why do they never say bye in tv shows?

like on the phone

bc they're unpleasant ppl

retort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEGhVALXUZk

saying bye is too emo

they don't interrupt or talk over one another

real life has more xposts

i hate talking over the phone for that reason, cuz there's always ..the....oh uh....oh sorry you were....no go ahead...no you go ahead.

i don't think ppl on shows have phone anxiety

This has bothered me for years

there is a great part in big, when tom hanks is being told about what he has to do in his new office job, & a guy finishes instructing him, turns around & leaves before TH says BYE!, i guess bc adults just don't say it anymore

haha. you know what, i'm big on hi and bye.

i never noticed this abt tv shows

i don't even know how to say bye on tv

nobody ever says goodbye because TV scenes of any worth are titrated to their dramatic essence and 'bye' is just page filler unless it is a dramatic soft-focus 'good... bye' in which case watch better TV

yeah it's the same reason that nobody ever gets their receipts in restaurants on TV

or finish their food! sometimes they will just leave the food altogether, like untouched, and go someplace else

Breaking Bad was the first time I ever heard someone order a brand of beer on television, though I suspect that's more for $$$$ reasons.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_njKPjCEOAnQ/S1ZWsu45NcI/AAAAAAAABZI/yTjhmwcf7l8/s400/repo-man_l.jpg

i mean it's the same reason they don't show people goign to the bathroom on TV, who'd wanna watch that

tbh i really think that's different

i'm not convinced that people dont' say "bye" on the phone on TV though. p sure I've heard it sometimes, not heard it others?

Love this thread.

cuz every second counts especially on tv

That's why tv scripts are so taut and bracing.

"I'mm off to the shops. Do you want anything?"

they don't say "hello" when they pick up the phone, often it's just "YEAH.."

Because of script they know who's calling. And what they're going to be told. I don't know why they bother.

They always switch off important newscasts half-way through, as if they're disgusted with what's being reported. I always worry that the news story might develop and they might miss some important clue or something.

I've noticed more people going "Buh! Buh-buhbuhbuh...!" instead of bye IRL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifm00JEjSeo

We had this same discussion here:

Things that people do in movies that you're never quite sure are really possible IRL

I wonder how Raylen Givens would say bye if they let him

Not hearing this from Vic Mackey on The Shield led to me not saying "bye" on the phone in real-life, which led to some awkward interactions and an actual argument, which in turn led to me once again saying "bye", but very sheepishly and not at all Vic Mackey-like.

― beachville, Wednesday, February 8, 2012 9:30 AM (38 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hahaha

How I saw myself for like, half a week:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/blue1622/victorsamuelmackey.jpg

Your poor friends, family, & coworkers.

Sorry - we're abt halfway through s7 and have a lot of convos abt how vile VM is.

Oh, I only made it to season 3 or 4. And he was pretty bad then, but given the show's M.O. I'm sure it gets worse.

"Goodbye", "good day", "good night" and "laters" have all been trademarked by various media companies. every time you say goodbye on a tv show you owe universal studios $250. megavideo was recently taken down for illegally hosting vids of people politely ending phone communications in just such a manner.

The envy all of you watching "The Shield" for the first time, the show that perfected the "It gets worse" arc.

You also rarely know what time of day it is in TV land. Morning? Noon? Night? It's still mostly people sitting in rooms with no clocks or windows, like casinos.

it does. that series kind of lost me part way through... but the last season was like woah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad_f7soPHKw

i'm feeling this thread, this shit drives me insane.

also every tv show, no matter where it takes place, magically has the same weather as southern california all year round (i'm looking at you the office and parks & rec)

Not entirely true: those shows' characters walk around in parkas and scarfs sometimes and pretend to shiver.

Somewhat related to characters never saying goodbye is that they make plans in only the most general unhelpful way. Like this is how asking someone on a date goes: Q: "How's tomorrow for you?" A: "I look forward to it." Once in a while, there will be a vague reference to one of the characters picking up the other, but the time and place is rarely mentioned. Scheduling conflicts, backup plans, or anything that would involve a back-and-forth conversation are, of course, never discussed.

