# 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:** 258
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5169 "2025-07-13T02:21:25Z")
I remember “Salesman who shows up at somebodys front door and rings their front door bell for 5 whole minutes” use to be a sitcom thing. Doesn’t seem economical to spend so much time at a door where nobody answers though. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5170 "2025-07-13T15:58:05Z")
Not sure how common this is, but whenever someone commits suicide in a bathtub on TV, they always seem to leave the water running, so that the person who discovers them steps in water outside the room first. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5171 "2025-07-13T18:07:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@Lumpy](#): > > > > I don’t know whether it happens in real life or not but in American crime drama police and detectives are quick to flatly accuse people of crimes, almost rudely so. Does that ever actually work as an interrogation tactic? > > At best it’s a last resort. It’s a first resort in most of the British detective shows we watch. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5172 "2025-07-13T18:10:44Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > ven better is the all-purpose scientist who is also an all-purpose engineer. He (it’s always a he) is not only knowledgeable about most scientific disciplines, he can build anything you need. Probably using only coconuts and bamboo. But can’t patch a damaged boat hull. Edit: Oh. Someone beat me to it. ---
**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 13, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5173 "2025-07-13T18:37:11Z")
Although rafts of lashed-together coconut palm trunks and bamboo were clearly shown to not be seaworthy enough, the castaways couldn’t have built an actual dugout canoe? ---
**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 13, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5174 "2025-07-13T18:42:53Z")
Here’s a common thing: people attempting to resolve the founding premise problem of the series try something. It fails, not because the idea was faulty but because of some external interference unrelated to the effort. So that effort failed; _they never try again_. ---
**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 13, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5175 "2025-07-13T20:13:52Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > Not sure how common this is, but whenever someone commits suicide in a bathtub on TV, they always seem to leave the water running, so that the person who discovers them steps in water outside the room first. Not that I ever read a book on how to commit suicide, but the theory is that when you slit you wrists (and if you really mean it, your ankles too), you get in a cool bath with the water running to keep it diluted. This is supposed to prevent clotting and keep blood flowing from the cuts. No idea if it works in practice. I also read a book on how to build bombs, but didn’t build one. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Although rafts of lashed-together coconut palm trunks and bamboo were clearly shown to not be seaworthy enough, the castaways couldn’t have built an actual dugout canoe? They had other issues than staying afloat. If they could not see another landmass from where they were, and had no maps, they had a very good chance of getting utterly lost. They also had no idea what to pack in the way of supplies, but probably a dugout canoe could not hold enough water. I’m not even sure a dugout canoe could hold enough water for just the Skipper and Gilligan for a trip of unknown length to find anyone they could alert to the presence of the rest; they’d have to leave the Professor and Mary Ann on the island to run things. Everyone else was completely useless-- at least Ginger sometimes put on shows-- they should have eaten the Howells. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5176 "2025-07-13T20:53:50Z")
I think the suicide thing is a matter of economics. You have a white basin full of clear water. The actor palms a couple of blood packets. He keeps his palms facing away from the camera, then thrusts his hands into the water. Suddenly, bright red clouds spread through the water. It’s simple but very dramatic. And it’s a lot cheaper than asking the make-up artist to build gruesome-looking prosthenics for the actor’s wrists. Also less likely to get censored. ---
**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 14, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5177 "2025-07-14T00:00:29Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > They had other issues than staying afloat. If they could not see another landmass from where they were, and had no maps, they had a very good chance of getting utterly lost. They also had no idea what to pack in the way of supplies, but probably a dugout canoe could not hold enough water. > > I’m not even sure a dugout canoe could hold enough water for just the Skipper and Gilligan for a trip of unknown length to find anyone they could alert to the presence of the rest; And yet in “Two Men on a Raft” they tried just that; and before it was destroyed they were going to try it with the inflatable life raft they found (“The Big Gold Strike”). Also from the various “natives visit the island” episodes we know that it was possible to get to and from the island by canoe, at least by seafarers a hell of a lot more competent than the Skipper and Gilligan. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5178 "2025-07-14T02:52:18Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > They had other issues than staying afloat. If they could not see another landmass from where they were, and had no maps, they had a very good chance of getting utterly lost. Right, the guess is that they were in one of the lesser uninhabited islands in the Hawaiian chain. Somehow unknown, ---
**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:** [July 14, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5179 "2025-07-14T12:06:58Z")
The island and the castaways were avoided because it was a leper island. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5180 "2025-07-14T12:58:51Z")
