973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Feb 22, 2011 11:01:51 GMT -5
Are they actually professors in BBT? I thought they were all grant funded research types, not necessarily faculty. They do have decent apartments and seemingly a fair amount of disposable income for fairly low paying jobs in LA though. I have always thought that one seemed pretty true. They are all single. Only one has an aparment by himself and it is self discribed as a "teeny tiny" apartment. Howard lives with his mother and drives a scooter. Leonard and Sheldon share an apartment and car. I would think they have good benefits so don't have to worry about that. So why wouldn't they have money for things like pizza and comics? Personally I have met all three types in real life. We even have friends who we use their name when watching the show and they agree that they are those people. ;D
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 22, 2011 12:09:50 GMT -5
DBF and I watched My Sister's Keeper last night (I didn't think he'd like it, but he was riveted, go figure) and we both thought it was odd that money never came up.
Dad was a firefighter, mom was a lawyer who was taking time off to care for her leukemic child, and they're not having any trouble at all covering her medical bills, even supporting two other children? I found that a bit hard to believe. They seemed to have a pretty nice house, also. My best guess was that Mom did really well back when she was a full time lawyer and they had some savings socked away.
Very good movie, by the way. And admittedly, money wasn't the main focus.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Feb 22, 2011 12:16:51 GMT -5
I read the book. I refused to see the movie because they chickened out on ending. Money was mentioned in the book - but not enough to be realistic.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 22, 2011 12:21:41 GMT -5
I read the book. I refused to see the movie because they chickened out on ending. Money was mentioned in the book - but not enough to be realistic. Movie ending was much better. The book ending had me rolling my eyes so hard they almost fell out. Puh-leeze. Piccoult goes overboard with her melodramatic endings sometimes.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Feb 22, 2011 12:24:55 GMT -5
The movie ending was easy. You saw it coming. I liked the twist, although I will say I rolled my eyes and threw the book down and told my husband it was stupid. All in all, I didn't think it was a great book. It was okay. I wouldn't even remember reading it if it wasn't for the ending.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 22, 2011 12:37:59 GMT -5
Gilmore Girls comes to mind also - granted, that show has MANY continuity problems, some of them quite hilarious, but one of my personal favorites was when Lorelai receives $75,000 from her dad and wants to use it for 1) paying off a loan for a private prep school that Rory attended for three years, which I'm guessing was around $30k, 2) a down payment for a fixer-upper inn, which HAD to be at least $50k (probably more considering how much construction was needed) and 3) paying for Yale, which starts around $40k per year.
$75k would perhaps pay for one of those things, but I don't think it could do two of them, at least not in full. So needless to say, the sequence goes like this:
1) Lorelai reimburses her parents for Chilton. 2) Lorelai buys the inn.
With $75k. Suuuuure.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 22, 2011 12:38:32 GMT -5
This message has been deleted.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 22, 2011 12:40:37 GMT -5
The movie ending was easy. You saw it coming. I liked the twist, although I will say I rolled my eyes and threw the book down and told my husband it was stupid. All in all, I didn't think it was a great book. It was okay. I wouldn't even remember reading it if it wasn't for the ending. But that's what I liked about it-- the realism. I watched the movie before I read the book, and the whole time I was worried that the girl was going to make a miraculous recovery and render the entire kidney discussion moot. ETA: I just realized that the above makes me sound like a cold-hearted bitch. It's not that I didn't WANT the girl to survive, it's just that in these situations the kid usually doesn't survive and I didn't want a lot of Hollywood bullshit about such a serious and painful matter as childhood leukemia. Definitely not her best book, and the movie adaptation was far superior. I can't remember the last time I've said that about a book.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Feb 22, 2011 12:43:13 GMT -5
Lorelai didn't pay for Yale. The plan was always to get student loans and grants, but the grant fell through because of the $75k, so the grandparents paid, and then Christopher paid.
But, yes, the $75k probably covered Chilton and left enough to pay her tab at Luke's.
I loved that show.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 22, 2011 12:46:11 GMT -5
My sister cooks a lot and probably would be going to a cooking school under other circumstances.
The first house, she and her DH built she had double ovens and used them all the time. They sold that house and built another one and to this day, she thinks that not having double ovens was her biggest goof.
A toaster oven isn't sufficient. She's got 4 teenagers in the house and rarely feeds any less than 10-12 people at any one time since all of her ILs live in a 5 mile radius.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 22, 2011 12:49:41 GMT -5
The money issues in shows don't bother me as the inaccurate science. Assays take time and you do not get results 5 min after you get the sample. Not only that, you cannot determine a strain of microbe by looking at the colony on the plate (a CSI Miami goodie).
