History ShownTheirWork / LiveActionTv

* ''Series/{{CSI}}''
** A snippet of ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' a tech taking out a hard drive for evaluation was shown switching the jumper before putting it in the external enclosure, a small detail anyone not in the know would not likely catch. Especially surprising given the sad prevalence of HollywoodHacking on the show.

** The [[TheReptilians Silurians]] are depicted as having a matriarchal society with their females being the warriors. Real lizards do have the females as larger, more territorial and more aggressive.

* ''Series/YesMinister'', was realistic of its portrayal of Whitehall and Civil Service machinations, due to the fact that they actually had inside information and anecdotes from senior civil servants. A good example is the episode "The Moral Dimension", where the main plot point - smuggling in alcohol to a diplomatic conference in [[{{Qurac}} Qumran]] - is based on an actual event. Even most of the minor characters were [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed recognisable pastiches]] of real people or groups.

** More of the fact that the actor involved is truly deaf, but the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E5LoudAsAWhisper Loud As A Whisper]]" features real American sign language, as confirmed in a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/asl/comments/2u8kft/the_star_trek_tng_episode_loud_as_a_whisper/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 reddit thread by deaf individuals and interpreters.]] After a trio of translators for Riva, a deaf mediator, are slain by an aggressive war-torn enemy... (All text featured for "Riva" is signed, not spoken, and as such, not understood by the hearing characters):

-->'''Picard:''' I don't understand what you're trying to say. ''[turns to Troi]''
-->'''Picard:''' Counselor.

* ''Series/{{Mayday}}'': In "Deadly Crossroads", which documented the mid-air collision between a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu-254 and a DHL Boeing 757 over Uberlingen, Gemany in 2002, the Bashkirian pilots are shown looking toward their right side for the DHL, which is actually approaching from the left. In the uncensored version (you can see it in the censored version too, it's just less clear), it is clearly seen that all the heads in the cockpit turn when a flight crew member yells "There on the left!" The reason for this (which wasn't said in the episode) was that controller [[TooDumbToLive Peter Nielsen had actually reported the position of the DHL mistakenly at the Bashkirian's 2 o'clock position when in reality it was at their 10 o'clock.]] It was probably omitted to keep the sympathy level for Nielsen higher among the viewers[[spoiler:, as if him getting murdered by Vitaly Kaloyev, who was hailed as a hero in his hometown, wasn't enough.]]

** Many of the smarter Creator/TomBaker era stories really went out of their way to explain real principles being used in the plots, be they linguistics (Grimm's Law is used in both [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E4TheFaceOfEvil "The Face of Evil"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay "State of Decay"]] and namechecked in the latter), physics ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath The Robots of Death]]" explains the buoyancy physics of the Storm Mine and has the Doctor explain to Leela how HeliumSpeech works), biology ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" holds the distinction of being the first ever broadcast media about endoparasitology with the Doctor spouting off then cutting-edge research), robotics ("The Robots of Death" uses [[RippedFromTheHeadlines then-new]] science about the UncannyValley), philosophy ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" goes into reasonable detail here and it's PlayedForLaughs) and occasionally even hermeticism ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E3ImageOfTheFendahl Image of the Fendahl]]" and arguably "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Logopolis]]"). This was especially common in Season 18, edited by a former science editor who wanted to use science that "wasn't laughed at by actual scientists" (though, in practice, he mostly used it as a jumping off point for MagicFromTechnology).

** Many of the smarter Creator/TomBaker era stories really went out of their way to explain real principles being used in the plots, be they linguistics (Grimm's Law is used in both [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E4TheFaceOfEvil "The Face of Evil"]] and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]" and namechecked in the latter), physics ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath The Robots of Death]]" explains the buoyancy physics of the Storm Mine and has the Doctor explain to Leela how HeliumSpeech works), biology ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" holds the distinction of being the first ever broadcast media about endoparasitology with the Doctor spouting off then cutting-edge research), robotics ("The Robots of Death" uses [[RippedFromTheHeadlines then-new]] science about the UncannyValley), philosophy ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" goes into reasonable detail here and it's PlayedForLaughs) and occasionally even hermeticism ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E3ImageOfTheFendahl Image of the Fendahl]]" and arguably "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Logopolis]]"). This was especially common in Season 18, edited by a former science editor who wanted to use science that 'wasn't laughed at by actual scientists' (though, in practice, he mostly used it as a jumping off point for MagicFromTechnology).

** Many of the smarter Creator/TomBaker era stories really went out of their way to explain real principles being used in the plots, be they linguistics (Grimm's Law is used in both "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E4TheFaceOfEvil The Face of Evil]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]" and namechecked in the latter), physics ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath The Robots of Death]]" explains the buoyancy physics of the Storm Mine and has the Doctor explain to Leela how HeliumSpeech works), biology ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]" holds the distinction of being the first ever broadcast media about endoparasitology with the Doctor spouting off then cutting-edge research), robotics ("The Robots of Death" uses [[RippedFromTheHeadlines then-new]] science about the UncannyValley), philosophy ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath City of Death]]" goes into reasonable detail here and it's PlayedForLaughs) and occasionally even hermeticism ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E3ImageOfTheFendahl Image of the Fendahl]]" and arguably "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Logopolis]]"). This was especially common in Season 18, edited by a former science editor who wanted to use science that 'wasn't laughed at by actual scientists' (though, in practice, he mostly used it as a jumping off point for MagicFromTechnology).

