# What is extremely common in TV or movies but almost never happens in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311 "2021-02-06T04:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 122
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2422 "2023-02-19T09:37:33Z")
Shows where our heroes are exploring unknown and natural cave systems and the floors are completely flat. I’m looking at you Star Trek Voyager … ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2423 "2023-02-19T15:04:44Z")
**All** iterations of _ **Star Trek** _, for that matter! ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2424 "2023-02-19T15:30:28Z")
> [@Eclipse\_Chaser](#): > > natural cave systems and the floors are completely flat The Daleks did that ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2425 "2023-02-19T17:30:22Z")
ISTR an episode where someone escaped a Dalek attack by going upstairs. ---
**Author:** ![up2eleven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/up2eleven/32/13432_2.png) [@up2eleven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up2eleven)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2426 "2023-02-19T17:48:14Z")
People who get shot, stabbed, or otherwise seriously injured and they’ll limp about for a bit, but then they get in a fight and suddenly have full strength and range of motion. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2427 "2023-02-19T18:20:35Z")
A common comment we have in watching most adventure movies is, “Guy moves pretty good for having a hole poked in him.” ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2428 "2023-02-19T18:29:40Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > ISTR an episode where someone escaped a Dalek attack by going upstairs. That hasn’t been a useful strategy for quite some time. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-BhKu3XXi7E/hqdefault.jpg "elevate") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BhKu3XXi7E) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2429 "2023-02-19T19:02:49Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > i was watching an old 60s pi show called “hawaiian eye” God help me, I used to watch that show! I must have been about 12. If I remember correctly it was a spinoff of _77 Sunset Strip_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2430 "2023-02-19T19:34:25Z")
Robert “Jim West” Conrad was in it, wasn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2431 "2023-02-19T19:37:35Z")
How about the notion of the James Bond / Jason Bourne / Mission Impossible / Man From UNCLE super spy? You know, the ridiculously attractive one man or woman killing machine who is an expert in five languages, all forms of combat, tactical driving, plus various esoterica that somehow ends up useful for infiltrating secret labs and government organizations. Let me put it a different way. When was the last time you turned on the news to see the police chasing some guy across the city in boats, helicopters, and an Aston Martin only to have them parkour off an office building into the river or fire a zip line out of his watch into a hot air balloon or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2432 "2023-02-19T19:42:02Z")
You left out “Our Man” Derek Flint, my all-time favorite. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2433 "2023-02-19T19:55:58Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I do as well. Though I did hear some describe rubbing some chew on a frog’s back which caused it to go into a sort of paralytic stretch – that _does_ sound believable. I can see that, especially wet chaw. > [@echoreply](#): > > Now, I’m suspicious that the concentration of nicotine is enough to cause a leech to release, but a quick search [found this article](https://doi.org/10.1016/S2222-1808(14)60493-X). Good article there. Still, not one puff, and that fast. However… if that student had been a heavy smoker (in the boys room) and still had a pack of cigs in his bloodstream… > [@nightshadea](#): > > watching an old 60s pi show called “hawaiian eye” Great Theme song. > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > If I remember correctly it was a spinoff of _77 Sunset Strip_. An even better Theme song. > [@eschereal](#): > > ISTR an episode where someone escaped a Dalek attack by going upstairs. LOL. But why DO people run down the middle of the street when being chased by a car.? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2434 "2023-02-19T20:59:10Z")
me tv plus is showing them both every day ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2435 "2023-02-19T21:02:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > My father and his friends used to swim naked down where he grew up, by his own admission. On a walk with my dad, we ended up working our way on old paths along the banks of a small river. Suddenly he let out a whoop, excited that we’d found _B.A.B:_ "That was our rallying cry as kids. You’d run down the block yelling ‘Meetchoooo at Bee-Ayyy-Beeeee!’, and pretty soon you’d’ve collected a group of six or seven kids, all running down here to… [conspiratorial whisper] … _Bare Ass Beach."_ ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2436 "2023-02-19T21:38:11Z")
How about that Jackie Chan movie where they got into a Nazi compound deep in the Sahara where all the machinery still functioned after nearly half a century and somehow there was an electrical power source. I mean, it was supposed to be silly, and it would have been no fun without the wind tunnel scenes, but geez-louise, at least try for a morsel of realism. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2437 "2023-02-19T21:43:06Z")
Little children portrayed as being just small adults. When in reality, they’re all screaming monsters. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2438 "2023-02-19T22:51:45Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > screaming monsters the term we have come to use for them is “pre-verbals” ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2439 "2023-02-19T23:35:36Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But why DO people run down the middle of the street when being chased by a car.? Or run directly straight away from someone pointing a gun at their back? Would it kill you\* to dodge a little ? - no, that’s kinda the point ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2440 "2023-02-19T23:39:56Z")
Unnecessary sound effects. Whenever someone raises a gun or moves a sword, you hear the gun cocking or the sword being unsheathed. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/2441 "2023-02-19T23:41:55Z")
Every time the driver steers the car even the tiniest bit, or takes off from a stop, the tyres screech like they’re in the F1. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=121) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311.md?page=123)