# What TV show or movie gets your profession the most right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688 "2020-11-28T19:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/1 "2020-11-28T19:14:52Z")
It is far too easy to find examples in television and the movies of your profession being depicted inaccurately, but are there any examples where you thought to yourself(or yelled so loudly that the neighbors called the cops šŸ˜) ā€œHoly shit, they got it right!ā€? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/2 "2020-11-28T21:47:48Z")
Not my profession, but Iā€™ve heard over the years that cops think _Barney Miller_ was pretty accurate. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/3 "2020-11-28T21:54:57Z")
ā€œHackerā€ isnā€™t exactly my profession, but _Mr. Robot_ shows some reasonably realistic computer security exploits. And they show actual realistic Linux command line interfaces rather than the usual fake made for TV computer interfaces. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/4 "2020-11-28T22:05:58Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Not my profession, but Iā€™ve heard over the years that cops think _Barney Miller_ was pretty accurate. Iā€™m not sure about that. I think The Wire did a good job of showing some of the attitudes. Like showing different agencies arguing about who would take a messy case. Not being pissed because those damn feds are trying to steal the glory but actively trying to make someone else do the work. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/5 "2020-11-28T22:07:42Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > Not my profession, but Iā€™ve heard over the years that cops think _Barney Miller_ was pretty accurate. > > Iā€™m not sure about that. I think The Wire did a good job of showing some of the attitudes. Like showing different agencies arguing about who would take a messy case I think it was more the minor cases _Barney Miller_ mostly dealt with and seeing the same people. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/6 "2020-11-29T01:56:03Z")
Real Genius and The Big Bang Theory are both obviously exaggerated for comedic effect, but amazingly both nonetheless end up as reasonable depictions of physicists in academia. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/7 "2020-11-29T02:00:14Z")
I wish that I could give a good, accurate example for advertising, but all of the examples I can think of (_Mad Men_, _thirtysomething_, _The Crazy Ones_, _Crazy People,_ _What Women Want_, even _Bewitched_) are all pretty inaccurate. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/8 "2020-11-29T02:17:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I wish that I could give a good, accurate example for advertisingā€¦ Youā€™re not kidding about how bizarre it seemed ā€œback in the dayā€. After watching Darren Stevens have to lose at golf to land a big client, I grew up assuming that everyone in the field was shallow. But I loved the ad agency that a young Tom Hanks worked at in [_ **Nothing In Common.** _](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBMbKtRi6pg) He had a great line that he didnā€™t have a half-finished screenplay in his deskā€¦ he actually loved writing ads. And then they did [a really creative commercial pitch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfMfxQRAbfM) that changed my attitude. Suddenly people in ā€œthe ad gameā€ were clever, and fun. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/9 "2020-11-29T02:22:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > But I loved the ad agency that a young Tom Hanks worked at in [_ **Nothing In Common.** _](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBMbKtRi6pg) He had a great line that he didnā€™t have a half-finished screenplay in his deskā€¦ he actually loved writing ads. > > And then they did [a really creative commercial pitch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfMfxQRAbfM) that changed my attitude. Suddenly people in ā€œthe ad gameā€ were clever, and fun. Iā€™ve never actually seen that film ā€“ I may have to give it a look. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/10 "2020-11-29T02:24:03Z")
My wife (former on-air radio and radio producer) tells me she recognizes a _lot_ of the personalities on _WKRP_, if not necessarily the situations. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/11 "2020-11-29T02:25:35Z")
My profession? OK I am not a delivery boy but _Futurama_ā€™s depiction of Philip J. Fry as a lazy slacker is fairly accurate. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/12 "2020-11-29T02:38:47Z")
There arenā€™t a lot of depictions of grant writing, or even nonprofit work, on television. The closest to my profession is what Leslie Knope does on _Parks & Rec_ ā€“ she uses grant funds to develop projects and programs. They do at one point show her with a grant application which she has cross-referenced in a multi-tab binder. Itā€™s meant to be a joke, but itā€™s really not. A lot of municipal or government grants contain a ton of attachments and require that level of organization and presentation. When I worked for a community development organization, for a county grant, I remember delivering by hand, as required, eight copies of a few hundred pages stuffed into eight 3-ring binders and tabbed for reference. We packed them in a cardboard box to deliver to the county office. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/13 "2020-11-29T02:40:54Z")
After further thought, _Office Space_ is probably the most accurate portrayal of my job. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/14 "2020-11-29T03:54:13Z")
I have never seen an accurate portrayal of lawyering - not in the office, not court - at least as I experience it. Maybe _Rumpole_? Mrs Piper, also a lawyer, says maybe _LA Law_? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/15 "2020-11-29T03:55:39Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I have never seen an accurate portrayal of lawyering - not in the office, not court - at least as I experience it. Maybe _Rumpole_? Mrs Piper, also a lawyer, says maybe _LA Law_?  Not _Better Call Saul_? Iā€™ve heard it shows a lot of the drudgery there can be. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/16 "2020-11-29T04:03:18Z")
Not watched it. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/17 "2020-11-29T04:06:56Z")
So after advertising, I taught at a local tech college. Where my favorite part was insulting artsy Design students (and, to be fair, getting insulted back). When I first saw _ **A.P. Bio,** _ I got my wife to watch: ā€œHoney, THIS is what I do all day!ā€ [[trailer]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVphWg93hSI) I had no idea my students watched it until I recruited them in a plot that would net me an easy extra class to teach. I announced that anyone who wanted to stay after class would get pizza if they helped me, and it would be ā€œOur A.P. Bio Moment.ā€ Half a dozen of them got the reference, and said ā€œTHATā€™S what this class is like! You guys, we have to do this!ā€ So we watched episodes of the show while we workedā€¦ ā€¦as did my plot. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/18 "2020-11-29T04:37:53Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > My wife (former on-air radio and radio producer) tells me she recognizes a _lot_ of the personalities on _WKRP_ , if not necessarily the situations. Hugh Wilson, the creator of _WKRP_, had previously worked in ad sales at an Atlanta radio station, and is said to have based many of the characters and stories on things heā€™d encountered in his previous career. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/19 "2020-11-29T05:12:03Z")
_Silicon Valley_ is a documentary. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/20 "2020-11-29T06:23:31Z")
I know I started this thread, but as far as participating in it? I worked in private security for the last 35 years or so, and depictions of that profession in the media are almost universally shit-lazy, psycho, idiotic, pretentiousā€¦but never competent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688.md?page=2)