History Main / TVNeverLies

* The infamous ''Radio/WarOfTheWorlds'' radio broadcast, which adapted [[Literature/WarOfTheWorlds H.G. Wells seminal science-fiction novel]] in the form of fictional news reports. Some people took it for non-fiction and panicked (though the [[UrbanLegend extent of this panic was exaggerated]]). Most who believed it[[note]]with many reporting thinking it was a Nazi gas attack made to ''look'' like an alien invasion[[/note]] reacted rationally, flooding telephone lines, rather than streets and highways, with calls to the radio station and police, to ask if it were true.

* In ''Anime/HisCooolSehaGirls'', [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]] is, according to an EyeCatch in the first episode, "inclined to believe everything on the internet".

Usually happens after a particularly {{anvilicious}} episode about either a main character using the school newspaper to print libel to boost circulation (and having it backfire painfully in a FawltyTowersPlot) or the AlphaBitch using similar means to besmirch the lead, fool her classmates, or even [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwash]] the school/town into doing her bidding. After the show proper ends, an epilogue tells the viewers not to believe everything they see on TV. May be [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]], lampooned, or played for HypocriticalHumor in comedy shows, after which the main characters tune in to watch their favorite shows uncritically.

[[folder:Advertising ]]

[[folder:Comic Books ]]

[[folder:Western Animation ]]

[[folder:Real Life ]]

-->''"Man on TV say "Batman, World is undering attack of Batcousin. Go to fight them to aids us." and Batman knew that now was his time to help because television never lies."''

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''TheSimpsons'' episode "Homer Badman" The sensationalist news media turns the whole town against Homer, convincing everyone that he sexually harassed his kids' babysitter.
** Including ''[[WhatAnIdiot himself]]''.

That was actually true in the USSR. Everyone with half a brain "read between the lines" - searched for hidden meaning behind the official version [[PropagandaMachine printed in the newspapers and broadcast on TV]]. It was generally assumed that [[TVNeverLies TV and Other Media]] [[InvertedTrope Always]] [[TVNeverLies Lie In Some Way]]. Even inverted, this trope managed to backfire though: [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp the collapsing USSR]] took the PropagandaMachine with itself, and the assorted media has since become identical to that of any other developed country; this gives those who haven't dropped their habits [[SarcasmMode some great times]] trying to guess what the hell is going on, as different channels/newspapers/etc tend to have different points of view. Then there's the Internet... Good thing Putin is working so hard to restore media order then.

[[folder: Advertising ]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* The infamous ''Radio/WarOfTheWorlds'' radio broadcast, which adapted [[Literature/WarOfTheWorlds H.G. Wells seminal science-fiction novel]] in the form of fictional news reports. Some people took it for non-fiction and panicked (though the [[UrbanLegend extent of this panic was exaggerated]]).

* The ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "It Must Be True!" has a TV show which shows [[LittleKnownFacts absurd facts]] (such as "There's no such thing as Wyoming" and "Raisins are shrunk bowling balls") because of this trope. But when ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} says "Dogs have no brains", an all-dog audience beats him up.

* Inverted in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' - the Borogravian citizens, living in a country where everything they read is propaganda written by the government, cannot figure out how newspapers (or anything written down, for that matter) can be trusted.

* Used in a commercial for State Farm insurance in regards to the Internet, with a woman who believes that everything she reads on the Internet is true. The commercial ends with her meeting her boyfriend, whom she met on the Internet, and whom she believes to be a French model. Cue some middle-aged guy with a goatee and glasses walking up to her and saying "Uh, bonjour?" And she still believes it.

-->--''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', "It Must Be True!"

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', when Meg joins the school newspaper to pad out her extra-curricular activities, her father Peter "improves" a story of hers by outright fabricating a story saying "LukePerry is Gay". This works wonders for Meg at first until Luke Perry reads a copy of the paper. [[spoiler:Turns out he ''was'' gay. With Mayor Creator/AdamWest...]]

