# Things that are extremely common in TV shows/movies that you've rarely seen in real life **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161 "2009-08-29T16:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**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 10, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/423 "2009-09-10T20:15:00Z")
Do you not have kegs at private parties in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/424 "2009-09-10T20:48:51Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > One that I’ve noticed in teen/frat movies is that whenever there’s a party at which (gasp!) BEER might be drunk, the characters will always drink it from those itty-bitty brightly coloured [plastic cups](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.urlesque.com/media/2009/08/016-oz-red-plastic-cup-1000-cs-1.jpg). I’ve never seen anyone do that in real life. They either drink from the bottle/can or pour it into a clear pint glass. Itty-bitty? Those are usually at least 12 ounces and most of the time, if they’re filled to the brim, they’re 16 ounces. Plus they’re cheap and Costco usually sells them, so they show up a lot- not just at teen/frat drinking parties but at kid’s birthdays and family reunions. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/425 "2009-09-10T21:15:11Z")
Cheerleaders and football players wearing their uniforms to school on a daily basis (ie not a game day). None of the cheerleaders at my high school wore their uniforms to class unless there was a game that evening (or one of those damned pep rallies during the day) nor did any of the football players wear their jersey except under the same conditions. The cheerleaders uniforms were also more modest than TV/flim versions. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/426 "2009-09-10T21:18:21Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Hmm, maybe that’s just a US v UK thing then. Well, your servants can wash all those glasses, I suppose. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/427 "2009-09-10T21:21:09Z")
**Leiko** , the colored ones most familiar are the larger ones you describe, but there are ones that tend to be clear that are typically associated with kegs, and those are smaller (maybe 6 fl oz). **Attack from the 3rd dimension** said: > [@](#): > > I’ve had two drinks thrown in my face, on two separate occasions, by two separate women. The second time was in Antarctica, at the bar at the Palmer research station. The final straw was when she said she was going to throw the drink in my face, and I replied “Better women than you have done that”. How can I say this that is appropriate for this forum? Given that most people find this is something that never occurs in real life, and it has happened on _2 separate occassions_ to you, does this not suggest that perhaps you need to work on your pick-up technique? Or something? ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/428 "2009-09-10T22:59:03Z")
**Irishman** , I guess we’re watching different movies or having different real-life experiences or both. When I think of the 6 ounce clear plastic cups, I think airplanes, low-class sparkling cider toasts, and some of the cheaper motels I’ve stayed in. My default mental “keg cup” is a red or blue Solo plastic cup from Costco or Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/429 "2009-09-10T23:11:06Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Am I in the right thread, this time? Okay. Ahem. > > Whenever they inevitably have an episode of a Detective show set in a TV/movie studio, there always seems to be actors dressed up as vikings/pirates/vampires walking around in the background, and a hell of a lot of props people carrying trees. > > I suspect these things are rarer at a real TV studio. I have seen that at Disney studios. I was there for a business meeting, and the place was covered in pirates and pirate zombies for the Pirates of the Caribbean flix. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/430 "2009-09-11T01:01:15Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > **Leiko** , the colored ones most familiar are the larger ones you describe, but there are ones that tend to be clear that are typically associated with kegs, and those are smaller (maybe 6 fl oz). > > **Attack from the 3rd dimension** said: > How can I say this that is appropriate for this forum? Given that most people find this is something that never occurs in real life, and it has happened on _2 separate occassions_ to you, does this not suggest that perhaps you need to work on your pick-up technique? Or something? Neither one was a pickup. The first was a good friend who had an unbelievable hairtrigger fiery temper - I suspect she threw pots and pans at most of her acquaintances. The second was a co-worker on a research expedition, and for some reason we just rubbed each other the wrong way. I could say nothing to her that she didn’t take as an insult. The drink throwing took place after a few drinks were inside us, and I’d finally had enough. The event was cathartic, and after that we got along fine. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/431 "2009-09-11T01:41:12Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > Itty-bitty? Those are usually at least 12 ounces and most of the time, if they’re filled to the brim, they’re 16 ounces. Plus they’re cheap and Costco usually sells them, so they show up a lot- not just at teen/frat drinking parties but at kid’s birthdays and family reunions. [Prime example](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx4lC2GK1k) - see from 6:20 onwards. I don’t know why but they always seem to stand out. I’ll admit they’re not as small as I remember, though. (Having kegs isn’t that common at student parties over here - usually people will just bring a six-pack with them and maybe the host will have a big dustbin full of ice with bottles of beer in.) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/432 "2009-09-11T02:10:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Do you not have kegs at private parties in the UK? They make an appearance at Australian parties, but most people seem to have heaps of glasses and mugs in their house anyway, so I’ve yet to attend a private party where people were drinking out of disposable plastic cups from a keg. What we do here (and in NZ) is “BYO”, where every guest brings a six-pack or a bottle of something and shares it with everyone else. That way, there’s no shortage of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) for everyone to enjoy, and there’s usually quite a good variety to choose from, so people can try something a bit different too. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/433 "2009-09-11T04:05:13Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > The thought behind it is if someone sells you a car with some crappy tires on it, they’re probably selling you a crappy car. In one of Dave Berg’s “Lighter Side” strips in MAD mag a guy listens to the dealer’s spiel and then delivers a kick to one of the tires. Guy’s wife whispers to him “why do you kick the tires?” to which he responds “because guys who know about used cars _always_ kick the tires! I don’t want the dealer to think I’m a boob and take advantage of me”. Meanwhile, the dealer is whispering to his assistant “you can always tell a boob who knows nothing about used cars when he kicks the tires. Watch me take advantage of him!” