Unbelievable TV Shows: When Drama Goes Beyond Reality

The Art of Unbelievable Storylines

Suspension of disbelief is a large part of what makes television enjoyable, but sometimes a show takes what could reasonably happen in the real world and pushes it to its limits.

Michael peering around a corner in Prison Break

It's accepted that even if a series is supposed to take place in reality, it takes some dramatic liberties, but even a dedicated fan base may start to question how some of the plot points could be possible. Shows that take place in a fantasy world or have a magic system are supposed to play with out-of-this-world concepts, but it's expected that other series have a more grounded approach.

Jack Bauer holding a gun in 24

Over-the-Top Dramas

The dramas that are a little too over-the-top to be considered true realism often deal with topics like politics, criminal justice, and espionage. All of these are high-profile subjects that the general population of the audience most likely doesn't have strong experience with. It's for this reason that show creators choose these settings as a backdrop for the outlandish plots and interpersonal drama that make up the major beats of the story.

Piper and Alex sitting together in their cell with a book in Orange is the New Black

Taking a topic already rife with intrigue and secrets provides an excellent opportunity to stretch the boundaries of reality.

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in The Americans season 1

Unbelievable TV Shows

Prison Break (2005 - 2017) - A man battles the prison system and a political conspiracy. After Michael's (Wentworth Miller) brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) is wrongfully incarcerated and put on death row, Michael makes it his mission to set him free. Already a daunting and difficult task, the brothers are then caught up in political secrets and intrigue and eventually are recruited by Homeland Security in the latter half of the series. What started with an unlikely enough concept kept getting more and more convoluted as the show progressed. The fact that the brothers ended up back in prison so many times in so many different countries makes it obvious that the show was introducing plot lines just for the drama.

Andor Episode 10 Prison Break

24 (2001 - 2010) - Every episode is an hour of Jack Bauer's life. 24 made its name with the unique premise that every episode of the season is happening in real-time. The protagonist, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), encounters a terrorist threat, and the season spans each hour of the day that he has to stop it. With 24 hours and episodes, one episode for each other, the limits of how much can happen within that period are frequently pushed. As the series progressed, the stakes got higher and the threats that Bauer encountered became more improbable. Due to having multiple storylines unfold at once, ridiculous plots of kidnapping, the threat of nuclear war, and the White House being invaded would occur simultaneously.

Prison Break, Michael, Abruzzi, Sucre, and Haywire escaping from Fox River prison in Go

Psych (2006 - 2014) - The police recruit a phony psychic to help them solve murders. Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) is not a psychic, he just has strong powers of observation. Unfortunately, this gets him in trouble with the police. To cover his tracks, he tricks the officers into believing he's psychic, and that's why he has such amazing crime-solving capabilities. A police department would never consult a psychic, or, for that matter, believe a man who says that he has the power of clairvoyance. With each season, Shawn becomes a more integral part of the department, and the detectives come to rely on him for many cases. Though he and the police do have fun together, in reality, this arrangement would never work.

Jennifer Garner in Alias