It's a familiar question on law shows and movies: Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?

But while the justice system relies heavily on the truth, the abundance of law-oriented television shows and movies show a gross exaggeration of the truth of the profession, law experts say.

Clay Calvert, associate professor of communications and media law, said these portrayals make people "believe that it is much more glamorous and exciting than the actual profession."

While people can be drawn to these shows for the high-profile courtroom drama they can also, in some senses, be misled. Many might realize that these shows and movies are fictionalized, but they also, in the minds of some viewers, reflect the real-life law profession. Some undergraduate students considering law school for their future often use these shows as a basis or at least an influence to begin researching whether or not law school is for them, some undergraduate law advisors at Penn State said.

The advisors said they have seen students come in looking for advice about pursuing law school who are dressed like the characters in shows such as The Practice and Ally McBeal and refer to these shows when asking questions about law school and the career.

In the television series Ally McBeal, the characters learn life lessons about love and relationships during their relatively "fluff-like" cases. After a hard day's work, the entire firm goes down to the bar in the basement of the office building to sing, dance and drink. They all perform on stage and they all sing fairly well. The main character, Ally, brought the mini-skirt back to life and struts around the courtroom and law firm in cute, unconventional clothing.

The Practice stars criminal defense attorneys who often set aside their morals to defend robbers, murderers and all-around violent people. Sometimes they find that their clients are innocent, but other times they find out after they get them off just how guilty they are. The lawyers do researching of their own and many times solve obscure cases — thereby finding that their clients are innocent and a witness is the real culprit. The cases are solved in an hour and the witnesses are asked only a few hard-hitting questions.

Legally Blonde depicts Reese Witherspoon, who overcomes the blonde-bimbo stereotype to get accepted to Harvard Law School where she is the lawyer of a high-profile case. She becomes a strong, independent woman because of law.

So how real and accurate are these media portrayals of law? And how much should students take at face-value when using these shows as a basis for wanting to join in on this seemingly glamorous profession?

The answer could be found in what is not shown on screen.

"We rarely see the TV lawyers doing typical tasks such as drafting letters or drafting interrogatories," Calvert said. "These tasks are rather dull and wouldn't make for good TV."

Criminal law is not as high profile and sexy as portrayed in the media, he added.

"The media portrays it as much more soap-operaish," Calvert said.

The cases are resolved too quickly and many times people do not work in the big firms that are shown on television, but rather in a one- to two-person firm, he added.

Evelyn Guevara, president of Penn State's Undergraduate Law Society, has seen first-hand the effects of television and movies on hopeful future lawyers.

"People have used (television and movie portrayals) as a reference," Guevara said.

But after researching law schools and seeing first hand what the profession is really like many learn that these representations are not always realistic, she said.

"(The media) only effects students' notions of the profession for a brief period of time," Guevara said.

The Dickinson School of Law Director of Law Admissions, Barbara Guillaume said by the time people start applying to law school their media-shaped notions have been set in the right direction.

"Students now are continuing to go on after graduation mostly because of the state of the job market," she said.

But while these shows may not give us an accurate perception of the law, they do provide some good entertainment.