# TV Lies (& Movies, too) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244 "2004-11-01T03:31:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/21 "2004-11-01T15:25:08Z")
Sorry for the hijack but wasn’t Dr. Charles Drew more renowned for his work in organizing blood banks and plasma distribution than actually figuring out how to seperate plasma from the blood? I never heard the story that he bled to death. Any thoughts on the above as I am getting conflicting answers from the 'net. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/22 "2004-11-01T15:27:10Z")
Law & Order had some groaner of a story in which a woman killed her husband because he acted like an ass in her restaurant while “the New York Times restaurant critic” was dining there, forcing him to leave before finishing his meal. Real restaurant critics work anonymously (making reservations under assumed names) and visit several times to be sure they don’t catch the place on an unusually bad (or good) night. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/23 "2004-11-01T16:17:17Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > This isn’t right. It is in fact quite common to record vocals in the control room - or in a booth with foldback. The “spill” problem is resolved by using two sends out of phase with each other so that the foldback cancels itself out at the mic. Really? I’ve never heard of that, and I’ve done a good bit of studio work. But maybe I’m just way behind the times. I’ve always seen studio singers wearing headphones. But what gets me is, in many such scenes… well, as an example: Greg Brady writes an original song, not only with original lyrics, but presumably a new melody, chord changes, tempo, and feel. He then comes up with the $150 he needs for the studio time, so that the Brady kids can record. They walk into the studio cold, and then start singing to – get this – a pre-recorded rhythm-section track. Did Mike Brady generously come up with the extra $3000 needed for the studio musicians, and simply neglect to tell Greg? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/24 "2004-11-01T16:20:12Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > (I’m surprised SNOPES does not have this on their Urban Legends pages. I’ll send off an E-Mail to them.). I’m surprised it’s not still there. It used to be. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/25 "2004-11-01T16:29:32Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Law & Order had some groaner of a story They’re usually pretty good, except for Criminal Intent. Goran is just far too good. In one episode he’s looking at a corpse, sniffs the corpse’s fingers, and concludes that he should look up the victim’s nose. In there he sees a red fleck of something. Since that particular shade of red is only used in bricks, then the victim must have been near a source of red brick dust. Red bricks are used all over the city, but there is only one place where they are currently being used in construction, at a waterfront. Therefore, along the entire 158 foot red brick seawall, the shooter must have discarded his weapon exactly 47.7462 feet from the third pidgeon. He concludes this in the span of about 2 minutes, while still hovering over the corpse. Needless to say, the gun is exactly where he predicts it to be. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/26 "2004-11-01T16:50:11Z")
Hey, Batman used to do this every single issue. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/27 "2004-11-01T19:49:43Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Law & Order had some groaner of a story in which a woman killed her husband because he acted like an ass in her restaurant while “the New York Times restaurant critic” was dining there, forcing him to leave before finishing his meal. Real restaurant critics work anonymously (making reservations under assumed names) and visit several times to be sure they don’t catch the place on an unusually bad (or good) night. Well, I’d be willing to let that slide. It’s possible the restaurant staff _recognized_ the critic (in fact, if I was running a newly-opened upscale restaurant, I can easily imagine the staffers waiting with great anticipation for the first critic to show up, and keeping pictures of several of them handy for quick recognition). Also, there was no indication the critic wrote them a _bad_ review, but rather the owner’s loutish soon-to-get-whacked husband blew (or delayed) the chance for a _good_ review, which the staffers may have felt they richly deserved. Even if the critic later returned icognito on a good night and praised them, it still wouldn’t make the husband look good in anyone’s eyes. Actually, I was a bit more mystified by some other plot holes in that episode, including why the hitman would leave a bloodstained $15,000 in his own freezer, and why an apparantly quite intelligent woman couldn’t come up with a better defense, i.e. “A man called me and said he had information about who killed my husband and he would tell me, in person. I wanted to know, but it sounded suspicious to me so I brought along my former employer’s gun for personal protection. When I met the man, he said that HE’D killed my husband and that he would kill me and/or my son if I didn’t give him more money. I believed that he would because he had this crazy look in his eye, so I shot him in self-defense, your Honor. I know I should have called the police but I was scared because he’d mentioned he had associates who would know if I’d alerted the autohtirites.” A number of episodes strike me as having easy escapes for the defendants if they can “spin” the circumstances just a little. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/28 "2004-11-01T20:02:35Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I loved that the entire premise of the movie **Twister** was that tornadoes were terrifying because NO ONE KNEW WHAT CAUSED THEM!!! Really? I learned what caused them in the 4th grade! I guess they were counting on everyone having forgotten by the time they were old enough to see the movie. I think they were counting on no one with a 4th grade education actually going to see that movie. ZIIIIINNNGGG! ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/29 "2004-11-01T20:17:13Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > This isn’t right. It is in fact quite common to record vocals in the control room - or in a booth with foldback. The “spill” problem is resolved by using two sends out of phase with each other so that the foldback cancels itself out at the mic. In 10 years of working in various studios, I’ve never done it that way or seen it done that way. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/30 "2004-11-01T20:31:35Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I loved that the entire premise of the movie **Twister** was that tornadoes were terrifying because NO ONE KNEW WHAT CAUSED THEM!!! Really? Yes, really. > [@](#): > > [National Severe Storms Laboratory](http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/tornado/) > Although the process by which tornadoes form is not completely understood, scientific research has revealed that tornadoes usually form under certain types of atmospheric conditions. Those conditions can be predicted, but not perfectly. The idea behind the devices used in the movie was to make it easier to predict where tornados will strike by gaining knowledge of their inside workings. An idea not without precedent. > [@](#): > > (same site as above) > > The movie TWISTER was based upon work NSSL did in the mid-1980’s using a 55-gallon drum filed with various meteorological sensors. It was called TOTO (TOtable Tornado Observatory). NSSL tried for several years to put it in the path of an oncoming tornado, but had minimal success. It did not have the sensors that fly up into the tornado, like in the movie. However, that is not a bad idea and with the advances being made in computer technology, we might be able to do that someday. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/31 "2004-11-01T20:59:14Z")
_Mr. Show_ told me that only British people can fly. Is this true? ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/32 "2004-11-01T23:11:11Z")
In _Patch Adams_, Robin Williams makes a remark along the lines of, “We’re the only species that kill one another,” or something like that. He was (understandably) upset about the murder of his girlfriend and I think he was saying that humans are more savage than animals because animals don’t commit murder. Guess he didn’t know that chickens will peck one of their own to death for some difference that we can’t even detect. Or that a lion, upon assuming control of a pride, will kill the cubs sired by the former pride leader, so that all further progeny will be his. (While I of course don’t count this as murder, it is still shocking in the sense that the killings are not for food or self-defense, but instead are done to rid themselves of the undesirable.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/33 "2004-11-01T23:21:11Z")
And there are any number of other animals that will do the same. Popular culture does perpetuate that crap, although one episode of Family Guy had Death point out how false it is. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/34 "2004-11-01T23:47:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And there are any number of other animals that will do the same. Popular culture does perpetuate that crap, although one episode of Family Guy had Death point out how false it is. But not with nuclear weapons! You can’t hug your children with nuclear arms! _tump!_ ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/35 "2004-11-02T00:31:18Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > On one medical-type show there were two doctors staring at a tube of spinal fluid they’d just drawn from a patient trying to decide if the kid had meningitis or not. Not even Superman could tell by just holding up to the light. Sheesh. The lab stuff on most of those shows is so full of holes it is to laugh. Assuming the doctors had reason to suspect meningitis in the first place, [cloudy spinal fluid](http://www.hipusa.com/eTools/webmd/A-Z_Encyclopedia/meningitis%20-%20treatment.htm) would tend to confirm their suspicions. Healthy spinal fluid is clear and would tend to indicate no infection at all, meningitis or otherwise, though of course lab cultures would be much more definitive. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/36 "2004-11-02T00:40:02Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’ve read that in Black History books, btw. There’s an identical legend about Bessie Smith that inspired an entire play by Edward Albee still produced by colleges across the country even though it’s equally false (in fact, the closest hospital to Smith’s accident was a black hospital and the first person on the scene was a white doctor who treated her extensively, but she was just too critically injured to live). Even her half sister, Mary “Diamond Teeth” McClain, who died in 2000, recited this inaccurate story. (The Jim Crow South was bad enough- we don’t have to make it worse than it was.) > > I was majorly pissed off at the “facts” given in the Michael Moore “Bowling for Columbine” cartoon, especially the “connection” between the NRA & KKK and the “cowardice” of the early settlers (they were such craven cowards that they crossed an ocean in small boats knowing they would never see their families again and that the best case scenario would involve living where there was no supply source and they would be outnumbered hundreds to one by pissed off natives- call them bigots or zealots or racists and you’re probably right, but cowards they weren’t). > > We won’t even get into the Oliver Stone movies (_JFK_, _The Doors_, etc.) as they’ve been done to death on these boards. [Here](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movies/index.html#list) a site dedicated to major science errors in movies. Similarily, Jessie Owens, by his owns words says he wasn’t snubbed by Hitler. [cite](http://www.gazetteonline.com/special/olympics/summer96/olym048.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/37 "2004-11-02T00:55:47Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > How about the one everyone’s heard MANY times “He’s a schizophrenic. He’s got multiple personalities.” > > An episode of “MASH” and even more recently the “History Channel” pereptuated the legend that Dr Charles Drew (African-American doctor who did pioneering work in blood research, blood plasma, etc) bled to death in an all-white hospital because they would not admit him. (I’m surprised SNOPES does not have this on their Urban Legends pages. I’ll send off an E-Mail to them.). Read “One Blood-The Death and Resurrection of Charles R. Drew”, by Spencie Love, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC 1996. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/38 "2004-11-02T01:02:56Z")
> [@Chanteuse](#): > > In _Patch Adams_, Robin Williams makes a remark along the lines of, “We’re the only species that kill one another,” or something like that. He was (understandably) upset about the murder of his girlfriend and I think he was saying that humans are more savage than animals because animals don’t commit murder. > > Guess he didn’t know that chickens will peck one of their own to death for some difference that we can’t even detect. Or that a lion, upon assuming control of a pride, will kill the cubs sired by the former pride leader, so that all further progeny will be his. (While I of course don’t count this as murder, it is still shocking in the sense that the killings are not for food or self-defense, but instead are done to rid themselves of the undesirable.) Our closest relatives, chimpanzees, will kill outsiders, and actually go to war against other tribes and wipe them out to the last male, female and child. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/39 "2004-11-02T14:24:03Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Read “One Blood-The Death and Resurrection of Charles R. Drew”, by Spencie Love, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC 1996. Might be nice if you mentioned what the book said in regards to the points already made. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244/40 "2004-11-02T17:26:59Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > An episode of “MASH” and even more recently the “History Channel” pereptuated the legend that Dr Charles Drew (African-American doctor who did pioneering work in blood research, blood plasma, etc) bled to death in an all-white hospital because they would not admit him. (I’m surprised SNOPES does not have this on their Urban Legends pages. I’ll send off an E-Mail to them.). His daughter, Charlene Drew Jarvis, used to knowingly perpetuate this myth. Her reasoning at the time, apparently, was that white people get away with so much awful stuff that letting this stick to them might be a healthy balance. She sits on the DC City Council and is president of Southwestern University. She had some ethical difficulties in the 80s and has gotten her act together since then, and she no longer supports this myth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-lies-movies-too/272244.md?page=3)