Davidy22: Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

2022-05-21T02:54:12Z

Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

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Explain xkcd server admin at 21:54, 20 May 2022

2022-05-20T21:54:24Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T23:23:00Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 23:22, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T23:22:02Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T20:58:05Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 20:42, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T20:42:10Z

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Davidy22: Reverted edits by X. K. C. D. (talk) to last revision by 172.70.207.8

2022-05-04T02:00:51Z

Reverted edits by X. K. C. D. (talk) to last revision by 172.70.207.8

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X. K. C. D. at 00:33, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T00:33:40Z

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172.70.207.8 at 21:10, 28 March 2022

2022-03-28T21:10:06Z

Jkshapiro: /* Explanation */

2022-02-06T04:00:58Z

‎Explanation

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 On-screen, people are talking face-to-face without face masks, and other maskless people mingle in the background. Cueball notes that, if the story takes place in the same reality and time as us, the absence of precautions should mark the characters as reckless or irresponsible (which impacts the story).  Alternative explanations he comes up with are that the show might be set either prior to the pandemic or far enough in the future that the impacts are no longer visible. However, these possibilities are be difficult to square with era-specific cues like technology and popular culture references.
-{{w|Billie Eilish}} is an American singer and songwriter who first became active in 2015, released her first album in 2017, and became culturally prominent in 2019, so a reference to her implies a show set within the last few years, and likely only one year in the past. The presence of "modern" phones (presumably a late model smartphone) has a similar implication. But in a TV show or film series where time passes in-universe, this also creates problems. If it's set in the recent past, and the series continues for a few more years, then the characters should encounter the pandemic in later seasons. If it's set in the future, then the entire series must be set in the future (because none of it included the pandemic).  If the series has gone on for several years, the current episode must be at least several years in the future, which raises the question of why all the technology and pop culture shown is familiar to us.
+{{w|Billie Eilish}} is an American singer and songwriter who first became active in 2015, and rose to stardom in 2019, so a reference to her implies a show set within the last few years, and likely only one year in the past. The presence of "modern" phones (presumably a late model smartphone) has a similar implication. But in a TV show or film series where time passes in-universe, this also creates problems. If it's set in the recent past, and the series continues for a few more years, then the characters should encounter the pandemic in later seasons. If it's set in the future, then the entire series must be set in the future (because none of it included the pandemic).  If the series has gone on for several years, the current episode must be at least several years in the future, which raises the question of why all the technology and pop culture shown is familiar to us.
 The simplest explanation is that COVID-19 doesn't exist within the program's universe (an idea Cueball briefly considers as an "{{w|alternate timeline}}," but doesn't dwell on). Perfect consistency with the real world in fiction is hard to achieve, and how accurately stories track to current events varies widely. Movies and television productions are enormously complex, and months, if not years, can pass between when a screenplay is written and the finished product is released. This means that rapid changes in the real world are rarely reflected promptly in fiction. Alternately, the production might have taken place in the COVID era but the creators consciously chose not to include the pandemic in the story. Some viewers can ignore these inconsistencies, but for others, they make suspension of disbelief impossible.

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 ==Explanation==
-This comic is another in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}.
+This comic is another in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.
 [[Cueball]] is watching a wall-mounted television set that's showing either a movie or a TV program, and notices that none of the characters are taking the recommended precautions concerning the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}. This leads him to speculate on the timeline and internal logic of the show.

2384: Set in the Present - Revision history

Davidy22: Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

Explain xkcd server admin at 21:54, 20 May 2022

Jacky720: rv

Ex Kay Cee Dee at 23:22, 4 May 2022

Jacky720: rv

Ex Kay Cee Dee at 20:42, 4 May 2022

Davidy22: Reverted edits by X. K. C. D. (talk) to last revision by 172.70.207.8

X. K. C. D. at 00:33, 4 May 2022

172.70.207.8 at 21:10, 28 March 2022

Jkshapiro: /* Explanation */