# COMMON Things on TV/in Movies... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488 "2006-03-22T21:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/41 "2006-03-23T20:40:26Z")
And of course all women sleep in full makeup and wake up with perfect hair. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/42 "2006-03-23T20:56:12Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **Diceman** mentioned people walking in and out of other people’s houses – plus they don’t close the door behind them. Don’t these people have cats, dogs, and kids that might scoot outside? And on **Good Times** , where they are constantly mentioning the danger in their neighborhood, the door is left unlocked for anyone to walk in. Another sex one…They can go from woman on top to man on top so smoothly, implying that he stays inside the whole time.?? ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/43 "2006-03-23T21:12:07Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Another sex one…They can go from woman on top to man on top so smoothly, implying that he stays inside the whole time.?? 😕 This happens regularly, in my life. Is it that unusual? Or am I being wooshed? ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/44 "2006-03-23T21:20:00Z")
> [@Squee](#): > > In any of the various Law & Order shows, people who the police are asking questions to will invaribably walk around/keep doing whatever activity they are doing. Somehow I can’t imagine the police let me get away with such behaviour. On _Law and Order: Criminal Intent,_ in the climactic “gotcha” scene, Goren and Eames will badger the perp mercilessly during the interrogation with the perp’s lawyer sitting right there next to the perp and not raising a single objection. Where did these guys study law??? ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/45 "2006-03-23T21:29:17Z")
> [@McNew](#): > > 😕 This happens regularly, in my life. Is it that unusual? Hats off to you, then. That is a physical impossibility for us. Bathtubs and car seats wouldn’t work either. I need my space! Yet another sex one, related to sheets: if you’re able to do it while keeping your naughty bits covered by sheets/blankets, you’re doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/46 "2006-03-23T21:30:19Z")
Another one that reallly bugs me is the “one punch to the head equals a knockout” rule that seems to be mandatory in Hollywood. In real life, it seldom happens that you can actually knock someone out with a single punch. Trust me, don’t ever count on being able to knock somebody out with a single punch. Ain’t gonna happen. Particularly not with a bare fist. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/47 "2006-03-23T21:40:02Z")
Get out of a taxi, hand driver some money. Don’t worry about even looking at the money or waiting for the driver to tell you how much. It will be the correct amount; you won’t even have to wait for change. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/48 "2006-03-23T21:43:12Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Yes! I thought that was a New York or L.A. thing, that people who live on the coasts (where so many movies are made) actually do this. I’ve lived on both coasts, and have only seen one instance of it. A friend of mine, in the early days of cell phone use, answered cell calls this way (but NOT land line calls, interestingly) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/49 "2006-03-23T23:12:30Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Another one that reallly bugs me is the “one punch to the head equals a knockout” rule that seems to be mandatory in Hollywood. The flip side of that is the fight that goes on way too long. Every punch connects, guys are hit with chairs, table legs and lead pipes, tossed over bars, falling down stairs, etc., and they keep getting up. I’ve only seen a couple of real life fights, and they look like what we see on Springer. How many guys really know how to fight? How to form a fist so you don’t break your hand, how to body block, etc.? Mostly it’s just a scrabbly version of wrestling. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/50 "2006-03-23T23:29:22Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Someone answers the phone on their job by saying simply, “Yeah?” This is how my SO answers the phone. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/51 "2006-03-23T23:43:16Z")
When sitting at a table for a meal, all family members must crowd on one side and on the ends. No one must sit with their back to the audience/camera. Yes, I know why they do that, but it is _so_ obvious. I think _All in the Family_ was the worst. Meathead was practically sitting in Edith’s lap. At least in _Golden Girls_, they had the three “younguns” sitting at the table while Sophia perched on a stool nearby, or busied herself at the stove. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/52 "2006-03-24T01:10:37Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > :dubious: Ummm… I wholeheartedly disagree. If it’s not working, it’s not the hot tub or the pool my friend. Oh, I don’t know, my friend. Most women need a little thing called “lubrication” to enjoy sex, and it doesn’t work so well when you’re in water. Maybe she’s faking it for you. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/53 "2006-03-24T01:31:09Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > The flip side of that is the fight that goes on way too long. Every punch connects, guys are hit with chairs, table legs and lead pipes, tossed over bars, falling down stairs, etc., and they keep getting up. > > I’ve only seen a couple of real life fights, and they look like what we see on Springer. How many guys really know how to fight? How to form a fist so you don’t break your hand, how to body block, etc.? Mostly it’s just a scrabbly version of wrestling. A couple of the old Cagney films had fights like that. It really doesn’t matter if you were Golden Gloves; the guy you’re fighting is going to figure out that he can make you stop hitting him if he grabs you. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488/54 "2006-03-24T02:28:00Z")
It might have been a Cagney movie that made me think of it. White Heat, maybe? Ha! But he can’t hold on to you forever. What then? Hope that he’s cooled down, I suppose. 🙂 Another thing that bugs me is the way actors brush their teeth. Doesn’t anybody hawk and slosh and spit and make a mess like I do? They’re all so neat about it, and you hardly ever see them rinse. Brush, spit a little bit, and that’s it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-things-on-tv-in-movies/349488.md?page=2)