The original post: /r/television by /u/AporiaParadox on 2024-06-13 11:58:10.
As we all know, if you’re on a TV show, you have to get paid more if you say anything, so extras on TV shows will never say anything, which can lead to awkward and unrealistic scenarios where an organization is meant to have tons of people, but they never contribute. And due to how stories work, writers want the main characters to do everything, so the main characters do absolutely everything even if they’re part of an organization where there’s meant to be other people who surely could help out or have tasks delegated to, but instead they’re just seen in the background presumably just lazing around.
I’d been recently watching Abbott Elementary, and couldn’t help but notice that the school is meant to have dozens of teachers, but whenever they all gather, only the main characters ever do or say anything, the rest just stay silent and don’t contribute. The students are fortunately allowed to speak, presumably because they don’t have to be paid as much as adult actors, or because a show about teachers where students don’t say anything wouldn’t be very fun.
But not all shows set in school are so lucky. Usually the cast will consist of a couple of students (usually adults pretending to be teenagers), a few teachers, a principal, and sometimes a janitor or gym coach. Everyone else is just there to fill space, nobody else ever contributes to class or does anything.
Cop shows and medical shows are also quite guilty of this. Just a few cops will do all of the crime scene analysis, DNA tests, detective work, shooting, raids, interrogations, etc. And just a few doctors will do all of the things that are usually left to dozens of doctors and nurses that specialize in different tasks.
What amusing examples are there of shows with a bunch of extras that might as well not exist?