# Those annoying cliches in movies and TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858 "2006-04-23T15:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/21 "2006-04-23T22:21:37Z")
I had a razor-line hairstyle and a Rubik’s cube in the 80s but pretty much wore mundane clothes. If I were a TV show character a flashback in the 80s would show me dressed as Boy George while my friends were dressed as Mr. T and Jennifer Beals talking about WHAM! and how Rick Springfield was going to be the next Elvis and BetaMax was gonna be the only VCR on earth in a few years ago. And as I’ve mentioned in other threads, there’s nobody on Earth more fertile than a man who’s about to die, particularly if it’s the only time he’s ever had sex with the heroine. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/22 "2006-04-23T22:35:39Z")
I HATE IT WHEN THE CAR STALLS… :mad: I HATE IT WHEN THE KEYS DON’T FIT IN THE LOCK… :mad: I HATE IT WHEN THE CLOCK OR TIMER STOPS SECONDS BEFORE DETONATION… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/23 "2006-04-23T22:36:52Z")
When someone hangs up on the other end of the phone, there is no delay between the click and the dial tone. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/24 "2006-04-23T23:56:45Z")
> [@Ruffian](#): > > I **HATE** that every time a cat is onscreen, the sound folks _have_ to add in a “meow,” just in case you didn’t know it was a cat. “What IS that furry four-legged thing walking across the…\…OHH! It’s a CAT! Now I can go on with the movie…” > > Being an equestrian and owning horses, I’m even MORE irritated by the insertion of whinnying sound effects whenever a horse is on screen. NOW you know those are HORSES! It’s also amazing how many TV horses whinny with their mouths closed. > > And FTR: the whinny sound they use most sounds exactly like my girls when they are expecting their dinner. So are all movie horses just hungry?? > > grumble I was just gona write this same thing! Dogs are always whimpering and barking and growling, too. If my dogs mad that much noise, I’d boot their butts outside ! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/25 "2006-04-23T23:57:53Z")
> [@Ruffian](#): > > I **HATE** that every time a cat is onscreen, the sound folks _have_ to add in a “meow,” just in case you didn’t know it was a cat. … > Being an equestrian and owning horses, I’m even MORE irritated by the insertion of whinnying sound effects whenever a horse is on screen. Along these same lines, I HATE it when they show an establishment shot of traffic in Los Angeles and the sound folks add several horns honking. People don’t honk their horns like that in LA! We’re mellow, dagnabbit. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/26 "2006-04-24T00:15:27Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I find it jarring to be sitting there trying to suspend my belief and a character gives out a 555 phone number. > > Yes, I understand why they don’t it, but I still hate it. There are two movies I’ve seen in my lifetime that don’t do this, and it’s equally jarring. The first is “Dancing at the Blue Iguana”, which was meh for me otherwise. The second is either “Rushmore” or “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” - I can’t exactly remember now. Hell, it might not be either one. It’s just spectacular when it doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/27 "2006-04-24T01:00:20Z")
Speaking of phones; in any cop show you’ll watch, if the detectives are talking about a case and they get a phone call, it will ALWAYS be about the case they’re working on. NEVER about something else. ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/28 "2006-04-24T02:53:20Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > I was just gona write this same thing! Dogs are always whimpering and barking and growling, too. If my dogs mad that much noise, I’d boot their butts outside ! 😛 Ya know what gets me? Snakes. Every single time you see a snake onscreen, it rattles. Burmese pythons do not rattle. Neither do anacondas, garden snakes, cobra, black mambas…in fact, the only snakes that **do** rattle are…_Rattlesnakes!_ And while we’re at it, [kookaburras](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kookaburra) only live in Australia & New Guinea. Stop using that sound effect over every jungle movie. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/29 "2006-04-24T02:58:02Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > Speaking of phones; in any cop show you’ll watch, if the detectives are talking about a case and they get a phone call, it will ALWAYS be about the case they’re working on. NEVER about something else. Well, because don’t ya know, they only ever work on one case at a time. Every crime that is committed gets it’s own set of two well dressed detectives and an ADA to work on it. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/30 "2006-04-24T04:23:25Z")
Foley artists are the laziest fuckers on the planet. Someone earlier said there is always a meow when we see a cat…and it’d always the exact same meow every time. Unless the cat is injured or startled, then it’s the “angry cat yelp thingy” meow. It’s often used when someone back their car into garbage cans in an alley way. Every time there are kids playing, insert standard “kids laughing” track. Commercials with kids are the worst about this. Police radio chatter is always the same sound. Watch two episodes of Law and Order and you’ll recognize it easily. We of course all know the “Wilheilm scream,” but there are least two other screams that I can recognize easily but don’t know the names for. I also hate with an undying passion when someone is on a cell phone, the person on the other line hangs up, and the get dial tone. WTF? Are foley artists now MORONS! Don’t they have their own cell phones? They KNOW there is no dialtone. If a dumb producer or director ever told me to put one in, I’d say, “You’re a moron. Turn on your cell right now…is thgere a dialtone? NO!” ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/31 "2006-04-24T05:26:45Z")
