Tub Shock? TV is so Full Of BS, Never Believe any of it.

What you see on TV when people get big electric shocks from touching a live wire or an electrified object is often dramatically exaggerated and unrealistic. Real electric shocks require a complete electrical circuit for current to flow through the body — usually meaning contact with a live conductor and a path to ground or another voltage. If someone is not properly grounded or does not complete the circuit, they typically will not get a shock, no matter if they touch a live wire or electrified water.

Key points based on real electrical principles and common movie/TV tropes:

• Electric current needs a path: For you to get shocked, electricity must flow through you to complete a circuit (usually from live to ground). Simply touching a live wire without touching ground or another conductor at a different potential usually will not cause a shock.
• TV shocks are often fake or exaggerated: Electrical shocks on TV typically include bright sparks, smoke, and people violently thrown backwards — these are dramatic effects for entertainment, not realistic. Actual shocks cause muscle contractions or pain but usually don’t throw someone across a room unless there is extreme force involved.
• Muscle spasms from shocks can cause jerks, but no huge blasts: The body reacts by involuntary muscle contractions, which may cause someone to jerk or pull away suddenly, but the “blast” effect is Hollywood embellishment.
• If you are insulated (e.g., sitting in a plastic tub) and do not touch ground or a different potential, you won’t get shocked even if the water is energized, because there’s no complete path for current flow through your body.
• Real-world electric fences and high-voltage wires are designed with current limits to cause a painful shock but avoid lethal currents.
• To get a strong shock, your body typically must complete a circuit between a high-voltage conductor and ground or another conductor at a lower voltage.

This analysis matches electric safety experts’ and engineers’ observations about electric shocks and film inaccuracies (source 1).

In summary:

The dramatic and sensational electric shock scenes on TV are mostly fictional and exaggerated. Real shock depends on completing an electrical circuit, which often requires touching ground or a conductive path beyond just the live wire. So your understanding is correct — people not touching ground won’t get huge shocks as often shown in TV scenes.