History Main / RealTime

** Also, in a later episode, Rainbow ends up in hospital, and there is a one minute-long montage of her trying kill time. Then she looks back at the clock, only to notice that the whole montage took place in Real Time.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' parody of ''Series/TwentyFour'''s format.
** Also the episode "The New Terrance and Philip Movie Trailer" from the sixth season.
* The "24 Minutes" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', with a crossover appearance of some of ''24'''s cast no less.
* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Wild Cards" takes place in real time, with Joker's timer in the corner of the screen keeping track for most of the events. In between part 1 and part 2 there's a minor "rewind".
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by ComicBook/TheJoker when the clock ''starts'' at 22:51. "Oh what were you expecting from me? A ''round'' number?" The creators obviously designed the number to be the exact time between the timer's appearance and the Flash dealing with the final bomb, rather than trying to forcibly edit the length of that time to an exact number.

* In the pilot episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the speedy pegasus Rainbow Dash claims she can clear the sky of clouds in "10 seconds flat". She lives up to her word; in exactly 10 seconds real time the sky has been cleared.
** Also, in a later episode, Rainbow ends up in hospital, and there is a one minute-long montage of her trying kill time. Then she looks back at the clock, only to notice that the whole montage took place in Real Time.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'' is unique in that ''all the clocks update in real time''. That is, if 5 minutes pass between one scene and the next, the clocks will have advanced by exactly 5 minutes.
* ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' gave every appearance of taking place in real time. Viewers follow host Steve or Joe (or Kevin in the U.K.) through events in the ''Blue's Clues'' house and backyard, or into skidoo, without cutting away or any indication of additional time passing. In one installment, viewers even sat with Steve for one minute as a clock appeared on-screen counting down one minute as an exercise in patience. Another installment with Joe, "Patience," was all about finding ways to be patient to pass the time until an egg hatched at the end of the episode. There was even a song to go with it-- "''Wait. Wait. Wait.'' What can we do while we wait?"
** ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'', made by the same people, follows the same sort of format. Events are generally presented without any time skips or sudden scene changes. The creators have indicated that the show is made this way because they feel that doing that sort of thing is confusing to the young audience, who might not easily understand that the time-frame being presented has changed.
* Used in an interesting way in ''WesternAnimation/TheHollow''. [[spoiler: The first season takes place over ten half-hour episodes, and despite night and day passing multiple times it's revealed during the season finale that the whole adventure from episode one to episode ten took place in only five hours in-universe, the same amount of time it takes to view the whole season.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "The Fugitives", Sylvia points out a garbage barge will be leaving the planet she and Wander are on in "precisely three minutes." Exactly three minutes after she says that, she and Wander are tossed onto the barge as it is leaving.

* '"Film/NineteenSeventeen'' takes place in real time, following British soldiers sent across No-Man's Land to deliver a message. The film does cheat towards the end [[spoiler: by having a character get knocked out]] to allow the film to jump ahead in time.

* The three comics by Creator/BillHolbrook — ''ComicStrip/OnTheFastrack'', ''ComicStrip/KevinAndKell'' and ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'' — all run in approximately real time. Single storylines may use up several days to portray the events of a few minutes, but then there are periods of inactivity again, so that we get regular scheduled real life events spilling over into their world, such as Valentine's, summer camp or Christmas. Safe Havens followed school kids through their school years, Safe Havens and On the Fastrack have a common 'Mars Mission' plotline that evolves in real time, too.

* ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' manages to juggle this, all while following multiple groups of people and several different sub-plots all at once. Though the film is infamous for having several different cuts, the most recent [[Creator/TheCriterionCollection Criterion]] release clocks in at just over 3 hours and 17 minutes, a realistic length of time it would take to travel the 125 miles from Palm Springs to the Portuguese Bend (especially considering all the constant delays each character ends up having to deal with).

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * Some of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'''s manga is in real time. Volumes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 span only two days in-universe time. (These must have been released over years. That's not real time.)

* The aptly-named ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode "38 Minutes" is the only Real Time episode in the ''Franchise/{{Stargate Verse}}''. The title refers to the maximum length of time a Stargate can be open.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with HBO's ''Series/RealTimeWithBillMaher''. [[CaptainObvious But yes, granted, the trope does apply there as well]]. Also not to be confused with the RealTimeStrategy genre of video games, as very few (if any) of them actually fall under this trope.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* WebVideo/TheGreatWar follows World War One week by week, exactly one hundred years after the events depicted, as an ambitious four year project.
* WebVideo/WorldWarTwo: as pseudo-sequel to ''The Great War'', covers the events of The UsefulNotes/SecondWorldWar week by week, seventy-nine years after they occurred.

