# 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:** 49
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/961 "2021-03-19T13:06:18Z")
There’s something that I’ve long wondered if it’s true or not, but don’t know. Whenever I watch police procedurals, like say… NCIS or “The Rookie”, I’m always surprised at how the people being questioned, arrested, arraigned or whatever by the law enforcement or court people are some weird combination of dismissive, angry, condescending, disrespectful or smartassed. My usual thought is that there’s no way I’d be doing anything except being as courteous and accommodating as I could be; if I’m somehow a suspect, I wouldn’t want to give them any reason to detain me any further, and if it’s an investigation and I’m helping, then I would want to help. At no point would being late to lunch (or whatever trivial thing these people are doing) be a consideration. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/962 "2021-03-19T13:13:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Cops and bad guys shooting at one another with snub-nose .38s at great distances. And actually hitting one another. Oh lord… that one cracks me up. I have a snub-nose 38 (inherited it; wouldn’t actually buy something so worthless), and after about 10 yards or so, it’s not uncommon for two things to happen. One, it’s woefully inaccurate- at 30 feet/10 yards, we’re talking being lucky to consistently hit a man-sized target. Two, the barrel is so short that the bullet isn’t spun enough to be stable, and it sometimes wobbles enough to hit the paper _sideways_. And this is with wadcutters, which are generally supposed to be a bit more accurate than your average 38 round. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/963 "2021-03-19T13:21:35Z")
Murder per capita in TV mysteries in considerably more than irl. Take for example, the town in Maine where _Murder, She Wrote_ takes place. [The murder rate in Cabot Cove is out of control.](https://www.metv.com/lists/11-fierce-facts-about-murder-she-wrote) > According to the [BBC](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9490511/Murder-She-Wrote-location-named-as-murder-capital-of-world.html), the small coastal town had about 5.3 murders every year. That would make the murder rate for the town of 3,560 people about 1,490 murders per million people. That’s 60 percent higher than Honduras, where a violent death occurs every 74 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/964 "2021-03-19T13:57:16Z")
It really depends on the school and department I’m sure. I mean, my intro courses in my major were taught by lecturers and/or grad students, but once we got into the upper level courses, we got the big guns for that stuff. I do know that the famous profs often do like teaching undergraduates, even if it’s not literally intro courses. I took a course in Classical Archaeology as one of my humanities electives, and we had a professor who is known as the “Father” of nautical archaeology (i.e. excavating wrecked ships and what-not on the seafloor) teach the course. [(well shit… turns out he passed away a little over two weeks ago)](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/underwater-archaeology-pioneer-george-bass-dies-at-88) I’m sure he wasn’t teaching a classical archaeology course to undergraduates in 1994 because he had to. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/965 "2021-03-19T18:15:50Z")
> [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > Apart from the high body counts, certain towns tend to have an absurdly high concentration of really sordid and kind of freaky scandals, elaborate plots, and murders reflecting them. First episode, they’re all “This is a small town and nothing ever happens here.” and a month later, they’re on their third cult/posed body/stolen baby/masked kidnapper who holds people in a bunker/Munchausen by proxy/witness protection thing/murder with an ice knife in a room locked from the inside/hypnotized trained assassin who accidentally heard their trigger word and murdered someone. Someone told me I just “had to” watch ‘Justified’. So I did, for a season and a half. I guess it checks all the right boxes of the nerves of steel laconic federal marshal rooting out the bad guys boxes, and it was OK to watch. I know well rural USA has its drug/crime problems too, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of someplace in the greater Hogfart area of Appalachia having such a huge sophisticated network of strong brutal drug cartel members. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/966 "2021-03-19T20:53:41Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Very perceptive child, my daughter was. She also wanted to know how the wheels on a car can rotate backward. I hope you gave her a Calvin’s dad…esque explanation for how that happens. ---
**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 19, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/967 "2021-03-19T21:22:44Z")
I told her it was just because of the way the camera works … it takes lots of little pictures at different times. In other words, the strobe effect. 🙂 To get back on topic, I just watched the episode of _ **Columbo** _ in which George Wendt whacks his brother and another guy without so much as batting an eyelash. I’ve always been amazed at how calm and collected such amateur murderers are when they pull the trigger. A real hit man who’s offed dozens of people in cold blood might not show any emotion. But Janet Leigh blowing Sam Jaffe’s brains out while he’s asleep? If I were even capable of doing such a thing, I think I’d be trembling the whole time. In _ **The Godfather** _, even Michael, who served in the Marines during WWII, was nervous as hell during his first hit. The sound of the El rumbling by in the background just accentuated it. But on TV? This never seems to happen. And after the deed is done, the murderer manages to go on normally with his or her life, and act casual when interviewed by the cops (at least at first). How many people do you know who could do this? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/968 "2021-03-19T21:28:31Z")
It seems like you would have to be a sociopath to murder someone so calmly and then lie about it to the police. ---
**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 19, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/969 "2021-03-19T21:30:20Z")
That’s my point. Most of these amateur murderers are _not_ sociopaths, just ordinary people who happen to have a motive to kill someone. ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/970 "2021-03-20T03:53:51Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > To get back on topic, I just watched the episode of _ **Columbo** _ in which George Wendt whacks his brother and another guy without so much as batting an eyelash. I’ve always been amazed at how calm and collected such amateur murderers are when they pull the trigger. We have to assume these murderers have been cherry-picked from among lots of murderers Columbo apprehends. They _have_ to be super cool-as-a-cucumber types to make them challenging for Columbo to unnerve. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/971 "2021-03-20T04:07:41Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > UK here. I can remember my Gran calling us and not replacing the receiver correctly. An hour or so later we went to make a call and there was no dial tone, just the sound of my gran singing to herself while doing her chores. We tried shouting down the phone but couldn’t attract her attention so I had to drive over there and get her to hang up properly! This would have been late 80’s Same kind of thing happened here in the US. ---
