History WhatAnIdiot / LiveActionTV

** "A Film by Dale Squires": After some work on Robbie's new convertible, and having cleaned him off, Beck heads off to find Robbie some "cheerleaders" that might want a ride in it and takes his tool box. But first...\\
'''You'd expect:''' That Robbie or Beck would make sure to take the keys for the car to make sure they don't get stolen.\\
'''Instead:''' [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Two burglars come out from behind the bushes and carjack it. Thus, Robbie is left to mope on the floor, and when the cheerleaders come, they just shrug him off and walk away.]]

'''You'd expect:''' That P.J. would immediately grab the football despite what he's hearing, and get the hell out of there.\\

'''You'd Expect''': They'd try to find out when they will be killed, and orchestrate events so that everything will be as they want it when they die, possibly using the Mosaic site or even the other members of the Blue Hand to put their plans on fast-track. In short, doing what Demetri is doing.\\

'''Further Justification''':The reason they are putting the monkey together backwards is because they're assembling the monkey ''facing towards them'' in order to put it together properly they have to put it together ''facing the camera'' according to their point of view [[FakeDifficulty they're actually assembling the monkey backwards!]]

'''Justification:''' These are kids, after all. They're running through a [[TempleOfDoom dark hidden temple]], where big guys in {{Mayincatec}} masks could jump out of the walls, and they have three minutes to get there and back again with BGM that gives the sense of a life-and-death dash for survival, you can forgive the loss of higher brain function to panic.
'''Further Justification''':The reason they are putting the monkey together backwards is because they're assembling the monkey ''facing towards them'' in order to put it together properly they have to put together ''facing the camera!''

'''You'd Expect:''' That they would make a beeline for the wormhole, or at least grab the Ferengi first and then hightail it back to the Alpha Quadrant, letting 5 or 6 generations of the bronze-age people undo all the damage that was done.
'''Instead:''' They try to fix all the meddling of the Ferengi, who escape and even destroy the Wormhole.

* ''StarTrekVoyager'': An earlier episode of The Next Generation had a wormhole with a stable entry point on one side, and a constantly jumping exit point on the other. Voyager finds this wormhole. They also find the Ferengi that were stranded in the Delta Quadrant, who set themselves up as gods among a bronze-age people.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' They make a beeline for the wormhole, or at least grab the Ferengi first and then hightail it back to the Alpha Quadrant, letting 5 or 6 generations to undo all the damage that was done.\\

** The last episode involves Janeway going back in time to allow them to use a transwarp nexus held by the Borg, because the next 20 years involves a lot of heartbreak and tragedy for the crew.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' She go back in time further and prevent them from coming to the Delta Quadrant in the first place, thereby saving dozens of more people, albeit losing Seven.\\
'''Instead:''' She goes back to that particular incident, to save those people, instead of all the others she wrote off.\\
'''Although:''' In that situation, you'd also have to start weighing the worth of the lives saved because Voyager was around. Do they become automatically worthless when compared to your fellow humans/crew members/Alpha Quadrant folk?\\
'''Corollary:''' Future Janeway plans to negate her own timeline by helping Voyager get back much earlier than intended. She'll have to break a lot of rules to accomplish her plan, though.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That any of the people who indirectly/directly help her mission (Barclay, Miral Paris, Harry Kim) would have gotten some sense and realized that Janeway would erase the past twenty-plus years of their lives if they allowed her to continue through with her plan.\\
'''Instead:''' Barclay and Miral unquestionably go along with the plan, and even Harry Kim is somehow swayed after Janeway talks to him. Basically, everyone in the future has to act like [[TooDumbToLive an idiot]] in order for Janeway's plan to work.
** Weighing Janeway's need to get back home ASAP with the lives Voyager could have potentially saved over the next several years makes her choices seem more suspect. Janeway is told point blank by her future counterpart that, over the next two decades, she'll ''only'' lose 26 crew members (which is an average of about 1 per year), but that Voyager will have met and helped countless races all the way to the Alpha Quadrant.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That, knowing this information, Janeway could have come back home as a legend and still kept Chakotay and Seven alive by not assigning them to away missions. Plus, the ship now has advanced Borg armor that would repel any ship-to-ship attack.\\
'''Instead:''' She (with the help of her counterpart) destroys a Transwarp Hub and sails right on home, content in the knowledge that she's saved a few more crewmembers at the cost of thousands of people (not to mention all the technology and mysteries they would discover) who would potentially benefit from Voyager's assistance.\\
'''However:''' Tuvok, while not dead, would have been rendered crazy no matter what. That was the tipping point for present!Janeway. Even taking future!Janeway's detailed advice, his fate was set. Being a definite MamaBear-type captain, this alone is reason enough for her to give time the finger.
** In the episode "Timeless", Harry Kim and Tom Paris come up with a transwarping method of travel that will carry them right to Earth's front door - but they have to make constant course corrections. A future version of Harry Kim rewrites the past so that the ship drops out of transwarp after two or three minutes in its trial run, so that it doesn't crash and kill the crew.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Harry to realize the technology works (but in short intervals), and use transwarp to "puddle-jump" the ship all the way to Earth. After all, it worked while being sustained for 2-3 minutes every time.\\
'''Instead:''' Janeway decides the technology is too dangerous and orders it dismantled, while being disappointed that their experiment didn't work. ''But it did work! You just cut ten years off your journey, and were seconds away from making it back home!!!''\\
'''However:''' When you have a drive that is defined by instability, there's no telling if it will lock up as it did the first time, and the drop-out trick might not work twice.

