In our experience, even the smallest details contribute to the overall atmosphere of a TV show or film. But the thing is that they can’t be random. They need to make sense in the context of the show and the universe that the show’s creators are lovingly crafting. It’s the details that reveal how much effort someone’s put into crafting the world that the story’s protagonists inhabit.

However, if they’re messy or clash with the rest of the story (instead of adding to it), they can break our immersion. And if your audience is no longer willing to suspend its disbelief for the sake of the spectacle, then you’re really in hot water. Barely anybody is going to stick with your story if they know you’re just winging it.

A while ago, Bored Panda spoke about the willing suspension of disbelief and immersion with writer, teacher, and webcomic creator Christopher Burke. He explained to us that audience members sometimes stumble across details on the silver screen that completely take them out of the story and make them realize that the entire spectacle is fake. It can be something completely minor. 

"There can be a dragon. The dragon can swear, smoke cigars, and drink whiskey if it wants to. But if it starts talking about cigars and whiskey and gets basic facts (which are easily found) wrong, someone's going to notice, and that will pull them out of the moment. The audience will willingly accept the big stuff or they wouldn't watch the movie. It's the small stuff that's distracting, and sometimes you wonder if they could've avoided it” he said.

"Information is readily available. I would rather that the movie makers created a fictitious train, such as the T line, than use a real line and have it go where it doesn't belong (and no one has a problem with this). Using Vancouver or Toronto for Brooklyn is fine. I accept that. Using Hoyt–Schermerhorn as a stand-in for City Hall is fine, too,” he explained.

"They'll never get all of it, especially the specialized stuff," he said that the basics have to be there, even if perfection is impossible. "Say, putting the 4 train on the Brighton line will leave a lot of New Yorkers scratching their hands more than King Kong or Godzilla on the Boardwalk."

Created nearly 6 years ago, in late June of 2017, the r/TVDetails subreddit has carved out a sizeable niche for itself over the years. At the time of writing, it was home to 171k members who couldn’t get enough of discussing all the hidden and subtle details in their top TV shows.

According to the team running the sub, all of the details posted on the sub have to be “obscure, specific, and intentional.” Though obscurity is obviously subjective, community members should strive to ignore posting about ones that are very in-your-face and something that most corners of the internet are already aware of.

Meanwhile, if the detail you want to share is a spoiler, you have to add a spoiler tag. That way, you won’t ruin any surprise twists and turns for anybody who wants to experience the story blind. Though research shows that spoilers can genuinely make you enjoy the story more, it’s still better to let each individual decide what they want.

It’s clearly mentioned in the subreddit’s name, but the community is dedicated solely to TV shows. If you want to talk about movie or video game details, there are separate online groups for that. Namely, r/MovieDetails and r/GamingDetails. This way, the r/TVDetails sub can focus on one particular niche without becoming a medley of different interests.

The moderator team also asks its members to mention the name of the TV show in the title of their post and to explain the detail either in the title or in the comments. If you choose to do the latter, add ‘(explanation in the comments)’ to your title so that all the other redditors know where to look. 

Members of the community should also try to avoid reposting popular details and ought to be civil in the comments. What’s more, redditors should avoid posting memes or meta comments. Meanwhile, the subreddit really isn’t the place to ask for advice on what TV you ought to buy or how to fix your electronics. Again, there are other communities dedicated to just that, r/hometheater and r/TVRepair.

We'd love to hear which of these TV show details surprised you the most, dear Pandas, so feel free to drop by the comment section to share your thoughts. We'd also like to know what series and genres you enjoy the most. And if you've spotted some interesting details in your fave shows that nobody else has, don't be shy and share them with the rest of the crowd.