# 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:** 263
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5269 "2025-09-20T17:04:43Z")
Because Shatner overacting is very suspicious. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5270 "2025-09-20T17:30:50Z")
Given the multiple other idiocies in Cooper’s novel not involving firearms that Twain excoriates, I’d say it was simply bad writing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5271 "2025-09-20T19:09:31Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > What was Cooper’s background? He lived all his early life in NJ and NY, except for a brief 2 year stint in the Navy. In the merchant marine, he went to Spain, England etc. His USN career was on a gun boat on lake Ontario and lake Champlain. That was frontier, mostly at the time. Later he went to France, etc. . ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5272 "2025-09-20T22:11:17Z")
I’ve never read Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales, but I get the impression that they’re the 19th century equivalent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Complaining about impossible rifle shots is akin to complaining about about the unrealistic powers of the Avengers. That’s the point of the stories. You know, the stupid stuff. I would’ve adored those stories when I was a kid. What really got Twain’s goat were the literary gatekeepers that praised Cooper’s schlock. To wit: > The Pathfinder" and “The Deerslayer” stand at the head of Cooper’s novels as artistic creations. There are others of his works which contain parts as perfect as are to be found in these, and scenes even more thrilling. Not one can be compared with either of them as a finished whole. The defects in both of these tales are comparatively slight. They were pure works of art. > –Professor Lounsbury > > The five tales reveal an extraordinary fullness of invention. … One of the very greatest characters in fiction, Natty Bumppo… The craft of the woodsman, the tricks of the trapper, all the delicate art of the forest were familiar to Cooper from his youth up. > –Professor Matthews > > Cooper is the greatest artist in the domain of romantic fiction in America. > –Wilkie Collins > > It seems to me that it was far from right for the Professor of English Literature at Yale, the Professor of English Literature in Columbia, and Wilkie Collins to deliver opinions on Cooper’s literature without having read some of it. It would have been much more decorous to keep silent and let persons talk who have read Cooper. > > Cooper’s art has some defects. In one place in “Deerslayer,” and in the restricted space of two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offenses against literary art out of a possible 115. It breaks the record. By ridiculing Cooper’s work he was ridiculing those silly yankees and that Wilkie Collins guy. It reminds me of [Harold Bloom’s evisceration of J.K. Rowling](https://www.writersreps.com/feature.aspx?FeatureID=173). It wasn’t so much the books that bothered Twain and Bloom, it was the praise from those who should know better. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5273 "2025-09-21T18:09:29Z")
This doesn’t happen much anymore with most people using cell phones but when someone was mad and talking in the phone, they’d slam the phone down to show their anger. Obviously that happened often but then they’d show the other party hold the phone away from their ear because somehow, slamming a phone down makes a louder disconnect than just gently replacing the receiver. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5274 "2025-10-05T20:59:04Z")
A person- detective, ADA or whoever, being blamed for an innocent man going to prison- or maybe not innocent. Look, unless something illegal went on (cop planting evidence, ADA concealing evidence which will help the defense, biased judge)= no one person is responsible. You will have a team of detectives, a supervisor, often a Grand Jury, the ADA has a boss, then there is the judge, and a 12 person jury- making 35 or so people who were “responsible\> Nev er just one. But this is a typical plot point with a ADA or cop racked with guilt, or accused or being the one single person responible. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5275 "2026-01-24T21:01:44Z")
Here’s a new-to-me trope in detective mysteries: Top detective (older, not that fit male) chases after fleeing suspect, gradually loses steam and the suspect looks like getting away, when suddenly the sidekick (younger, fitter and cannier female) who has obviously gone round a side way, or round the back of a building or some such, fells the suspect with a flying rugby tackle from out of the blue. I suppose it may have happened IRL once or twice, but in TV series it seems to be happening as often as women screaming on seeing a body. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5276 "2026-01-24T21:28:11Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Through the years I’ve spent many hours sitting in the ER of a level 1 trauma hospital. Even before the big event the ER in the show had more interesting unusual cases than they usually have in a shift or a week of shifts. I’ve read a bunch of things from ER doctors who say it’s very realistic but the amount of cases and pace are a bit exaggerated. There are days like that and days where it could be called slow. > > I know in my state for trauma in the field the paramedics will intubate and stabilize before they get to the hospital. So may traumas will already be tubed when they roll through the door. I’ve only been in an ER a few times. I’ve never seen one as portrayed on TV where the whole hospital is a flurry of activity as if there was a mass casualty event happening throughout the city at any given time and any moment a patient might walk in the door with a rare highly contagious deadly virus, a bomb strapped to their chest or to serve legal papers to one of the key medical staff. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2026, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5277 "2026-01-24T22:16:33Z")