-->'''Carlson:''' Just...how far in the future ''is'' this?!\\

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead "Forest of the Dead"]]: It turns out that the Library's central computer is suffering from a lack of memory space because [[spoiler:she has 4,022 people saved to the hard drive to protect them from the [[LivingShadow Vashta Nerada]]. Even for a highly advanced computer built in the future, that is indeed ''a lot'' of data: one person alone would take up roughly 2x10^45 bits, but the thousands she's saved? That's ''2.27x10^31 terabytes'' — a number so high scientific notation is required.]]

** After being refused permission to film in the London Underground, due to safety concerns, the production team had David Myerscough-Jones design sets for "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear The Web of Fear]]" based on photos of the Tube tunnels. The result was so good the BBC received legal threats from the London public transport authorities, who assumed they'd done a bit of illegal location filming.

** The show started out as an educational program, and hence there would be historical stories where a lot of research was done. There is a myth about "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E6TheAztecs The Aztecs]]" that for the sake of decency the costumes weren't accurate, when in fact they were thoroughly researched.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]]: "I Can't Decide", the Music/ScissorSisters song the Master dances to at the beginning, is referred to as "Track 3". It is, in fact, the third track of the album ''Ta Dah''.

** While the physics in Stargate are a bit wonky they clearly put work into keep consistency. For instance ordinary Stargates can only dial within a galaxy so their limits are probably in the tens of thousands of light-years. When they build the McKay-Carter Gate Bridge to join the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies they use with 34 Stargates, which matches perfectly since the distance between the two galaxies is 3 million light years which means, 34 times the diameter of the Milky Way. Carter also had a pretty accurate (if dumbed-down) explanation of red shift in one episode.

* ''Series/AirCrashInvestigation'': In the episode "Deadly Crossroads", which documented the mid-air collision between a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu-254 and a DHL Boeing 757 over Uberlingen, Gemany in 2002, the Bashkirian pilots are shown looking toward their right side for the DHL, which is actually approaching from the left. In the uncensored version (you can see it in the censored version too, it's just less clear), it is clearly seen that all the heads in the cockpit turn when a flight crew member yells "There on the left!" The reason for this (which wasn't said in the episode) was that controller [[TooDumbToLive Peter Nielsen had actually reported the position of the DHL mistakenly at the Bashkirian's 2 o'clock position when in reality it was at their 10 o'clock.]] It was probably omitted to keep the sympathy level for Nielsen higher among the viewers[[spoiler:, as if him getting murdered by Vitaly Kaloyev, who was hailed as a hero in his hometown, wasn't enough.]]

** The set designers for the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert" [[http://www2.usanetwork.com/series/monk/webexclusives/blogs/ep_rockconcert.html put a lot of work into recreating the environment of an actual rock concert]]. They used actual port-a-potties, with one that they could remove the back end from so that they could shoot scenes inside the tight space. The stage set was constructed based on research for real rock concerts, including Woodstock. An acupuncture tent that Monk, Natalie, and Kendra Frank visit to interview a witness used real acupuncture benches, and the first aid tent where Monk and Natalie examine the body is stocked with actual supplies.

** In "Mr. Monk in Outer Space," to create the parody show ''Beyond Earth'' and some background on the burger chain Burgerville, Goldberg did his homework by looking into ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and [=McDonald=]'s, respectively. Mr. Snork is like Mr. Spock, while a couple of real [=McDonald=]'s controversies are referenced, just with Burgerville in their place - namely, the ''Liebeck vs. [=McDonald=]'s Restaurants'' lawsuit (the Hot Coffee case), and the discovery in 2000 that [=McDonald=]'s was secretly using beef flavoring in their French fries which angered a lot of vegetarians. Additionally, the Burgerville financial scandal is compared by the forensics accountant as being identical to the Enron scandal.
** In "Mr. Monk is Miserable," he did a lot of reading to create a very accurate impression of Paris. In ''Mr. Monk Goes to Germany'', its prequel, a lot of research was done on Lohr, Germany, the main setting, for information on the hotel that the psychiatric conference is held at, and also nods to "Literature/SnowWhite" (such as Natalie mentioning the town's old glass factories).
** In "Mr. Monk in Trouble," Goldberg poured plenty of research on old mining towns in California around the time of the 1849 Gold Rush in order to recreate the atmosphere realistically to make Abigail Guthrie's journal entries about the tales of Artemis Monk seem realistic. Such information included stuff about train heists, various methods of salting mines, a disease known as Greeley's Cure, and a miner's lodgings.
** In "Mr. Monk On the Couch," Goldberg created Natalie's subplot with a lot of background information about housing architectural styles and research about binoculars and optical lenses.
** In "Mr. Monk on the Road," there was plenty of research done into the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, and painstakingly researched information on the physics of the Bixby Creek Bridge is shown. And many of the landmarks are ones you can encounter if you took a real road trip through the area.

