History Main / NotSoRemote

(''the camera zooms out to show the Chicago skyline'')\\

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan mistakes a nuclear attack drill for the real thing and rushes his family out to what he believes is a secluded wilderness. Not only does [[MountainMan somebody]] already live there, it turns out to be a short walk from a diner, a summer camp and [[spoiler: a cliff overlooking a bustling cityscape]].

* OlderThanRadio, as it happens to David Balfour in Literature/{{Kidnapped}}. Unable to swim, David is stranded on the island of Earraid, off the coast of Scotland. He finds himself stranded and starving for over four days. Fortunately, some fishermen come near the shore and tell him that '''the island is connected to the mainland at low tide'''. David could have simply walked to shore long before.

* At the end of ''[[Film/RoadTo Road to Morocco]]'', Hope and Crosby are adrift on a raft at sea. Just as Hope's starting to get wound up about the possibility of them dying out there, Crosby points out New York on the horizon. Hope complains that he's just cut short what could have been the most dramatic scene in the movie.

* In an episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'', a gate mishap sends O'Neil and Carter into an ice cave. When they dig their way out, they think they landed on [[SingleBiomePlanet an ice planet]]. Turns out they're actually on Earth, in the Antarctic.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In "The Cryonic Woman," Fry and his ex-girlfriend freeze themselves again and woke up in a ''Franchise/MadMax''-esque wasteland that they thought must be the year 4,000. Turns out it's just suburban Los Angeles.
** Also, in the episode "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" Zapp and Leela crash land on an unknown planet with no way of returning home. Here, they witness the Earth's destruction at the hands of the V-Giny, a rogue death sphere hell bent on "censoring" indecent planets. Later, it turns out that they were on [[EarthAllAlong Earth the entire time]] and the Earth being destroyed was actually a hologram as part of an elaborate scheme to get Leela to like Zapp.

* Classic ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E15IShotAnArrowIntoTheAir I Shot An Arrow Into The Air]]". The first manned space flight goes off course and crash lands on an astronomical body with [[ArtisticLicenseAstronomy breathable air and Earth-normal gravity]]. The astronauts come to the conclusion that they are on an uncharted asteroid, and without the resources to fix their rocket and limited rations, their hope for rescue or survival looks bleak. With two of the five astronauts having died due to the crash, the remaining three have to try to survive as long as possible. One of them, desperate and scared [[DirtyBusiness feels he has to resort to murder to survive]] and eventually kills the other two survivors for the dwindling water supply. He sets off and shortly finds the sign for the city of Reno, Nevada over a ridge, and [[FreakOut breaks down]] knowing that his partners had died for nothing.

* Classic ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E15IShotAnArrowIntoTheAir I Shot An Arrow Into The Air]]". The first manned space flight goes off course and crash lands on an astronomical body with breathable air and Earth-normal gravity. The astronauts (who are apparently [[ArtisticLicenseAstronomy totally ignorant of astronomy]]) jump to the conclusion that they are on an asteroid, despite the fact that it would be physically impossible for an asteroid to have those qualities. In fact, it's a case of [[spoiler:EarthAllAlong]].

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* ''Series/{{MASH}}''. In one episode Klinger and Charles are out in a Jeep when it breaks down and they end up stuck in the Korean wilderness during a very cold night, trying to keep a wounded soldier alive without adequate medical supplies. The next morning Klinger goes out in search of more resources and discovers that they were only a short distance away from camp the entire time.

* Prison guard Sam Schultz from the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoon "Big House Bunny" gets tricked into being locked in a cell, where he's given an escape kit by Characters/BugsBunny in disguise. Sam tunnels his way out of the cell, emerging in what seems to be a lush jungle. As he parts the leaves, Sam discovers he's actually among potted plants in the warden's office, whereupon the warden dresses Sam down mercilessly.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'', Duke and Honey are shipwrecked for ''months'' on what they believe to be a deserted island right up until they are found by some birdwatchers from the mainland, who reveal that it's actually Matagorda Island, right off the coast of Texas.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' episode "Jay of Arabia", Jay and some [=POWs=] are lost in the Iraqi desert and losing hope when they run across an International House of Couscous.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' Fry and his ex-girlfriend freeze themselves again and woke up in a ''Franchise/MadMax''-esque wasteland that they thought must be the year 4,000. Turns out it's just suburban Los Angeles.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'', Duke and Honey are shipwrecked on what they believe to be a deserted island, until they are found by some birdwatchers from the mainland, who reveal that it's actually Alamagordo Island off the coast of Texas.