Yeah they've definitely used fake snow on The Office quite a bit.

ya i love when someone asks someone out on a date on a tv show and it's like "dinner tomorrow?" "sure!" "ok see you then!"

also every tv show, no matter where it takes place, magically has the same weather as southern california all year round (i'm looking at you the office and parks & rec)

I've seen palm trees in the background on Parks & Rec, and also in Community (which is technically set in Colorado, despite it never being mentioned on the show).

I've never heard a character on Big Love say goodbye. It is mind boggling.

Because they never leave!

I've seen palm trees in the background on Parks & Rec, and also in Community (which is technically set in Colorado, despite it never being mentioned on the show).

― Let A Man Come In And Do The Cop Porn (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, February 8, 2012 11:57 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it is? it seems pretty deliberately, consciously, simpsons-ly not set anywhere specific...

This is the only "official" reference I can find to Community being set in Colorado:

Hello, my name is Pierce Hawthorne and I am a man of many talents. Magician, yes. Politician, perhaps someday. Accomplished musician and songwriter, most definitely. Many have called me a "Jingle Master," and that's not because of any sort of bells I was wearing at the time. I wrote the catchy jingle for Hawthorne Wipes (the award-winning Moist Towelette). Years later I went on to write the lyrics and compose the school song for Greendale Community College in Greendale, Colorado. An expert songwriter sees music in everything, and I can turn any product, project, place, or person into a clever ditty that'll get your toes tapping. Dial Pierce Hawthorne. I'm listed.

http://www.nbc.com/community/exclusives/pierce-hawthorne/2009/11/jingle-master/

Oh, wait, this is also an official site:
http://www.greendalecommunitycollege.com/

Welcome to Greendale Community College, located right in the heart of Greendale, Colorado. We are here for you, and the great people of our city, county and state!

culturally it seems p colorado

Maybe after the first x-mas episode -- with a snowmaking machine in the center of campus -- they decided to scrap any Colorado references.

The timeless date thing irks me too - saw one the other day made between two people who had just met and didn't even have each other's number.

Somewhat related to this is on cop shows when the cops get statements from an eyewitness, asking a couple of perfunctory questions and not taking down any names, numbers, addresses. My real life experience with being a witness is that cops will ask you 50+ questions, stuff you'd never imagine they'd ask, and get plenty of information about you.

And the sunshine thing, people now think Portland has sunshine because of Portlandia, though I think that is an intentional deception, some sort of in-joke.

Isn't there some injunction to, 'never say bye'?

people never get into elevators or enter parking garages...unless they are going to die!

^^ why Seinfeld and 30 Rock are so innovative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifm00JEjSeo

Oh shit that's already been done.

Word up, Deric W. Haircare.

I've seen palm trees in the background on Parks & Rec, and also in Community (which is technically set in Colorado, despite it never being mentioned on the show).

The worst offender for this recently was that short lived Traffic Lights show that was set in Chicago and regularly featured Chicago specific references and touchstones, but almost every single episode had the cast driving through areas clearly lined with palm trees.

manhattan sometimes looks a lot like those comparatively few blocks of downtown l.a. that resemble a typical downtown area.

why do they never say bye in tv shows?

like on the phone

I seriously thought this was just an American thing... I used to do directory assistance (depending on your phone service provider, when you dial 411, you get to talk to someone in Canada) and lots of American callers didn't say 'bye'.

I'm finding it hard to imagine saying "bye" to a directory-assistance operator, though.

Like if you had said "Let me connect you," the most I would say before we were disconnected is, "Great, thanks."

i always want a cut back to the person on the other line being all "oh i almost forgot...uh, is anyone there? no? ok, bye i guess."

The worst offender for this recently was that short lived Traffic Lights show that was set in Chicago and regularly featured Chicago specific references and touchstones, but almost every single episode had the cast driving through areas clearly lined with palm trees.

