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When you think about it, TV Land is such a weird place. Characters never seem to finish their meals (and leave most of their food untouched in cafes which hurts me on a personal level), they don’t say ‘goodbye’ when they end their calls, and whenever they switch on the TV, there’s always a news segment on that’s relevant to their situation.

Really, life seems much more convenient on-screen. But it is raising some eyebrows. So much so that the people over on Twitter are posting example after example of how bizarre life is when you’re a film or TV character. Scroll down to check out these funny quirks and remember to upvote the ones that made you pause for a moment.

Pop culture and entertainment expert Mike Sington, who is a former Senior Executive at NBCUniversal, explained to Bored Panda that unrealistic scenarios and acting decisions are required to keep the plot moving on a TV show. "No one wants to see characters eat a full meal, that would bring a storyline to a screeching halt! Things like seeing a relevant news segment playing can immediately fast forward a storyline or emphasize a plot point. It’s a common tool that writers use," he said. And we fully agree. (Though the Joey Tribbiani in all of us is wondering how good the meal has to be to get featured from start to finish.)

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Sarcastic Panda
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And I don’t ever crash unless I’m the bad guy or I need more emotional scarring

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Sarcastic Panda
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s the tablecloth that annoys me... we never use tablecloths except at Christmas

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Mike was brutal but honest in his evaluation of how much excitement there is any single one of our lives. "I’d estimate 80% of your real life would have to edited or rewritten to make it compelling and interesting to watch on screen. That may sound harsh because your real life is interesting to you, but probably not so much to a mass audience."

He added: "Deep down you know it because you’re only posting the highlights on social media. You’re actually already self-editing your own life for your audience."

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YoyoSthlm
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also, it starts running directly on its own and I have all the programs I need to look at it.

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We rarely think about how peculiar people act in movies and on TV shows because we’re so used to things that we don’t notice the discrepancies between their behavior and our lives. In other words, we’ve fully absorbed the weirdness and we’re no longer bothered by it… unless somebody on social media reminds us of it.

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The trend seems to have been started by Tom Cox, a British author who was born in Nottinghamshire. He has published nearly a dozen books so far and plans to release 2 more in 2021. Some of the themes that he repeats in his books have to do with cats, golf, folklore, wildlife, local history, rock, and rambling.

#8

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Hooked
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always wondered about this. When I was still in school (every school), the teachers would decide when it was time to leave the classroom. Bell or no bell.

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Tom’s thread, which he started on the 26th of February, got over 15k likes and soon spread like wildfire. In fact, if you’ve been browsing Twitter this weekend, you might have noticed at least one or two people sharing the weird things that characters tend to do that befuddle us.

However, there are plenty of good reasons why movies and shows are so far removed from our daily lives. In brief, living as a human being is… quite ordinary. There’s lots of downtime. Lots of unscheduled pee breaks that get in the way of dramatic moments. And plenty of dullness without anything exciting happening.

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#10

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Linus Nilsson
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What? You guys needs to go to the toilet directly after waking up? I always have breakfast first

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YoyoSthlm
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also, I say "Lock the doors and don't open them to anyone" and when they ask why I'll say "I'll explain it later" and that person is totally cool with that instead of calling the police.

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That’s why it’s so important to edit real life into something that’s fit for watching. Sure, there will always be some people who have the patience to watch paint dry/somebody working in their cubicle all day long only to go back home, microwave their dinner, and play video games. However, it doesn’t make for riveting TV for the vast majority of us.

By editing out inconveniences like needing to eat full meals (and the guilt of leaving so much food behind, as well as wasting food), showing people working and doing ordinary stuff like washing the dishes, scriptwriters, directors, and actors can get to the most exciting and interesting tidbits. The meat of things, so to speak. (Halloumi if you’re vegetarian, lettuce if you’re vegan.)

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Hooked
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just wondering : is it a typical American thing to have front doors that can be opened from the outside when not locked ? Where I'm from, you always need a key to open the front door, locked or not.

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It probably won’t surprise you to learn that audiences tend to have very short attention spans. Digital Information World explains that back in 2000 we had an average attention span of 12 seconds. In 2015, this dropped to just over 8 seconds. Research has shown that our attention spans are dropping.

The media we consume changes how attentive we are which in turn changes the media even more. In a fast-paced world, there’s no time for patience, no place for slow storylines and buildup, and especially no room for boring things that regular people do in real life that would mess with the fast pace of the story.

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Birgit Merkentrup
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Haha, yes, and I'm always like "Why doesn't he/she just tell... ah, it's a movie..."

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Linus Nilsson
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also, simply walk away after giving a snippet of information. "You should talk to X, I can't say anymore, I already said too much"

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However, even though our attention spans might be decreasing, it’s not just that. They’re being fractured as well. One screen isn’t enough for us anymore. A recent Total Audience Report that was conducted in 2018 by Nielsen showed that a whopping 88 percent of adults living in the US used their digital devices while watching TV either rarely, occasionally, or frequently.

