this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
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[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 41 points 8 months ago (14 children)

I wondered if there was a TV Tropes page for this, and was surprised to not find one. Maybe I just missed it.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 55 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (13 children)

This is the most fitting:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich

With these being adjacent:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LateForSchool
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ToastOfTardiness

One explanation is that food spoils very quickly in studio lighting (especially after multiple takes), so the food shown are fake inedible props.
The trope's purpose is to show an intact family preparing a hearty breakfast, then giving an excuse for why the actors aren't actually eating it.
Additionally, characters can't drive the story forward through conversation while chewing. Eating isn't relevant to the plot.

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I've been listening to a lot of TV and movie podcasts. Fake food is often more expensive than real food. Unless there is a good reason, food is more often than not real.

But it's rarely eaten.

Actors have to do several takes and if they eat in the shot, they have to eat in every shot. A lot of young actors who don't know often learn this very early in their career to never eat the food because they will forever be sick of it.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Unless they're great actors and only need one shot!

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

For most shots, multiple shots can't be avoided.

You have to get coverage of the principal actors and unless they are all facing the same way, you always have to get shots in one direction and one shot the other direction.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Can't they do that with multiple cameras and save time?

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 8 months ago

When they can, they do. But it's not always possible.

[–] Cavemanfreak@lemm.ee 2 points 8 months ago

Actors have to do several takes and if they eat in the shot, they have to eat in every shot. A lot of young actors who don't know often learn this very early in their career to never eat the food because they will forever be sick of it.

I think it was Zach Braff that mostly chose to have soup on the Scrubs set for this reason! And if I remember correctly Donald Faison never learned that lesson 😅

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