The original post: /r/television by /u/res30stupid on 2025-01-21 08:44:53.
Basically, the show making it look like it’s going to set up a dramatic story moment or the like, only to surprise the audience by showing how the real world actually works.
For example, an episode of Murder, She Wrote called “Murder, According To Maggie”, shot while Angela Lansbury was taking a break from the show, which had a former student of her’s investigating a murder on the set of a TV show.
Maggie suddenly realises that she knows what the final clue to cracking the case is and where to find it. She goes to the studio late at night when everyone else has gone home to go find it, ends up realising the killer has come back to dispose of it…
And immediately tries to run out of the studio while screaming her head off because, unlike Jessica who always warns the police before she knowingly confronts the killer and lets them hide ready and waiting, Maggie forgot to tell others where she was going and she’s now alone with a person she knows is a killer. She’s only saved because she realised the significance of the clue while on the phone to the show’s editor who also caught the significance and warned the police.
Any other key moments that you can think of like this? Doesn’t have to just be from TV shows - movies, books and games are also accepted.