16 Little Things That Always Happen In Real Life, But You Barely See On TV

    Why do characters never have to search for a parking space?!

    Hanifah Rahman
    by Hanifah Rahman

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us some of the most unrealistic tropes found in TV shows. Here are some nuances of everyday life that barely ever make it onto our screens!

    1. In real life, you've probably come across hundreds of Sams, Toms, and Bens, but in TV land, characters never share names.

    NBC

    "Not everyone in real life has a 100% unique name."

    —juniperw

    "I think about this all the time! All throughout school, there was at LEAST another girl with my same name in every single class. It would be much more realistic if this happened in shows as well."

    —haleyw4ae66dcb9

    2. Unlike dinners in real life, fictional meals tend to look professionally made. Why is no one on TV eating beans on toast?!

    ABC

    "When food is cooked and served that looks like it was made by a professional chef, with perfect presentation, and in quantities not made for normal people."

    —jseig96

    3. Millennial parents will tell you that finding a babysitter is nothing short of an extreme sport, but in TV land, everyone's up for lending a hand with the kids.

    Netflix

    —silentword

    4. But they never really show parents questioning whether they should leave their infant with a random 12-year-old from the neighbourhood, which is something I imagine real parents would do.

    Fox

    —silentword

    5. I don't know about you, but jeans and other uncomfortable clothes have no place in the house, yet the only time our fictional faves seem to wear sweatpants is when they're sick.

    CBS

    "They hang out around their house fully dressed – jeans, shoes, sometimes even a jacket. I don't know anyone who does this – I get home and it's sweats for me."

    —kathleeno403dabfd1

    6. And god forbid a character ever repeat an outfit.

    Netflix

    "Especially high school kids – they NEVER wear the same thing twice. Like, they have 365+ outfits with all different accessories, shoes, purses. Also, how do they have time to do so many things before school starts? I barely made it to school on time every day and I wore the same clothes throughout the year."

    —julianawilliams09

    7. Having a friend who lives annoyingly far away is something our TV counterparts have never had the misery of experiencing.

    E4

    "Sure, it wouldn't be the most compelling thing to watch, but a huge part of living in a big city is having a few friends who annoyingly live on the other side of town, and I'd like to see a fictional Londoner having to take the long journey out to Zone 5 every once in a while."

    –hanifahrahman

    8. Unless you want to put on a show for your neighbours, drawing your curtains is essential, but in the fictional realm this is only ever really done for dramatic effect.

    Netflix

    "People on TV never close their curtains at night, it really bothers me."

    —clareb5

    9. If you get them, periods aren't the kind of thing that you can just forget about, but in pretty much every post-apocalyptic world they seem to just vanish?

    AMC

    "I bet it would be a real problem, and something people would talk about a lot."

    —schulzemary214

    10. Peeing after sex is pretty much essential, but fictional characters never seem prone to UTIs.

    The WB / UP

    "A female character will have sex but won't go to the bathroom to pee at any point after. They just cuddle and fall asleep. I just assume every TV character has UTIs constantly."

    —fogandbanshees

    11. In the real world, if you skip a meeting to just hang out with a friend, you lose your job. In TV world, that's just a regular Tuesday.

    NBC

    "Nobody actually has jobs they have to report to."

    —megdon32

    12. Bruises, cuts, and bumps are just part of everyday life, but when it comes to TV, everyone's flawless. Unless of course there's some kind of injury plot point.

    NBC

    "You know, a bruised shin, a plaster on a finger, anything like that! I seem to constantly have stupid little injuries (I’m super clumsy) and I'm nearly always rocking a bruise or a small bandage/plaster. Is no one in TV land clumsy?"

    —sarahed1990

    13. And have you ever seen a TV character get hiccups?!

    NBC

    "No one has bodily functions. No one pops to the loo unless they're starting a storyline about them having food poisoning, or so the other characters can talk about them. No one sneezes or even sniffs unless they're 'getting the flu'. No one trips unless they're drunk, or forgets what they were saying unless they're developing Alzheimer's."

    —acc41121031

    14. We all know what it's like to have your house get a bit messy, but our television counterparts always have their places totally spotless, without ever trying.

    Marvel Studios / Courtesy of Marvel Studios

    "A big one I noticed is they never clean but the house is always clean, or they never go to work but make a ton of money."

    —rachelb4dfc8fdca

    15. Okay, so this would make for pretty mundane watching, but a huge part of having a car is spending agesss looking for a parking spot – something you never see on screen.

    Netflix

    "The only time there’s ever an issue with finding somewhere to park the car is if the problem is highly exaggerated and part of the plot."

    —jbmasta

    16. And finally, real kids with a bit too much sass never get away with half as much as their fictional peers do.

    Disney Channel

    "A kid talks sarcastically to their parents and doesn’t immediately get in trouble. 😳"

    —Th3FatPanth3r

    Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

    What little thing from reality do you wish got a bit more screen time? And what shows do you think do a good job of translating everyday life onto the screen? Tell us in the comments, and be sure to follow the BuzzFeed Community on Facebook and Twitter!