends. Vanishingly unlikely that everyone has open all-driver insurance (unless that's a more common thing in America maybe?).

Slightly off-topic, but can’t actors be trusted with full cups?

It’s always completely obvious when they’re sipping from empty cups. Very distracting.

No one gets ready to leave the house, surely it's not just me that needs to check I've got my purse, have a wee, put my shoes on, look for my keys for 10 mins, change jackets because it's warmer/colder out than I thought, find my phone... no they just pick up a pair of conveniently located keys and walk out the door.

Yes it infuriates me when they carry on whatever they are doing with Police following around after them !

That was the entire premise of The Royle Family. It worked quite well actually!

In fairness my house has the light switch at the very far end of the hall, nowhere near the front door. I have motion activated lights so they turn on as I open the door.

Parents having a proper conversation whilst at the dinner table with young children. In fact any scene involving young children that chooses to ignore the relentless nature of parenting young children.

I feel like the way parenting is portrayed in TV/ film really skews people's expectations of parenting.

This is mainly in films but I have seen it in some TV dramas too. There’s major peril going on, say a madman on the loose with a gun, or a terrorist or something, or gang of henchmen about to capture them. The platonic male and female lead are hiding out in a cupboard or something stressed as anything. Yet in the middle of all that they look at each other and start feeling all fruity. They look into each other’s eyes and then start snogging and then look surprised as if “why didn’t we ever think of that before?” Then it’s back to peril cos the door gets flung open and they’re in attack mode again.

If I was ever hiding out from a terrorist snogging the person I was with would be the very last thing on my mind.

Mild illnesses. If anyone mentions “I’m feeling a bit under the weather” or “I’ve got a cold, I think I’ll stay in actually” or they start limping it can never mean they’ve just a cold or they’ve pulled a muscle or got a bunion. It’s always the first sign they’ve got leukaemia or a tumour or something.

School dramas where all the teachers arrive at the same time as the pupils and scarper off at 3:30 to go to the pub every day! Pupils riot, children go missing ( which teachers leave the premises to go after) and they still pass an OFTED inspection!

( Can you tell I have been watching lots of Waterloo road?)

All of the doctors/ nurses in a medical drama can attend the same party/ wedding seemingly leaving the hospital without any staff. All of these characters at some point will also have been the victim of a car accident/ drowning/plane crash/ gunman/ terminal cancer diagnosis ( miraculously cured) rampant virus etc.

I think John Nettles in Midsomer Murders was happily married and went home quite often. He didn’t drink because IRL he didn’t drink, either.

you are right about most of them though. Does no one ever say, well maybe Mr Dead drunk -and -unhappy shouldn’t be in charge of this complex case, he can do the shopping centre litter and general anti social behaviour problem….

Premature births always result in a baby that is at least the size of a 6 month old.

The light in the countryside at night. I grew up way out in the sticks. No street lighting for miles. When there was no moon or it was overcast you can’t see anything. Deep in a wood you couldn’t walk, let alone run.
Every time a show is in the country there is always a bright light from somewhere.

Something important comes on TV. Person watching it calls another character to switch on TV and see it for themselves. Important TV news is always at the beginning of the segment when the second person watches.
By the time you'd called the other person and they had turned on TV the important news segment would be over especially if it was a "breaking news" item.

My personal one : why does everyone, even in quite humble houses and flats, always have an amazing view of the sea, or a lake, or rolling hills? Never someone else’s front garden,,or a railway line, or a road with traffic.

I think that maybe these scenes are stripped into the window as a background, especially on location, so that you can’t see other peoples houses, cars etc, and so don’t have to ask their permission?

Ah, I never saw that but good for them for bucking the trend!

But yeah, its always the "maverick" cop or detective that gets the job done. Never someone who is stable or functional.

Never see stressed and over stretched nhs staff. When soap characters are ill/need hospital treatment doctors and nurses are instantly available, consultants pop in and give personal care every 5 mins.

No hours in A/E, hours in a corridor, hours without treatment etc

GP's who are instantly available
looking at you Dr Gadas

In Death in Paradise the only police officers on the island all work the same hours, then clock off and all go to the pub together having locked up the office, sometimes leaving a prisoner in the cell by themself. No wonder the place is so dangerous 😁

There are some fantastic dramas/comedies where the minutiae of daily life is included. Think of series like the Royle Family, Mum and Marriage. All used pretty mundane details of everyday life to great effect. The constant opening of the dishwasher in Mum for instance!

Agree about hospital scenes. Often they show hospitals as completely deserted whilst the main character looks down the corridors, its dark with not a patient or nurse in sight. Or, they steal into the nurses station to "borrow" a nurses uniform or scrubs so they can sneak out of the hospital. As if you can just walk into the nurses station or theatre scrub room whilst dressed in a hospital gown and not a single person would question it

Sorry I see you've already made the same point!

Characters getting up and leaving the pub on a whim without finishing their drinks. We all know a round of drinks in the pub doesn't come cheap. Same people in the pub, cafe, restaurant, whatever - pushing their food around as "not hungry"... so why did they order and pay for a meal then? Gives me the rage every time - especially when they plead poverty in the next scene!🙄😁

They come in to an empty house and the lamps are always on. No one ever comes in and goes round scrabbling to put a lamp on, or even switches a main light on.
Who goes out leaving lamps on in real life? Aren’t they worried about fire?

US dramas - if you need an organ transplant, you get one within a few days. Sometimes within a few hours.

Casualty specific -
ambulances always arrive before fire engines. Paramedics often run into burning buildings.
a frail 75 year old not only manages to totter through a normal shift, but last week actually did a double shift

any drama that is medical/fire fighters - nobody ever wants to retire. Honourable exception is Happy Valley, where SLs character was actively looking forward to her retirement.

Interesting to know about US car insurance, thanks for that! I pay a supplement for mine to cover all drivers over 25 as it's convenient at times, but I don't think it's especially common to do that in the UK.

Yes yes to almost everything else listed here. While I do occasionally sleep in a (soft, deeply unsexy) bra, I do not leave it on for sex nor pop it back on for the pillow talk after.

Also, time moves in mysterious ways in TV land. The other day we watched a show where 2 people got in a car in brilliant sunshine and arrived at their destination a short drive away in pitch black.

@Dithyramb You seem to be taking the thread a bit less legit-heartedly than it was intended there.

On Coronation Street it's the LAW that you can ONLY work on the street or one of it's outliers. Paul being the latest case in point. Can no longer work in the construction that takes place within this little triangle so went begging at the Bistro who gave him shifts that they didn't even need! Didn't think to look beyond this postcode.

That said, I did have a soap birth. Cramps to crowning!

Recently watched some old episodes of Brookside. Pretty realistic. They even had steam coming off their teacups!

Also ...if I were a TV detective and got a phone call from someone asking to meet me to pass on some important information, my first instinct would be to say "No, tell me what it is now or send me a text, as otherwise you'll be bumped off just before the commercial break and I'll be left wondering..."😂