# 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:** 33
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/641 "2021-02-19T08:38:24Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Totally late 20th c. feature. Not in Chicago. > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Late** _ 20th century? I see them all the time in old movies and TV shows that predate my birth. They were comfortable places to sleep and hang out when the weather was hot. Or are we talking about two different things here? ^This. Back in Chicago people would use them as porches. > [@Colibri](#): > > Many New Yorkers used to use their fire escapes as a balcony during the summer, sitting out there in a lawn chair and watching the world go by and even barbecuing. … and apparently New York City… > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The platforms and stairs have existed since about 1900. What is **LATE** 20th century is the retracting stairs. For much of the early part of the century, the stairs were an invitation to burglars. OK, that’s a late feature of them. But external stairs were installed earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/642 "2021-02-19T08:43:28Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Ditto for San Francisco the granddaddy of all car chases, [_Bullitt_ .](https://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2007/11/bullitt-a-class.html) I saw that in college and recently rewatched it now that I know San Francisco, and I went huh? I did find the route of the chase online (different one from yours.) There was an indie film called Dumbarton Bridge after the bridge I used to commute over every weekday. That movie also had car rides jumping all over the Bay Area shot to shot. Not linking to it because not worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/643 "2021-02-19T10:05:35Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The platforms and stairs have existed since about 1900. What is **LATE** 20th century is the retracting stairs. For much of the early part of the century, the stairs were an invitation to burglars. [Building Fire Safety Sketch Fire Escapes 1912 - (ctgpublishing.com)](http://ctgpublishing.com/industrial-building-fire-safety-in-1911-images/holbrook-fitz-john-porter-building-fire-safety-sketch-fire-escapes-circa-1912/) It’s possible that they became _more_ common in the mid 20th century, as the first generation rusted out and were replaced. I don’t have information on that. But the drop down ladders were iconic already in the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/644 "2021-02-19T12:16:26Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > But external stairs were installed earlier. Per the article I linked to, external wooden fire escapes were used in New York from the 1860s. It was in 1911 that it was mandated that they be wrought iron and attached well. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2021, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/645 "2021-02-19T16:00:15Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > The movie _fascinates_ me, especially that MosFilm sponsored such a satire. From what I understand, it was a major feat to get such a movie through the censors. The '70s were a relatively liberal era in the USSR (heavy emphasis on the “relatively”), and Eldar Ryazanov was a prolific director well known for satirizing certain elements of Soviet life. _ **The Irony of Fate** _ was actually based on a true story (or so I’ve been told). Ryazanov had an office in the building where I worked back in the '90s. I would see him occasionally in the elevator going upstairs. He was fond of wearing bib overalls. He had a stable of favorite actors he liked working with. One of them, Liya Akhedzhakova, also worked in the same building. She would act in the floor show at the annual New Year’s party playing characters like a Carol Burnett-type charwoman, and she was hilarious! [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0015253/?ref\_=ttfc\_fc\_cl\_t1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0015253/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t1) ---
**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 19, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/646 "2021-02-19T16:02:38Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > But the drop down ladders were iconic already in the 70’s. See, I wouldn’t call the 70s “mid century”; I’d call that “late century.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/647 "2021-02-19T19:39:51Z")
It might be limited to three stories or lower, but in Chicago at least through the 1990’s and possibly to this day buildings still have wooden “fire escapes” - back stairs that functioned mainly for access, but also as an escape route and back porch. Many were actually built large enough to be function as actual porches, but they weren’t private, they all linked together via a stairway to ground level. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/18/57/08/18570856b68826bbdf296c41c8d89d1f.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/18/57/08/18570856b68826bbdf296c41c8d89d1f.jpg) You can see a taller building in the background with a metal fire escaped attached to the side of the building. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/648 "2021-02-19T19:43:43Z")