* ''Film/{{Conspiracy}}''. Like the German original, the events within the conference room strictly follow the minutes of the meeting that took place, which was over in less than 90 minutes.

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* Marvel Comics' ''ComicBook/TheNam'' was billed as "an 8 year limited series," for how long the Vietnam War took after the US got involved. Each story takes place one month after the previous one did.

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* The three comics by Creator/BillHolbrook - ComicStrip/OnTheFastrack ComicStrip/KevinAndKell and ComicStrip/SafeHavens all rund in approximately real time. Single storylines may use up a several days to portray the events of a few minutes, but then there are periods of inactivity again, so that we get regular scheduled real life events spilling over into their world, such as Valentine's, summer camp or Christmas. Safe Havens followed school kids through their school years, Safe Havens and On the Fastrack have a common 'Mars Mission' plotline that evolves in real time, too.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/{{Carnage}}''

* ''Film/Utoya22Juli'' depicts the 72 minutes long massacre in real time and [[TheOner no cuts]] with some character introduction beforehand.
* ''Film/{{Victoria 2015}}'' plays out in real time due to the fact that it's been shot in a [[TheOner single take]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The [=SitCom=] ''Series/WatchingEllie'' was initially shot entirely in Real Time. This format was ditched after the first season.
* The episode "Life Time" on ''Series/{{MASH}}''.
* ''Series/TheDeadZone'''s episode "Cabin Pressure".
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One Where No One's Ready"
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'''s famous "The Chinese Restaurant" episode was in real time. The commercial break is spanned by a LongList that Jerry rattles off.
* A number of action-adventure shows over the years have attempted real time or near-real time in relation to some critical event, usually a bomb.
* The ''Series/{{American Gothic|1995}}'' episode "The Beast Within", although with a bit of cheating at the climax.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' did two real time episodes, Season 1's "My Coffee With Niles" and Season 6's "Dinner Party". In each, the real time even continues during the commercial break, as Frasier goes to the bathroom just before the break and returns straight afterward. In the latter, he's on hold for the first intermission, giving Roz the opportunity to go down, get her dry-cleaning, and come back up. However it does not hold true for the second intermission.
* ''Series/{{Titus}}'' was designed to imitate a play. Thus, most episodes take place on a single set in Real Time. It was even filmed in order, for the benefit of the studio audience.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 "42"]] supposedly takes place in Real Time, however there are a few conspicuous breaks from the gimmick. Here, the title refers to the number of minutes the protagonists have in their RaceAgainstTheClock, and is a ShoutOut to both ''24'' and ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''.
** In "Mummy on the Orient Express", all scenes in which the Foretold attacks are timed to take exactly 66 seconds, as per the legend. There's even an on-screen countdown shown.
** "Face the Raven" is built around a countdown. The final 15 minutes or so of the episode take place in real time. Although this is not explicit, one can work this out by comparing dialogue with the episode timing, though this only works when watching the DVD or the non-commercial BBC broadcast. This is a good example of how much can be accomplished, dialogue-wise, within just a few minutes.
* A first-season ''Series/MyThreeSons'' episode has Steve and the boys racing to get out of the house and off to work and school after Bub mistakenly sets the clocks ahead an hour instead of turning them back at the end of Daylight Savings Time. The action unfolds against the background of a televised NASA satellite launch.
* The aptly-named ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode "Thirty-Eight Minutes" has been the only Real Time episode in the Franchise/StargateVerse''.
* The ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "Intersections in Real Time" plays out in real-time, but only between commercials. During commercial breaks (the "intersections"), it is assumed that much time passes.
* Most of ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'''s "The Shootout", in which the restaurant our heroes happen to be at is taken over by two Mafia hitmen; Starsky is seriously injured and Hutch has to keep him and everyone else alive while the clock ticks away.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'', "Time of Death"
* Most episodes of ''Series/TheRoyleFamily'' before "The Queen of Sheba" appear to take place in real time, and entirely within the Royles' house. Since then they've used a more conventional format.

* Numerous Reality Shows have dabbled with 'Real Time' episodes, ranging from live tasks (say, for shopping budgets or other prizes) all the way up to 24-hour streaming.
* Honda once broadcast a live ''TV advert'' in the UK, taking an entire ad break to broadcast a parachute display team form the letters to spell out HONDA in mid-air. They succeeded.
* The first season finale "Johnny B Gone" of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' takes place in real time, it is basically one long scene. This concept was reused ten years later for the penultimate episode "The Desperate Half-Hour".
* In the ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'' episode "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin One Hour]]", the cast have one hour to resolve a kidnapping--minus Don, who's spending the hour in a therapy session and has turned off his phone at the insistence of the therapist.
* ''Series/RogerAndValHaveJustGotIn'' is a bittersweet [=SitCom=] featuring two characters in a house, and every episode not only takes place in real time, but (as the title suggests) at the ''same'' time of day, as the two each get home from work.
* Creator/RachaelRay's "Thirty Minute Meals", this is the whole point of the concept.
* The "Triangle" episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' is set in real time or close to it. It switches between 1939 and 1998 and covers roughly the same amount of time in each period. The episode is comprised of four 11 minute shots.
* The ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' episode "Mike the Pacifist", which takes place on a subway car.

