4 ms·

I've always been confused by TV shows showing kids leaving for school and it's bright outside with the whole family awake. Growing up, it was dark when we got u

I've always been confused by TV shows showing kids leaving for school and it's bright outside with the whole family awake. Growing up, it was dark when we got up for school and just barely sun up (depending on the season still dark) by the time we left to get on the bus.

rz2k 7y ago
On the shortest days of the year in Los Angeles[1], there is civil twilight around 6:30am and full daylight before 7am. Maybe the writers, who even have children, live close to the schools they attend. [1] https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/los-angeles https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/los-angeles
- widforss 7y ago
  Wow, this really gives you perspective. My corresponding times are 8:21 and 9:55. I would give the world for the opportunity of sunlight evenly distributed over the year.
  - JimboOmega 7y ago
    Move to the tropics; there's some variation but it's never very great.
  - com2kid 7y ago
    I do kind of enjoy the over 15 hours a day of sunlight Seattle gets in the summer, it peaks at around 16hrs on the longest day! I can get off work at 6, be home at 7, and still have 2 hours of sunlight left! Less than 9 hours in the winter though... that part is harsh.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    The thing with evenly distributed sunlight is that, if you work in an office, you're not going to have a lot of free time to be outside and not commuting while the sun is out during the week. With a big skew between winter and summer hours, it's dark in the winter but you don't actually lose that much in-the-sun free time while you gain a huge amount of light during the long summer evenings.
- JimboOmega 7y ago
  Los Angeles is far south, even in the context of California; that's not true for San Francisco. Also the shortest day of the year isn't the day of the latest sunrise - that'd be the day before daylight savings time ends. On that day in San Francisco civil Twilight is at 7:08 and full daylight isn't until 7:35. If we put aside daylight savings shenanigans, it's still not the same day (because of how the earth's orbit works); it's in fact early January and still 7:25 AM for full sunrise. I definitely shared the experience (growing up in the mid Atlantic) of catching busses before true sunrise so I could get to a 7:40 AM start in the winter months. I don't remember it being fully dark, though that time in my life is a bit of a haze in no small part because I was completely exhausted all the time.
  - Gibbon1 7y ago
    > I definitely shared the experience (growing up in the mid Atlantic) of catching buses before true sunrise so I could get to a 7:40 AM start in the winter months. I That reminds me I have a vague memory that there was a lot of pissing when Nixon Admin moved up daylights savings time during the first oil crisis. Parents were complaining that their kids were having to walk to school in the dark. Back then city and suburban kids didn't get rides to school, they all walked.
    - cardiffspaceman 7y ago
      Except high school kids with driver's licenses. Which is not even safer or anything.
- irrational 7y ago
  Yeah, here in Oregon it is already pitch dark at 7am and we are only halfway through October.
freehunter 7y ago
The simple answer is that TV shows are easier to watch if the events take place in the daytime. That's where the suspension of disbelief comes in.
- non-entity 7y ago
  That's true, but even for example, I've cartoons with the same thing.
matt-attack 7y ago
And mom is fixing bacon and eggs and no one is eating, dad is seated with the morning paper with his tie on. Mom in her robe or apron is the stove happily serving everyone.
- polynomial 7y ago
  So, MAGA dreaming.
malandrew 7y ago
Geographical latitude can make a big difference. Right now, there is a 30 minute difference between sunrise in Los Angeles (6:59am) and Seattle (7:29am). Given that most US television programming has historically been produced in Los Angeles, it's not surprising that we should see daylight more commonly depicted during waking hours than what many Americans experience.
- polynomial 7y ago
  Presumably this reverses during the opposite season.
  - Armisael16 7y ago
    Schools are generally not in session during the summer.
    - isostatic 7y ago
      In UK schools are in session in April, May, June and July (the equivalent of Oct,Nov,Dec,Jan), aside from a week off in may.
  - danbolt 7y ago
    I think you’d have to be in the Southern Hemisphere to notice such a thing.
eftychis 7y ago
I have to say that is not productive, especially as a teenager, or old child, where sleep patterns shift to a "late-night-owl" more, and extra sleep beyond 7-8 hours is critical.
ryanmercer 7y ago
In the fall/winter when we were doing drama productions here (Indiana) in high school, I never saw the sun except via windows in classrooms that had windows. On the bus before the sun was up, at school before the sun was up, leave school after the sun had set. In junior high even in the spring we'd get to school (by walking) as the sun was coming up a couple times a week for FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, at a public school in the cafeteria before school). For that matter, that's basically work for me as an adult that time of year. Sun comes up after I get to work and sets within an hour or so of me leaving work late fall through early to mid winter. Personally though I've never minded it. I've pretty much woken up between 5:45 and 6:45 my entire life, if I'm lucky I'll sleep in til 7-7:15 on the weekends. Getting up to get on the road for hunting or fishing as a kid meant getting up as early as 3:30 sometimes.
llampx 7y ago
Suspension of disbelief. I live in Germany, and every movie and most shows take place during the summer when it's sunny and the characters are not wearing a jacket even in the evening. That kind of weather is seen for a few days in July and August, current anomalous weather notwithstanding.

