# 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:** 276
**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 22, 2026, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5529 "2026-07-22T13:51:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Okay, but does he kill the plants? He doesn’t kill the plants; he and Spock just devise a subsonic set-up to irritate the hell out of the colonists. Once they were pissed off, they started fighting among themselves and were able to overcome the “feel-good” effect of the plants’ spores. ---
**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 22, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5530 "2026-07-22T13:56:18Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > All three are pretty bad. “The Empath” and “Plato’s Children” are worse still, IMHO. We should have a poll on which Third Season episode of _ **TOS** _ is the worst. ---
**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 22, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5531 "2026-07-22T14:01:08Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Bonk! Bonk! “Bonk, bonk on the head!” was in “Miri,” not “And the Children Shall Lead.” ---
**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 22, 2026, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5532 "2026-07-22T14:05:04Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > That far in the future, he should be able to fly it with a joystick from the captain’s chair. They must have lost joystick technology at the same time they lost seatbelt technology In _ **TNG** _, they had the first, but still not the second. ---
**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 22, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5533 "2026-07-22T14:13:30Z")
What exactly was the problem with the plants? Spock was actually happy! Or did he just _think_ he was happy? Were the plants going to eventually kill them or something? ---
**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 22, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5534 "2026-07-22T14:13:46Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Some of the English goals explicitly didn’t **Nitpick:** I believe the correct British spelling is "gaols.’ Goals are what football players score. ---
**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 22, 2026, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5535 "2026-07-22T14:20:42Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > What exactly was the problem with the plants? The effect of the spores was like a drug. Spock, McCoy, Sulu, and eventually Kirk were high on the “happiness” the spores created, just like the colonists. The message was “Drugs stifle creativity and progress, so they’re bad.” ---
**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:** [July 22, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5536 "2026-07-22T14:26:27Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > They must have lost joystick technology at the same time they lost seatbelt technology 🙂 The last surviving Logitech game controller was used in the recreation of the Titan submersible, for the Museum of Immense Stupidity. > [@DrDeth](#): > > All three are pretty bad. The Alternative Factor. At least Space Hippies and Brain and Brain have actual stories that make sense. And, it’s not even a third season episode. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > What exactly was the problem with the plants? In actual fact, there was nothing wrong and everything right. The planet should be a destination hospital. Got a broken spine? Missing spleen? A bad case of Xenopolycythemia? Want your tonsils back? Go there, get dosed, get magically repaired, and go into the anger booth to remove the spores’ influence, and you’re right as rain. Please exit through the gift shop, and thank you for coming! ---
**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 22, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5537 "2026-07-22T14:29:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The Alternative Factor. Not a Third Season episode. It came near the end of the First, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5538 "2026-07-22T17:55:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “The Empath” and “Plato’s Children” are worse still, IMHO. We should have a poll on which Third Season episode of _ **TOS** _ is the worst. Both are in running. Good idea. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > episode wherein Spock is happy, and Kirk spitefully destroys the miracle plant > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The planet should be a destination hospital. Got a broken spine? Missing spleen? A bad case of Xenopolycythemia? Want your tonsils back? Go there, get dosed, get magically repaired, and go into the anger booth to remove the spores’ influence, and you’re right as rain. Most episodic shows never came back to cool stuff. Same with Shore leave/ ---
**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:** [July 22, 2026, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5539 "2026-07-22T18:15:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Same with Shore leave The animated series did. And IMO got it completely wrong. There is no caretaker! It’s all automated. The planet is designed to give you whatever you want. And what the crew wanted was an answer. So the planet gave them one. How dumb were they to think one lonely old guy sat waiting on this planet, this large earth-sized planet, all by himself, just waiting for something to happen? BOOORRR-ing. But to your point, we never saw the people that made this planet. No one owned up to it. Were they all dead, like the makers of the Guardian, or those world-building Kalandans that accidentally killed themselves? And the planet is just running on automatic…forever? > [@terentii](#): > > Not a Third Season episode Still is the worst episode. Being a first season is “bonus points” in the ranking. They have no excuse! ---
**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 22, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5540 "2026-07-22T18:20:54Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Plato’s Children” Should be “ **Step** children.” Mea culpa! 😖 ---
**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 22, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5541 "2026-07-22T18:23:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > There is no caretaker! It’s all automated. I thought he’d just died in the intervening years. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5542 "2026-07-22T21:41:05Z")
As I recall, in the novelization they find his gravestone, which identified him as the last of his race. ---
**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 22, 2026, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5543 "2026-07-22T22:16:02Z")
In _ **TAS** _ too. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5544 "2026-07-31T01:05:13Z")
Interpol not only has hundreds of armed agents they also have jurisdiction in the United States to carry out arrests. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5545 "2026-07-31T01:44:40Z")
I can’t recall any of my teachers or professors ever addressing the class as “class.” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5546 "2026-08-01T19:36:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Most episodic shows never came back to cool stuff. Same with Shore leave/ It’s sort of like films like Interstellar or Project Hail Mary. Like no one ever mentions again how humanity in it’s desperation just sort of happened to harness interstellar travel and planetary-scale engineering? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5547 "2026-08-01T23:13:31Z")
Here’s something that almost never happens anywhere except for rom-coms. 1. Your entire career is suddenly dependent on landing that one project/client you only have a few days to finish (that inexplicably coincides with some other activity that, objectively speaking, usually isn’t that important) 2. In the 12 to 72 hours it takes for the man do whatever hairbrained scheme he is working on, his wife/spouse and made a decision to move out, found a new place to move to, and is just about to finish packing by the time he shows up to mend the relationship. 3. Man runs to his woman and exclaims how he quit/gave up his job for her because he loves her so much! Because so many women want to be with a dude with no job! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/5548 "2026-08-02T10:52:44Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > 1. Your entire career is suddenly dependent on landing that one project/client you only have a few days to finish Which is yet another example of “screenwriters thinking all jobs work like screenwriting.” [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=275) [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=277)