# 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:** 232
**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:** [January 21, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4627 "2025-01-21T21:34:29Z")
Is there even room for all thirteen at the table? In the painting it looks like there are settings for maybe eight and the rest are standing behind the table talking. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4628 "2025-01-21T21:53:49Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Is there even room for all thirteen at the table? Traditionally, isn’t Judas sitting in the front? To do an unsubtle bit of foreshadowing. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4629 "2025-01-21T22:11:30Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I don’t find this as weird as when you have 4 or more sitting down to dinner, and one side is empty, while the other side is crowded Unless it’s an unintentional rascist thing, like in the Peanuts Thanksgiving special. I never noticed it until someone here mentioned it, and now I can’t unsee it. > **['A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' turns 50 this year. How has it held up?](https://www.npr.org/2023/11/22/1214168977/a-charlie-brown-thanksgiving-charles-schulz-franklin)** > > CBS first aired the televised holiday special in 1973. The message still shines, but some characters and scenes feel a little dated. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4630 "2025-01-21T22:40:58Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > In L&O Criminal Intent, Goren always did this- > > > > Find some tiny clue that leads him to suspect the rich person. > > > > Then get him into the interrogation room and trick him into confessing. > > I get the feeling you haven’t watched all that many episodes. Because that describes like zero episodes in season 1 and about 1 in season 2. I was watching a lot of L&O:CI fairly recently, like a year or two ago. It may not have started happening right away, but maybe by season 3 or so it seemed like Goren was doing this like every single episode. He didn’t trick the suspect like Colombo would, by getting the suspect to accidentally reveal info that only the killer would know; instead, when Goren knew the suspect did it but didn’t have the evidence to get a conviction, he would browbeat and psychologically manipulate them into confessing. He’d basically bully confessions out of them. ---
**Author:** ![Pheoinix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@Pheoinix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pheoinix)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4631 "2025-01-21T23:32:05Z")
The rich/famous dude who’s at the top of Mrs Columbos favourite celeb list… I’m seriously worried about her judgement 😆 ---
**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:** [January 22, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4632 "2025-01-22T01:26:23Z")
Maybe her judgment is picking out shady characters her husband needs to investigate. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4633 "2025-01-22T01:56:41Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I get the feeling you haven’t watched all that many episodes. Because that describes like zero episodes in season 1 and about 1 in season 2. Admittedly that routine came later. He was on for 8 or 9 of 10 seasons. Jeff Goldblum did real police work on the show. > [@solost](#): > > I was watching a lot of L&O:CI fairly recently, like a year or two ago. It may not have started happening right away, but maybe by season 3 or so it seemed like Goren was doing this like every single episode. He didn’t trick the suspect like Colombo would, by getting the suspect to accidentally reveal info that only the killer would know; instead, when Goren knew the suspect did it but didn’t have the evidence to get a conviction, he would browbeat and psychologically manipulate them into confessing. He’d basically bully confessions out of them. Thank you! > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But yes, people who refuse the SHUT UP in interrogations just annoys the crap out of me. You know the writing is weak when you start rooting for the killer. Well, especially if they are rich enough to have their own lawyer. And that happens to me when McCoy goes on some crusade. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4634 "2025-01-22T02:17:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And that happens to me when McCoy goes on some crusade. “Gunshow” is one of the worst. So is “Gov Love”. And “Bodies” is detestable. Weird priorities there Jacko. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4635 "2025-01-22T02:21:48Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I watched an OG Perry Mason the other night where he got the killer to confess on the witness stand. SHUT UP, dude! _An_ episode? That happened in like, _every_ episode. Perry would never win a case if the killers had the sense to keep their mouths shut. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4636 "2025-01-22T02:22:39Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > _An_ episode? I don’t watch a lot of them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4637 "2025-01-22T02:25:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > . And “Bodies” is detestable. _[McCoy](https://lawandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Jack_McCoy) prosecutes a [serial killer](https://lawandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Serial_killer)’s [defense attorney](https://lawandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Defense_attorney) in an effort to uncover where the killer’s victims’ bodies are stored._ _Legal aid attorney Tim Schwimmer is arrested for aiding and abetting a felon, as he knows where - and actually went to see - the bodies of the murdered young girls._ > **[Law & Order S14E1 "Bodies" - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/LawAndOrderS14E1Bodies)** > > Teleplay By William N. Fordes Story By William N. Fordes & Michael S. Chernuchin Directed By Constantine Makris While investigating the murder of a teenage girl, Briscoe and Green discover her case mirrors similar ones involving other young … _The trial goes extremely poorly for Schwimmer, as McCoy uses a parade of distraught parents of missing young women to condemn the young attorney for his action_ That is desteable. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > So is “Gov Love” > **[Law & Order S15E7 "Gov Love" - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/LawAndOrderS15E7GovLove)** > > This recap contains unmarked SPOILERS per policy. You Have Been Warned Peggy Riordan, the wife of the Governor of Connecticut Michael Riordan, is murdered at a fundraising lunch. Governor Riordan has an illicit agreement with corporate mogul … _McCoy goes to the Supreme Court to argue that same-sex marriage isn’t legally valid in the state of New York; and ultimately wins._ Wow, that is just horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4638 "2025-01-22T02:29:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Wow, that is just horrible. The summation doesn;t show how eager McCoy was. And this episode is a few eps before it was Decreed that Serena was gay. Couldn’t tell it from this episode! And in Bodies, I’m not even sure the actual killer gets convicted. McCoy was too busy crusading against defense counsel. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4639 "2025-01-22T02:31:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > a couch positioned diagonally in the middle of the room… I swear one reason we got our (minuscule) house cheap is that they had a massive couch diagonally in the (minuscule) living room. We had to step over their kids watching an old CRT TV that was 40" deep as well as wide… there was NO room in that room. So my wife’s first impression of the house was “There’s no room for ANYthing here!” (Luckily, being cursed with an overactive imagination, I could mentally shrink the couch, move it against the wall, and trade up to a smaller TV, as well as bookcases. Oh, and rip up the olive drab carpeting and linoleum…). But I had to convince her of what it could look like before she agreed. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4640 "2025-01-22T02:33:31Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And in Bodies, I’m not even sure the actual killer gets convicted. McCoy was too busy crusading against defense counsel. Not to mention, I am pretty sure that attorney-client privilege is totally protected. This would not work IRL. ianal. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4641 "2025-01-22T02:49:13Z")
> [@solost](#): > > He’d basically bully confessions out of them. One of the more realistic parts of the show. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4642 "2025-01-22T03:42:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Not to mention, I am pretty sure that attorney-client privilege is totally protected. This would not work IRL. ianal. Maybe not absolutely– there are limits beyond which e.g. a mob lawyer would be participating in a criminal enterprise– but very broadly. Which Jack McCoy, the Grand Inquisitor of New York City wouldn’t care about; he’d do anything to win. Like try two defendants separately while presenting two incompatible theories of the crime. Or go relative-shopping for a cousin willing to sign off on risky surgery for a comatose victim so the victim would either recover and be able to testify or else die and up the charge to murder. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2025, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4643 "2025-01-22T03:49:59Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Unless it’s an unintentional rascist thing, like in the Peanuts Thanksgiving special. I never noticed it until someone here mentioned it, and now I can’t unsee it. > ['A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' marks its 50th anniversary — how has it held up? : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2023/11/22/1214168977/a-charlie-brown-thanksgiving-charles-schulz-franklin) Relevant [video.](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC6-0T0OAxd) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4644 "2025-01-23T22:41:31Z")
26 posts were split to a new topic: [Legality of Columbo’s trick with the cigar box](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-columbos-trick-with-the-cigar-box/1013310) ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4651 "2025-01-22T13:31:07Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Perry Mason the other night where he got the killer to confess on the witness stand. SHUT UP, dude! Perry Mason has his own special formula to win every case: 1. Only represent innocent clients 2. Get dumbass defendants to voluntary confess to crimes on the stand. It works every time. Hell, if I was Hamilton Burger I would just agree to dismiss any case on principle if I found out Perry Mason was representing a defendant. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/4652 "2025-01-22T13:32:50Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Perry Mason has his own special formula to win every case: > > 1. Only represent innocent clients > 2. Get dumbass defendants to voluntary confess to crimes on the stand. > > It works every time. Mason’s spectacular variant on #2 is to get the guy on the stand to say stuff that makes someone in the gallery jump up and confess! [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=231) [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=233)