# 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:** 47
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/921 "2021-03-18T17:47:16Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > > Has anyone ever done a time travel bit where people go only about 25 years in the past, but can’t operate anything? > > The Star Trek movie (4?) where they go back to save whales had a scene with Scotty trying to access a 1980s computer terminal. Not really 25 years in the past, but that exact example sprang to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/922 "2021-03-18T17:51:45Z")
Actually, he picked up the mouse, and tried to use it as a microphone (“hello, computer…”). A keyboard. How quaint. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/923 "2021-03-18T18:10:14Z")
Have you seen the baby trying to understand a magazine [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aXV-yaFmQNk/hqdefault.jpg "A Magazine Is an iPad That Does Not Work.m4v") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXV-yaFmQNk) ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/924 "2021-03-18T18:49:11Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Not once in my life have I ever been involved in, or even witnessed, a situation in which 2 people role played being someone else to work out how to have a conversation. That sort of role-playing is quite common in certain situations, such as when you’re going through training for certain jobs. It lets people spot problems, and try to work out the bugs, before dealing with live customers. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/925 "2021-03-18T18:57:21Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > In a life or death situation, the fleeing person’s car, which had been performing flawlessly, fails to start. I can’t believe Hollywood still does this with regularity. Actually, that is still true-to-life, although most people go years at a time without experiencing it. Even though cars are much more mechanically reliable than they used to be, battery technology has **regressed** in one very important aspect. It used to be that an old battery would generally give obvious warning signs before it failed completely. These days, not so much. A modern battery can start the car just fine one day, and be dead the next. For real-life examples, see here. > **[What happened to my car battery?](https://ask.metafilter.com/155049/What-happened-to-my-car-battery)** > > Yesterday my car started fine, but today the engine wouldn't crank even once. What caused my car battery to fail so suddenly and without warning? ---
**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 18, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/926 "2021-03-18T19:07:19Z")
I remember in _ **The Time Tunnel,** _ set in 1968 (“two years in the future”), the only way they had of entering data into the computer was to punch it in on a keyboard (or flip some switches on the old DoD consoles they had). There was one episode where the complex was under attack by some outside force (Nero’s ghost?). The wind was blowing, lightning was flashing, and thunder was booming … and Dr MacGregor (Lee Meriwether) is frantically entering data on a keyboard. Damn, she must have been a really good typist! 😲 ---
**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 18, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/927 "2021-03-18T19:39:28Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > That sort of role-playing is quite common in certain situations, such as when you’re going through training for certain jobs. Or in therapy. Or forced to participate in an “encounter group” form of work training; or even quasi-work. I really don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just say, it happens. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/928 "2021-03-18T19:58:11Z")
I’m guessing people in Europe don’t quite have the same insane brand loyalty that they do in the US for effectively identical beers? I mean, I know some people that drink Bud Light, and will opt for a Coke over any other beer. And others will only drink Miller Lite, etc… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/929 "2021-03-18T20:13:11Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I agree that there are other ways to do it, but I think it was common in the 70’s and prior. Yeah, and they did some other stupid rude things such as putting a ad in the paper- “No phone calls” so you arrive after getting all dressed up and a 15 minute drive and they tell you the jobs been taken. You answered ads in the paper, hopefully they listed qualifications, but ad lines cost $, so sometimes they didnt list them all. But rarely did they say “you are completely unqualified.” More like, “dont call us, we’ll call you” or"The Position has been filled, sorry". ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/930 "2021-03-18T20:32:20Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I remember in the early days of cell phones, someone on TV would sometimes pick one up, press a button, hear a dial tone, and then hit the number. > > I don’t think any cell phone ever had that feature (there may have been one that did, but it certainly wasn’t the majority of them); however, it was necessary on TV since so few people had used one, and wouldn’t get what was going on without the dial tone. Otherwise, they might think the cell phone wasn’t working. > > I saw a clip on TV about the kids on _Young Sheldon_– they didn’t know how to use 80s era phones-- the first time there was a scene involving one, the actor dialed, then picked up the receiver. It had to be explained to him that he had to pick it up, pretend to listen for a dial tone, then dial. > > Has anyone ever done a time travel bit where people go only about 25 years in the past, but can’t operate anything? It’s not that far-fetched-- about 10 years ago, a 20-year-old preschool aide I worked with couldn’t figure out how to turn off a record player. Two years ago, I worked with a 19-year old woman who did not know what a fax machine was. I don’t mean she didn’t know how to use one; she had no idea what the actual device _was._ (There were three in the store where we both worked.) > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I’d be willing to call that a “fair cheat” though, done to serve the needs of cinema. It’d be kind of creepy if all the astronauts faces were dark, and be bad moviemaking if we couldn’t see their facial expressions. This was used to great dramatic effect in the _Doctor Who_ episode “Silence in the Library”. The Doctor and his party, some wearing spacesuits and helmets, are fleeing a race of sentient, flesh-eating microbes. To protect the pilot, who’s been infected, the Doctor seals him into his suit and turns off the helmet light, leaving a black visor. When the light comes back on, the pilot’s head has been replaced with a grinning skull. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/931 "2021-03-18T20:33:57Z")
