Most of the time we want to sit down and watch a show that allows us to escape reality. Once we’re off of work, it’s fun to just zone out and think of anything else. But a lot of times the work we escape shows up on the TV.
Whether it’s funny TV shows or dramatic movies, a lot of jobs are depicted in these shows. But what are the most common careers on TV? And why are they depicted so much? Read on to explore the careers that are often explored in television and movies.
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What Is the Least Common Career on TV?
While many shows love to focus on the higher executives in companies, or even small-town local shop owners, there aren’t many shows that depict the average career, like blue-collar workers. Factory workers or construction is often overlooked. While they do pop up on the screen in several shows as a background, or a setting for a bigger issue, there aren’t that many shows that focus on these workers and their day-to-day lives.
Why Are Certain Careers Depicted More Than Others?
While there are shows like The Office and Superstore that show off the average life of office jobs or grocery store workers, why aren’t more shows like this? Why do most shows that are the most popular focus on law enforcement or teachers? Not to say that those jobs aren’t important or interesting, but what makes them stand out above the rest?
It simply has to do with the excitement that goes on with those jobs. Jobs that show off police work or detectives usually deal with interesting, gruesome cases that gives viewers a thrill. And doctors see things that no common worker usually deals with, like miracle cures or terrifying situations. Those who work in a cubicle deal with horrific customers and the everyday drama of the office. While some cases can be interesting, it’s not something that many would be drawn to.
The reason shows like The Office work so well is that there is truly chaos within the workplace that isn’t normal for many companies. A lot of overlooked positions depict the monotony of everyday life, which, unfortunately, isn’t as exciting for viewers.
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What Are the Most Common Careers on TV?
But enough about the jobs that are overlooked, let’s dive into the most common careers on TV. Below is a list of careers with associated shows that portray these workers.
8. Government Workers
Government workers are one of the most common careers on TV thanks to popular shows like Parks and Recreation, West Wing, Scandal, The Campaign, and House of Cards. interestingly enough, this career is usually the main focus of these shows and revolves around local, or worldwide, politics, however, the genre is very different.
Parks and Recreation is commonly compared to The Office for the mundane work that is depicted a bit absurd, as well as the Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis movie, The Campaign. On the other side, shows like The West Wing and House of Cards take a more serious approach, looking inside the lives of those in the White House or a Congressman looking for revenge on those who betrayed him.
7. Architect
Surprisingly enough, Architects are commonly depicted on TV. Keanu Reeves played a frustrated architect in The Lake House, who exchanged love letters with a lonely doctor. Ted from the famous comedy TV show, How I Met Your Mother, also plays an architect. Adam Sandler in Click plays a workaholic architect who finds a remote that allows him to fast forward and rewind to different parts of his life.
A romantic film that follows the lives of eight different couples dealing with their struggles, Love Actually, shows Liam Neeson as an architect as well. While, unlike so many other careers on TV, being an architect isn’t a very prominent part of these shows, it’s still a commonly depicted career. More examples include:
6. Teachers
Teachers are one of the most unappreciated jobs in the world. They not only teach our children but babysit and help shape them into respectful human beings, with little pay. Perhaps teachers are one of the most common careers on TV to show our appreciation and to showcase their several skills while in the chaotic classroom.
Shows like Abbott Elementary show a teacher workplace in Philadelphia and their hard work, despite the odds, teaching the kids how to succeed in life. Glee is another popular name in television that follows a bunch of misfits who join a glee club hosted by a passionate Spanish teacher. Dead Poets Society is a moving movie that follows Maverick who helps pupils through the use of poetry to experience self-expression.
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5. Waitresses and Waiters
Waitressing might seem like another mundane job that isn’t all that interesting, but it’s another one of the most common careers on TV. Comedy shows especially like to show waiters and waitresses putting a smile on their faces and dealing with unruly customers and weirdos.
Some shows like Friends and Big Bang Theory might not focus on waitressing so much, but is an underlining job that is highlighted through Rachel and Penny. But other comedy shows like 2 Broke Girls highlight it entirely, by showing how two totally different characters work together in a restaurant as well as their cupcake shop. Movies like The Wedding Singer show a singer falling in love with a waitress.
4. Publishing or Writing
When you think of rom-coms, you might not think about the work that the characters do. Unless it’s a Hallmark film and someone comes back to help a dying small coffee shop where they end up meeting a lumberjack. However, several rom-coms have main love interests who work in some deal of publishing.
For instance, The Devil Wears Prada focuses on a fashion publishing company. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is based on an article that is being written about that very same subject. And The Proposal is set at a New York publisher company. And let’s not forget one of the best Disney movies based on history, Saving Mr. Banks, focuses on the writing, and production, of one of the most well-known stories of all time: Mary Poppins.
3. Law Enforcement
One of the most common careers on TV is anything to do with law enforcement, from detectives to police officers. It’s clear that the jobs that have the craziest experiences tend to do the best on TV, and what’s crazier than being a police officer? Chasing criminals, exploring crime scenes, or just dealing with wacky stuff the public has to offer, law enforcement jobs make funny shows.
And this is proven with one of the best police shows, Brooklyn 99, which focuses on Jake Peralta and his colleagues as they police the NYPD’s 99th Precinct. Other shows, however, like Criminal Minds go into a darker setting, where a bunch of criminal profilers who work for the FBI must use Behavioral Analysis to profile and find criminals. Another darker topic is X-Files, a popular show that investigates, not really crimes, but the unexplainable. And then of course there’s CSI, a squad of forensic investigators who are trained to solve crimes by examining evidence.
2. Lawyers
Similar to law enforcement, lawyers are another great career on TV that is depicted often. From shows like Suits which explores a brilliant college dropout who finds himself working with one of the best lawyers, to Law and Order that is a drama focusing on the New York criminal Justice System, lawyers deal with gruesome things.
Exploring criminal scenes, investigations, and the conversations that these people have with criminals makes for interesting content. So much so that movies like My Cousin Vinny, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience that helps solve a crime of New Yorkers accused of murder, is one of the funniest, and best, law movies.
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1. Doctors and Nurses
The most common careers on TV go to those in the medical field, like doctors and nurses. Shows enjoy following crazy doctors who are able to come up with solutions for fatal injuries or symptoms that have stumped others, like House. Or crave the drama centering around the personal lives of interns that grow throughout series like Grey’s Anatomy. Or the classic Scrubs that follows an unreal world of Sacred Heart Hospital where John learns ways of medicine, friendship, and life.
Even movies enjoy the eventful lives of those in the medical field, with M*A*S*H set in war hospitals and using wild humor to keep their sanity. As well as Patch Adams who follows a heroic man who enjoys helping people, and making them laugh, through his work to bring a lighter side to a stressful job.