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 22, 2011 13:16:03 GMT -5
Lorelai didn't pay for Yale. The plan was always to get student loans and grants, but the grant fell through because of the $75k, so the grandparents paid, and then Christopher paid. But, yes, the $75k probably covered Chilton and left enough to pay her tab at Luke's. I loved that show. But at first she was going to use the money for Yale so that Rory wouldn't have to get loans and grants. I just always thought it was kind of charming that they thought $75k could do that. Huge dent, yes, but it wouldn't pay for all four years outright. Especially after using half of it to pay for Chilton.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Feb 22, 2011 14:04:39 GMT -5
Bones: Hodgins is very wealthy, but loves his work, so kept his wealth secret for a very long time in the show. Booth lives in a modest apartment, does pay child support, but appears to only have visitation (not even full shared custody) and the mom is remarried, so he's not fully supporting the kid. He also does all of his own home improvement work. Brennan is not only an author of best selling books (they still don't make you that rich), but also an expert witness. Expert witnesses get paid a lot of money. I actually don't think Angela had been to Paris before she and Hodgins went there; it was a dream of hers. But even if she had been, her father is a member of ZZ Top (and yes, that's written in to the show - the first episode where we meet him she tells us he's famous and please don't make a big deal) so its not like she came from poor.
Big Bang Theory: They're researchers, not regular faculty. Sheldon guest lectured, but is most definitely not a regular lecturer. None of the others ever have papers to grade or lectures to design, so not professors, or even TAs. But if they're each making 72k/yr, then their living situations are perfectly in line. Penny on the other hand... (Though in the app episode, Penny's app would totally make money)
How I Met Your Mother: I think this one does New York pretty realistically, though I never understood how Robin could afford a place by herself that allowed SIX dogs (the dogs were given to an Aunt on a farm not too long after, but in the first episodes with her, she had SIX). I guess maybe it was good investments from her teen pop star years in Canada.
Cop Shows The problem with most cop dramas is that you can't make an accurate show with a reasonably sized cast. The CSI shows pretend that lab techs are out there running around with guns and making arrests, maybe with one old detective around. Straight cop shows gloss over the work lab techs do its all about questioning witnesses and going with the gut. Medical examiner shows then explain that medical examiners solve all crimes (or at least all murders). I like NCIS (the original, not the spin off) because it has the best mix of all the work that goes in to solving crimes, and, I love the character of Abby, so I give it a pass. My father is retired military, worked for the VA, worked with CID on multiple occassions (my brother and I suspect he was actually CID, but this has never been confirmed), and is now a PI, and he likes NCIS, too, so I figure its realistic enough.
Most of the other shows we watch, nothing about them is supposed to be realistic, so I don't worry much about it
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hurley1980
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Post by hurley1980 on Feb 22, 2011 15:31:52 GMT -5
I totally loved Married with Children, and I know they tried to portray the Bundy's as a poor working class family, but considering he sold shoes for minimum wage, and supported a family of 4 in a big house in Chicago, with his wife shopping all the time, well...lets just say I wasn't buying it! I still love it though!
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Post by ca on Feb 22, 2011 15:49:41 GMT -5
on Sex and the City, I actually thought it was fairly realistic.
Samantha once said her mortgage was $8,000 a month (season finale of season 3) in the meat packing district, and it was a studio. A nice studio apartment, in the chic'est part of town, but $8,000 a month mortgage is high. She is very wealthy tho.
Miranda is a Havard lawyer. At a big firm. In NYC. She made partner. Her salary is easily in the 400k area more than likely, and likely was close to 200k when the show started or more. She had a one bedroom, that she paid for herself with her own downpayment. I don't think that is unrealistic.
Carrie also had a studio apartment with a ridiculous closet, but she rented and it was rent controlled. She couldn't afford it when it went co-op, and Charlotte gave her $30,000 for her downpayment so she could afford it and Carrie got a second job writing at Vogue to pay the mortgage (season 4).
Charlotte rented a small place at first and it is assumed she comes from a very wealthy family, she never worries about money. Her second home she got in her divorce settlement from Trey, and it was worth millions and she had to fight for it with lawyers/etc. I am not sure how she afforded to make the condo fees or insurance or property tax given that she had quit her job by then and got the house in lieu of alimony, but then she has family money I guess too. And then she re-married in a year to her divorce attourney who was a partner.
The housing situation in S&TC wasn't so bad. The only thing that was unrealistic was Carrie's wardrobe given her writer income, but the constantly made reference to how she was broke and maxed out. They even cut up her credit card in front of her at Dolce & Gabbana in one episode early on because she is over her limit and late. The bank denies her mortgage and she has no savings/retirement.
