Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
117,000
edits
But I Play One on TV: Difference between revisions
sadly, the trope namers aren't examples of the trope.
m (clean up) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (sadly, the trope namers aren't examples of the trope.) |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 10:
Not to be confused with [[I'm Not a Doctor But I Play One on TV]].
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==▼
=== Real Life Examples ===▼
* In a commercial for a credit card company, where they advertise that if you have 25,000 points you can get airline tickets, Alec Baldwin end up sitting in the ''co-pilot'' seat of an airliner, telling the pilot, "Don't worry, I've played a pilot before."▼
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==▼
* Parodied in an episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. A nervous villager points out that Teal'c is a Jaffa. O'Neill then [[Deadpan Snarker|replies in his typical fashion that]]...▼
{{quote|'''O'Neill''': No. But he plays one on TV.}}▼
* On the Season One finale of ''[[Party Down]]'', Roman harasses [[Star Trek: The Original Series|George Takei]] concerning his take on the Vulcan Mind-Meld - which, of course, was not Sulu's area of expertise.▼
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
* An in-story example occurs in ''[[Zork]]: Grand Inquisitor'' with the actor Antharia Jack, who plays an adventurer on TV and plays a lot of adventure computer games. He does manage to act a bit like an adventurer during the rescue scene in the Grand Inquisitor's prison complex.▼
== Web Original ==▼
* The [[Amazing Super Powers]] webcomic strip depicting a flight stewardess asking if there were any doctors onboard as the pilot had just had a heart attack. A man says "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV". The air stewardress replies "good enough". The last panel is a cover of a TV magazine mourning the tragic death of the star of the comedy series "Dr Oops".▼
* Parodied in the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'''' video "Marik's Evil Council 3"▼
{{quote|'''Marik''': Also joining us is celebrity voice actor [[Dan Green]]!▼
'''[[Dan Green]]''': Hi. I'm Dan Green.▼
'''Bakura''': What the bloody hell is ''he'' doing here? He's not a villain!▼
'''[[Dan Green]]''': No, but I played a villain in one of the Pokemon movies. }}▼
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
* An in-universe example: in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'', a certain Simon Trent played a [[Batman]]-like superhero named Gray Ghost in an immensely popular TV show which little Bruce was a big fan of. In the episode "Beware of the Gray Ghost", set decades later, Trent is facing poverty partly because he cannot get any roles because [[I Am Not Spock|everyone still thinks of him as the Gray Ghost]]. Then Batman comes along on a case and ropes him in to assist him. Much to his own surprise, Trent make a passable superhero (and more importantly, learns that the Big Badass Batman is primarily inspired by his portrayal of one).▼
** A fairly meta example, when you consider the [[Adam Westing|actor voicing Trent]] is none other than [[Adam West]].▼
* Series one of ''[[Monkey Dust]]'' had a sketch where the comedian David Baddiel would frequently be called on to perform difficult specialist tasks (such as brain surgery or piloting a space shuttle) because as a famous comedian he should be able to adapt to any role, even off-stage.▼
* [[Harlan Ellison]] wrote in the intro for his book ''Strange Wine'' that he talked with Dan Blocker (Hoss from ''[[Bonanza]]'') about this phenomenon. Apparently, Blocker once had a woman come up to him in a supermarket and ask him about how Hoss was. When Blocker replied that he ''wasn't'' Hoss and Hoss was fictional, the woman said, "I know that, all I want to know is if he's alright!"
* Robert Young, who played ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'', often said that people would ask him for medical advice.
Line 30 ⟶ 54:
* James Caviezel, who played [[Jesus]] in ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'', reportedly had this happen to him while on a vacation in Mexico.
* [[Morgan Freeman]] reported in an interview that in the press conference for ''[[Deep Impact]]'' (where he plays the President of the US), many reporters called him "Mr. President".
* In one of his books, Tim Allen mentions that while on a flight one of the pilots came back and asked for actual advice on [[Home Improvement (TV series)||fixing up his home]]. Which just goes to show it's not just actors who play ''competent'' experts that have to deal with this.
* [[William Shatner]] tells a tale of being on a tourist cruise when another tourist fell into the water and began drowning. Like any normal human being, he stood aside while professional help was obtained. So many [[Viewers are Morons|people]] were staring at him, expecting him to act [[The Kirk|the hero]] that he eventually [[The Call Knows Where You Live|caved in]] to peer pressure and dived in after the struggling tourist. As any lifeguard will tell you, [[Don't Try This At Home|this is the worst thing you can do]]. Both Shatner and the original victim had to be rescued.
** Another Shatner example: several pages on Priceline.com are written in first person in the voice of Shatner's "Priceline Negotiator" persona. The "terms and conditions" link at the bottom of the page is introduced with the text: "I'm not a lawyer (I [[Boston Legal|played one on TV]]), but here is the legal information you need to know."
Line 36 ⟶ 60:
* Most [[Soap Opera]] actors say that this happens to them so often that they've become used to just going along with it.