[[caption-width-right:250:[[Where did THAT come from?!]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[WesternAnimation/TheCritic Where did THAT come from?!]]]]

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->'''Ray:''' Fraser! What are you doing?!
->'''Fraser:''' I'm telling you a ghost story. It ''is'' customary to exchange ghost stories around a campfire in the wilderness.
->'''Ray:''' We're not ''in'' the wilderness.
->'''Fraser:''' ...An ''approximation'' of wilderness.
->'''Ray:''' No it's not, Fraser, we are in a park in the middle of downtown Chicago! I had to step over a wino and kick two junkies just to get here.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* ''TheGirlWhoLovedTomGordon'' by Creator/StephenKing follows nine-year-old protagonist Trisha as she steps off the path and becomes lost in the woods. After walking for hours, she has to make a choice between following her plan to go in one straight line, which would mean wading through what looks like an impassable bog, or turning aside. She chooses to turn; the narrative "pans out" to reveal that the bog leads into a popular vacation lake and if it were summer she would already have been able to see boats.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

** In the ColdOpen of "A Likely Story," Fraser and Ray seem to be out camping in the woods; it's quickly revealed that they're actually in a city park in the middle of Chicago.
** In "The Call of the Wild," Fraser is out on a lake, attempting to ice fish but getting no bites. The snowy hills that can be seen surrounding the lake appear heavily wooded. Then Ray shows up.
-->'''Benton Fraser:''' Ice fishing takes patience.
-->'''Ray Kowalski:''' Yeah. Well, you gonna need a lot of that, Fraser, cause there ain't no fish in here.
-->'''Benton Fraser:''' How do you know that, Ray?
-->''The camera has zoomed out to show the Chicago skyline.''
-->'''Ray Kowalski:''' Cause it's the city reservoir. Drinking water, no fish.
-->'''Benton Fraser:''' Oh.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'', "Quagmire": Scully and Mulder explore a lake at night, and their boat crashes and sinks. They spend quite a long time on a rock, and Mulder even brings out snarks about cannibalism. They are saved by Dr Farraday later that night.
-->'''Scully:''' We would have been out here all night if you hadn't answered our distress call.
-->'''Farraday:''' Oh, I didn't. I was walking by, I heard you talking.
-->'''Scully:''' Walking by?
-->'''Farraday:''' Yeah, the shore is just a stone's throw from here.

[[folder:NewspaperComics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'', Duke and Honey are shipwrecked on what they believe to be a deserted island, until they are found by some birdwatchers from the mainland, who reveal that it's actually Alamagordo Island off the coast of Texas.
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[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* Prison guard Sam Schultz from the LooneyTunes cartoon "Big House Bunny" gets tricked into being locked in a cell, where he's given an escape kit by Characters/BugsBunny in disguise. Sam tunnels his way out of the cell, emerging in what seems to be a lush jungle. As he parts the leaves, Sam discovers he's actually among potted plants in the warden's office, whereupon the warden dresses Sam down mercilessly.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Pizza Delivery", [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward are lost in the middle of nowhere. [=SpongeBob=] suggests going one way because, according to the pioneers, [[ArtisticLicenseBiology moss always grows facing civilization]].[[note]]It actually grows on the shadier side of the tree - the north side in the northern hemisphere, the south side in the southern hemisphere. Anyway, since Spongebob and Squidward are underwater, none of this really applies...[[/note]] Squidward goes [[AntiAdvice in the opposite direction]], with [=SpongeBob=] following him. The camera then reveals that the town was just over the ridge towards where the moss was facing.

[[/folder]]