MovieChat Forums > The Big Bang Theory (2007) Discussion > They never eat their food, do they?

They never eat their food, do they?


They just talk and play with their food.

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Sometimes, but I think they have to show them eating their food, when they have to somehow interact or react to it. Sheldon has to complain about it. Leonard and Howard have to react to food allergies. The girls never seem to eat, because I don't think girls really eat anyway.

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They just talk and play with their food.


This has been discussed many times before. It's particularly noticeable on this show because there are so many scenes of them eating. The food is a prop, a reason to get them all together.

Actors typically do not eat in "eating scenes." There's a certain timing in them saying their lines, that would be disturbed if they all had a mouth full of food -- not to mention the number of "takes" and the amount of food that would have to be consumed.

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Actors typically do eat in scenes, otherwise it would be unrealistic. And in this show those scenes do seem fake and it's amateuristic.

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Actors typically do eat in scenes, otherwise it would be unrealistic.


They may take a small bite or two, but is has to flow with the timing of their dialogue. In no way do they eat "normally."

On this show, I've seen them pick at their food -- in between saying their lines.

Again, it's acting. We know it's not real.

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Actors typically do not eat in "eating scenes." There's a certain timing in them saying their lines, that would be disturbed if they all had a mouth full of food

Indeed. The best example I've seen is Deborah Kerr and Paul Scofield in the dinner scene of a BBC production of Noel Coward's "Song At Twilight." They eat a three-course meal of caviar, steak, salad, and creme brulee. The timing of these two old pros is impeccable.

If anyone cares to have a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G40GLZqd2SM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3-bM2xvRG4

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If you have to do 10 or 15 takes of a scene, that's a lot of eating of the same thing.

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I feel like, they can at least empty the plate a bit, near the last lines of dialogue. But I guess they feel like the audience does not notice/care.....we apparently do. it does bug me sometimes, but i ignore it when i can

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I feel like, they can at least empty the plate a bit, near the last lines of dialogue. But I guess they feel like the audience does not notice/care.....we apparently do. it does bug me sometimes, but i ignore it when i can

You know it's acting, so why does it "bug" you? It's a very minor thing.

If this is all you have to be annoyed about, I envy your life.



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Since it shows lack of effort, and no my life is chock full of problems. Just because something ADDITIONALLY bugs me does not mean I live a carefree life LOL

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How is the point that they are acting an argument?

The point of good acting is that you don't notice it.

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How is the point that they are acting an argument?

I'm puzzled as to WHY you think ACTORS should sit there and eat like pigs.

It's just not logical or practical and really serves no purpose.

Why does this bother people so much?

It's been explained that actors can't say their lines with a mouth full of food.

To question this further is silly and beating a dead horse.

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Once it captures your notice, you will never escape it.

And then you will spend all your attention noticing that two characters are walking along a street after buying hot dogs from a street vendor or slices of pizza that they walk for 20 blocks without taking a bite. Just walking around carrying a slice of pizza, like.

It is your specific choice to even acknowledge it if it bugs you. Food's a prop. Food is also a fact of life. It shows life, it shows people taking care of each other, it shows people connecting over the life affirming act of feeding each other as a way of showing that they care for one another.

You let this irritate you at your own risk.

Or, you can stand against the people that are disgusted at how Brad Pitt had his mouth full of food in virtually every scene of the Ocean movies.

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This has always annoyed me

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It's not a major annoyance for me. But I notice it sometimes and it looks so fake for people to be sitting in front of huge plates of food but never taking a bite.

A very skilled actor can pull off eating while acting. I remember that on All in the Family, the Bunkers and the Stivics actually ate during those family dinner scenes.

The one thing I find truly annoying is when a character visits someone else and is offered a beverage. They accept and then sit there holding a coffee cup for the entire scene without even taking one sip!
Why not just have the character say, "No thanks. I already had two cups today."??

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A very skilled actor can pull off eating while acting. I remember that on All in the Family, the Bunkers and the Stivics actually ate during those family dinner scenes.

That's another good example, along with the one I had posted earlier of the BBC production with Deborah Kerr and Paul Scofield. :o) It's all in the timing.

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Because holding the cup gives your hands something to do.

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If it detracts from enjoying the show, you can un-notice it. You already un-notice all sorts of things, like scene changes. How did they get from one location to the next without us having to watch the entire process? By dismissing it as unnecessary to the story.

We don't have to see the process of going from one place to another, we know how that works because we do it. So, we skip it for watching the show.

They poke at the food, pretend to eat. It's a mimic of people eating together, a social, life affirming, sharing, caring, and bonding thing. It's an important social thing we do. The mechanics of eating, chewing, swallowing, passing dishes around, talking with our mouths full, we don't need to see it on TV to relive it.

Thanksgiving dinner is short on the horizon. See how it would play out on TV.

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A repeat played the other night where several bites of food are eaten. The main thing is that a character would only eat when they have no lines coming up, so the focus wouldn't be on them anyway and it's easy to miss.

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They only eat a couple of bites. I think the directors wanted them to concentrate more on talking and less on eating.

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