** And it's not just the detectives: in "Goliath," a large group of armed cops are facing down one of their own, who's just killed his wife in a psychotic state induced by drugs he was given while serving in Iraq. He's half naked, smeared with his wife's blood, and holding a gun, in the depths of confusion and despair. His son comes out of the house, ignorant of his mother's death. Remember, a large cadre of armed officers are present.\\

'''Instead''': he completely ignores all the guns, all the other cops, and questions his dad in confusion about his mother, wondering why his father is so upset. "Did I do something wrong?" That's the last straw that pushes his dad over the edge, and he fires the gun into his own head. (He lives, but that's not the POINT.)
** One that seems to repeat several times. A teenage coupleare convinced of some type of crime. Often, one or the other will happen, either he rapes her or he convinces her to be an accomplice to a crime.\\

* ''Casualty'' (and its CompanionShow ''Holby City''), a popular [[TheBBC BBC]] medical drama, has some characters played by GhostExtras (namely Kojo, Alan the paramedic, Kath the blonde nurse, Staff Nurse Waters (a possible CaptainErsatz / {{Expy}} of ''NurseJackie'', and in ''HolbyCity'', Nikki, Kate, Rita and a tan-skinned nurse [[NoNameGiven who has never been named) who become fan favorites and unintentional {{Fanservice}}. Fans want them to be properly developed, [[CharacterisationMarchesOn rounded characters]] and have proper plotlines.

* {{Doctor Who}}, a 1970s example. In ''Invasion of the Dinosaurs'' episode 3, Sarah Jane decides to take pictures of a chained, sedated Tyrannosaurus Rex.\\

* ''Doctor Who'', new series example: In ''The Sound Of Drums'', the Doctor, Martha, and Jack find the [[CoolShip TARDIS]], which has been turned into a Paradox Machine by the [[MagnificentBastard Master]]. The Doctor states that it's too dangerous to do anything with the Machine until it's activated and he can find out what the exact paradox is that the Machine will create.\\

* ''DoctorWho'', a 1970s example. In ''Invasion of the Dinosaurs'' episode 3, Sarah Jane decides to take pictures of a chained, sedated Tyrannosaurus Rex.\\

** Also in ''Smallville'', the S8 finale has both Chloe and Jimmy looking like morons. [[spoiler: The pair of them have just found the insensate Davis at the Luthorcorp plant and take him back to Watchtower. Previously, Davis had shown tendencies toward being jealously protective of Chloe and "unable to live without her". He had also, both as Davis and as [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Doomsday]], murdered several people, to control his transformations and in defense of Chloe. Also, Jimmy had just had Clark's secret revealed to him, after saving Clark from kryptonite.]]\\

'''Instead''': Marian gives the necklace to Robin, who returns it to its owner. Predictably, Sir Guy finds out and starts suspecting that Marian spies for Robin Hood. This starts the chain of events which ends with Marian being forced to promise [[spoiler:to marry Guy]], to dispel the suspicion.\\

'''Instead''': [[spoiler:He doesn't, and she kills him.]]