* Of course Mr. Krabs has to learn things the hard way on ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. After printing several scandalous issues of the Krusty Krab's own ''Krusty Khronicle'', which features nothing but wild rumors, he incurs the wrath of everyone in town but refuses to stop the presses. Then [=SpongeBob=] prints another issue focusing solely on Mr. Krabs himself.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'', Ned's parents call off a trip to New York after watching a programee about dangerous alligators living in the NY sewers. When Ned tried to persuade them that it's just an urban legend, and pointed out that the programee was called "It's A Myth", his parents replied with this trope. "They wouldn't put it on TV if it weren't true."

* The setup for ''GalaxyQuest'' is a species of aliens that do not have a concept of lying in their culture, only first encountering a being who ''would'' lie when they met the villain of the movie. Because of this perspective they accept everything on TV as being a literal truth, viewing TV shows as "historical documents". This leads them to accept the cast of the ShowWithinAShow ''Galaxy Quest'' as actual space heroes, and they mourn the situation of "those poor people" on ''Series/GilligansIsland''.

* British knockoff ''Series/BrainiacScienceAbuse'', by contrast, has been known to fudge results in the name of RuleOfFunny (and, on one occasion, to collect on a rather sizable golf bet when an experiment in probability fails to obey the law of averages).

->''"If it says it on television, '''It Must Be True!'''"''

Compare ThisIsReality. See also StockAesops, TruthInTelevision. Not a rejected title for ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies''[[note]]Although it would have worked for ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough''...[[/note]] If this happens in RealLife it can be because RealityIsUnrealistic. See also TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs, when this attitude becomes outright dangerous in real life.

* The ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "It Must Be True!" has a TV show which shows [[LittleKnownFacts absurd facts]] (such as "There's no such thing as Wyoming" and "Raisins are shrunk bowling balls") because of this trope. But when {{Garfield}} says "Dogs have no brains", an all-dog audience beats him up.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'', Ned's parents called off a trip to New York after watching a programme about dangerous alligators living in the NY sewers. When Ned tried to persuade them that it's just an urban legend, and pointed out that the programme was called "This Program Is Hogwash" (or something), his parents replied with this trope. "Son, if they said so on TV, it must be true."

** ''The Daily Prophet'', the British Wizarding World's [[PlotHole only]] "legitimate" newspaper, is a perfect example. Everything in it is taken as gospel truth, especially jarring when it outright contradicts itself: in ''The Order of the Phoenix'', Harry is an insane schizophrenic and Dumbledore is a senile old fool; in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'', Dumbledore is the greatest Wizard EVAH and Harry is a MessianicArchetype; in ''The Deathly Hallows'', [[spoiler: Harry is evil and wanted for questioning on Dumbledore's death, and Voldemort is really quite a nice fellow, really, just remember to report any [[strike:Mudbloods]] ''Muggle-borns'' to the Ministry.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', Alphys and Undyne believe that anime is actual human history.

** It's also a parody of [[BritishNewspapers The Daily Mail]], which [[TruthInTelevision actually does this]], yet is still taken seriously by an alarming number of people.

* Played straight in VideoGame/DeadRising2. After a zombie outbreak, the news plays a grainy, low resolution tape of a guy in a biker's outfit releasing the zombies, saying that the one in the tape is Chuck Greene (the PlayerCharacter). This is taken as absolute evidence by ''Every. Single. Survivor.'' that Chuck is responsible.

* TruthInTelevision: TheCSIEffect, which many lawyers say have spoiled many potential jury pools with unrealistic expectations of forensic science..

* If you've ever heard of the genetic mutation "Alexandria's Genesis" then take a wild guess at what media form the totally made up mutation first appeared in. The creator of the Mary Sues that the mutation was meant to justify the appearance of has made multiple statements about it being made up, but not everyone has gotten the memo.