# 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:** 270
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5409 "2026-05-26T17:45:17Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The silliest example of that is maybe a Mission Impossible one …and that’s not even the silliest thing about that scene. The whole caper could’ve been made actually impossible if the CIA had bothered to put a simple CCTV camera in the room. I still love MI though. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5410 "2026-05-26T17:46:59Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, some do, especially the really annoying ones. My favorite example of this was a virus that would delete the FAT table from the disk of an old DOS system, and supposedly saves a copy in RAM. Then it has you play a game to get it to write your FAT back to the disk. Ok, as I see that was 35 years ago, in that innocent age of computers, many viruses and malware still got distributed by pranksters with no real ill criminal intentions, other than to cause havoc and have a laugh about it. Nowadays, the foul actors will hide their traces before they have stolen all of your data and encrypted it, and only then tell you you’ve been hacked and demand ransom. Or they use your private computer for their bot net without you ever noticing it. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5411 "2026-05-26T18:00:20Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Just saw one we’ve all seen a kajillion times in movies and TV (also video games): sneaking around by crawling through ventilation ducts. Has this ever really been done in the history of the world? Do any commercial buildings even have ventilation ducts large enough for an adult human to crawl through? I saw a humorous video with a dachshund moving through the ventilation ducts, and that was semi-realistic! But, as you say, with a human? No way. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2026, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5412 "2026-05-26T18:15:14Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I saw a humorous video with a dachshund moving through the ventilation ducts, and that was semi-realistic! On _ **Mission: Impossible** _ (the TV series), they used a chihuahua named Chico. I think they used a cat once too. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2026, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5413 "2026-05-26T18:50:32Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > > > The silliest example of that is maybe a Mission Impossible one… directly over the top secretest room in the world. > > …and that’s not even the silliest thing about that scene. What I find “silly” about that scene is that I, a curmudgeonly skeptic, immediately jettisoned all my critical faculties and was rooting for Agent Cruise despite so many logical problems with that scene. “Rule of Cool” triumphs again! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5414 "2026-05-26T19:05:58Z")
Literally their job, dachshunds are tunnel rats. I certainly wouldn’t want to meet one in the duct, and I’m not even a badger. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5415 "2026-05-26T19:10:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > In what world would shutting off the monitors in that room effect the virus rifling through their whole system. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5416 "2026-05-26T19:14:28Z")
Please don’t quote me to prove a point of yours I totally disagree with. There was NO inhouse irony or humor in that scene-just ignorance from the scriptwriters. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5417 "2026-05-26T19:19:32Z")
If you say so, I thought it was quite funny. Humor is in the eyes of the beholder, same as the two people on one keyboard. Okay, please never quote me or reply to Me on anything. Will that work? 🙀 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5418 "2026-05-26T19:20:36Z")
Nice try. No. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5419 "2026-05-26T19:24:04Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Nowadays, the foul actors will hide their traces before they have stolen all of your data and encrypted it, and only then tell you you’ve been hacked and demand ransom. Yeah, nobody is going to announce their presence before they’ve completed the job. But sometimes the mission of the hacker depends on you being notified “welcome to p0wnsville, population you.” ---
**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:** [May 26, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5420 "2026-05-26T19:31:46Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > One of the _Simpsons_ writers pointed out that guns in cartoons somehow become scarier the more you cock them. Steve McQueen’s constant fiddling with the ejector port on his M3 submachine gun in _ **Hell Is for Heroes** _ didn’t make it scarier, but it sure was annoying. It was obvious he didn’t want to be in the movie at all. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5421 "2026-05-26T20:20:36Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > The whole caper could’ve been made actually impossible if the CIA had bothered to put a simple CCTV camera in the room. The trope is to splice into the camera feed and insert earlier footage of an empty room. Well documented in the TV show, aptly named Mission Implausible. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2026, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5422 "2026-05-27T05:07:16Z")
It was done in _ **Columbo** _, too. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2026, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5423 "2026-05-27T05:11:35Z")
Was was done in _Columbo?_ The cocking a gun? Or the hanging from the ceiling bit? ---
**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:** [May 27, 2026, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5424 "2026-05-27T05:14:32Z")
No, hijacking the camera feed. I think it’s probably been done in a lot of other shows too. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2026, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5425 "2026-05-27T05:33:00Z")
And “Ocean’s 11”. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5426 "2026-05-27T12:39:14Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The bartender gives him one - in a can! The barkeep pops the top\* and pours it in a glass As it happens my brother was served a can last month. He didn’t know the full story either, only that the bar didn’t have any bar facilities, only cans, were serving an odd minority cliental (old white dudes), and were located behind a plain door on the edge of an old (borded up) tavern/hotel in a declining country town. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5427 "2026-05-27T18:40:34Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > the bar didn’t have any bar facilities I was on a retreat with guys who were beer aficionados. We drove into the nearest small town to watch The Game, piled into the only bar, and something just looked “off”… … took me a minute to realize it was the lack of tap handles. I’d never been in a bar that didn’t have them. This place just had a cooler full of cans (all light “beers”). ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5428 "2026-05-28T12:55:09Z")
There are a handful of bars near me that have no or almost no beer on tap. The whole model is to have a ton of coolers, and stock lots of different bottles/cans of beer. You serve yourself - walk around, see something you like, take the bottle/can, and sit back down with your friends. At the end, you take the collection of empties to the register, and you pay for what you drank. It’s actually a pretty interesting setup. [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=269) [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=271)