Happy Endings has some distinctly un-Chicago-like outdoor street shots. Every street on that show ends in a T lined with brownstones. I can't think of a single block in Chicago like that.

Usually, in my experience with American directory assistance, the operators usually put me through so quickly that I would not have time to say "bye" if it occured to me.

"City and State"
"Annapolis, MD"
"What listing?"
"Doug's Pizza"
"Let me connect your call [immediate sound of telephone ringing]"

or it's a computer voice with computer voice recognition software or something. and if i say "bye" to that well the joke's on me

My dad and I never say bye on the phone (I don't know why) and out of habit from that, I usually hang up the phone on others all the time.

It doesn't happen too often since most movies aren't set in any of my hometowns, but when I do see geographical mistakes, it bugs me to no end.

(Arkansas desert in Thelma & Louise, driving north on 35W into Minneapolis from Fargo.)

but how do you know when to hang up???

How do you known when to say bye?

I mean, it's more like "Call me next week and let me know how that thing goes." "Okay." *click*

xposts yeah, there often isn't time to say 'bye' or it would be weird on a 411 call, but just an acknowledgement in general helps. Even a quick 'thanks' after the 'please hold for that number' makes it less awkward, because then at least you know the person is paying attention (fwiw lots of people managed to squeeze in a 'thanks' before being connected, which kind of made the job feel a bit less shitty too)

One reason characters never say bye on TV is that so many scenes end with people leaving (or storming out). Same with characters saying hi - you don't need to say hi to Kramer when he barges into the room, and you don't need to say bye when he makes a dramatic exit.

Also, the reason they don't have to make specific dinner plans is obviously because everyone on TV goes to the same regular restaurant set: coffee shop, bar ... Central Perk, Peach Pit ...

as dog latin pointed out a lot of the time people only seem to say "yeah" when the answer the phone, which i don't think has ever happened in real life.

why do people always say "come!" when you beep to go into their ready rooms in tv shows, i never do that

That doesn't bother me as much as when they don't even ask who it is first. It could be a romulan.

i probably say something like "yeah" more often than "hello" in the cellphone era when more often than not i know who's calling and why

That doesn't bother me as much as when they don't even ask who it is first. It could be a romulan.

― Jeff, Wednesday, February 8, 2012 3:44 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha people do this all the time tho irl

I never say "bye" on 411 calls to the operator....I just ask them to remember me fondly

i make a smoochy sound

People still use 411?

Do people say bye to Siri?

That doesn't bother me as much as when they don't even ask who it is first. It could be a romulan.

in the age of caller ID, this is fast becoming an antiquated practice

when i answer the phone i yell "WHO DIS?!?"

One of my roommates in college used to answer the phone by saying, "Is Fred there?".

if it's an unrecognized number I typically plug in their number into google, find out what type of telemarketer they are, and what they're peddling, and then answer the phone by summarizing the shit I just read about them and subsequently hanging up.

all in four rings bitches

i was going to reply to this but then i noticed that i already said almost exactly what i had to say in the other thread 18 months ago. welp, so much for personal development.

on television neighbors just come barging in the front door without ringing the doorbell or knocking

surely someone would get walked in on masturbating or something but they don't do that on tv

also every 3 camera family sitcom set in the family's home (primarily living room) - around the 3rd or 4th season we discover they have a basement

with skeletons

if it's an unrecognized number I typically plug in their number into google, find out what type of telemarketer they are, and what they're peddling, and then answer the phone by summarizing the shit I just read about them and subsequently hanging up.

you are a madman.

for whatever reason I'm getting way more solicitor calls lately :/

This was a good discussion, but did it really get a definitive answer?

this was a really troubling revelation when i moved to the us

this is like when a character goes to a bar and the bartender asks, "what can I get ya?" and the character says "a beer" or more likely just "beer", and the bartender nods and walks off to get said beer.

in england you can totally just say "a lager" and the bartender will provide you with said lager