# What takes you out of a TV show or movie that’s actually trivial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [September 23, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299 "2026-09-23T01:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/141 "2026-09-24T20:49:26Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > Scenes in cars where the driver is mindlessly floating the steering wheel back and forth. That’s how I look when I drive my Jeeps. They all have about 220 degrees of slop. You gotta keep sawing that wheel if you wanna go anything close to straight! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/142 "2026-09-24T20:52:45Z")
Later in that same movie one of the Patrolmen uses the front sight of his piece to scratch the side of his head. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/143 "2026-09-24T21:34:52Z")
> [@solost](#): > > and _A Knight’s Tale_ This and _Marie Antoinette_ are examples of this that I’m familiar with. However, I actually appreciated the usage of present-day pop music as I believe/assume that the two different movies were simply replacing medieval and French revolutionary “pop” music with ours. I believe that it’s worthwhile for younger audiences to see that what we consider “intellectual” or “elite” music was the pop music of the day. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/144 "2026-09-24T22:17:39Z")
I just had a mind cartoon of a soldier standing in front of the mirror shaving, with lather on his face and on his beret 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/145 "2026-09-24T22:29:54Z")
Or where a criminal tells a police officer to drop their weapon, and they do. The officer, that is. Another is doctors informing a family of a death or serious illness in the parking lot or a crowded hallway, or the doctor sitting by the very sick person’s bedside, waiting for the family to arrive. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/146 "2026-09-24T22:47:05Z")
How about non-period jewelry or glasses? I remember seeing some western TV show, and the actress was wearing giant hoop earrings, almost down to her shoulders. Don’t think they wore them in that time or place. Also, pronouncing place names correctly. As a lifelong Midwesterner, it was really obvious to me that nobody from the production crew of “The Tuskegee Airmen” biopic called the Ottumwa, Iowa chamber of commerce, to find out how the town’s name was pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/147 "2026-09-24T22:48:13Z")
Mine is really trivial. Someone is carrying a bag or two of groceries - typically with a baguette extending upwards from one - and it is very clear that the bags are virtually weightless. mmm ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/148 "2026-09-24T22:52:11Z")
I once purchased a baguette that, after being bagged, stuck out the top, and I joked that I could be on a TV show. The teenage bagger looked at me blankly. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/149 "2026-09-24T23:05:46Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Someone is carrying a bag or two of groceries - typically with a baguette extending upwards from one - and it is very clear that the bags are virtually weightless. You want weight, add some stalks of celery you can munch on as you go home. 🙂 ---
**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:** [September 24, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/150 "2026-09-24T23:22:17Z")
Yep. Celery poking out the top is how you _know_ you’re on TV. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/151 "2026-09-24T23:42:04Z")
And extra credit for the green carrot tops protruding from the top of the bag ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/152 "2026-09-25T00:03:52Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Someone is carrying a bag or two of groceries - typically with a baguette extending upwards from one - and it is very clear that the bags are virtually weightless. Now, let us be careful here- there’s usually a celery stalk peeking out also, no? 😛 Yeah, good one. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yep. Celery poking out the top is how you _know_ you’re on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/153 "2026-09-25T01:25:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The TV Show Route 66 did not use the Song Route 66. why oh why. > > LVBoPeep: I assume that they didn’t want to pay royalties, so they commissioned an original song that THEY owned the rights to. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/154 "2026-09-25T02:33:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Celery poking out the top is how you _know_ you’re on TV. Or in an Art Frahm drawing. > **[Art Frahm : Fallen Knickers, Women And Celery (1950s) - Flashbak](https://flashbak.com/the-erotic-pictures-of-art-frahm-women-in-peril-with-celery-sticks-15903/)** > > Art Frahm  (1907–1981) was an American artist best known for his drawing of 1950s pin-ups. Falling panties were his muse and sticks of celery his sunflowers. Frahm’s tableaux feature white women dashing home from the grocery store shocked or... ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/155 "2026-09-25T03:14:52Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > > > Things obviously written by west-coasters who have never been to the east coast > > Noticeable if they say “the 95” instead of “I-95.” Indeed. Unless they’re in Boston, in which case they say “128” just to confuse out-of-towners. (Actually because [Massachusetts Route 128](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Route_128) overlaps I-95 for a stretch in the Boston area [for 37.5 miles per Wikipedia], and because MA-128 predates I-95, Boston natives still call the highway in question “128”.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/156 "2026-09-25T04:08:20Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > I assume that they didn’t want to pay royalties, so they commissioned an original song that THEY owned the rights to. Yes, but I had heard they could have got the song for like $100 per episode. Which of course may be way off. > [@markn\_1](#): > > Or in an Art Frahm drawing. Interesting! ---
**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:** [September 25, 2026, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/157 "2026-09-25T04:17:21Z")
He was definitely one of those artists whose style you would recognize right away. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/158 "2026-09-25T04:34:58Z")
After seeing the focus of his work, his famous Coppertone ad featuring the dog pulling down the little girl’s swimsuit bottom seems a bit creepier. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2026, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/159 "2026-09-25T05:17:23Z")
I guess none of those women got their knickers in a knot… 😏 ---
**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:** [September 25, 2026, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299/160 "2026-09-25T05:20:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, but I had heard they could have got the song for like $100 per episode. Which of course may be way off. > > markn\_1: Back in the early '60s, $100 was like $500 today. Maybe more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-takes-you-out-of-a-tv-show-or-movie-that-s-actually-trivial/1033299.md?page=9)