# When \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ in a movie/on TV, we know that \_\_\_\_\_ will happen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830 "2018-04-04T20:32:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/141 "2018-04-09T13:16:53Z")
> [@digs](#): > > In the (usually delightful) short stories\*, Father Brown is so harmless-looking and secret-eliciting that the criminal ends up realizing his only logical step is confessing. Not many arrests happen “on-camera”. Not many in the TV show, either, other than a scene of the killer being taken away after confessing. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/142 "2018-04-09T15:33:50Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > How about from the world of cooking shows? On a cook-off or some such show when they do the backstory of a chef in their restaurant there will always be a pan on fire at one point. > > There’s a zillion things a chef has to be able to do but a pan on fire is apparently the only thing that counts. Do you mean an inadvertent fire or some sort of flambé recipe? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/143 "2018-04-09T23:53:01Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And don’t forget: The Brother (black character, not sibling) always dies first. Night of the Living Dead, black guy dies last. Dawn of the Dead, black guy survives, as does the pregnant lady who never gives birth ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/144 "2018-04-10T00:20:42Z")
When a child sings, they will be off-key. I don’t know why they do this. Children can sing on key and sing beautifully. I guess they think it emphasizes their youth. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/145 "2018-04-10T00:30:06Z")
If a repulsive alien / monster / human is shown, they will invariably be evil. If goes without saying that the converse is also true. (and, yes, I can think of a number of counterexamples, but this is true by-and-large). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/146 "2018-04-10T01:22:54Z")
When a family in a horror movie is shown to have a dog or cat, odds are almost 100% that the animal will die before the movie is over. Usually before the people die. I saw a terrible horror/thriller movie this weekend, but surprisingly the cat actually survived the whole thing. Big Driver ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/147 "2018-04-10T11:47:48Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > When a family in a horror movie is shown to have a dog or cat, odds are almost 100% that the animal will die before the movie is over. Usually before the people die. > > I saw a terrible horror/thriller movie this weekend, but surprisingly the cat actually survived the whole thing. > > Big Driver **Alien** , too. Cat even survived the sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/148 "2018-04-10T13:12:30Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > This may be endemic to British mystery series, but if you go for a walk alone, someone will be murdered and you’ll be the prime suspect since you have no alibi. > > If a dangerous piece of machinery is shown, someone will be killed by it. > > Also in British mysteries, when the detective explains who the murderer in the end, the killer will admit to it instead of refusing to say anything without his lawyer present. > > The first person arrested in a British murder mystery is never the criminal. _Father Brown_ takes this trope to ridiculous lengths by arresting people on the flimsiest of pretexts. The more picturesque and small the village, the higher the body count. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/149 "2018-04-10T13:34:00Z")
Also Maine towns with “Cove” in their name (i.e. Cabot Cove and Tinker’s Cove). If I ever set a series of mysteries in a Maine Town, it’s going to be in Crabbapple Cove, with an older Dr. Hawkeye Pierce as the protagonist. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/150 "2018-04-10T13:43:48Z")
If you’re an underdog sports team (often made up of semi-inept players), you will win the championship. Generally you will defeat a team of gifted but arrogant athletes. Some exceptions, most notably Mystery, Alaska ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/151 "2018-04-10T14:07:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Also Maine towns with “Cove” in their name (i.e. Cabot Cove and Tinker’s Cove). If I ever set a series of mysteries in a Maine Town, it’s going to be in Crabbapple Cove, with an older Dr. Hawkeye Pierce as the protagonist. Actually Maine really does have a lot of coves due to its geography: a [cove](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cove) is where erosion from a river outlet has formed a small bay or inlet. We now continue with our regularly scheduled thread. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/152 "2018-04-10T14:52:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > If I ever set a series of mysteries in a Maine Town, it’s going to be in Crabbapple Cove, with an older Dr. Hawkeye Pierce as the protagonist. I would TOTALLY watch that show. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/153 "2018-04-10T16:10:05Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > How about from the world of cooking shows? On a cook-off or some such show when they do the backstory of a chef in their restaurant there will always be a pan on fire at one point. > > There’s a zillion things a chef has to be able to do but a pan on fire is apparently the only thing that counts. It’s flashy, it’s fun, it’s easy to do, and actually does have an effect on the cooking process. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Alien** , too. Cat even survived the sequel. Are we sure? Didn’t she leave it back on earth? In the care of the same company that sent them off to bring back aliens? That kitty was on the dissection table before ripley was in hypersleep. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/154 "2018-04-10T17:16:12Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It’s flashy, it’s fun, it’s easy to do, and actually does have an effect on the cooking process. > > Are we sure? Didn’t she leave it back on earth? In the care of the same company that sent them off to bring back aliens? > > That kitty was on the dissection table before ripley was in hypersleep. Naw, I bet in the cities of the future you more or less have to pay to have the privilege of keeping a pet; like an upfront bond for the lifetime of the animal. Ripley probably found someone who’d be delighted to board a cat until she returned (or didn’t). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/155 "2018-04-10T19:33:26Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If you’re an underdog sports team (often made up of semi-inept players), you will win the championship. Generally you will defeat a team of gifted but arrogant athletes. > > Some exceptions, most notably Also, the original Bad News Bears, in which the Bears lose the championship game, but tell the winning team to “take that trophy and shove it straight up your ass!” Classy to the end. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/156 "2018-04-10T19:48:25Z")
In The Simpsons, everything that crashes will burst into flames. Even the Flying Nun. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/157 "2018-04-10T20:04:27Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > if there’s a lesbian in a made for tv movie … shes just there to make the lonely ignored overworked underappreciated but married heroine another notch on her belt and confuse the heroines sexual identity for a while as a “homewrecker” Nowadays if there is a lesbian in it it’s because Hollywood appears to have set the quota for lesbian women at 67%, much like in my home so it seems realistic to me. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/158 "2018-04-10T20:48:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If you’re an underdog sports team (often made up of semi-inept players), you will win the championship. Generally you will defeat a team of gifted but arrogant athletes. > > Some exceptions, most notably > > Mystery, Alaska In _Necessary Roughness_ they didn’t win the championship game, just the last game of the season. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/159 "2018-04-11T01:12:54Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > If I ever set a series of mysteries in a Maine Town, it’s going to be in Crabbapple Cove, with an older Dr. Hawkeye Pierce as the protagonist. > [@Misnomer](#): > > I would TOTALLY watch that show. Holy crap, so would I! What a brilliant idea. And Alan Alda has still got the chops to do 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:** [April 11, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830/160 "2018-04-11T02:21:37Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Holy crap, so would I! What a brilliant idea. And Alan Alda has still got the chops to do it. Ah, but would he really be in it? In my Netflix series, odd things keep happening, but Dr. Pierce is barely mentioned. By the second season of The Cove, veiled references are made to “the old doc”… And by next season, people are not only disappearing, but coming back… that mute kid who was kidnapped? The town started a kickstarter and paid half the ransom, but the child didn’t wander back into The Cove for a year. He’s traumatized, but now he can talk, and claims that “Benjamin Franklin” taught him how… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-____________-in-a-movie-on-tv-we-know-that-_____-will-happen/811830.md?page=9)