# Things script writers get wrong every time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999 "2017-02-04T18:48:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/101 "2017-02-10T05:52:15Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Bombs… > > Scene: Hapless non-tech finds bomb set to go off in 5 minutes. Phone call to tech-expert back at HQ. > > I found a bomb! How do I disarm it?! > Describe what you see. > There’s a timer. And a circuit board. And 6 batteries on the right side! > Do you see a blue wire? > Yes! > Don’t touch the blue wire. The bomb will detonate. Find the green wire. > Okay. Got it. > Cut that one. > _Cuts wire_ Two seconds left on still timer. > So all villainous bomb makers use the same build guide? Or get the same do it yourself bomb kit from ACME? Why weren’t those in the Heathkit catalog? I’ve heard this complaint before, but I’ve never seen a movie where it is a problem. It is usually used where a series of bombs haver been left by the same person. It comes from Real Life. During WWII the Germans dropped a load of bombs on England. Some didn’t explode on impact. The bombs were made in factories to a few specific designs. The UXB team had learned that with type 1, they should cut the red wire, and with type 2 they should cut the blue wire, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/102 "2017-02-10T08:02:29Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > That was a plot point, building the tension for the upcoming ambiguous series ending. I certainly don’t think it can never be used, just that it needs a purpose other than portraying the reality of finding parking in a city. **jtur88** excellently describes things they get wrong every time. Street parking is not one of them. Thing is, they can just skip the parking. Show the characters leaving the office, saying “I drive”. Next shot, they walk to wherever they’re going. It is understood they haven’t just shoved the car into a pocket. If you need to show the car because of brand placement deals, show it in a garage. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/103 "2017-02-10T15:54:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Thing is, they can just skip the parking. > > Show the characters leaving the office, saying “I drive”. > > Next shot, they walk to wherever they’re going. It is understood they haven’t just shoved the car into a pocket. > > If you need to show the car because of brand placement deals, show it in a garage. Definitely. This happens quite often, where they get the call in the office and in the next scene they are on their way in the car; or where they are talking in the car then next knocking on a door. I’m not going to guess why sometimes the directors feel the car pulling up to the curb scene is necessary for the story and others it is not. That said, the _car pulling up to the curb_ scene is a few seconds; realistic parking and walking would be significantly longer. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/104 "2017-02-10T17:18:41Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > \ > They also ignore how filthy everyone’s cars get in the winter. EVERYTHING gets filthy in winter. Every frigging thing. You can’t touch anything outside in winter without getting filthy. > [@The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](#): > > On a related note: people getting knocked out and waking up hours later. If you’re knocked out for more than a minute or two, you’ve incurred a serious, permanent brain injury. “Welcome to the Lana Lang Traumatic Brain Injury Wing of the hospital.” (From “Smallville,” where Lana gets knocked out at least once per episode.) > [@Shamozzle](#): > > I’m curious, how cold does it get where you folks live?\ I was wondering that myself. I’ve lived in Western Canada all 50 of my years - I know cold. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/105 "2017-02-10T17:49:53Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > I’m curious, how cold does it get where you folks live? > > Where I live, it gets colder than Genghis Khan’s mother-in-law and only fools don’t warm up their vehicles good and proper (not calling anyone here a fool), for the sake of the vehicle’s happy parts. > > So, you either sit in your vehicle and wait, dreaming of Antarctica, or you go back inside and watch YouTube videos for 10 or 15 minutes. If you’re really clever you let the heat melt the ice on the windows for you. I’m in northeastern South Dakota and it gets pretty darn cold here. That being said, not only is it wasting gas to leave a car running to ‘warm up’, it’s bad for the car. You should warm it up by driving it around at something much less than highway speed. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/106 "2017-02-10T18:11:05Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > That being said, not only is it wasting gas to leave a car running to ‘warm up’, it’s bad for the car. It’s not bad for modern cars, it’s just unnecessary from a mechanical point of view. But for those of us who don’t care to sit in a sub-freezing environment, warming it up to get heat is highly desirable and worth the small cost of gas used. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/107 "2017-02-10T19:42:27Z")
12 Step recovery (meetings, programs in general). They never get it right. NEVER. Which, seeing as how many screenwriters have substance abuse issues, must be intentional. Note: **Elementary** has come the closest I’ve seen ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/108 "2017-02-10T20:04:56Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Scriptwriters and movie makers who live in Los Angeles making movies/tv shows that are supposed to be set in a cold place always drives me a little bit crazy - those of us who live in cold places can always tell when they’re faking a “cold” place. You cant see the actors’ breath, nothing warm outside is steaming, the snow doesn’t sound right, the snow doesn’t melt when it hits a warm human or when they come inside - the list just goes on and on. The movie “Fargo” got it the closest to right, but they still have a big flub when they had William Macy’s character scrape his car before he started it - I and no one I know would ever do it in that order. And those “winter” scenes, especially for TV shows, are often shot in August or September. Pity the poor actors and extras in winter coats, boots and scarves when it’s 100 degrees out! Conversely, “summer” scenes are often shot in January and February - shooting beach and pool scenes in winter, even California winter, is not that much fun. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/109 "2017-02-10T20:10:45Z")
_Grumpy Old Men_ and _Grumpier Old Men_ pretty much got it right as they were mostly filmed in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/110 "2017-02-10T22:28:33Z")
In a dim sewer or tunnel or some such, a bunch of rats are scurrying around squeaking constantly. I have had quite a bit of experience with rats, both wild and domesticated, and they just don’t squeak that often. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/111 "2017-02-10T22:52:54Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I think what really irritates me the most is what TV Tropes calls [SoCalization.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SoCalization) Meaning, pretending things are the same everywhere else in the country as they are in SoCal. The worst offender in recent history was the TV show [Detroit 1-8-7.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_1-8-7) Section 187 is the _ **California** _ penal code for murder and bears no resemblance to the numbering used in the Michigan Compiled Laws. There was an episode of _One Day at a Time_ where someone in an activist group Barbara wanted to join was credited with “spearheading” some “recall election.” ODAAT is set in Indiana, and we don’t have recall elections here, like they do in California. Also, a couple of other Indiana things that bug me: one is really petty, but the Indianapolis police are not the IPD, they are the IMPD, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Any show set in Indiana and involving the police NEVER bothers to research this. The other is specific to the show _The Good Wife_. There were, IIRC, three death penalty cases on the show, all in Indiana, where the characters hopped over the Illinois border to handle them, because Illinois, where the show was set doesn’t have the death penalty. Thing is, Indiana is not Texas. We didn’t actually have an execution during the whole run of the show, let alone three. And if we did, I doubt that a defendant would hire a lawyer who works in a state without the death penalty; they’d hire a death penalty expert. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/112 "2017-02-11T03:28:52Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > I’ve been involved in public education my entire life, and I have never heard the leader of the school called “Principal Smith”. The principal is always Mr. Smith or Mrs. Jones. The job title is never used in addressing the person or referencing the person in other conversation. On TV programs, however, the principal seems always to be “Principal So-and-So”. Look, Drum God, you’re my brother, so you and I both remember that time back in elementary school when you peed on Principal Snyder’s lunchbox. I don’t have to tell you how upset mom was, because we both were there. And I definitely don’t have to remind you that you had to spend six weeks with Counselor Martinez after school. Remember how that gave you your fear of enclosed spaces, what you and I both know is also called claustrophobia? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/113 "2017-02-12T16:49:40Z")
Not even sure this is wrong, but here goes: Seen this scenario a few times, most recently on Gotham. Woman finds out something that freaks her out, starts screaming. Man puts hand over her mouth to stop said screaming. Woman can’t breathe, dies. Isn’t far more likely to go like this. Man puts hand over mouth to stop screaming. Woman passes out from lack of oxygen, stops struggling. Man, no longer getting resistance, removes hand from mouth. Woman starts breathing again, doesn’t die. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/114 "2017-02-12T17:01:42Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Not even sure this is wrong, but here goes: Seen this scenario a few times, most recently on Gotham. Woman finds out something that freaks her out, starts screaming. Man puts hand over her mouth to stop said screaming. Woman can’t breathe, dies. Isn’t far more likely to go like this. Man puts hand over mouth to stop screaming. Woman passes out from lack of oxygen, stops struggling. Man, no longer getting resistance, removes hand from mouth. Woman starts breathing again, doesn’t die. Much more likely; to kill someone that way, you have to block their breathing for a few minutes more, after they’ve passed out. You see the same thing in scenes where the murderer puts a pillow over the face of the sleeping victim. They awaken, struggle, subside, and fall still. The villain then pulls the pillow away…much too soon. (Also, many pillows are quite air-permeable!) (Come to think of it, in the scene you’re describing, does the guy block the victim’s nose too?) ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/115 "2017-02-12T17:29:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > There was an episode of _One Day at a Time_ where someone in an activist group Barbara wanted to join was credited with “spearheading” some “recall election.” ODAAT is set in Indiana, and we don’t have recall elections here, like they do in California. > > Also, a couple of other Indiana things that bug me: one is really petty, but the Indianapolis police are not the IPD, they are the IMPD, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Any show set in Indiana and involving the police NEVER bothers to research this. > > The other is specific to the show _The Good Wife_. There were, IIRC, three death penalty cases on the show, all in Indiana, where the characters hopped over the Illinois border to handle them, because Illinois, where the show was set doesn’t have the death penalty. Thing is, Indiana is not Texas. We didn’t actually have an execution during the whole run of the show, let alone three. And if we did, I doubt that a defendant would hire a lawyer who works in a state without the death penalty; they’d hire a death penalty expert. I just remembered a more egregious example, also committed by the writers of the show “Detroit 1-8-7.” In one scene they try to extract a confession by saying the suspect would be facing the death penalty at trial. Except Michigan abolished capital punishment **in 1836.** and specifically outlawed it in the state constitution in 1963. and as far as I know there’s been no credible effort to change that. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/116 "2017-02-12T17:49:15Z")
I do know that the old show “The Fugitive” was originally supposed to have taken place in Michigan, then was changed to Indiana because of Michigan’s lack of a death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/117 "2017-02-12T17:59:36Z")
One that may not be down to scriptwriters so much as directors: courtroom scenes in the UK adopting the clichés of US trial scenes, particularly a barrister shouting “Objection!” (which might happen but might well raise a judge’s eyebrow) and more egregiously judges wielding gavels - which they don’t over here. And gratingly Broadchurch 2 was full of additional legal procedural howlers - have to hope for better from Series 3. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/118 "2017-02-12T18:07:07Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (Come to think of it, in the scene you’re describing, does the guy block the victim’s nose too?) Maybe she had a head cold? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/119 "2017-02-12T18:10:31Z")
Most workplace environments are unrecognizable. First of all, I don’t think I have ever in real life seen men wearing ties with short-sleeves shirts but from watching TV and movies you would thing all office jobs have that as a standard. And someone who is trying to get ahead works on the weekend. There are a lot of jobs where you can’t actually do much by deciding on your own to work more hours. On weekends you wouldn’t have the support and your clients or other necessary contacts wouldn’t be available either. And there’s the Big Promotion that a handful of characters are trying to compete for. That situation is not all that common. And the Big Promotion depends on the success of the Big Presentation. Well I know a lot of people on a lot of professions and while a lot of jobs occasionally require public speech I don’t know anyone who has been preparing for a Big Presentation that everything hinges on. Big shots don’t make decisions based on a singular event like that. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999/120 "2017-02-13T02:50:53Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Most workplace environments are unrecognizable. So true. > [@](#): > > First of all, I don’t think I have ever in real life seen men wearing ties with short-sleeves shirts but from watching TV and movies you would thing all office jobs have that as a standard. I have, but not very often. > [@](#): > > And someone who is trying to get ahead works on the weekend. There are a lot of jobs where you can’t actually do much by deciding on your own to work more hours. On weekends you wouldn’t have the support and your clients or other necessary contacts wouldn’t be available either. Weekends (and late nights) were often good for actually getting the mundane work done. No meetings, no phone calls, no interruptions. Sure, one could get stymied when one couldn’t get critical information, but some emails and it’s the first thing on someone’s Monday list. It all depends on the job. > [@](#): > > And there’s the Big Promotion that a handful of characters are trying to compete for. That situation is not all that common. Yes and no. Most who wanted to be promoted knew that there would be limited slots and that one would have to outperform his/her peers. But I don’t recall ever knowing how many slots, not 100% the scoring criteria. > [@](#): > > And the Big Promotion depends on the success of the Big Presentation. True, but landing a big client, especially close to promotion time, could be a game changer. Landing that same client right after promotions are given out, in some workplaces, might be useless for advancement purposes. > [@](#): > > Well I know a lot of people on a lot of professions and while a lot of jobs occasionally require public speech I don’t know anyone who has been preparing for a Big Presentation that everything hinges on. Big shots don’t make decisions based on a singular event like that. Very true, but for critical sales pitches, often (not always) there is practice so that one’s firm comes across as a well-oiled machine. But yeah, unless its a small- or medium-sized firm already circling the drain, there is (almost) never _One Pitch to Rule Them All_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-script-writers-get-wrong-every-time/778999.md?page=7)