* ''Series/TheFlash1990'' used this in the episode "Beat the Clock", where Flash had an hour to save an innocent man from death row.
* Each episode of ''Series/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego'' began with a 2-minute introduction sequence, followed by the Chief telling the contestants "you've got 28 minutes to get it back, or history will change forever." They always succeeded, since it happened at the end of Round 2, and catching Carmen was just the icing on the cake.

* ''Series/{{FawltyTowers}}'', "The Anniversary".

* The sequel of the German screwball crimedy ''Film/DerWixxer'' is "[[SubvertedTrope set in real time. Only much faster]]".
* The film ''Film/NickOfTime'' (starring Creator/JohnnyDepp) plays out a thriller in real time and frequently references the passing time.
* The film ''Film/{{Timecode}}'' combined it with ''cinema verité''; its action was shot in a single take, by four {{steadicam}} operators. The film was a four-frame SplitScreen, like a security monitor, and sometimes action took place on more than one camera at a time.
* In ''Film/{{United 93}}'', the entire film plays out in this way for the most part, albeit the plane spends a slightly ''longer'' amount of time in the air during the film than it did in real life. The actual plane was in the air for approximately one hour and 21 minutes.
* Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Theatre/{{Rope}}'' not only unfolds in real time but was actually filmed in single continuous takes, each the length of a reel of film, with reel changes disguised by having the camera pass behind an obscuring object for a second as one reel ends, and emerging again as the next reel begins.

* ''Film/TheManFromEarth'' takes place in real time, except for the final shots. And almost completely in one room.
* ''Film/MyDinnerWithAndre'' takes place mostly in real time, what with most of the film being ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* The entire film ''Real Time'' takes place in, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin real time]].

* ''Film/{{Carnage}}''
* ''Film/{{Conspiracy}}''. Like the German original, the events within the conference room strictly follow the minutes of the meeting that took place, which was over in less than 90 minutes.
* The climax of Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/Batman1989''. The Joker tells his crew to meet him with their helicopter on the top of the cathedral in ten minutes. They arrive during the fight in the belltower, which is almost exactly ten minutes later.
* ''Film/BeforeSunset'' takes place in the hour-and-a-half following Jesse's appearance at the bookstore. ''Film/BeforeMidnight'' [[spoiler:is basically four, five long scenes of conversation in Real Time, with some time passing between those scenes.]]
* In the climax of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', two minutes and thirty seconds of screen time actually pass between the [[spoiler:deployment and explosion of the nuke intended for Manhattan.]]

* ''Film/IAnActress'' (1977) is a ten-minute improvised short film that was done in one take.
* ''Film/FreeFire2017'' takes place entirely in real-time (barring a SlowMotion sequence). Characters [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall lean on the fourth wall]] when they note that it takes 90 minutes to bleed out from a gunshot wound, and the film is almost exactly 90 minutes long.
* ''Film/CleoFrom5To7'' follows a young singer over the course of about 100 minutes as she stresses over a cancer test. Stretches the bounds of Real Time sometimes, like when Cleo changes from a white nightie to a black dress in about five seconds.
* ''Film/Utoya22Juli'' depicts the 72 minutes long massacre in real time and [[TheOner no cuts]] with some character introduction beforehand.

%% * Some of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'''s manga is in real time. Volumes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 span only two days in-universe time. (These must have been released over years. That's not real time.)
* The ''Franchise/{{Tsukipro}}'' franchise takes place in real time overall. The characters have conversations on Twitter every day, about what they did that day, and when it's their birthdays, they talk about the age they actually are. Some of the younger ones have also gotten taller over the years - Koi and Iku, who started out small and childlike, have gotten to be some of the tallest members. The first two groups, Gravi and Procella, were all 15-17 when it started, but now, they're all adults (the youngest, Koi, turned 20 in 2018). The second anime series, ''Tsukipro the Animation'' [[note]] the first is ''Tsukiuta the Animation'', which aired in 2016 but took place in 2014[[/note]] does contain flashbacks, but the main part of each episode takes place the week it aired (including Eichi's birthday).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHollow'': [[spoiler:In the flashback epilogue, the title card reads "Five Hours Before". The miniseries is ten half-hour episodes long]].