# 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:** 253
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5069 "2025-06-18T16:14:50Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > For a comics example, Phoenix and Cyclops are usually together but I f\*cking hate Scott Summers so I don’t relish it much. AFAIC he’s just in Wolverine’s way. Haven’t read in years, but I’m very much in the minority - I liked Scott (well, that depends on how he’s written, as any character that old has had many personalities) and really do not like Wolverine much and very dislike the idea of him with Jean. As part of an ensemble, Wolverine’s fine, but not as the dominant character. Don’t care for a lot of modern Batman (BatGod, BatJerk), either, though I thought him well-balanced in the bronze age a few times since (again, BatGod is phenomenally popular and has made DC a ton of money). I’d go with Bruce/Selina, except she can never stay on the non-villain/trustworthy side (again, partially a consequences of open-ended story-telling - reformed villains don’t stay reformed). Which brings me back to the topic of the thread - I think it’s already been mentioned, but totally trusting and working towards a common goal with the individuals that have previously tried to kill you. Sure, governments do half that (working with), but how much do individuals do that? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5070 "2025-06-18T17:03:54Z")
Have you ever read [Jimmy Corrigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Corrigan,_the_Smartest_Kid_on_Earth)? It’s a different kind of graphic novel. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5071 "2025-06-18T17:44:07Z")
Sounds very interesting. I’ll check it out. I’ll admit I didn’t take graphic novels as a serious art form until I read _Watchmen._ The “test” to me is, what can you do in this medium that cannot be done in any other medium? I felt that way about _Watchmen, From Hell_ and _Maus._ I guess those are more literary takes on the form. Well, this could probably warrant its own thread! My contribution to this thread: Some minor act of retribution results in character’s brutal death. Culprit in crime drama: “I didn’t mean for him to die! I just pushed him!” ---
**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:** [June 18, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5072 "2025-06-18T19:44:09Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > But generally I prefer prose fiction. I do too and I’ve puzzled over why since I love movies, as visual a medium as you can get. I was thinking it was because the decades of superhero stories has gotten tiresome but then Dark Horse came out with the _Firefly_ GNs some years ago and I was left equally cold about them. It works the other way, too. I read _Girl Genius_ faithfully but snap up the Agatha H. books as soon as I find they’ve been published. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5073 "2025-06-18T20:23:55Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I’ve seen too many variations of this idiotic scene. I’d like to see one where, after the old guy is encountered, they cut to him lying on the floor in his blood saying, “what was I thinking”? It happens in a later Kingsman sequel, IIRC ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5074 "2025-06-20T11:14:16Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I liked when NewsRadio got the will-they-won’t-they issue out of the way in episode #2. Grace and Alan (mentioned above), were courting for years. Then he formed the opinion that their characters were past that life stage, with declining audience interest in will-they-won’t-they, and transitioned the characters to ‘married’. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5075 "2025-06-20T19:33:28Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Grace and Alan (mentioned above), were courting for years. ??? I dont remember anyone names Grace or Alan on NewsRadio? Or are you talking about another show? ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5076 "2025-06-21T00:37:17Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Culprit in crime drama: “I didn’t mean for him to die! I just pushed him!” Like, when someone A poisons someone B, so B will be to sick to make cheerleading try-outs, but NEVER intended to KILL B? I was in a creative writing class in college where someone tried to pull-off one of those. Fell flat. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5077 "2025-06-21T00:41:09Z")
Or try to pronounce something on the menu and order a blue pencil box. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5078 "2025-06-21T00:41:46Z")
It might work if the poisoner insisted that they carefully researched a sub-lethal dose for someone of the victim’s body mass, but didn’t allow for an interaction with a medicine that the victim was taking. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5079 "2025-06-21T01:02:54Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > but NEVER intended to KILL B? As it happens, online discussion has been full of that here in melb.vic.au, with a fatal mushroom poisoning court case dominating the news. “Murder” requires intent, so the prosecution has to prove intent. But there are various forms of “negligent homicide” that are also murder in various jurisdictions. “Negligent homicide” is something like "You didn’t intend to kill them, but you knew the food you prepared would cause them to die ". (Then, depending on the jurisdiction, you have to discuss “knew it would probably kill them”, or “knew it would possibly kill them”). The reason for having a negligent homicide rule in statute law, where it has been implemented in statute law, is because proving “intent” has sometimes been difficult. There is also a different approach: just accept manslaughter, and where criminal negligence is proven, boost the penalty up to match murder. That doesn’t give you the death penalty, which is why it has not been historically popular. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5080 "2025-06-21T01:24:00Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > [https://www.discovery.com/nature/cows-kill-more-people-than-sharks](https://www.discovery.com/nature/cows-kill-more-people-than-sharks) Since today is the 50th anniversary of premiere of JAWS, I just wanted to let people know it’s okay to go back in the water. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5081 "2025-06-21T03:48:48Z")
Next week is the 50th anniversary of my first trip to Russia. Another member of my group brought a copy of the novel along with him and I read it between 25 June and 4 July. We went from Leningrad to Riga the night of 5–6 July and spent the 7th on the beach at Jurmala. No way in Hell was I going swimming in the Baltic after reading that damned book! It scared the crap out of me! 😳 ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5082 "2025-06-21T04:39:14Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Grace and Alan (mentioned above), were courting for years. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Or are you talking about another show? I’m assuming a confusion with [Burns and Allen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_and_Allen) aka George Burns and Gracie Allen. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5083 "2025-06-21T10:34:47Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I’m assuming a confusion with [Burns and Allen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_and_Allen) aka George Burns and Gracie Allen. Yes. Sorry. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5084 "2025-06-21T10:56:49Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > First appearance of his wife is when Elongated Man married - cover date March 1961 (Elongated Man’s third appearance, I think). And, for what it’s worth, wasn’t 1961 also when that same comic showed us that Jay Garrick was a happily married guy who was still fighting crime and saving lives as The Flash? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > One of the first. He appeared in 1960, but I don’t know when he was first reported as married. The Silver Age incarnation of Hawkman was married from his first appearance in 1961 Incidentally, are we allowed to count The Phantom? No, not the one who debuted in 1936; his married predecessor. (Uh, make that “predecessors.”) ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5085 "2025-06-21T14:48:43Z")
Kind of hard to find a wife who’ll be happy with committing her son to continuing the cultlike mandate of her husband and his predecessors. What if you have five daughters in a row first? What if there are boy twins? ---
**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:** [June 21, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5086 "2025-06-21T16:54:56Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > > Culprit in crime drama: “I didn’t mean for him to die! I just pushed him!” > > Like, when someone A poisons someone B, so B will be to sick to make cheerleading try-outs, but NEVER intended to KILL B? > [@Lumpy](#): > > It might work if the poisoner insisted that they carefully researched a sub-lethal dose for someone of the victim’s body mass, but didn’t allow for an interaction with a medicine that the victim was taking. Just saw this in an episode of a show called Elsbeth the other day. A man who was coaching his tennis pro son dosed his son’s opponent to throw him off his game and ensure a win for his son. But he collapses on the court and dies. Turns out whatever he got dosed with interacted with industrial-strength Viagra he had been taking on the regular. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5087 "2025-06-21T17:47:13Z")
Similar plot on _Poker Face_ involving the wrong dose of reptile laxative. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5088 "2025-06-21T18:20:03Z")
Career criminals who are SO good at deception they actually manage to get innocent cops thrown off the case or fired. “Yeah the cops busted me transporting 50 kilos of cocaine, but he shoved me against a wall too hard and now I’m filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the department!” [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=252) [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=254)