The 14 Most (and Least) Accurate Workplace Comedies and Dramas
Write what you know. Or don’t! Lots of wildly successful writers have no clue what they’re talking about.
‘30 Rock’
Tina Fey originally pitched it as a show about cable news, but something about it wasn’t working. The president of NBC gave her the ol’ “write what you know” talk, she took it to heart, and made a show that faithfully recreates the madness and ego that fuels SNL.
’Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
An NYPD detective once said that it’s “nearly 100 percent inaccurate. From rank-and-file structure to procedures, administratively, basically everything. Even down to the way the precinct functions.” Also, there’s a zero-percent chance that a ska kid would turn cop.
‘Scrubs’
Insider Magazine had a group of medical professionals watch and rate a series of hospital dramas and comedies, and Scrubs came out on top. One doctor said, “Scrubs is one of the few medical shows that I can watch and not cringe because something is wildly overdone or inaccurate. In fact, Scrubs is the most relatable series that I have watched from a medical perspective.”
‘Law & Order’
Lawyers are quick to point out that court isn’t nearly as exciting, or as central to the practice of law, as shows make it seem: “Being a lawyer is three months of paperwork and research and one day of trial. And we don’t yell at or intimidate witnesses — if I did what you see in movies, I’d be disbarred pretty quickly.”
‘Veep’
Obama aide and saver of America Tommy Vietor has said that Veep is a more accurate portrayal of D.C. than House of Cards or The West Wing: “You guys nail the fragility of the egos, and the, like, day-to-day idiocy of the decision-making.”
‘House of Cards’
Netflix’s signature show is as bad at depicting politics as it is journalism: “Journalism is a lot less meetings in dark parking garages and a lot more calling people at your desk then waiting several hours for them to call you back so you can confirm this one freaking thing and finally hit ‘publish.’”
‘Succession’
It’s generally considered an accurate skewering of Fox News, at least in a CliffsNotes sense. While it’s unlikely any of the Murdoch kids cranked one out onto a high-rise building window, it depicts the pettiness, the favoritism and the roiling competition between impossibly wealthy nepo-siblings that is the modern Murdoch-ian power struggle.
‘Top Gun’
Sure, it was about the Navy, but this Air Force member’s point remains valid: “They show everyone as Special Forces or pilots. Most of us do what everyday civilians do, we just wear camo while we do it. I work HR and sit in an air-conditioned office all day.” Also worth mentioning: There’s way less volleyball in real life.
‘Silicon Valley’
Pied Piper, the start-up at the heart of the series, is based on real-life company MaidSafe, which was dedicated to creating a decentralized, censorship-proof internet. Several MaidSafe employees consulted on the show for maximum accuracy.
‘Girls’
It may have been an accurate portrayal of what it was to be a young, rich woman in the 2010s. Many of us will never know. But one gallery employee says that art galleries just don’t work like that: “We don’t wear high heels and stand around ‘talking art’ with people. Rather, we spend all our time applying for grants and trying to find any way we can to make money so we can actually cover payroll, tidying up after people (seriously, people are gross and totally inconsiderate), and doing some very creative bookkeeping.”
‘Mad Men’
Throughout its seven seasons, the show was careful to accurately depict the advertising industry’s evolution, becoming more inclusive of women and congealing into a few large conglomerates. Some of the actors even tried to smoke actual cigarettes on camera, which lasted about three days.
‘Indiana Jones’
One archaeologist has said that Jones wouldn’t last long in the biz: “I’ve argued for years that Indiana Jones is an absolutely crap archeologist. You never see him measure or map anything. I’ve never seen him put in a unit. He’s not out there submitting site forms. I’ve never even seen him photograph an artifact in situ.”
‘Abbott Elementary’
Quinta Brunson, who created and stars in the show, based it around her own mother’s 40-year career as a public school teacher. For good measure, she named the fictional school after one of her favorite teachers, Joyce Abbott.
‘Bob’s Burgers’
The fact that the burger joint is run by precisely two employees and three children lands it in the realm of the implausible. And the original pitch revolved around cannibalism — the Belchers got their burger meat from the funeral home next door — which wouldn’t fly even at the Jersey shore.