# 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:** 200
**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:** [July 26, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3987 "2024-07-26T14:52:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > Stun guns and tasers are not knockout machines. > > My son works in a prison. Part of his training involved getting sprayed with “mace” and then trying to continue working. He also got tazed. He said if he had to go for seconds, he’d choose tazing over mace. There is no off switch for pepper spray. 4 seconds of discomfort verses hours of pain. And then new pain when you take a shower. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3988 "2024-07-26T14:54:22Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > And then new pain when you take a shower. My son told me about that! Also about the lingering aroma. He sometimes goes home and undresses on his porch. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3989 "2024-07-26T15:42:11Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > And then new pain when you take a shower. > > My son told me about that! Also about the lingering aroma. He sometimes goes home and undresses on his porch. I had to use pepper spray twice in 25 plus years. One of those times in was completely ineffective. My state only authorized tasers a couple of years ago. They put so many restrictions on its use you pretty much have to be in a deadly force situation where a gun could be justifiably used. It’s illegal in my state to tase someone even in a training situation with pretty severe penalties. You can’t volunteer to be tased. So I haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3990 "2024-07-26T15:49:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I had to use pepper spray twice in 25 plus years. Wow. In a prison setting it is a daily thing. My son was/is on the “cell extraction team”. If someone refuses to leave their cell, they call for a cell extraction team, the members of which are all geared up to storm the cell and remove the offender while suffering zero injuries. He’s never had an escape attempt though. He is trained at deadly force for those situations and can shoot from the tower and kill someone 100 yards away. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3991 "2024-07-26T15:55:26Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > He is trained at deadly force for those situations and can shoot from the tower and kill someone 100 yards away. Talk about job skills that are useful in everyday life! ---
**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:** [July 26, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3992 "2024-07-26T16:11:43Z")
It would not surprise me if the price paid was one of the factors involved in deciding which passenger to bump involuntarily. Frequent flier status, too. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3993 "2024-07-26T18:39:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > I had to use pepper spray twice in 25 plus years. > > Wow. In a prison setting it is a daily thing. My son was/is on the “cell extraction team”. If someone refuses to leave their cell, they call for a cell extraction team, the members of which are all geared up to storm the cell and remove the offender while suffering zero injuries. > > He’s never had an escape attempt though. He is trained at deadly force for those situations and can shoot from the tower and kill someone 100 yards away. I won’t go into details because it would turn into a discussion about tactics but it does make sense that he would have to use it more. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3994 "2024-07-26T18:53:03Z")
If you’re a giant spider, or a giant caterpillar, or a giant bird in the 1950s you will be called something like “It Challenged The World” or “It Conquered The World” despite the fact they’re usually killed by a bunch of stock footage of Air Force F-104’s dropping bombs on them to death. Nowadays you gotta survive a nuke to actually be considered “World Threatening”. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3995 "2024-07-26T19:03:28Z")
Occasionally the monsters would be bomb-proof, so the clever boys in the lab would have to figure out a phlebotinum that would do the job. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3996 "2024-07-26T19:08:48Z")
In “The Giant Claw” they couldn’t kill the giant bird because it had an “Antimatter Shield” which makes it seem like it would just kill itself. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3997 "2024-07-26T19:25:29Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > It would not surprise me if the price paid was one of the factors involved in deciding which passenger to bump involuntarily. Frequent flier status, too. I used to work for a hotel chain that had a loyalty program (similar to an airline frequent flyer club) that had various tiers of membership (blue, silver, gold). One of the privileges of Gold Membership was you were allowed to overbook us and bump other people out of their rooms. The Gold Members would often get very smug about it. Until the first time they got bumped by a Diamond Member. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3998 "2024-07-26T20:14:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > No, by a couple of cop “friends” who thought I ought to know what I was talking about before I shot off my mouth on things. It was consensual. And educational. That is a bad idea folks. Now, I am not a real doctor (nor do I play on on TV, altho i do in RPGs) but I know enough to tell you that being tazed can kill you if you have certain heart conditions- which you might not know about. > **[Heart Attack From Taser: What You Need to Know](https://www.healthline.com/health/heart-attack/heart-impact-from-taser#can-tasers-cause-a-heart-attack)** > > A taser can deliver a serious shock to a person's nervous system, and in some cases, that means triggering potentially life-threatening heart complications. > **[Tasers Can Stop The Heart And Kill](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/244968#1)** > > Tasers, also known as stun guns, can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death, researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine reported in the journal Circulation. Under controlled conditions like under training it is much safer. But dont do it for yucks on on a dare. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/3999 "2024-07-26T23:03:10Z")
Has “actor being killed by a prop gun/knife” been mentioned? Obviously happens in real life: see Alec Baldwin thread. But I can think offhand of ten shows it has happened on, and if I did a little Googling, I’ll bet I could come up with so many, that if there were that many in real like, there’d be a law that instead of “real” prop guns and knives, you had to use a stalk of celery. Oh-- and it’s always an “accident” staged to cover a deliberate murder, of course. Not sure _that_ has ever happened, but maybe during the 18th century. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4000 "2024-07-26T23:40:01Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Has “actor being killed by a prop gun/knife” been mentioned? You meant _fictional_ depictions of actors being killed by prop guns. It’s happened for real more than once. 1.[Jon-Erik Hexum - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik_Hexum) 2.[Brandon Lee - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4001 "2024-07-26T23:47:50Z")
Yeah, **RC** means the plot that always shows up on long-running mystery shows like **Quincy, M.E.** and **Murder, She Wrote** and **Castle** and oh so many others. Along with all the variants when it comes to weapon/method. Plot #74 in the Mystery Writers Handbook. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2024, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4002 "2024-07-26T23:51:49Z")
On _ **Midsomer Murders** _ it was a fully sharpened straight razor during a production of “Amadeus”. Right in front of poor Joyce. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4003 "2024-07-26T23:55:40Z")
Does Midsomer County have any population left? They must be Sister Whatevers with Cabot Cove, Maine. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4004 "2024-07-27T02:08:43Z")
Back when stun guns became commercially available in the 1980s, a friend of mine was at a party and one of her friends decided to try a stun gun on herself to see if it worked (and in case you’re wondering if alcohol was involved, the answer was, of course, yes). It did. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4005 "2024-07-27T02:34:36Z")
Joyce Barnaby must have had the same vibe as Jessica Fletcher, since someone was murdered wherever she went. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2024, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4006 "2024-07-27T02:52:01Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Has “actor being killed by a prop gun/knife” been mentioned? I want to say that this was an old Equalizer (Ed Woodward) ep., where some people are playing paintball, but a real bullet got into one of the marker and someone accidentally shoots and kills someone else. Which if you understand how a paintball marker works is impossible. [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=199) [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=201)