** This trope is the measure Hispanic [[Soap Opera]] actors use to know how well they are doing in the role and how well the soap is going.
* At the ''[[Star Trek]]'' 30th anniversary celebration, Joan Collins mentioned that whenever she was asked "Aren't you Alexis, that ''[[Rich Bitch|bitch]]'' from ''[[Dynasty]]''?", she replied, "No, I'm Edith Keeler, Depression-era social worker from ''[[Star Trek: The
* In one of the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' DVD extras, [[James Marsters]] says "I'm not a vampire, but I play one on TV."
* In the 1970's, James Garner and Mariette Hartley did a number of commercials for Polaroid cameras. The way they played against each other, one would get the impression they were in fact a domestic couple, though this was never stated in the commercials. Mariette Hartley took to wearing these lettered sweatshirts that read "I am not James Garner's wife". Her baby has a shirt that read "I am not James Garner's child".
Line 53 ⟶ 77:
* Rhys Darby has been asked on multiple occasions to manage peoples bands, where he's given a response along the lines of "First, my name is Rhys, second, I only play a manager on TV, and thirdly, not a very good one."
* When Christopher Motlasanti was "whacked" from ''[[The Sopranos]]'', actor Michael Imperioli said that he had been receiving flowers as condolence - for his own death!
* A shoplifter once surrendered to uniformed actors on the set of ''[[Homicide: Life
* James Michael Tyler (Gunther on ''[[Friends]]'') was yelled at by a woman on the subway for being partially responsible for breaking up Ross and Rachel.
* ''[[Smallville]]'''s Tom Welling intervened and fought off men attempting to mug a woman. When she saw who had saved her, she reportedly said, "Wow, you really are Superman." She was kidding, but she apparently wasn't that far off.
Line 73 ⟶ 97:
{{quote|''"For several weeks now, we have seen American citizens stranded on some Pacific island. We spend millions in foreign aid. Why not send one U.S. destroyer to rescue those poor people before they starve to death?"''}}
* According to [[Jimmy Stewart]], people asked if ''[[Harvey]]'' was around for many years after that movie. He usually said that Harvey was at home with a cold.
▲== [[Advertising]] ==
▲* In a commercial for a credit card company, where they advertise that if you have 25,000 points you can get airline tickets, Alec Baldwin end up sitting in the ''co-pilot'' seat of an airliner, telling the pilot, "Don't worry, I've played a pilot before."
▲== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
▲* Parodied in an episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. A nervous villager points out that Teal'c is a Jaffa. O'Neill then [[Deadpan Snarker|replies in his typical fashion that]]...
▲{{quote|'''O'Neill''': No. But he plays one on TV.}}
▲* On the Season One finale of ''[[Party Down]]'', Roman harasses [[Star Trek: The Original Series|George Takei]] concerning his take on the Vulcan Mind-Meld - which, of course, was not Sulu's area of expertise.
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
▲* An in-story example occurs in ''[[Zork]]: Grand Inquisitor'' with the actor Antharia Jack, who plays an adventurer on TV and plays a lot of adventure computer games. He does manage to act a bit like an adventurer during the rescue scene in the Grand Inquisitor's prison complex.
▲== Web Original ==
▲* The [[Amazing Super Powers]] webcomic strip depicting a flight stewardess asking if there were any doctors onboard as the pilot had just had a heart attack. A man says "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV". The air stewardress replies "good enough". The last panel is a cover of a TV magazine mourning the tragic death of the star of the comedy series "Dr Oops".
▲* Parodied in the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'''' video "Marik's Evil Council 3"
▲{{quote|'''Marik''': Also joining us is celebrity voice actor [[Dan Green]]!
▲'''[[Dan Green]]''': Hi. I'm Dan Green.
▲'''Bakura''': What the bloody hell is ''he'' doing here? He's not a villain!
▲'''[[Dan Green]]''': No, but I played a villain in one of the Pokemon movies. }}
▲== [[Western Animation]] ==
▲* An in-universe example: in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'', a certain Simon Trent played a [[Batman]]-like superhero named Gray Ghost in an immensely popular TV show which little Bruce was a big fan of. In the episode "Beware of the Gray Ghost", set decades later, Trent is facing poverty partly because he cannot get any roles because [[I Am Not Spock|everyone still thinks of him as the Gray Ghost]]. Then Batman comes along on a case and ropes him in to assist him. Much to his own surprise, Trent make a passable superhero (and more importantly, learns that the Big Badass Batman is primarily inspired by his portrayal of one).
▲** A fairly meta example, when you consider the [[Adam Westing|actor voicing Trent]] is none other than [[Adam West]].
▲* Series one of ''[[Monkey Dust]]'' had a sketch where the comedian David Baddiel would frequently be called on to perform difficult specialist tasks (such as brain surgery or piloting a space shuttle) because as a famous comedian he should be able to adapt to any role, even off-stage.
{{reflist}}
Line 104 ⟶ 102:
[[Category:Characters and Casting]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:
| |||