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Post by illinicheme on Feb 22, 2011 15:51:59 GMT -5
S&TC the TV show wasn't too bad in terms of the money situation. The movies have been ridiculous to the point of unwatchable though.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Feb 22, 2011 21:17:08 GMT -5
I thought the most unrealistic part of SATC was the amount of time they had to spend dating, shopping, out for lunch and dinner at restaurants, spinning class, having sex all night with random men ( ), etc. Even Miranda told the head partner she would have to "cut way back... to 50 hours a week. 55, tops!" after she had her baby. No way an attorney working from 7am to 8 or 9pm is going to be out with friends or banging some guy until the wee hours every night. Samantha didn't seem to do much actual work for someone with an $8K mortgage, either. Carrie and Charlotte having lots of free time is more plausible. Still love the show, though!
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Feb 22, 2011 21:30:04 GMT -5
Thyme or Firebird,
Can you guys tell me how the book's ending was different from the movie. If there is a movie based on a book, I don't usually do both, I either read the book or watch the movie and now I am soooo curious about different ending. Pleeeeeaseee!
Lena
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2011 21:45:09 GMT -5
You really want to know? Sister's Keeper? I'll message you so we don't give it away to everyone....
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Post by illinicheme on Feb 22, 2011 22:22:40 GMT -5
There's also plot summary articles on Wikipedia for both the book and the movie. (I know because I looked earlier today to find out what the difference was!)
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Post by ummboutthat on Feb 23, 2011 0:03:13 GMT -5
AHhh yes! once again the boards has opened my narrow mind! before that commercial with the two ovens it was NEVER a thought that people would have. Now I see it's been going on for years!
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Post by ummboutthat on Feb 23, 2011 0:04:50 GMT -5
I totally loved Married with Children, and I know they tried to portray the Bundy's as a poor working class family, but considering he sold shoes for minimum wage, and supported a family of 4 in a big house in Chicago, with his wife shopping all the time, well...lets just say I wasn't buying it! I still love it though! Hurley =7 is there a better example than the show Married With Children?
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Feb 23, 2011 8:52:11 GMT -5
Oped,
yes, absolutely!!!!! Like I said, I happened to see the movie, so I know I won't read the book. Thank you!!!!!!!!
Lena
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Post by ca on Feb 23, 2011 9:36:46 GMT -5
Haha totally agree. Also that 4 friends would actually find the time to meet regularly-ish; it's very hard for me to get my 3 best friends together all at once. Sometimes tho the show makes a point to say how long it took to get together...one season 5 episode Carrie pouts when she can't get the 4 of them together for Charlotte's birthday as they are all too busy (especially after Miranda had the baby) and says the last photo of the 4 of them together is really old or something. Ah well, my point was that as far as housing, I think S&TC did an okay job for NYC, because it was written and filmed in NYC unlike all those west coast sitcom jobs!
Speaking of Friends, I actually like the early episode where Ross, Chandler and Monica (the have's) go out for Monica's birthday with Rachel, Phoebe and Joey (the have not's) and they go to split the bill evenly and the poorer friends complain because they only ordered salad and water or something. It reflected accurately I think some of the nights out I've had when I mix my professional friends with my non-professional friends.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 23, 2011 9:52:17 GMT -5
Oped and whois - did you guys work this out? Otherwise, that's what the spoiler warning was invented for ;D
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 10:01:57 GMT -5
I PMs her... ...
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Frugal Nurse
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Post by Frugal Nurse on Feb 23, 2011 10:23:13 GMT -5
There's also plot summary articles on Wikipedia for both the book and the movie. (I know because I looked earlier today to find out what the difference was!) I just went and read the summary of the book ending- that is crap! I don't like that ending one bit!
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gobermitcheese
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Post by gobermitcheese on Feb 23, 2011 11:38:38 GMT -5
In reference to King of Queens, UPS drivers actually make really good money. Where I live in LCOLA Iowa they make $30+ per hour. Plus they don't pay a dime in health, dental, life, vision, or disability ins. They also have extremely generous pension benefits. I don't know anything about Long Island? real estate but it seems possible that they could have a comfortable lifestyle. The inaccurate part is that they make his job seem easy. Drivers work their a$$ off! And FYI I have never seen a chunky UPS driver.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Feb 23, 2011 12:05:56 GMT -5
I PMs her... ... You... what, exactly?
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Feb 23, 2011 12:07:39 GMT -5
Private Messaged me. I am all good, thank you.
I gotta say, what an interesting ending. I like the book's ending better
Lena
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