When I lived in Washington DC I lived in a three-story building with back stairs like that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/649 "2021-02-19T21:09:59Z")
A famous photo: > **[\[Heat Spell, Children Sleeping on the Fire Escape, the Lower East Side\] (The...](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/106FM2)** > > \[Heat Spell, Children Sleeping on the Fire Escape, the Lower East Side\] (Getty Museum); May 23, 1941; Weegee (Arthur Fellig) (American, born Austria, 1899 - 1968); Gelatin silver print; 26.7 × 34.1 ---
**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:** [February 19, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/650 "2021-02-19T21:33:32Z")
I’ve seen porches like this in Toronto too. Parts of _ **Due South** _ were filmed with such neighborhoods filling in for Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/651 "2021-02-19T22:25:47Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > See, I wouldn’t call the 70s “mid century”; I’d call that “late century.” And I wouldn’t call 1912 “late century” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/652 "2021-02-22T00:59:04Z")
As seen in films like The Crazies (original and remake), The Andromeda Strain, Outbreak, 28 Weeks Later, The Stand, and various others, was there a point where COVID-19 could have been contained by thousands of soldiers in MOPP4 gear, flamethrowers, fuel-air bombs and possibly a nuclear weapon? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/653 "2021-02-22T05:38:01Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Whenever I go to a party I always look for the pensive cool non-intoxicated woman standing out on the balcony alone smoking a cigarette and staring off as she thinks about something far more important than the party. Well, lung cancer is far more important than the party. 😜 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/654 "2021-02-22T15:54:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > As seen in films like The Crazies (original and remake), The Andromeda Strain, Outbreak, 28 Weeks Later, The Stand, and various others, was there a point where COVID-19 could have been contained by thousands of soldiers in MOPP4 gear, flamethrowers, fuel-air bombs and possibly a nuclear weapon? Probably. But unless you want WW-III the same day, it’d be on the Chinese to have surrounded and destroyed Wuhan. It’d also have had to be about 3 months before anyone actually noticed something unusual was going on in Wuhan. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/655 "2021-02-22T15:57:53Z")
Lots of buildings of the same era in St. Louis are the same way. 3 story brick apartments with the wooden communal back porches/stairs. Taller structures with the exterior steel fire escape ladders are also common. Seems to have been a standard design technique from maybe the 1880s to the 1940s. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/656 "2021-02-22T20:28:32Z")
Long time ago my folks lived in a different sate than I do. My Dad, who was 91 at the time, had gone to the Dr. for a routine appointment. I asked how it went and he said “The Doctor said I can buy green bananas”. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/657 "2021-02-22T20:45:33Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I keep remembering the comment by a Parisian that the best view of Paris is from the Eiffel Tower. “Because then you can’t see the Eiffel Tower.” > (Which is how I feel about the London Eye…“Let’s take a beautiful, stately historic city and put a glossy ferris wheel in the middle of it!”) … Or an enormous glass penis. Yeccch! 🤮 ---
**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:** [February 23, 2021, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/658 "2021-02-23T13:36:07Z")
I’m sure gunshots have been covered ad nauseum already, but when I see a good guy get shot in the chest in a TV show or movie, especially an older one, I pay attention to which side of the chest they got shot. If it’s the right side, they have a 99% chance of recovery. If it’s the left side, they almost certainly will only have a minute or two to gasp out goodbyes before they die. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/659 "2021-02-24T20:58:31Z")
They might be saved if they happen to store any object in their breast pocket. Like he would have been killed if that pack of gum in his pocket hadn’t stopped that 20mm armor-piercing round. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/660 "2021-02-24T22:58:32Z")
Oh, another one thanks to a reference to a [cheezy action movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Decision) with some decent starpower (held back by Steven Segall): No matter how bad-ass you _think_ you are, unless you are a rated, certified pilot, familiar with that airframe, you are _ **not** _ stepping up to the flight deck to safely land a jumbo jet when the pilot & co-pilot are incapacitated. I have a limited modicum of aeronautical knowledge and time in the right seat, and am positive that even with my limited experience, I’d only be smearing flaming wreckage of what’s left of a Cessna 152 across a runway. Tripler Okay, I’ll give myself a little “Cessna” credit: it’d be one **hell** of a bumpy landing. [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=32) [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=34)