Related to the instantaneous dial tone, how about when a caller gets disconnected? You see people “jiggle” that thing on the phone. Has anyone ever done this? Where did people learn about this? Is this the best way to re-establish a telephone connection? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/32 "2006-04-24T06:39:20Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > If a dumb producer or director ever told me to put one in, I’d say, > “You’re a moron. Turn on your cell right now…is thgere a dialtone? NO!” Actually, you’d be lucky if the producer or director knew _how_ to turn on their cellphone. A great many of your “high powered” types don’t have the faintest idea of how such things work as they have people to do that for them. **wolf\_meister** , abck when there were only rotary dial phones the jiggle thing would sometimes work. Since the introduction of modern switching set ups, it doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/33 "2006-04-24T07:00:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > This is why I love Joss Whedon. No cliche is safe around him. > > **Zoe** : Jayne. This is something the Captain has to do for himself. > **Mal** : No! No, it’s not! > **Zoe** : Oh. (Bang!) Or in Serenity: Operative: …I’m unarmed. Mal immediatly pulls his gun Shoots the Operative. The Operative then tackels Mal when he turns his back. Operative: I am, however, wearing full Body armor. I am not a moron! ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/34 "2006-04-24T07:13:04Z")
My (least)favorite cliches. 1. “Elite” military units that act like they didn’t even graduate basic training. It’s suprising how often this happens. 2. Related to #1, people in movies who continually rack the slides of their firearms because the sound is “cool”. No, what you are doing is clearing the chamber, idiot. If the gun was loaded, you’ve just ejected a pefectly good bullet/shell. If a bullet doesn’t eject(as happens most of the time), the gun wasn’t loaded to begin with and the idiot who keeps racking the fracken slide has just annouced to the world his gun is unloaded(but nobody ever seems to notice this). 3. The good guy has been caught and put in a cell of some sort. 9 times out of 10, the good guy will quickly effect his own escape by faking sick and thus luring an idiot guard into the room, knocking him out and taking his keys and weapon. Why the guard should care or fall for it is often unexplained. But then again, it’s usally a better idea to just kill the hero, shoot him twice through the brain and then burn the body, just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/35 "2006-04-24T07:37:07Z")
One that’s been mentioned here before: When someone gets shot, or especially when they get stabbed, they cease all speech and movement, and look very wide-eyed, rather than screaming “Oh God! I’ve been stabbed! Ow!!!” Nobody uses Windows, or any recognizable OS. When you type in a password, and it’s wrong, huge red letters tell you, ACCESS DENIED. All computer-related tasks require a lot of typing, and very little reading or using the mouse. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/36 "2006-04-24T07:46:02Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Someone earlier said there is always a meow when we see a cat…and it’d always the exact same meow every time. Unless the cat is injured or startled, then it’s the “angry cat yelp thingy” meow. It’s often used when someone back their car into garbage cans in an alley way. A production company called LMNO Productions always put the sound of a cat screeching in every episode of every show they produced, presumably as some sort of inside joke. My personal nickname for this company was “Yowlin’ Cat Productions.” > [@](#): > > Every time there are kids playing, insert standard “kids laughing” track. Commercials with kids are the worst about this. There’s one kid-laughing noise in particular I notice. It’s hard to describe in text…it goes up and then it goes down. It’s being used in a Nyquil commercial. > [@](#): > > Police radio chatter is always the same sound. Watch two episodes of Law and Order and you’ll recognize it easily. Usually starts with “11-8-25, code 6…” Currently being used in some Esurance ads. > [@Fionn](#): > > I’ve noticed that any time a TV or movie parent has to comment on the music their kid is listening to, the band tends to have an aren’t-those-band-names-outrageous name and horrible sound. That was Funky See Funky Do with _I Do Believe We’re Naked!_ Who was the band who performed _Sex Pootie_ in Dave Barry’s book _Big Trouble_? That and the _Simpsons_ quote above were the first two things I thought of when I read that sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/37 "2006-04-24T08:18:51Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > The hero or heroin have to jump in a lake or have to be in the pouring rain. A heroine might do OK in this kind of situation, but I bet the heroin wouldn’t be fit to smoke anymore. > [@Master Control](#): > > In horror movies, a victim, usually the hero or heroin, tries to warn people, usually the police or other authority figures, by simply stating what happened, not thinking, even for a second, that mentions of ghosts, monsters, or aliens will be met with total skepticism. Actually, the last time heroin told me about ghosts I was pretty receptive. I can’t say I managed to wrap my head around it, but I didn’t really question it, you know? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/38 "2006-04-24T09:16:39Z")
One cliché that annoys me very much: when hero(ine) discovers something and the plot calls for him/her being disbelieved, he/she argues his case so badly that the people addressed _cannot_ but disbelieve him/her. We are then supposed to blame this on the people argued at, not on the idiot hero(ine). Specifically with a discovery of a scientific/engineering nature: the audience has seen convincing evidence (or there is an obvious experiment which could test hero(ine)'s assertion) but the hero(ine) then argues an unconvincing appeal to authority or asks people to just trust him/her. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/39 "2006-04-24T12:04:21Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > No matter how bad a beating the good guy gets, he continues with his mission with nary a whimper. The only time he flinches and whimpers is when the girls bandages his wounds after the fight. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858/40 "2006-04-24T12:15:55Z")
> [@](#): > > King Kong really annoyed me because that girl always ended up in a slip or a skimpy little dress. In the era they were filming it in? She wouldn’t have run out in the end in just that flimsy little nightdress. And it was snowing! So - all the movies where the girl is dressed inappropriately. This aspect of the new **Kong** bothered Pepper Mill, too. She can suspend disbelief enough to allow an uncharted island, full of prehistoric animals, giant bugs, and a giant ape. But her suspension of disbelief buckled under the weight of Ann Darrow running out into a New York Winter dressed only in a flimsy dress. And it positively broke when she was standing atop the Empire State Building in it. (There’s no freakin’ windbreak up there! Forget about falling off, the poor girl musta had icicles on her nipples.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-annoying-cliches-in-movies-and-tv-shows/353858.md?page=3)