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#19

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Brivid
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder how that affects people's attitudes toward police...

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Leo Domitrix
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, cops think they should live that way for real, from what I understand. So.... Yeah. Not good.

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Neva Nevičica
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...AND you find the love of your life who is the complete opposite of you while doing it.

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D H
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Plus you fire your weapon at least once in each episode.Never mind the fact that that will put you on 30 days of desk and a ton of paperwork.

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Rosie Hamilton
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not so much in the UK dramas... we had Morse but he didn't break the rules. Line of Duty is about catching those who aren't following the rules... so there's that I suppose.

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*insert funny name*
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Whawhawhatsis
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And after I shoot somebody or even fire my weapon, I never have to go on admin leave, losing custody of my weapon temporarily in the process, and face a board to determine whether I behaved appropriately. Nope, I can just go straight out and shoot the *next* person!

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Baby Panda
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm from America and yes, that is exactly how the police here are, and they can also murder innocent people with little to no consequences.

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Caroline Overill
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am a person in a film. I am a good guy. I have a revolver. The bad guy has a machine gun which he sprays all over directly towards me. I shoot him, he misses me completely.

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Eric Forster
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

......and that Internal Affairs cop has it in for me, because I slept with his wife.

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Emyo Jennifer Nakayama
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looks like some police forces around the country are redefining themselves like the screen idol above.

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Mere Cat
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The only consequence is that the (always black) police chief yells at you

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Parker Kinsey
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s because you’ve already been fired and now every case is personal!

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Pezor Zass
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And somehow, no matter what rules i break, my convictions are never overturned unless it's a very special episode...er, i mean case .

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Shannon Oney
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Am I the only one who is thinking of Hopper from Stranger Things? lolll

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cox_tom Report

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Brivid
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I rarely say goodbye. Instead I usually say "love you" for family or "have a nice day" for business. It is just something I do without thinking about it.

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That means that a single screen is no longer enough to please viewers who are busy googling stuff related to what they’re watching, posting their thoughts about what’s happening on social media, or discussing the show with their friends. It’s a different form of engagement that doesn’t necessarily mean having your audience’s eyes glued to one screen.

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jade s
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...or the small tv in the corner of the kitchen which I will casually ignore until I walk past at the exact headline I need.

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Something else that we rarely think about (unless you’re a pro in the field) is how strangely people talk. When you’re chatting to someone (masked) face to (masked) face, everything sounds great. But if you happen to record or film the conversation, you might find a different side to the tale: the way that we speak in real life is often disorganized, broken, and unclear.

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#26

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Neva Nevičica
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And always on some obscure instant message platform, nothing anyone has ever seen.

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M O'Connell
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That implies they aren't aware of the muzzle energy of their particular firearm. For instance .38 Long Colt likely wouldn't come out the other side of their head. By comparison, 9mm Luger would have the aforementioned effects.

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That’s why scriptwriters have no other choice than to write dialogue that people can actually understand. Sure, not many people speak this way IRL, but we have to think of what’s best for the audience. Do you want to listen to a guy or gal ramble on for 10 minutes or do you want a confident protagonist who enunciates well, argues well, and drops snappy one-liners?

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Neva Nevičica
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And don't forget to victoriously announce: I'm in!' when you discover the password.

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YoyoSthlm
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe they have a gps in there as well, "turn right at the next corner". :)

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Of course, that doesn’t mean that ‘realistic dialogue’ has no place in filmography. It does, but it has to be skillfully crafted. Filmmakers like Woody Allen create realistic-sounding dialogue and it can be jarring to most of us who have grown up on a diet of delicately-curated sentences.

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YoyoSthlm
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also, it's not the shirt he was wearing so I actually have to rummage through his closet to find one.

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#32

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Neva Nevičica
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hello, i am a boob in a TV drama. I am never, ever allowed to be seen because it's indecent and yucky. But if i grow on a leading female character, i am supposed to look perky and abundant through her clothes to make people know i'm there. My good friend nipple is allowed to be clearly seen if it grows on a male actor, of course.

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#33

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あんぱんまん
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yep, seen this in koe no katachi.... teacher introduced the girl, she got bullied, left school, principal came to talk about this in class and the bully got called out

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#34

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Rissie
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, well, you can't actually put everything in now can you? You also don't see people actually walking/driving/biking somewhere the whole way. Or sleeping from beginning to end... That's not something you see that is actually not happening in real life. Like table cloths and turning your head for ten seconds at a time while driving...

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YoyoSthlm
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just a step up from "the usual". Because I know all the staff at every coffee shop/bar/restaurant.

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Hooked
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And let's not forget the running away from fire blasts, water that flushes streets, and even dropping temperatures (looking at you "Day after Tomorrow")

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