# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**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 30, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/41 "2020-11-30T16:39:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > So, are you saying the depictions are accurate? After over 35 years that never stops being funny. Actually, I am quite proud of my former profession. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/42 "2020-11-30T17:07:34Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > If you take away the humor the British version of “The IT Crowd” is amazingly accurate for those working in IT. We recently discovered this show. LOVED S1, but felt it dropped off greatly - as well as getting away from IT - in S2-3, and we stopped watching/ ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/43 "2020-11-30T17:58:39Z")
> [@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. Similarly, my wife spent years working at a Chicago south side hospital and, when she saw _St. Elsewhere_ for the first time (around 2010 or so), immediately said “_That’s_ what it feels like”. Not the situations as such but the zeitgeist of working in an underfunded urban hospital was spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/44 "2020-11-30T18:33:55Z")
I wasn’t directly involved, but I think _The Big Short_ was a reasonably accurate portrayal of some of the key events in the 2007/8 financial crisis. Then again, maybe such films should be excluded, since their primary role is to be a documentary. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/45 "2020-11-30T19:03:42Z")
I forgot about that one. I seem to recall now that I heard about it when it came out and that the guy superficially resembled me in terms of how the synopsis on IMDB starts ( “… is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office…”) but then quickly veers away from what I would actually be doing. Not having seen the movie, I can’t say anything about whether it accurately portrays what someone in such a situation would be doing. It’s obviously a very unusual situation to be in for sure, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t portrayed relatively accurately once you get past that. But who am I kidding? It’s almost certainly completely divorced from reality to create drama. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/46 "2020-11-30T20:05:41Z")
Given acceptable and understandable wiggle room for fiction/excitement, _Thank You For Smoking_ is a pretty reasonable portrayal of the comms/PR/messaging field. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/47 "2020-12-01T00:05:08Z")
The film _Deepwater Horizon_ takes a few technical and behavioral liberties but still remains pretty much the only flick I’ve ever seen that comes close to capturing what it’s like to work on an offshore drilling rig (although most of them don’t blow up in a massive fireball, of course). ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/48 "2020-12-01T00:24:13Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > when she saw _St. Elsewhere_ for the first time (around 2010 or so), immediately said “ _That’s_ what it feels like”. Not the situations as such but the zeitgeist of working in an underfunded urban hospital was spot on. Tell your wife I agree with her. I worked an underfunded inner city urban hospital and they did capture it well. The angst of working against every odds and then having to send patients back up into the same world that chewed them up. We called it the Saturday night knife and gun club. I loved the work and my colleagues and wish I could be working there still, but alas, it is 1,500 miles away now. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/49 "2020-12-01T21:20:01Z")
I was a music major in college, although I never pursued a career in music, so I’m fudging the “your profession” part of the OP’s question. _The Competition_ (1980) is the only film I’ve ever seen that faithfully depicts the way classical musicians think and behave. There are a couple of plot points that would be very unlikely in real life (Amy Irving changing her chosen concerto during the competition, and Richard Dreyfuss being invited up to the podium to conduct), but overall it was pretty accurate. I’ve acted professionally (though, as with music, haven’t made a living at it) and _Birdman_ accurately depicts the feeling of being a stage production (except in the film’s more fanciful moments). ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/50 "2020-12-01T22:49:05Z")
The made a reality show/documentary about portions of my profession. The call it Ax Men. It sucks. Yes, people yell a lot, but they get over it and they never show the other side, with them laughing and having fun. Yes, on average it is dangerous, but it’s not a constant worry. People die but it’s more spread out over the region. It’s people you might have recognized in passing or worked with a couple years back. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/51 "2020-12-01T23:21:09Z")
I am more curious if **this** is accurate depiction of accountacy: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7YUiBBltOg4/hqdefault.jpg "Monty Python - Accountancy Shanty (Meaning Of Life)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YUiBBltOg4) ---
**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:** [December 1, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/52 "2020-12-01T23:53:07Z")
Well since you’ve gone and brought Monty Python into it, I have to ask if their depiction of lumberjacks is accurate. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FshU58nI0Ts/hqdefault.jpg "Monty Python - Lumberjack Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts) ---
**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:** [December 2, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/54 "2020-12-02T15:26:55Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I am more curious if **this** is accurate depiction of accountacy: No one expects the _ **Crimson Assurance** _! I loved that one. > [@sitchensis](#): > > … > The call it Ax Men. It sucks. > Yes, people yell a lot, but they get over it and they never show the other side, with them laughing and having fun > … ISTM that pretty much all that genre of shows depends on the idea that macho dudes are always fighting and yelling and nobody thinks a moment before getting angry. I like learning about these esoteric jobs and environments, but the constant bickering gets real old real fast. I wonder how many boys and teens destined for hard-working “manly” blue-collar jobs are busy being taught that that’s the “right” or worse yet only way to behave at work. And now I understand your username. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/55 "2020-12-02T16:06:06Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > > > Not my profession, but I’ve heard over the years that cops think _Barney Miller_ was pretty accurate. > > > > I’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 It was also one of the few police procedurals of the time that showed officers filling out paperwork, if memory serves. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/56 "2020-12-02T16:06:55Z")
And Wojo was a two-fingered typist, if I remember correctly. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688/57 "2020-12-12T20:07:48Z")
For those mentioning lawyer shows I think that The Practice was one of the first if not the first tv show that portrayed criminal defense lawyers knowing that most of their clients were criminals and guilty. Hill Street Blues was a couple years later than Barney Miller. One of the frequent scenes was Det Belker sitting down to two finger an arrest report. Usually the same guy. Hill Street Blues did a good job of showing some of the attitudes if not the situations. One of the better portrayals of detectives was Homicide: Life on the Streets, at least early on. Not surprising since it was based on a non-fiction book by David Simon who spent a year as a reporter embedded in the Baltimore homicide unit. He was also a producer and writer on the series. He also made The Wire. At least in the beginning of Homicide they did a good job of showing that every case could not be wrapped up in 43 minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-or-movie-gets-your-profession-the-most-right/926688.md?page=2)