** In a flashback in "Alethia," a young Harold Finch hacks into ARPANET on October 27, 1980. On that day, the real-world ARPANET suffered a four-hour outage.

** The interrogation scenes involving Detective Carter, a former Army interrogator ("Get Carter," "Prisoner's Dilemma," "Reasonable Doubt," "Terra Incognita"), are particularly effective because Tony Camerino, one of the show's technical consultants and writers, is [[WriteWhatYouKnow an Army veteran who worked as an interrogator in Iraq]].

* According to [=LeVar=] Burton, one of the key reasons why ''Series/{{Roots|1977}}'' [[Series/{{Roots|2016}} was remade in 2016]] was that the intervening four decades' worth of historical scholarship have greatly refined understanding of the story's time periods (much of this scholarship was outright inspired by the original miniseries). Among these refinements:

* ''Series/ThisIsWonderland'' is accurate representation of a courtroom, Lawyers, apparently, are traded around between courts, work multiple cases simultaneously, and have to deal with people even more unpleasant than [[AmoralAttorney the lawyers themselves]].
* ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' is accurate in its depiction of the (pre-Clear Channel) radio-broadcast industry. The [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol Christmas Carol episode]] had an eerily prescient depiction of the [[BadFuture Clear Channel era]].
-->'''Carlson:''' Just...how far in the future ''is'' this?!
-->'''Ghost of Christmas Future:''' Not as far as you'd think...
* ''Series/BarneyMiller'' is often acknowledged as the most accurate cop show ever put on TV. While it was contemporary to the BigRottenApple period of high crime in the City, the majority of cases dealt were not serial killers or other high-drama crimes[[note]]barring one two-parter where the precinct was organized into a homicide specialty squad[[/note]]. Most were people who'd gotten overheated after a rotten day, work-a-day petty thieves, and people creating public disturbances, and many of the incidents were RippedFromTheHeadlines. This is helped by most of the show taking place in the squadroom (with the attendant paperwork).

** Other than the neural implant, all the ColdBloodedTorture practices Gul Madred uses on Captain Picard in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E10ChainOfCommand}} Chain of Command]]" are taken directly from Amnesty International archives. Creator/PatrickStewart, who is a strong supporter of Amnesty International, was pleased by this.
** For the episode, "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E19TheFirstDuty}} The First Duty]]", the trope is displayed in a more philosophical sense with it being screened for the US Air Force Academy to illustrate how its honour code is to be followed.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has created its own mythology, but the writing staff started out researching actual folklore and urban legends. Some people claim that this is a case of poor research because "everything's wrong," but folklore and urban legends are usually spread orally, so the details of each story change depending on who's telling it, but the writers kept the core elements the same. This is especially evident in the early episodes of the first season.

--> '''Dean''': (on the phone while Sam fights a monster in the background) What's another way to kill a lamia?
--> '''Bobby''': Well, what happened to the silver knife blessed by a priest?
--> '''Dean''': (looks down at the dead priest) That didn't pan out. What's plan B?

* ''Series/YesMinister'', was realistic of its portrayal of Whitehall and Civil Service machinations, due to the fact that they actually had inside information and anecdotes from senior civil servants. A good example is the episode "The Moral Dimension", where the main plot point - smuggling in alcohol to a diplomatic conference in [[{{Qurac}} Qumran]] - is based on an actual event. Even most of the minor characters were [[{{NoCelebritiesWereHarmed}} recognisable pastiches]] of real people or groups.

* ''Series/{{Charmed}}'': The auction house where Prue works is named ''Buckland'''s. Raymond ''Buckland'' is credited with introducing Wicca to North America.

* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' owns this trope; as befits a show written by a group of {{Oxbridge}} graduates, it often parodies writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Marcel Proust, and frequently mentions philosophy. The fun also comes from their famous inversions of typical tropes like "Welsh miners are stupid" when they start talking about things like the 30 Years War and obscure classical architecture.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has created its own mythology, but the writing staff started out researching actual folklore and urban legends. [[FanDumb Some people]] claim that this is a case of poor research because "everything's wrong," but folklore and urban legends are usually spread orally, so the details of each story change depending on who's telling it, but the writers kept the core elements the same. This is especially evident in the early episodes of the first season.

* ''Series/TheITCrowd'' is ridiculously exaggerated slapstick. But the writers put in lots of little details and shout-outs that shows they Did The Research into what IT workers are actually like and into. As a result, actual IT workers love it. Writer Graham Linehan is OneOfUs and in one of the DVD commentaries pretty much says Moss is based on a younger him and Roy is based on him now.

* ''Series/BarneyMiller'' is often acknowledged as the most accurate cop show ever put on TV.