If a detective or cop is pursuing or trying to find someone in the deep woods, that person will have left behind a bit of their ripped clothing on a thorn bush. How often do people in real life leave a piece of ripped clothing behind in the forest? Not often. ---
**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 26, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5278 "2026-01-26T14:26:42Z")
…and how flimsy is their jacket? I can’t think of any piece of clothing that I have that’d tear like that… without tearing out the thorn, or stopping me short. Then I’d have to say “Damn super-strong thorn, you’re not stopping me!” and wrench my jacket/shirt/pants with all my strength to tear it. Hmmm, in case I’m lost or on the run, I should buy some flimsy threadbare clothes from an estate sale… ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5279 "2026-01-26T14:50:36Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > (younger, fitter and cannier female) Usually wearing high heels!! ---
**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 26, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5280 "2026-01-26T17:39:06Z")
Who probably cheated by using magic when no one was looking, like Samantha Stevens. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5281 "2026-01-27T14:45:10Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Usually wearing high heels!! Or a wedding dress in Brooklyn 99. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2026, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5282 "2026-02-28T04:38:20Z")
Haven’t caught up with the whole thread, but we were watching the show _Paradise_ and I had to annoy my wife by asking “Again? That’s the fifth time! Does anyone in real life lose consciousness and that immediately cues up a meaningful flashback from years ago?” By the end of the show, Sterling K. Brown had slipped into eight flashbacks, all of his wife. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2026, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5283 "2026-02-28T05:16:28Z")
Way back when I was in the Boy Scouts, on camping trips we had a way to make each other pass out. I was shocked to learn that I could have a complete full-length dream even though I was only out for a couple of seconds. The dreams weren’t flashbacks though. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2026, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5284 "2026-02-28T05:53:24Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I was shocked to learn that I could have a complete full-length dream even though I was only out for a couple of seconds. As an inveterate insomniac, I have found myself very sleep-deprived, at times. Dream-deprivation is apparently the worst part of sleep-deprivation, because you catch up on that first. I could make room in the day for a 2 hour nap sometimes, before I was under a doctor’s care for insomnia, and I’d be very _ **seriously** _ sleep-deprived; I’d take anything I could get OTC for sleep, and lie down, and dream so much, that I’d wake up certain I’d overslept, only to look at the clock, and find out it had been 20 minutes. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2026, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5285 "2026-03-15T03:46:23Z")
Back when outdoor telephone booths were a thing, an exposed spy or informant is being pursued by the bad guys after taking a bullet or two. He’s bleeding profusely, but must deliver an important message to his handlers. So he ducks into said phone booth to make an urgent call. As he’s dialing, the bad guys show up in the distance—both they and the pursued are clearly visible through the glass. The connection goes through, and the target starts to make his report but is shot again by the bad guys before he can finish it. However, the party at the other end of the line gleans just enough information to get an investigation underway after he finishes saying “Hello? Hello? Gunther (or whatever his name was), are you there?” and a bad guy puts the phone back on the hook. Aside from the stupidity of taking cover inside a glass phone booth, isn’t it obvious to the handler that his agent is dead? Why the hell doesn’t the agent find somewhere decent to hide, wait until the bad guys are gone, an _then_ try to make his report, or maybe even be brought in from the cold? Is a half-hour delay really going to make much difference? Nowadays, of course, all the agent has to do is slip into a darkened doorway and hit a number programmed into his cell phone, but he’s still making himself an easy target for the pursuing bad guys. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5286 "2026-03-15T12:14:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Is a half-hour delay really going to make much difference? Sometimes it’s time-sensitive, and I’ve seen a few movies where there’s a believable reason for the time-sensitivity. Just as a counterpoint to how suspenseful a film can be when the message _is_ delayed, I offer _The Lady Vanishes._ Those moments of the dying message are great seat-edgers, but not as good as wondering what even happened to the main spy, and watching the ersatz (and drafted to boot) back-up stumble to the end. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5287 "2026-03-15T12:22:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Aside from the stupidity of taking cover inside a glass phone booth, isn’t it obvious to the handler that his agent is dead? Why the hell doesn’t the agent find somewhere decent to hide, wait until the bad guys are gone, an _then_ try to make his report Earlier, you specify he is bleeding profusely. He knows he’s going to die and needs to deliver the very important information. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5288 "2026-03-15T12:51:25Z")
I think that “spies getting shot” would fit the OP, especially when not in wartime. [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=262) [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=264)