# Most Realistic Fictional TV Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177 "2012-10-18T23:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/41 "2012-10-22T02:43:02Z")
Rosanne, yes. at least in part because people are fat. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/42 "2012-10-23T19:57:31Z")
The old tv series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was incredibly authentic. Not surprising as the writer was an ex British Intelligence Officer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/43 "2012-10-23T20:10:09Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > Rosanne, yes. at least in part because people are fat. I think the casting is a big part of it. These people looked, sounded, and acted like real Americans. They were overweight, in debt, and worried. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/44 "2012-10-23T21:49:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > People in radio loved _WKRP in Cincinnati_, which was a far more realistic depiction of a radio station than, say, the _Mary Tyler Moore_ version of a TV newsroom. Oh yes! Totally corroborated by yours truly who worked in a radio station when WKRP was doing primetime. First time I heard Johnny say ‘cart,’ I fell off the couch in shock. Only someone who actually worked in radio would know what that was. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/45 "2012-10-23T22:45:37Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > \*\*(unlike, say, Seinfeld, or Friends, which had some day-to-day realism, like the lunch counter scenes/ coffeehouse scenes, but the characters worked as actors or fine chefs or exotic museums, etc) _Friends_ I understand, but _Seinfeld_? Jerry - moderately successful stand-up comic trying to break into TV (which is what he was before the show started). Understandably, he would be the most financially successful of the group. Elaine - Catalog editor, and before that personal assistant to an eccentric rich guy. George - Variety of jobs, sometimes unemployed, finishing with lower-middle management for the NY Yankees. Kramer - Unemployed mooch. Newman - Mail man (and not a very good one). They might have had a bit more disposable income than their jobs/apartments suggest, but it certainly wasn’t that far out of line. Unrealistic was the girlfriends George would get, but even then, many of them were as broken psychologically as George was. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/46 "2012-10-23T23:08:56Z")
Freaks and Geeks comes painfully close to my years in high school. It’s almost a documentary. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/47 "2012-10-24T00:29:34Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > _The Big Bang Theory_ has consultants to get the science right. And their portrayals of geeks and nerds are very true to life. I think their portrayals are a caricature resulting from what a bunch of liberal arts major screenwriters think geeks and nerds are like. It’s sort of funny, but not realistic at all. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/48 "2012-10-24T15:41:33Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > another vote for “Roseanne”. But I can’t put my finger on why. It was about a normal family, with normal problems. Nobody had exotic jobs or drove fancy cars or travelled to faraway places or whatever\*. > > But the same is true for, say, “the king of queens” or “that 70’s show”, or the old Archie Bunker show(“All in the Family”). > But somehow Roseanne just seemed more realistic. Why? > Maybe it had more emotional content, more…heart.But again, I can’t define why. I don’t know about “King of Queens” but “All in the Family” focused mainly on Archie’s racism and it’s inappropriateness in a changing society and “That 70’s Show” was a nostalgia fest. “Roseanne” was about ordinary people in the ordinary world with no greater issues forefront (at least until the last couple of seasons–you know, the ones we don’t speak of). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/49 "2012-10-24T16:11:47Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > _Rosanne,_ _King of the Hill,_ and _Trailer Park Boys._ I know all of these people. You know Bubbles and Jay-Rock?? Tell them I want to hang out! Corey and Trevor can come too 🙂 I agree on _Roseanne_ and _The Middle_, with _The Middle_ owing a lot to _Roseanne_. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/50 "2012-10-24T16:21:03Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > The old tv series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was incredibly authentic. > > Not surprising as the writer was an ex British Intelligence Officer. In this vein, the 1978-1980 BBC series, [The Sandbaggers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandbaggers) is supposed to be very well done and quite accurate as to the feel. I have no idea one way or the other, never having been in that line of work, but it seems plausible. Here’s a fan [site](http://www.opsroom.org/index.html), if you want to know a bit more. The series is short, and worth your time if you find it. I was lucky enough to see them during the PBS SF Bay Area run mentioned in the wiki. The unusual passing of the [series’ primary episode writer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Mackintosh) only added to the cult-following of the series. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/51 "2012-10-24T16:45:31Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > My late H flew medivac helicopters in Vietnam and he said that M_A_S_H_ captured perfectly the intense, insanity-producing combination of comedy (black humor in particular) and tragedy that he experienced in a field hospital. A lot of that was from the writers & producers interviewing Korea and Vietnam vets for anecdotes. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/52 "2012-10-24T17:23:50Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > **Roseanne**. Ignoring the last season it’s probally the most realistic depiction of a white American working class family to ever hit the small screen; at least in sitcom form. I agree, it’s realistic but there is a lot less joking and a lot more arguing in real life. But hard-luck sister, gloomy daughter, boyfriend of gloomy daughter hanging out trying to get some, bitchy daughter, whiny son, all realistic. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/53 "2012-10-24T17:37:47Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > I once asked one of my law enforcement friends which show he considered most consistently “on” for his profession and he responded that “unfortunately” **Reno 911** was far too often, spot on. > > If you knew my in-laws, you would agree that life in Dallas, Texas is wonderfully accurately portrayed by **King of the Hill**. I was going to post this. I have known several police officers that have said Reno 911 was the most realistic law enforcement show on television. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/54 "2012-10-24T19:12:05Z")
I always tell my friends that when I watched WKRP as a kid I thought it was a comedy. Then I became a DJ and realized it was a documentary! ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/55 "2012-10-24T20:33:39Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > While it is in most ways one of the _least_ realistic shows on TV, _Glee_ is sometimes weirdly true to life. > > I work at a university, and once last fall while I was riding the bus across campus I noticed that the students sitting behind me were talking about _Glee_. Due to the bus noise I could only catch every few words, but it was sounding like one of them was catching the other one up on episodes she’d missed. There was something about a girl named Rachel, a guy who cried a lot, a guy who turned out to be gay, some serious drama over who would land the lead roles in the fall musical, and various ingroup dating and breakups. This went on and on and finally it dawned on me that they weren’t talking about _Glee_ at all. They were theater majors, and this was what their lives were actually like. Yeah, the drama may be realistic, but every single thing else about that show is pure fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177/56 "2012-10-27T19:48:36Z")
A French movie going way back ; which many people honestly believe to be a documentary about the rebellion in Algeria. The Battle of Algiers. Exceptional. Two movies made for tv by Alan Clarke about Northern Ireland. Contact (Wait out), (The immediate message sent by Brit Army operators on being attacked by terrorists) And" Elephant", the name coming from the saying in N.I. at the time that living a normal life was like ignoring the Elephant in your front room. The first is about a Para patrol in South Armagh, most of the time its almost boring, and when violence occurs its over quickly and unglamourous. The latter is literally the reconstructions of sectarian murders from the Scene of Crime Photos of bodies of the victims. It is shocking but almost banal, when each murder, with its prelude "Waiting for the victim to reach the scene "happens. A.C. doesn’t say who, politically or religiously, are the victims or the murderers. You just see it, boringly without music, and lots of tedious walking about in unexotic locations. Well worth a watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-fictional-tv-show/638177.md?page=2)