rz2k 7y ago

On the shortest days of the year in Los Angeles[1], there is civil twilight around 6:30am and full daylight before 7am. Maybe the writers, who even have children, live close to the schools they attend. [1] https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/los-angeles https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/los-angeles

widforss 7y ago
Wow, this really gives you perspective. My corresponding times are 8:21 and 9:55. I would give the world for the opportunity of sunlight evenly distributed over the year.
- JimboOmega 7y ago
  Move to the tropics; there's some variation but it's never very great.
- com2kid 7y ago
  I do kind of enjoy the over 15 hours a day of sunlight Seattle gets in the summer, it peaks at around 16hrs on the longest day! I can get off work at 6, be home at 7, and still have 2 hours of sunlight left! Less than 9 hours in the winter though... that part is harsh.
- ghaff 7y ago
  The thing with evenly distributed sunlight is that, if you work in an office, you're not going to have a lot of free time to be outside and not commuting while the sun is out during the week. With a big skew between winter and summer hours, it's dark in the winter but you don't actually lose that much in-the-sun free time while you gain a huge amount of light during the long summer evenings.
JimboOmega 7y ago
Los Angeles is far south, even in the context of California; that's not true for San Francisco. Also the shortest day of the year isn't the day of the latest sunrise - that'd be the day before daylight savings time ends. On that day in San Francisco civil Twilight is at 7:08 and full daylight isn't until 7:35. If we put aside daylight savings shenanigans, it's still not the same day (because of how the earth's orbit works); it's in fact early January and still 7:25 AM for full sunrise. I definitely shared the experience (growing up in the mid Atlantic) of catching busses before true sunrise so I could get to a 7:40 AM start in the winter months. I don't remember it being fully dark, though that time in my life is a bit of a haze in no small part because I was completely exhausted all the time.
- Gibbon1 7y ago
  > I definitely shared the experience (growing up in the mid Atlantic) of catching buses before true sunrise so I could get to a 7:40 AM start in the winter months. I That reminds me I have a vague memory that there was a lot of pissing when Nixon Admin moved up daylights savings time during the first oil crisis. Parents were complaining that their kids were having to walk to school in the dark. Back then city and suburban kids didn't get rides to school, they all walked.
  - cardiffspaceman 7y ago
    Except high school kids with driver's licenses. Which is not even safer or anything.
irrational 7y ago
Yeah, here in Oregon it is already pitch dark at 7am and we are only halfway through October.

freehunter 7y ago

The simple answer is that TV shows are easier to watch if the events take place in the daytime. That's where the suspension of disbelief comes in.

non-entity 7y ago
That's true, but even for example, I've cartoons with the same thing.

matt-attack 7y ago

And mom is fixing bacon and eggs and no one is eating, dad is seated with the morning paper with his tie on. Mom in her robe or apron is the stove happily serving everyone.

polynomial 7y ago
So, MAGA dreaming.

malandrew 7y ago

Geographical latitude can make a big difference. Right now, there is a 30 minute difference between sunrise in Los Angeles (6:59am) and Seattle (7:29am). Given that most US television programming has historically been produced in Los Angeles, it's not surprising that we should see daylight more commonly depicted during waking hours than what many Americans experience.

polynomial 7y ago
Presumably this reverses during the opposite season.
- Armisael16 7y ago
  Schools are generally not in session during the summer.
  - isostatic 7y ago
    In UK schools are in session in April, May, June and July (the equivalent of Oct,Nov,Dec,Jan), aside from a week off in may.
- danbolt 7y ago
  I think you’d have to be in the Southern Hemisphere to notice such a thing.

eftychis 7y ago

I have to say that is not productive, especially as a teenager, or old child, where sleep patterns shift to a "late-night-owl" more, and extra sleep beyond 7-8 hours is critical.

ryanmercer 7y ago

In the fall/winter when we were doing drama productions here (Indiana) in high school, I never saw the sun except via windows in classrooms that had windows. On the bus before the sun was up, at school before the sun was up, leave school after the sun had set. In junior high even in the spring we'd get to school (by walking) as the sun was coming up a couple times a week for FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, at a public school in the cafeteria before school). For that matter, that's basically work for me as an adult that time of year. Sun comes up after I get to work and sets within an hour or so of me leaving work late fall through early to mid winter. Personally though I've never minded it. I've pretty much woken up between 5:45 and 6:45 my entire life, if I'm lucky I'll sleep in til 7-7:15 on the weekends. Getting up to get on the road for hunting or fishing as a kid meant getting up as early as 3:30 sometimes.

llampx 7y ago

Suspension of disbelief. I live in Germany, and every movie and most shows take place during the summer when it's sunny and the characters are not wearing a jacket even in the evening. That kind of weather is seen for a few days in July and August, current anomalous weather notwithstanding.