Well, that and it had Gilligan on it. Can you imagine the consequences of bringing that bunch back to civilization? Better to leave them there and just send them an occasional “flotsam” package of goods. Or the Harlem Globetrotters. ---
**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 14, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5181 "2025-07-14T15:28:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > the guess is that they were in one of the lesser uninhabited islands in the Hawaiian chain. Somehow unknown, Considering that we know that both USA (“Forward March”) and Japanese (“And Then There Were None”) forces were on the island at some time in WW2, that even an outlying island of the Hawaiian chain had been contested would be one of the best kept secrets of the war. **ETA** : I mentioned that the Skipper although having years of experience in the Pacific wasn’t necessarily the most competent seaman. Side question: If one had served for three or four years in the Navy during World War Two aboard a large naval vessel (destroyer, cruiser, battleship, carrier) as a rating, how much actual seamanship would one have learned? I can’t imagine naval gunner, engine room mechanic, or mess orderly would necessarily teach one much about navigating or operating a small craft in the open ocean. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5182 "2025-07-14T15:48:57Z")
If I were stuck on that island and my choices were to try to escape on a cobbled-together boat with The Skipper and Gilligan at the helm, or stay (comfortable in a tropic island nest)… … I’d say “Screw society, I’m relaxing here!” (while I figure out a way to make rum and woo Mary Ann) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5183 "2025-07-14T15:59:27Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > > > You’d think Nazi death camps would be crawling with ghosts. > > How do you know they aren’t? Apologies but just ran across this. Rod Sterling answered this question in 1961: [Deaths-Head Revisited - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths-Head_Revisited) Press on ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5184 "2025-07-14T16:04:06Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > If one had served for three or four years in the Navy during World War Two My Dad didn’t serve very long, but I note that he was a Navy Officer (line officer, not a tech specialist) on a carrier and on shore, who never qualified as a Deck Officer – the kind of fundamental “Navy” Officer job involved with a ship on the ocean. ---
**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 14, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5185 "2025-07-14T23:06:43Z")
That’s why he’s called “The Professor”! ---
**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 14, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5186 "2025-07-14T23:21:52Z")
> [@digs](#): > > while I figure out a way to make rum and woo Mary Ann If anyone on the island knew how to cultivate booze, it was probably “farm girl,” Mary Ann. > [@Melbourne](#): > > My Dad didn’t serve very long, but I note that he was a Navy Officer My stepfather served two tours in Vietnam, and retired a Captain after putting 30 years in the Navy-- as a pilot. I’m not even sure he could swim. ---
**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 14, 2025, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5187 "2025-07-14T23:33:26Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > [@digs](#): > > > > while I figure out a way to make rum and woo Mary Ann > > If anyone on the island knew how to cultivate booze, it was probably “farm girl,” Mary Ann. In “Man With A Net” (season 3) the Professor had managed to ferment and distill some island berries into a potent “tea”. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2025, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5188 "2025-07-15T04:07:01Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I can’t imagine naval gunner, engine room mechanic, or mess orderly would necessarily teach one much about navigating or operating a small craft in the open ocean. Depends entirely on what rating the Skipper was, assuming he was enlisted. What you’re looking for is a [boatswain’s mate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boatswain%27s_mate_(United_States_Navy)). An officer, of course, would be pretty useless. 🙂 And as to why they never got rescued, that was answered over a decade ago: [It was a drug deal gone wrong](https://www.hipforums.com/forum/threads/thurstons-drug-money-the-gilligans-island-conspiracy.445859/). [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=257) [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=259)