# Ridiculous portrayals of professions on TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375 "2011-10-31T13:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/121 "2011-11-02T22:36:57Z")
Maybe academia has contributed to to the devaluation of “Science”. I myself have a Bachelor of **Science** degree in Political **Science**. IIRC, the difference between an Arts degree and a Science degree in the same field was … maybe taking two more core courses and two less elective non-PS courses. And if there’s one thing I did learn, it’s that politics is not a science, and the study of it science in a pretty loose sense. And let us recall that, aside from this contemporary bashing of science, EVERYBODY proclaimed that science was solidly in their corner. Eventually, there was a term coined for it – “junk science”. People called upon science like they called upon gods, and perhaps since people couldn’t tell the difference between junk and legitimate science, they began to discredit all of it. And if you think science is ultimately used as bullshit to support anything you want it to, what’s the point of learning anything about it? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/122 "2011-11-02T22:49:17Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I remember going into the teachers lounge a couple times while in grade school and having trouble finding my teacher through the cigarette smoke. I’m quite sure that though the room has not been used in years it likely still smells like coffee and cigarettes. I would have to say that in grammar school, I never saw the nuns smoke, but in the public high school the teachers did. ---
**Author:** ![J.Michael\_Straczynski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@J.Michael\_Straczynski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J.Michael_Straczynski)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/123 "2011-11-03T00:09:32Z")
In brief: no, Babylon 5 doesn’t get any better, it will always be just what it is, caught on film like a fly in amber. It’s up to each person to decide, in the quiet turning of their considered conscience, whether or not they like what it is (with, albeit, a rather rocky first season). What did Londo see? Everything. Sluttiest woman in hollywood? Yo mamma. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/124 "2011-11-03T00:14:31Z")
If I ever catch up with you I’m gonna kiss you right on the lips! 😃 In the meantime, I’d just like to say: Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/125 "2011-11-03T00:46:24Z")
My father was a psychophysiologist (PhD in psychology–he did research mostly, taught university courses and wrote text books), and was appalled by TV psychologists–the Dr. Phil type, although Dr. Joyce Brothers was the archetype. Bob Newhart’s portrayal, on the other hand, left my dad in stitches, not because of the portrayal of the profession, but because he was a big fan of Newhart’s humor. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/126 "2011-11-03T00:52:02Z")
> [@J.Michael\_Straczynski](#): > > In brief: no, Babylon 5 doesn’t get any better, it will always be just what it is, caught on film like a fly in amber. It’s up to each person to decide, in the quiet turning of their considered conscience, whether or not they like what it is (with, albeit, a rather rocky first season). > > What did Londo see? Everything. > > Sluttiest woman in hollywood? Yo mamma. That would MY thread! (Does B5 ever get better? And yes, I think it does.) 😃 I also wanted to say: thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/127 "2011-11-03T01:06:48Z")
> [@J.Michael\_Straczynski](#): > > Sluttiest woman in hollywood? Yo mamma. This is a _real_ writer. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/128 "2011-11-03T01:34:17Z")
Wow. JMS joined the Straight Dope and posted in a thread. Twice. _And I was here._ ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/129 "2011-11-03T02:55:30Z")
In the wrong thread for the second post. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/130 "2011-11-03T03:12:43Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > TV moms. (It’s sort of a profession.) With notable exceptions (Roseanne), they are slim, glammed up, sharp women, on top of every situation, dealing with dumb husbands/friends/in-laws with rapier wit. The kids are trotted in for a minute at a time and conveniently disappear for vast stretches “playing in their room”. The baby is as silent as a cabbage patch doll. They scamper through their neat upper-middle-class kitchens in skinny jeans and cute tight sweaters - messy? A toy scattered here and there, a coat draped over the arm of the sofa. Comical slices of life, their lives are one mad wacky whirl, and at night they sit down and count their blessings. You never see a depressed TV mom crying/yelling/wrangling her special needs kid/downing a few glasses of wine. Life for a TV mom is - not a breeze, but idealized. _Grace Under Fire_ was more realistic in this regard. At least initially. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/131 "2011-11-03T04:32:23Z")