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/434 "2009-09-11T04:53:24Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > When our - always innocent - hero is brought to the holding cell, it’s full of the biggest ugliest most tattooed criminals: Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers! Environmentalists! (Sorry, I just got a big chuckle out of a line from _[Orphans of Chaos](http://www.amazon.com/Orphans-Chaos-John-C-Wright/dp/0765349957/)_ by British author John C. Wright. The main character has just learned who she really is, and thinks, “What if [she/I] was, I don’t know, a murderess or an adulteress or an environmentalist or something?”) > [@alphaboi867](#): > > Cheerleaders and football players wearing their uniforms to school on a daily basis (ie not a game day). None of the cheerleaders at my high school wore their uniforms to class unless there was a game that evening (or one of those damned pep rallies during the day) nor did any of the football players wear their jersey except under the same conditions. The cheerleaders uniforms were also more modest than TV/flim versions. This reminds me of one of my “porn peeves” - scenes set in a locker room where the quarterback is getting busy with a pair of cheerleaders, and the cheerleaders are wearing different uniforms with different colors. Okay, so maybe the quarterback is nailing one of his own cheerleaders and one of his opponent’s cheerleaders … except _neither_ cheerleader’s uniform matches the colors of the quarterback’s jersey, so at least one of them is in the wrong freakin’ _stadium_ :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/435 "2009-09-11T05:52:17Z")
I don’t think that’s the sort of thing you’re supposed to be noticing, there… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/436 "2009-09-11T05:59:12Z")
I’ve personally never seen this but maybe it’s uber common–but how about the mom who’s got several kids, the youngest of whom is usually a teenager (not like super young), suddenly having a late in life baby just in time for sweeps week? Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Family Ties, for starters. And before you start up with, “MY mother did that,” did your baby sibling age five years in one season? Do you have the Jack of kids? ---
**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:** [September 11, 2009, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/437 "2009-09-11T10:18:51Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > They make an appearance at Australian parties, but most people seem to have heaps of glasses and mugs in their house anyway, so I’ve yet to attend a private party where people were drinking out of disposable plastic cups from a keg. > > What we do here (and in NZ) is “BYO”, where every guest brings a six-pack or a bottle of something and shares it with everyone else. That way, there’s no shortage of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) for everyone to enjoy, and there’s usually quite a good variety to choose from, so people can try something a bit different too. Actually, a lot of the time a sleeve or two of the small plastic cups comes with the keg as a freebie. Last time mrAru’s division had a boat party, the cups came branded with some beer or another [um, budwiser i think] so the cost of the cups was advertising for the beer distributer. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2009, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/438 "2009-09-11T10:24:39Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’ve personally never seen this but maybe it’s uber common–but how about the mom who’s got several kids, the youngest of whom is usually a teenager (not like super young), suddenly having a late in life baby just in time for sweeps week? Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Family Ties, for starters. And before you start up with, “MY mother did that,” did your baby sibling age five years in one season? Do you have the Jack of kids? My mum in law is the youngest of 7 kids, and she is 12 years younger than her next oldest sibling … good salt of the earth missouri farmer folk, no real attempt at any sort of birth control went on pre WW2 … ---
**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 11, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/439 "2009-09-11T13:48:49Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > My mum in law is the youngest of 7 kids, and she is 12 years younger than her next oldest sibling … good salt of the earth missouri farmer folk, no real attempt at any sort of birth control went on pre WW2 … So you mean your mother-in-law’s parents were estranged for twelve years? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/440 "2009-09-11T13:50:51Z")
The season opener of Glee was full of them but the one I noticed most was the one they did about thirty times in the show. In a gigantic high school, two of the characters stumble into one another at the most unlikely places at the oddest times catching them doing telling things and nobody else is within miles of them. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/441 "2009-09-11T14:11:31Z")
My husband did a lot of family history research (yes, I totally did that to avoid looking up how to spell the correct word for it), and noticed a pattern of babies in the twenties, then no babies, then a baby or two in the early or middle forties. He was puzzling out loud about it to his aunt, who told him why. Your cycle tends to be regular in your twenties and thirties. As you approach middle forties, it goes all haywire on you. So people that were more or less successfully using the natural family planning approach got surprises. Now, that’s talking about rural women in 1960s and before, so it doesn’t necessarily track with the plot on a TV show. But it was pretty common around here. Still is, to a certain extent. Myself, I was born nine years after the next youngest. Surprise! ETA: I know this is anecdotal and not scientific in anyway. It’s Aunt Barb’s theory. I added it as a point of interest, not as The Right Answer. Just sayin’. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161/442 "2009-09-11T15:02:38Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > So you mean your mother-in-law’s parents were estranged for twelve years? 😛 or just lucky in not getting pregnant 😃 Though she did have an older sibling die of polio, but that sib was just a under year younger than the previous sib … what is it called, irish twins or somthing scurrilous like that 😛 In my family we came along every 2 years … 57, 59 and 61, then my mom went on the pill or something. The years between 49 and 57 were managed by the military. Hard to get pregnant when you arent even in the same country =) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-extremely-common-in-tv-shows-movies-that-youve-rarely-seen-in-real-life/508161.md?page=23)