**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 20, 2021, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/972 "2021-03-20T04:11:08Z")
I remember the central office putting an extremely loud tone on the line, that could be heard with the handset off the hook. ---
**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 20, 2021, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/973 "2021-03-20T05:52:56Z")
> [@blabbermeister](#): > > > [@terentii](#): > > > > To get back on topic, I just watched the episode of _ **Columbo** _ in which George Wendt whacks his brother and another guy without so much as batting an eyelash. I’ve always been amazed at how calm and collected such amateur murderers are when they pull the trigger. > > We have to assume these murderers have been cherry-picked from among lots of murderers Columbo apprehends. They _have_ to be super cool-as-a-cucumber types to make them challenging for Columbo to unnerve. It’s not just on _ **Columbo** _. It happens all the time on murder mysteries, which is why the murderer is normally the last person you’d suspect. Unless they’re nailed outright by someone like Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, they don’t crack until they’re being grilled on the stand by a Perry Mason or Ben Matlock. ---
**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 20, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/974 "2021-03-20T11:11:51Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Forensic pathologists acting like detectives, running around talking to witnesses and suspects. Or anyone who works for the crime lab. > [@bump](#): > > At no point would being late to lunch (or whatever trivial thing these people are doing) be a consideration. I was once a witness to a car accident, and because of where I was positioned, I saw everything, and also called 911. So, I stayed until the police came, and then the police requested that I stay until I could make a statement and give them my information. I was on my way to work, and was already going to be breezing in just under the clock had I left right then. So I called in and explained what was going on. After the cops were done with me, they produced a form, already filled out, with time, date and case number, a phone number to call to confirm, and the cop’s signature. Something like “Work Excuse” was written across the top. So, police in at least some places carry a form for people whom they make late to work with their questioning. My work was actually cool, and didn’t require the form, but if it had, I had it. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/975 "2021-03-20T11:29:11Z")
1. A noticeable sound anytime someone turns on floodlights - no matter how far away the viewer might be. (e.g.in the intro of “From Russia with Love”). 2. Thunder and lightning always happening simultaneously. In movies/TV, how often do you hear thunder five or 10 seconds after the lightning flash? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/976 "2021-03-20T15:49:17Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > In movies/TV, how often do you hear thunder five or 10 seconds after the lightning flash? There’s a great scene regarding this in **Poltergeist**. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/977 "2021-03-20T16:53:30Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > A noticeable sound anytime someone turns on floodlights - no matter how far away the viewer might be. (e.g.in the intro of “From Russia with Love”). You could probably do a whole separate thread on phony tv and movie sound effects— like the beep boop sounds when someone is doing something on a computer, or a sound effect that accompanies a progress bar when someone is say, surreptitiously downloading top secret computer files onto a thumb drive. Or one of my favorites— the “shiiing!” sound when someone pulls a sword out of its scabbard. Metal against metal makes that sound, not metal against leather. ---
**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 20, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/978 "2021-03-20T18:08:41Z")
Or the _Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack!_ when soldiers are marching. If your rifle _clicks_ and _clacks_, it’s either defective or you haven’t been taking care of it. In that case, your sergeant will tear you a new asshole. I’m always amazed at how sound effects vanish when somebody like Rambo is sneaking up behind a sentry, and the poor slob never so much as turns around to see what’s coming. Combat boots slogging through sand or mud make a LOT of noise! ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/979 "2021-03-20T18:13:21Z")
It seems curiously strange to me that the use of Foley Artists still remain in these times where more accurate diagetic sounds, or at least electronically synthesized versions thereof for a more true to life sound, even if the volume might need to be raised on it to “sweeten” it a bit to make it more audible. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-extremely-common-in-tv-or-movies-but-almost-never-happens-in-real-life/932311/980 "2021-03-20T18:26:55Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > UK here. I can remember my Gran calling us and not replacing the receiver correctly. An hour or so later we went to make a call and there was no dial tone, just the sound of my gran singing to herself while doing her chores. We tried shouting down the phone but couldn’t attract her attention so I had to drive over there and get her to hang up properly! This would have been late 80’s I remember when I was stationed at Woomera, South Australia in the mid-80s. We had one single line from the site to call back overseas (calls within site were not affected–just the trunk line to overseas). And we always had to be careful to hang up when done, or no one else could make or receive a call from the States. If a phone wasn’t hung up, folks were screwed until it was. Well, one morning I had received a call from the States, and one of the gals in the office let me know. I took the call, and when I was done I hung up. Later I was in meeting and the switchboard announced someone’s phone was of the book and no one could make calls. I said I had gotten a call and had hung up, but went back to my office and checked–yup my phone was on the hook. Anyway–two hours later (and way past when anyone in the U.S. would be making calls to or receiving from us due to the time zone difference, the operator heard what sounded like a typewriter. Eventually it was tracked down to my office. The gal who had told me I had a phone call had kept the phone off the hook until I had picked it up, and had forgotten to hang it up. Lots of pissed people, especially the site commander. [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=48) [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=50)