History TranslationConvention / LiveActionTV

** In the TV movie ''[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E00TheGathering In the Beginning]]'', we always hear the Minbari speaking English, but when one of them has a meeting with other races in English, he speaks it hesitantly and leaves some words out.

** During the pilot, the people of Chulak speak the Goa'uld language and Daniel has to translate for the rest. However, Teal'c and Apophis as well as other Goa'uld and Jaffa notables speak fluent English throughout the series including during the pilot peppered with the occasional Goa'uld phrases. Though, speaking Goa'uld is largely dropped on return trips to Chulak and other Goa'uld locations. One could assume that the Stargate program had all its teams learn Goa'uld after the first mission and thus this trope is in play. Though even when the group goes to a planet with Mongolians or American Indians or somesuch, they still almost always speak English even when Daniel isn't around to translate.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' renders "The Common Tongue" as English; all other languages are consistently represented by {{Con Lang}}s. In Mereen, we see the words "Kill the masters" written on the walls when Dany encourages the slaves to rise up and overthrow them. After Dany declares herself queen of the city, we see "Mhysa (Dany) is a master" written in response. Since most of the city does not speak the Common Tongue, this trope is probably at play here. Creator/GeorgeRRMartin admitted that he isn't a linguist like Creator/JRRTolkien, and therefore the Common Tongue doesn't have a ConLang of its own like Westron does; [[http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Common_Tongue#Behind_the_scenes the series' wiki]] suggests that the Common Tongue is simply English in an alternate reality, much like the Galactic Basic of ''Franchise/StarWars'', or rather American English spellings with [[TheQueensLatin British English pronunciation]].

** Also, Gemenese is Romanian, Tauron is Greek and Leonese is French. Virgon is actually the birthplace of the colonial language. So it might be fair to say Virgon = English (British) and Caprican = English (American).

* Averted in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "No Time Like the Past". In Nazi Germany, SS guards tipped off by a hotel maid demand in English to be let into American Paul Driscoll's hotel room. By the time they break the door down, Driscoll is gone, and the guards and the maid actually begin to speak to each other in German.

* On ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', all the Klingons speak to other Klingons in subtitled Klingon. The only times they use English is when they are explicitly supposed to be speaking English, or when someone is listening to them with the help of the universal translator. This is lampshaded when one (human) character notes his Klingon captor's English fluency.

* In the ''Series/MissionImpossible'' TV series, there would frequently be signs and other writing in the background with [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign appropriately foreign-looking words]] (called Gellerese, because the wording was devised by the director/producer Bruce Geller), but the characters would always appear to be speaking English when conversing with locals. We can assume that this trope was in effect.

* ''Series/{{Napoleon}}'': All characters speak English on screen, even when it's clear that French is actually being used. Not just among the French nationals, but presumably also Napoleon's meetings with Metternich and Alexander I, given that for centuries French was (and to a large extent, still is) the language of diplomacy in Europe.

** Additionally, the standard form of polite address for people not on FirstNameBasis is "Comrade", as in "Comrade Legasov". "Comrade" was used in this context, but it also replaces a traditional Russian form of formal address, which is a person's given name + patrynomic. "Valery Alekseyevich" would also have been used, but that doesn't translate neatly for an English-speaking audience.

* In HBO's ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'' all dialogue between characters is in English, with the cast using TheQueensLatin rather than attempt to fake Russian/Ukrainian accents. In-universe broadcasts, such as news reports and safety announcements, and all written text are presented in untranslated Russian/Cyrillic.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters "Carnival of Monsters"]]: Vorg attempts to speak to the Doctor in Polari. The Doctor is hopelessly confused and doesn't seem to even recognise what the language is. It could be the TARDIS considered it an esoteric version of English slang, or (since Vorg is a Lurman who learned Polari so he could communicate with 1970s English carnies) perhaps Vorg's Polari is really bad?

** Sometimes the TARDIS fails to translate, and Translation Convention is averted to show this.
[[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]], for example, establishes that the translation doesn't work while the Doctor is recovering from regeneration sickness due to the large degree of symbiosis between the two characters. Even after he recovers, the TARDIS apparently doesn't translate particularly rude insults.