I watch Grey’s Anatomy because I got sucked into the story lines. But OHMY it’s unrealistic! Doctors who have time to sit and chat, grope each other constantly (we’ve named one character, “Take off his shirt” because that’s almost the ONLY thing he does!), combined with wide hallways, lack of clutter, and organization… I WANT to like Body of Proof, but the HUGE autopsy suites with floor to ceiling windows, single patient assignments and complete analysis done by finding a single hair push me to the point beyond belief. I could only watch one episode of Prison Break before the absurdities drove me away. I’d rather watch reruns of MASH. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/132 "2011-11-03T05:05:38Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Where this becomes a problem is that it gives the impression that there’s no problem with people showing up at one of these small restaurants in a party of 30, without calling ahead, because they’ve been subconsciously led to think there’s enough staff to handle that. A couple years ago at the convention center, we hosted a three-day convention for several hundred people from out of town. The group, when they booked (far in advance) elected to not have us prepare three meals a day, choosing instead to leave lunch open each day and have attendees get their own lunches at local restaurants. A couple weeks later we got a letter from the lady who booked the event, _berating_ us because these _other_ local restaurants were unprepared for the large number of convention-goers who descended on them. She thought we should have informed these restaurants so that they’d be ready and could schedule “extra staff”. Aside from the fact that the convention bureau actually _does_ send a schedule of events to local businesses for exactly this reason, once that’s done it’s out of our hands. The lady apparently didn’t understand that a restaurant can’t schedule “extra staff” that it doesn’t have. Like the small deli/cafe directly across the street from us that apparently bore the brunt of this crowd. They’re only open a few hours a day, and it’s probable that their entire staff was already scheduled as normal. It’s not like they’re going to hire extra people just for three days of 2-hour shifts. When I worked overnight armed security at a few local Perkins restaurants, one night a full bus of convention visitors descended on the place. Now there were only three people working there at the time (2am). Me, the waiter, and the cook. The waiter ran out to the bus before anyone could get off and told them that there was just NO WAY he and the lone cook could handle the 50+ people on the bus, and directed them to other places he knew nearby who would have more than one waiter and one cook on duty. It took a fair amount of convincing. Those people wanted off the bus and they wanted food NOW, which became the waiter’s selling point. One guy cooking for all of you means a long wait. Go somewhere else, PLEASE. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/133 "2011-11-03T05:37:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I was watching some of **CSI: Miami** last night and was stunned by the idiocy with which they portrayed the life of a writer. > > It turned out that the victim and two others were ghostwriters for a best-selling author, who provided them novel’s plot and characters after which they did all the actual writing. One of the ghostwriters blackmailed the author asking for a payoff in exchange for not revealing the secret. She is murdered in the same way as the victim in the book, but it turns out > > the other two ghostwriters thought she was claiming credit for the work they did, so decided to kill her. > > I watched the entire thing wondering why writers are always portrayed so idiotically on TV.\* > > In this case, while it’s not unheard of for a author to use ghosts (Lester del Rey and Ellery Queen did), there isn’t much stigma attached to it. Nowadays especially, when you see books like **Isaac Asimov’s Foundations Fear** or the work of VC Andrews™. And _three_ ghosts? That’s TV writing, not novel writing. Even given the assumption, why pay three people when one can do the job? Certainly not to create more books; publishers don’t like to flood the market with one author, and would rather put out one book a year by an author instead of multiple ones. As for killing someone for stealing your ideas – ideas are cheap and given the (ridiculous) situation set up, what does it matter? You’re not getting credit anyway. > > I firmly believe that writers are the most poorly portrayed profession on TV. There are certainly lapses in other professions, but I’m willing to accept a little dramatic license (even for writers). But when you see a book author portrayed on TV, it’s going to be like portraying Floridians with gills. > > Rant aside, what are examples of portrayals of professions on TV that go far beyond dramatic license and into the Twilight Zone? > \ ***Castle** is the