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POLICE

• Police Captains/lieutenants are always angry at their star detective and yell at him, threatening suspension if he doesn't drop the case.
• Corollary: it is only after the detective has been suspended that he can properly crack the case.
• Many police chiefs are in constant contact with their city's mayor who will often "chew their ass" about a single criminal investigation out of the thousands going on in a city. (note: See "I Married an Axe Murderer" for a hilarious send-up of the "mean chief" cliche.)
• The police will never question the hero, even if he kills lots of bad guys
• The cops never show up during massive gun battles in city streets that involve bystanders and exploding cars. After the fact, you might just hear a hint of a siren in the distance.
• More murders always happen during the investigation of the first one. The last living suspect is the murderer.
• Most homicide detectives are brooding, near-crazed loners, most likely divorced or widowed, borderline alcoholics. Of course, there are more respectable-looking detectives, but they are inept and not nearly as tough as their mentally-troubled colleagues.
• Many detectives are recruited directly from the police academy, therefore accounting for youthful "seasoned detectives" (see "Speed","Kuffs", "Stakeout").

PREGNANCY & CHILDBIRTH

• The fact that a woman is pregnant or the fact that she notes her pregnancy is introduced by a scene where you hear the woman vomit.
• Whenever a woman announces to her husband/boyfriend that she's pregnant, it comes as a complete surprise to him, whether pleasantly or otherwise.
• No one is in labor for hours and hours... they pop out babies in a matter of minutes.
• No one is ever offered an epidural or medication, everyone uses lamaze (pant method), but they often scream at & demean those around them.
• Most babies are born clean, with perfectly shaped heads and dry hair
• All movie babies are born huge, usually the size of the average two month old.
• Women who give birth are perfectly made up afterwards

PRISON

• In jail, there must be a brutal guard and an evil scheming warden.
• Inside a prison there is always a boss among the convicts. Usually he's black, blind and crippled surrounded by tough black musclemen, and he is the one the white hero has to see to get something.
• In a prison or a gymm, when someone is about to be threatened, it usally takes place when the subject is on his back pumping iron and the bar is lowered onto his neck thus reshaping the windpipe and driving some point home.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT

• Time will stand still when when the hero is in the presence of a company logo.
• When a character picks up a bottle of whiskey or a pack of cigarettes, the label will always be clearly visible.
• If the producers find no company to invest into the picture, strange things happen to the world: gas stations have no brand names visible, stars use no-name airlines (they often crash!), all smokers use silver cases for their cigarettes.