# 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:** 216
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4307 "2024-10-30T01:58:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I groan whenever there’s a fight in a warehouse or storeroom filled with cardboard boxes and it becomes obvious there’s nothing in them when they start falling down. Balderdash. I’ll have you know that those boxes are indeed full and capable of stopping multiple high powered rifle rounds should they (the boxes) be shielding our heros/damsels in distress. \*nrs ⁿᵒᵗ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ˢᵉʳⁱᵒᵘˢ ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4308 "2024-10-30T02:41:29Z")
You could make a whole movie just out of spoofing every Hollywood cliché we’ve come up with here. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4309 "2024-10-30T13:23:18Z")
_ **BBBS** _ was never great on accuracy, physical or otherwise. What kind of seaplane was it? I’d be surprised if it was a Catalina. ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4310 "2024-10-30T14:13:12Z")
My mother (may she rest in peace) used to use the term:…“Cincinnati Roll” . She was from Chicago ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4311 "2024-10-30T14:15:55Z")
so true ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4312 "2024-10-30T14:20:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I groan whenever there’s a fight in a warehouse or storeroom filled with cardboard boxes and it becomes obvious there’s nothing in them when they start falling do That reminds me of another trope I’ve never seen in real life: in old movies that played in a grocery store or supermarket, you often saw a tower/pyramid of stacked tin cans. Of course it was always inevitable that someone or something bumped into it, the tower collapsed and hilarity ensued. But did stores really ever display canned goods this way in real life? ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4313 "2024-10-30T14:31:38Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Of course it was always inevitable that someone or something bumped into it, the tower collapsed and hilarity ensued. Unless it collapsed because a shopper took a single can from the bottom of the tower. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4314 "2024-10-30T14:36:23Z")
I’ve seen displays that looked like can towers but they were actually cardboard stands with cans just on the outside. I guess an actual can tower would tie up too much merchandise. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4315 "2024-10-30T14:38:20Z")
A lot of floorspace, too. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4316 "2024-10-30T14:49:03Z")
In real life did any kid ever wear a dunce cap in school for poor grades? ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4317 "2024-10-30T14:51:31Z")
The Master Speaks: > **[What’s the origin of the dunce cap?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342933/what-s-the-origin-of-the-dunce-cap)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4318 "2024-10-30T14:53:23Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _ **BBBS** _ was never great on accuracy, physical or otherwise. > > What kind of seaplane was it? I’d be surprised if it was a Catalina. I’m pretty sure it was a JF2 Duck. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4319 "2024-10-30T15:53:19Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The Master Speaks: Correction: That’s **Gaudere**. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4320 "2024-10-30T16:05:31Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > In real life did any kid ever wear a dunce cap in school for poor grades? > [@Lumpy](#): > > The Master Speaks: > > [What’s the origin of the dunce cap? - The Straight Dope](https://www.straightdope.com/21342933/what-s-the-origin-of-the-dunce-cap) An interesting article, but it’s concerned with the ancient origins of the dunce cap, not its more recent classroom history. [Here’s a wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunce#Dunce_cap) that gets into the 19th and early 20th century classroom use of the dunce cap. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4321 "2024-10-30T16:48:52Z")
That’s a pretty small plane. How many 400 lb barrels of oil could it carry? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4322 "2024-10-30T19:22:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > But did stores really ever display canned goods this way in real life? Yep, back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4323 "2024-10-30T19:39:54Z")
Must have been before my time, or it was never a custom in Germany. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4324 "2024-10-30T19:40:38Z")
It was. The pilot was scrawny too. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Grumman_JF2_3.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Grumman_JF2_3.jpg) ---
**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:** [October 31, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4325 "2024-10-31T00:39:21Z")
I’m surprised they didn’t use at least a Widgeon or a Goose. An Albatross would be best if they couldn’t get a Catalina. There was an episode of _ **12 O’Clock High** _ in which Gen Savage was rescued by an Albatross after being shot down over the North Sea. I was 10 or 11 at the time, and I already knew it was an anachronism. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/1951-52_Grumman_HU-16_Albatross_at_MacDill_AFB_Florida.jpg/1200px-1951-52_Grumman_HU-16_Albatross_at_MacDill_AFB_Florida.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/1951-52_Grumman_HU-16_Albatross_at_MacDill_AFB_Florida.jpg/1200px-1951-52_Grumman_HU-16_Albatross_at_MacDill_AFB_Florida.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4326 "2024-10-31T00:48:06Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’m pretty sure it was a JF2 Duck. 850# payload, so two of those drums. [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=215) [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=217)