'''You'd Expect''': [[spoiler: Jimmy and Chloe to talk about the entire ordeal later, perhaps when Davis isn't lying three feet away from them and only mildly unconscious.]]\\
'''Instead''': [[spoiler: Chloe loudly blabs to Jimmy that she didn't go off with Davis for him at all, and it was all "to protect Clark". Jim--er, Henry's HeroicSacrifice is the only thing that stops Chloe from being shish-kebabed by an angry, jealous Davis.]]

'''Instead:''' Upon seeing Nora with her evil mask and fake chainsaw, they scream in horror and run back into the sound booth, only to have her immediately lock it again. Despite that, she claims to be unable to stay mad at them.

** The ending to Season 3, to the point of being a WallBanger. Sylar kills [[spoiler: Nathan]], but is then tranq'ed. Everyone is now in a room with an unconscious Sylar and a dead [[spoiler:Nathan]].\\

** Season 1, episode 9 has even more [[WallBanger mind-boggling]] examples. The first one is delivered by Team Guido: they've managed to beat Nancy and Emily to the Fast Forward, an in-game device that allows a team to skip all other tasks and proceed straight to the Pit Stop.\\

* TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody: While the twins and Mr. Moseby are at the baseball game, it's the bottom of the ninth, and the Red Sox are losing. Cody shows disappointment in not catching a ball, and Zack claims that if they make the next hit, they might have a shot to win. But when the next ball is hit, the rightfielder is about to catch it, but Tipton catches it and causes the rightfielder to miss. Moseby tries to give Cody the ball, but he frantically refuses.\\
'''You'd expect:''' That Cody would give the ball back to the rightfielder so he could attempt to turn things around.\\
'''Instead:''' He keeps tossing it back to Moseby, until the batter is out and the Red Sox lose the game. Then, Moseby becomes the most hated person in Boston because of it. [[ItGotWorse And from there it doesn't get better.]]

'''Instead''': Hawkeye and Trapper carry a white flag out of the building and walk toward the sniper. Then, they're surprised when the plan doesn't work and the sniper starts shooting at them. \\

* {{MASH}}: In the episode, ''The Sniper'', the doctors and nurses are trapped in Post-Op while six patients are in the ambulance in need of assistance. Hawkeye comes up with this master plan: to surrender to the sniper. His reasoning: if they surrender, they can help the patients in the ambulance. \\

* TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody: While the twins and Mr. Moseby are at the baseball game, it's the bottom of the ninth, and the Red Sox are losing. Cody shows disappointment in not catching a ball, and Zack claims that if they make the next hit, they might have a shot to win. But when the next ball is hit, the rightfielder is about to catch it, but Tipton catches it and causes the rightfielder to miss. Moseby tries to give Cody the ball, but he frantically refuses.
'''You'd expect:''' That Cody would give the ball back to the rightfielder so he could attempt to turn things around.

* Many ''Series/FamilyFeud'' and ''Family Fortunes'' contestants tend to pick up the Idiot Ball, especially during the toss-up and Fast Money. To name a few examples:
** "During what months of pregnancy does a woman begin to look pregnant?"\\
'''You'd expect''': An ordinal number between first and ninth. As in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.\\
'''Instead''': [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNoV_kSe7Dk "September."]]
--> "How the hell do you people get on this show?"
** "Name a yellow fruit."\\
'''You'd expect''': Lemon, banana, pineapple, etc.\\
'''Instead''': "Orange."
** "Name an animal with three letters in its name."\\
'''You'd expect''': Dog, cat, etc.\\
'''Instead''': "Alligator."
** "Name a country that starts with "A."\\
'''You'd expect''': Afganistan, Argentina, Australia, etc.\\
'''Instead''': "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_aPGI5dUeo Asia, Amsterdam]]."
** "Name one of the Three Bears."\\
'''You'd expect''': Mama Bear, Papa Bear, or Baby Bear.\\
'''Instead''': "Yogi."
** "Name a city in the state of Georgia."\\
'''You'd expect''': Atlanta, Savannah, etc.\\
'''Instead''': "Alabama."
* If we're going with game shows, you might as well mention ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''. After all, when you only have four choices, there's not much you can do to look ''too'' silly, right?
** "Homeowners buy surge protectors to protect their possessions from unexpected surges of what?"\\
'''You'd expect''': The guy to give the correct answer, especially considering it's the $100 question, so not only is it incredibly easy, but D is a joke answer, so it's really only a 1 in 3 multiple choice.\\
'''Instead''': "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMriTkE3igY B, Water flow, final answer.]]."
** '''Justification''': In the later season (2007 onward), contestants race against the clock (15 seconds in the first 5). ''At least 7'' have left empty because of time pressure. {{YMMV}} with the questions, though, and aren't as serious as the first questions.
*** Someone on {{Youtube}} [[http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3A929CBBDE8FD3E2 made a playlist of all these examples so far.]] You could also probably find ''many'' examples from the old season on Youtube.

