# Most popular professions for the fictional treatment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555 "2009-09-10T14:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/21 "2009-09-10T18:16:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Librarians get no love from TV shows… Excuse me, but Rupert Giles is one of the baddest mofos to ever walk the planet. Lots of love from us Whedonites. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/22 "2009-09-10T18:22:46Z")
I have never seen a film about merchant seamen, and the only time I’ve ever seen them on television was on the old mini-series _Rich Man, Poor Man_ when Nick Nolte’s character, Tom, joins the Merchant Marines (I think to get away from gangsters who he owes money to or something.) There aren’t many movies or shows about sailors in general, but non-military seamen are _really_ underrepresented. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/23 "2009-09-10T18:27:09Z")
Popular: cops, lawyers and doctors, of course. Least: groundskeepers. I can only think of one, Carl from _Caddyshack_. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/24 "2009-09-10T18:44:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Excuse me, but Rupert Giles is one of the baddest mofos to ever walk the planet. Lots of love from us Whedonites. Except, Giles librarianness was played for laughs. Including the fact that he never actually had to do any librarianing because no one ever came in the library except Buffy, Willow, Xander and Cordelia. Beyond that, he wasn’t really a librarian (the Council made sure he was near Buffy) and he stopped being a librarian just because of a little thing like the school exploding. And he’s the one that triggered the bomb! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/25 "2009-09-10T18:45:41Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Least: groundskeepers. I can only think of one, Carl from _Caddyshack_. That’s because you’re a blouse wearing, puddle walker and a cheese-eating surrender monkey! ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/26 "2009-09-10T18:46:42Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > Chicken sexer. Can’t recall a single book, movie or TV series that had a character who sexed chickens. [WRONG!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenlover) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/27 "2009-09-10T18:49:19Z")
I recall, late one night when I was watching cable TV in a hotel room, a film came on which seemed to be about weavers. I.e. textile factory workers. Set in the current day. I don’t remember much about it, only one scene, which was in a bar, and all of the weavers were drinking and I think they were discussing some kind of union activity. They were all riled up and I think there was probably some kind of labor conflict involved. It was definitely set in contemporary America, and it was definitely about weavers. I remember thinking it was weird. Anyone know what this was? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/28 "2009-09-10T18:49:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I have never seen a film about merchant seamen, and the only time I’ve ever seen them on television was on the old mini-series _Rich Man, Poor Man_ when Nick Nolte’s character, Tom, joins the Merchant Marines (I think to get away from gangsters who he owes money to or something.) There aren’t many movies or shows about sailors in general, but non-military seamen are _really_ underrepresented. Eugene O’Neill wrote a bunch of one-act plays about merchant seamen (Bound East for Cardiff, In The Zone, The Long Voyage Home, Moon of the Caribbees) as well as the Hairy Ape, which was about a stoker on a steam-ship. But that was from an era when that was a more popular career choice. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/29 "2009-09-10T18:57:09Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I recall, late one night when I was watching cable TV in a hotel room, a film came on which seemed to be about weavers. I.e. textile factory workers. Set in the current day. I don’t remember much about it, only one scene, which was in a bar, and all of the weavers were drinking and I think they were discussing some kind of union activity. They were all riled up and I think there was probably some kind of labor conflict involved. It was definitely set in contemporary America, and it was definitely about weavers. I remember thinking it was weird. Anyone know what this was? Sounds like “Norma Rae”. Was Sally Field in it? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/30 "2009-09-10T19:00:25Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > That’s because you’re a blouse wearing, puddle walker and a cheese-eating surrender monkey! All right, Willie, ye haggis-eatin’, mop-brandishin’, kilt-wearin’ madman, that’s _two_. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/31 "2009-09-10T19:03:14Z")