> [@blabbermeister](#): > > Obsolete because of cell phones, but: When two people talk on the phone and one hangs up, the other person immediately hears a dial tone. I don’t think phones worked that way. Regular phones don’t, and never did. You don’t get a dial tone until you hang up. And if the other person called you, you wouldn’t get a dial tone until they hung up, too. > [@digs](#): > > I’ll bet someone’s done that hang up/dial tone thing recently with a cell phone on TV… I just saw it last night. Cracked me up to hear a dial tone on a cell phone, especially like that. Can’t remember if it was FBI/Most Wanted or a L&O rerun, but it was definitly 21st century. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/932 "2021-03-18T20:44:08Z")
Got to admit, I do miss slamming down a heavy bakelite handset onto a dial phone if you want to make a Grand Exit from a conversation. Someone want to become rich making an app that sounds like that? For when you hang up on a jerk, and they’ll be left wondering "Wait, did I call their landline? And they just hung up on me by slamming the receiver of a vintage twenty pound phone? ---
**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 18, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/933 "2021-03-18T21:24:15Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > This was used to great dramatic effect in the _Doctor Who_ episode “Silence in the Library”. The Doctor and his party, some wearing spacesuits and helmets, are fleeing a race of sentient, flesh-eating microbes. To protect the pilot, who’s been infected, the Doctor seals him into his suit and turns off the helmet light, leaving a black visor. When the light comes back on, the pilot’s head has been replaced with a grinning skull. IIRC, they never showed the faces of the invading aliens in _ **UFO** _. If there was one in an episode, he’d be in a space suit, and the helmet would have a black visor. It made them look even more creepy. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/934 "2021-03-18T21:35:24Z")
[http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=17711](http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=17711) ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/935 "2021-03-18T21:41:39Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Got to admit, I do miss slamming down a heavy bakelite handset onto a dial phone if you want to make a Grand Exit from a conversation. > > Someone want to become rich making an app that sounds like that? For when you hang up on a jerk, and they’ll be left wondering "Wait, did I call their landline? And they just hung up on me by slamming the receiver of a vintage twenty pound phone? I mean, I do this all the time to scammers at work. Oh…you’re from Anydesk? **Slam!!!** Landlines are still a thing at a lot of businesses. ---
**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 18, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/936 "2021-03-18T22:03:21Z")
Whoa! I must have missed that episode! 😲 An alien with blue instead of green or silver skin. Who’d’a thunk it?!? ---
**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 18, 2021, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/937 "2021-03-18T22:56:11Z")
> [@bump](#): > > And others will only drink Miller Lite, etc… I knew someone who drank only Miller Lite, in a can. Had it in a bottle? forget it. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And if the other person called you, you wouldn’t get a dial tone until they hung up, too. No, not necessarily. That was true with party lines and operator-assisted calls, or phones in small towns that didn’t have dials, but were operator-assisted even for local calls up through the 1960s (you picked up the receiver, and lifting it from the cradle sounded a tone; the operator answered; you asked her to please get you whatever the exchange was-- or gave the person’s name, if it were REALLY small, and she did, by physically plugging in a connector), but once calls were automated, as soon as one person hung up, the call was disconnected-- which was pretty much my whole life, being a kid from Manhattan, born in the late 60s. Sometimes my mother would put down the phone, think of one more thing she had to day, and pick it up quickly, and say “Hello?” as thought the other person might still be there. I didn’t understand why until she explained it to me. > [@digs](#): > > Someone want to become rich making an app that sounds like that? For when you hang up on a jerk, and they’ll be left wondering "Wait, did I call their landline? And they just hung up on me by slamming the receiver of a vintage twenty pound phone? Wow. I wish I’d paid more attention in my programming classes. That’s a million dollar idea. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/938 "2021-03-18T23:43:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Whoa! I must have missed that episode! 😲 > > An alien with blue instead of green or silver skin. Who’d’a thunk it?!? There’s a shot of an alien autopsy in the credits of each episode. [![](https://i0.wp.com/www.gerryanderson.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/vlcsnap-2020-03-01-19h19m06s364.png?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1) ](https://i0.wp.com/www.gerryanderson.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/vlcsnap-2020-03-01-19h19m06s364.png?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/j2PoXfZdYVU/maxresdefault.jpg "Gerry Anderson's UFO (1970) - Opening Titles") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2PoXfZdYVU) And we also got a good look at the alien defector in _A Matter of Priorities_ [![](https://i1.wp.com/www.gerryanderson.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/vlcsnap-2020-03-01-19h13m24s673.png?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1) ](https://i1.wp.com/www.gerryanderson.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/vlcsnap-2020-03-01-19h13m24s673.png?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/939 "2021-03-18T23:43:49Z")
Around 2010 the only car I could afford was POS 1988 Chevy Celebrity. I drove my then 20 year old nephew in it once and he had no idea how to put the windows down. (It was one of the crank handles you grab and turn around in a circle.) ---
**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 18, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/940 "2021-03-18T23:53:16Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > It was one of the crank handles you grab and turn around in a circle Oh, now that’s just privilege, because I bought a no-frills Chevy Spark (that was nonetheless an automatic-- I could NOT find a new manual, and I _looked_) in 2016, with roll-down windows. It has all kinds of stuff for safety, and AC as well, but manual controls on the seats, and soforth. It’s so small that even 5’5 me can reach across and roll down the passenger window. I also have a 2002 Audi, with pings and dents, and a few things that don’t work, but automatic windows, and seats, interior trunk release, stay-up hood (no prop rod), but it’s a manual. Takes 93 octane. I use it around town, because my son is 5’9, and doesn’t fit in the Spark well. But I use the Spark for out-of-town trips. It gets 40mpg. Actually, the Audi gets pretty good mileage for as old as it is, but it’s still that expensive gas. [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=46) [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=48)