# 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:** 172
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3422 "2024-03-27T20:04:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > But generally, no, there is no such thing as an “airtight” NDA that will afford protection for customers or employees of a company that flies people out to a secret island to hunt humans. I suspect you are correct, but in my mind, the purpose of any kind of NDA is to intimidate the person signing it - they might not have to pay the penalty, or whatever, but the company likely can afford bigger lawyers and make the person’s life unpleasant. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3423 "2024-03-27T20:30:07Z")
I had to sign one once, and signed with my initials (D and S) followed by scribblyness. If anyone ever looked closely, it read: _Don’tthinkill Signthis_ ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3424 "2024-03-27T23:07:07Z")
If there was such an NDA, how would you know? ---
**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:** [March 27, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3425 "2024-03-27T23:19:53Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > If there was such an NDA, how would you know? When someone wins the hunt. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3426 "2024-03-27T23:35:35Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > When someone wins the hunt. Hoonters must hoont. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3427 "2024-03-28T16:42:03Z")
I’ve noticed that people in fiction are really good at coming up with snap excuses. The protagonist can be caught rummaging around in someone’s private office but if it’s not time for them to be busted then they’ll come up with a pretty plausible reason for being where they are, on the fly. Maybe they’ll begin with an “Umm” but, even so, I wish I even had 10% of TV-land skill at this. Then of course when it’s time for them to be busted, the opposite applies. They’ll confess no matter how flimsy the evidence against them or situation they find themselves in. Columbo is a big offender for this; the murderer gives a full confession for circumstantial evidence that there are probably a dozen benign excuses for, let alone something that would stand up in court. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3428 "2024-03-28T17:36:36Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I’ve noticed that people in fiction are really good at coming up with snap excuses. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n89gCHE9JCk/hqdefault.jpg "It’s a pornography store. . . - Homer Simpson") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n89gCHE9JCk&t=30) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3429 "2024-03-28T17:52:10Z")
Exactly. Within the constraint of having said “Moe’s”, and hoping they don’t check it out, “pornography store” works as well as anything. No follow up questions. (And yes, I get the joke that it’s supposed to be a needlessly embarrassing choice, but still) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3430 "2024-03-28T18:00:04Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I’ve noticed that people in fiction are really good at coming up with snap excuses. And fake names based on the first three things they see. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3431 "2024-03-28T18:08:11Z")
My favorite part is the line at the very end of the clip. I can relate: occasionally my brain comes up with something that makes me say “I would’ve never thought of that.” I suppose that, if you’re doing something where you might have to come up with an explanation or excuse if you get caught, your brain, perhaps unconsciously, might be thinking about what you’d say if you do get caught. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3432 "2024-03-29T22:53:09Z")
Coroners and/or medical examiners who turn detective and end up confronting murderers. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3433 "2024-03-29T23:35:58Z")
I was watching The Warriors this past week and it really reminded me of an annoying fiction thing, where despite people being on the run literally for their lives, they still have to stop and get laid during all of this despite fighting off a bunch of dudes trying to kill them 5 minutes previously. I’d just be too exhausted to do anything. It also extends to horror or sci-fi movies when the protagonists know there’s a monster after them, but then the monster turns into a hot woman and somehow tricks a person into trying to have sex with them before getting killed. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3434 "2024-03-29T23:48:32Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Coroners and/or medical examiners who turn detective and end up confronting murderers. Yeah, I think I started a thread years ago about how pretty much anyone from any profession, related or not, turns into a detective on TV. Crime scene techs become detectives / cops-- questioning witnesses and suspects and confronting bad guys (all the CSI shows). Anthropologists team up with FBI agents to solve crimes (Bones). Prosecuting attorneys questioning witnesses and suspects as if they wouldn’t just use the actual detective’s findings (Close to Home). There’s plenty of examples of first responder or hospital dramas where they solve a crime that the actual police / detectives miss. And of course, small town crime writers who solve (and, it’s rumored, make happen) a series of murders over several seasons. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3435 "2024-03-30T00:01:11Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I was watching The Warriors this past week and it really reminded me of an annoying fiction thing, where despite people being on the run literally for their lives, they still have to stop and get laid during all of this despite fighting off a bunch of dudes trying to kill them 5 minutes previously. I’d just be too exhausted to do anything. Hey! Don’t knock ‘The Warriors’. It’s probably the only movie where I can deal with the suspension of disbelief because it’s so campy in such a neat way, plus NYC in all its gritty glory. How cool is that? I’ll offer one though. In this day of everybody packing heat, in the whole movie, with swarms of bloodthirsty gangs ready to rumble, the only time we see a firearm ( other than the police ) is ‘The Rogues’ snub-nosed revolver. ( shooting Cyrus near at the beginning and with its attempted use as a trump card at the climax scene on the Coney Island seashore ) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3436 "2024-03-30T00:55:37Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > the only time we see a firearm ( other than the police ) is ‘The Rogues’ snub-nosed revolver. No fewer than three of [The Lizzies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ50DGBh_jY) pull guns and open fire, at least two more have knives. But other than that one scene, I agree it’s closer to the Sharks vs the Jets than reality. As a live-action cartoon however, it’s super-entertaining. In fact in this day and age if it was made you could almost swear it started life as a video game 🙂. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3437 "2024-03-30T00:59:39Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > No fewer than three of The Lizzies pull guns and open fire 🙂. Ooh, that’s right. “_The chicks are packed!_”. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3438 "2024-03-30T01:05:44Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Ooh, that’s right. “_The chicks are packed!_”. Huh. I always thought they said _“The chicks a pack!”_ Like a wolfpack-they’re a gang. Your version makes much more sense. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3439 "2024-03-30T03:39:58Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Yeah, I think I started a thread years ago about how pretty much anyone from any profession, related or not, turns into a detective on TV. Yep. [On TV it seems like everybody solves murders but actual detectives](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-tv-it-seems-like-everybody-solves-murders-but-actual-detectives/933641?page=5) Also, one post of mine from within the Pure Random Silliness thread: > People other than Police who Solve Murders: > > - Private Detectives > - Defense Attorneys > - Reporters > - Pathologists > - Insurance Investigators > - Mystery Writers > - Gentleman Amateurs > - Nosy Little Old Ladies > - Precocious Kids > - The Post-Murder Cleaning Crew > - Psychics > - Criminology Professors ---
**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:** [March 30, 2024, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3440 "2024-03-30T04:10:13Z")
Or a cop can switch professions and still catch bad guys: > **[Sarge (TV Series 1971–1972) ⭐ 7.2 | Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066708/)** > > 1h There were a lot of shows like this in the '70s: > **[The NBC Mystery Movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NBC_Mystery_Movie)** > > The NBC Mystery Movie is an American television anthology series produced by Universal Pictures, that NBC broadcast from 1971 to 1977. Devoted to a rotating series of mystery episodes, it was sometimes split into two subsets broadcast on different nights of the week: The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie and The NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie. > The NBC Mystery Movie was a "wheel series", or "umbrella program", that rotated several programs within the same period throughout each of its seasons. In its first, ... ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3441 "2024-03-30T11:56:35Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > It also extends to horror or sci-fi movies when the protagonists know there’s a monster after them, but then the monster turns into a hot woman and somehow tricks a person into trying to have sex with them before getting killed. Perhaps tangentially related: If you’re a schlubby, middle-aged security guard in a movie, standing watch over something incredibly valuable and/or dangerous, and a super-hot woman suddenly shows up out of nowhere and starts putting the moves on you, you will not for a moment suspect that she is only doing so in order to steal said valuable and/or dangerous object. Thus, you will be completely surprised when her compatriots bop you over the head. [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=171) [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=173)