Intelligence agents (“spies”). Extremely common. Even more common is the freelance “operative” who is either a retired spy, a disgraced spy, a fugitive spy, an off-the-books plausible-deniability spy, a soldier for hire, or a “private security contractor”. I suppose prostitution counts given how often it’s portrayed in fiction. And as long as we’re on the subject of illegal professions, add in hitman, mob muscle, drug dealer, pimp, art/jewel thief, and bank robber ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/32 "2009-09-10T20:02:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Librarians get no love from TV shows and just a little from movies (and the movies featuring librarians suck! Party Girl, I’m looking at you). Even books turn their nose up at featuring librarians as characters unless they’re memoirs written by librarians! > > But I’ve got a librarian TV show pilot all plotted out, Hollywood, call me! Watch Rachel Weisz’s performance in _The Mummy_. She’s hot, smart (though a bit naive and klutzy) and clearly proud to be a librarian. As an afterthought, there’s also the [Libarian action-adventure series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Librarian_franchise) starring Noah Wyle. Three movies and counting. He’s a dork, but he gets to do cool Indiana-Jones-ish stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/33 "2009-09-10T20:04:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Teachers are well represented in movies (if not on TV) as a source for “inspirational” films like **Mr. Holland’s Opus, Dangerous Minds, Up the Down Staircase, Stand and Deliver, To Sir with Love, Music of the Heart** , etc. Even TV has had things like **Boston Public, Room 222** and **Welcome Back Kotter**. Teachers are extremely well-represented on TV, but not so much as main characters. Seems like most shows starring kids or teens have a teacher or two around. If anybody needs examples, I could come up with a ton. BTW–Head of the Class was another show with a teacher as the main character. Does The White Shadow count? He was a coach, but I don’t think he actually taught classes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/34 "2009-09-10T22:02:51Z")
Dating myself terribly… **Our Miss Brooks**. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/35 "2009-09-10T22:41:04Z")
It seems like law enforcment of all flavors, lawyers, and doctors are the most popular professions. On the flip side: “[Roc](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roc_(TV_series))” was about a sanitation worker, and “[Good Grief](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098807/)” was another about funeral directors. As for other unpopular professions, I can only think of [one tv show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_by_Day_(TV_series)) and [two movies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daddy_Daycare) about daycare workers. And what about social workers? Like teachers there are a lot of them on shows and in movies about something else, but how many shows have there been about them particularly? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/36 "2009-09-11T00:42:43Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Or urban planners. Alan Eppes (Judd Hirsch), on _Numb3rs_, is a retired urban planner. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/37 "2009-09-11T03:35:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Watch Rachel Weisz’s performance in _The Mummy_. She’s hot, smart (though a bit naive and klutzy) and clearly proud to be a librarian. > > As an afterthought, there’s also the [Libarian action-adventure series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Librarian_franchise) starring Noah Wyle. Three movies and counting. He’s a dork, but he gets to do cool Indiana-Jones-ish stuff. [Conan the Librarian?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZHoHaAYHq8) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/38 "2009-09-11T03:53:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Not popular: Sanitation worker. Trashmen just aren’t glamorous. Francine Frenski’s dad is a sanitation worker. That would be Francine who’s a friend of Aurthur the Aardvark. Well he is the tv show on PBS, I haven’t read too many of the books. I actually am quite tired of the chick lit obsession with having the main character be some kind of writer or artist. It’s annoying. Let the poor girl be something interesting even if you have to get off your butt and do some research, dang it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/39 "2009-09-11T03:59:32Z")
Xander was a construction worker on _Buffy_ (as was Buffy, for an episode). I’m sure they’re out there, but you don’t see much fiction centered around delivery people (Fed Ex guys, people who deliver phone books, etc). Even though Hiro Protagonist… wasn’t he in pizza delivery? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555/40 "2009-09-11T04:07:14Z")
Well, there was the sitcom The King of Queens, in which Kevin James’ character worked for a UPS-like delivery service. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-popular-professions-for-the-fictional-treatment/509555.md?page=3)