exception. Not only do they occasionally show him writing or working on writing problems, but the details of book publishing at his level are usually the way they are in real life. Writers were the first thing I thought of when reading the subject line, but for a completely different reason. Shows like One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl have characters who are successful authors…all before the age of 25. The average age at the publication of an author’s first novel is somewhere in the mid-30s! Yes, sure, some people are successful authors before they can legally drink, but it’s not nearly as common as on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/134 "2011-11-03T10:36:04Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > My own experience. I had a kidney stone and it was removed this past January. They told me they would call me with the results of what it is made of, to know what to avoid to create more. I haven’t heard from them ten months later. So much for same day results! Call them: either they’ve got a backlog bigger than the Rocky Mountains or someone forgot to forward your results. I’ve actually run that specific analysis manually and it’s a matter of minutes; one hour if they’re going through the whole kit and double-checking every step. Engineers are either “generic body-shaped lump with pocket protector” or someone who is superb in every single engineering specialty; in the case of English-language media, they’ll also have handymanship (I think it’s because in English an “engineer” can be both “someone with an Engineering degree” and “someone who works with engines”). The same dude will design every single part of a complex machine (car, robot, plane, weapon…) and be able to build it all, preferably in his garage. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/135 "2011-11-03T10:47:30Z")
> [@J.Michael\_Straczynski](#): > > Eventually, the Dramatic Nebula was reinstated – I think it was 98 or 99 – but it still raised enough of a sense of resentment that it was eventually withdrawn again in, I think, 2008. The “TV/film writing isn’t real writing and thus isn’t eligible for a Nebula” won again and designated a second-class-citizen award (despite being named after a first-class writer), the Ray Bradbury Award, which went first to Jim Cameron, then, ironically enough, to me. I remember the whole kerfluffle vividly, it is one of the reasons I stopped participating in the conversations with certain people. I do remember making a few comments about prima donnas that got me in a bit of hot water. \ ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/136 "2011-11-03T11:59:12Z")
On Fraser the physical therapist lived in his home, and did the family dishes. I don’t do dishes, and feel like I am barely home enough to “live” in my own home. Physical therapists don’t treat people continuously for 4+ years, either. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/137 "2011-11-03T15:02:13Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe academia has contributed to to the devaluation of “Science”. I myself have a Bachelor of **Science** degree in Political **Science**. Rule of names. If it says it in the name, it probably isn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/138 "2011-11-03T15:11:25Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Engineers are either “generic body-shaped lump with pocket protector” or someone who is superb in every single engineering specialty; in the case of English-language media, they’ll also have handymanship (I think it’s because in English an “engineer” can be both “someone with an Engineering degree” and “someone who works with engines”). The same dude will design every single part of a complex machine (car, robot, plane, weapon…) and be able to build it all, preferably in his garage. Yep. > [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Rule of names. If it says it in the name, it probably isn’t it. Yeah, like my Mechanical Engineering degree has nothing to do with engineering. Oh, wait. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/139 "2011-11-03T15:17:05Z")
> [@conurepete](#): > > On Fraser the physical therapist lived in his home, and did the family dishes. I don’t do dishes, and feel like I am barely home enough to “live” in my own home. Physical therapists don’t treat people continuously for 4+ years, either. Was Daphne an actual PT? I was under the impression that she started out as a home health aide, and they eventually hired her as a housekeeper who could still help Dad with his therapy/exercises. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375/140 "2011-11-21T00:21:59Z")
If JMS is talking about writers who do it for them money, then I think he should consider the situation in which he declared he wasn’t going to turn B5 into a franchise and then subsequently brought out the Crusade spin off and that dreadful pilot for the Legend of the Rangers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ridiculous-portrayals-of-professions-on-tv/601375.md?page=8)