'''Instead:''' She waits until he gets up, and then decides to jump kick him (to death, I guess). He's standing in front of a plate glass window. Mac [[SelfDisposingVillain helps along]] the [[DisneyVillainDeath inevitable]] by leaning slightly to one side. And this after the assassin displays remarkable [[GenreSavvy caution]] by, among other things, trying to take care of Mac herself instead of assuming the building-killing bomb will finish him. She doesn't even have the excuse of [[HonorBeforeReason fighting honorably]] for her idiocy.

'''Instead''': He accepts it, fully aware that the decisions they made were his to make. And no, [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop the moral of this show]] is no excuse. Francis realized how fucked up his life was, declared himself independent of Lois, and took control for himself, without any kind of guidance, essentially [[BrokenAesop shattering said aesop to pieces]]. Honestly, will he ever come to his senses? Not like ''they'd'' be able to punish him if, in fact, does betray them since, well, they intend to ruin his life anyway.

'''Instead''': He accepts it, fully aware that the decisions they made were his to make. And no, [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop the moral of this show]] is no excuse. Francis realized how fucked up his life was, declared himself independent of Lois, and took control for himself, without any kind of guidance, essentially [[BrokenAesop shattering said aesop to pieces]]. Honestly, will he ever come to his senses? Not like ''they'd'' be able to punish Malcolm if, in fact, does betray them since, well, they intend to ruin his life anyway.

'''You'd expect''': That Malcolm would give his whole family a big, fat "NO!" when they revealed their plans for his life. \\
'''Instead''': He accepts it, fully aware that the decisions they made were his to make. (And no, [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop the moral of this show]] is no excuse. Francis took control of his own life, messed up as it was, without any kind of guidance, so there's no reason why Malcolm couldn't have done the same.)

'''Instead''': He accepts it, fully aware that the decisions they made were his to make. (And no, them putting pressure on him is no excuse. Francis took control of his own life, messed up as it was, without any kind of guidance, so there's no reason why Malcolm couldn't have done the same.)

'''You'd expect:''' That Carly, Sam and Freddie would hide in the small room that their bags are in.\\

* {{Victorious}}: In the episode, "Wi-Fi In The Sky", while Tori, Andre, Cat and Beck are video chatting, Jade signs on, angry at Beck because she left him a voicemail that he hasn't answered. After her typical overreaction, she discovers that Beck has a cheerleader's dog. Without giving him a chance to explain, Jade goes to his RV, where she arrives and demands to know about the cheerleader.\\

'''Instead:''' He tells Jade to wait because the cheerleader will be back shortly to pick up the dog. After he and Tori are the only ones left in their video chat, the cheerleader comes in, and she turns out to be a 9-year old girl named Allie. After she leaves with her dog, Jade refuses to apologize because Beck didn't tell her that Allie was 9. Beck claims she never gave her a chance (even though she DID when she first entered the RV), which leads to them getting all high and mighty. While Tori tries to stop their fighting, if you listen closely, you can hear Jade say, "You could've told me she was nine, I wouldn't have been upset". Out of rage, Jade signs Beck off, leaving Tori with the project herself.\\

* {{MASH}}: In the episode, ''The Sniper'', the doctors and nurses are trapped in Post-Op while six patients are in the ambulance in need of assistance. Hawkeye comes up with this master plan: to surrender to the sniper. His reasoning: if they surrender, they can help the patients in the ambulance.

'''You'd expect''': Someone, anyone, to question how surrendering to a sniper is even possible or how this would help.
'''Instead''': Hawkeye and Trapper carry a white flag out of the building and walk toward the sniper. Then, they're surprised when the plan doesn't work and the sniper starts shooting at them.