Doc

28th Jan 2023

M*A*S*H (1972)

Answer: The 1st movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 Op. 13.

Bishop73

6th Jan 2023

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

The Swing Shift - S2-E21

Deliberate mistake: The film crew did not always bother to switch out the rank insignia on the uniforms of extras. In this episode, that leads to all kinds of enlisted and noncom rank insignia being present in the lineup of brand-new recruits when Klink inspects them. Rightfully they should all wear a single eagle on a borderless patch of a Flieger on their collar.

Doc

10th Jun 2022

Moonraker (1979)

Plot hole: After the six shuttles take off, there are obviously dozens, if not hundreds of Drax' minions left behind in the base. Not regular employees, but the kind that knows what's coming, if only because Drax is obviously talking about it, e.g. to Bond, quite openly. Would they just stoically stay behind to be gassed? One would think they would mutiny and rush the shuttles wouldn't one?

Doc

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: No reason they couldn't have been brainwashed into obeying Drax like here was a god. Further, for all we know, the base could have secure facilities for the employees, who have been sterilized, doubtlessly, to wait until the gas in the atmosphere has dispersed sufficiently. Drax needs ground personnel to enable people to land on Earth later on.

Jukka Nurmi

If you have gas-tight bunkers on earth, the whole exercise of taking everybody to orbit would be a bit pointless, wouldn't it?

Doc

But Drax has a god complex: he wants to stay in his "untainted cradle of the heavens", instead of the planetary surface. Not to mention, just in case something goes wrong with the Amazon bunker, his master race will be safe and secure in the orbit.

Jukka Nurmi

23rd Mar 2022

M*A*S*H (1972)

Chief Surgeon Who? - S1-E4

Character mistake: As Hawkeye goes to help Maj. Burns right at the end of the episode, he touches the patient with his bloody, contaminated gloves he used to work on the last patient. Such a blatant error would be anathema to any surgeon from the civilized world of the 20th century, let alone one of Hawkeye's caliber.

Doc

23rd Jan 2021

Jurassic Park (1993)

Trivia: In the German translation, the producers added an unintentional (and probably mostly unnoticed) meta joke. As an answer to Tim's joke question "What do you call a blind dinosaur?" they used "A See-Nix Saurus" which, unlike the original answer, with trivial spelling differences works just as well in German. (Probably) unbeknownst to them, the spelling of the answer is actually "A Xenix Saurus." It is aimed at aging Unix operators, implying they are old enough to still have used the Xenix OS, and are therefore a fossil. A probably quite small number of Unix geeks (including me) took that as a VERY clever jab at his computer geek sister, and were very disappointed by the fact that it isn't even present in the original dialog.

Doc

18th Jan 2021

Jurassic Park (1993)

Factual error: When the goat leg falls down onto the glass roof of the tour vehicle, the wound on it is much too clean. Whether it is actual meat, it looks like it was cut with a knife. Dinosaurs, like crocodiles had conical teeth and had to tear or rip their prey apart - unlike cats or dogs, whose premolars act in a scissor-like way and actually cut the meat. The wound surface should be frayed and messy. Also, a T-Rex wouldn't even be able to tear apart a goat, because it's too small to step on it and tear at it at the same time. Instead, he would chew and shake it a few times to shatter the bones, then swallow it whole.

Doc

20th May 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

Baby, It's Cold Outside - S7-E9

Factual error: As Hawkeye performs CPR on the hypothermic soldier, he pumps his arms from his ellbows. CPR is done by keeping the arms stiff and pumping with the whole upper body. Hawkeye as a surgeon would know that. Fun Fact: You can perform CPR one-handed in a pinch, but only as long as you keep your arms stiff.

Doc

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: True, but doing CPR the real way is going to likely seriously injure the actor it is being performed upon.

LorgSkyegon

Explaining why mistakes occur does not invalidate them.

Bishop73

Chest compressions can definitely be performed by pumping from the elbow, one or two handed. The first documented use was in 1891, so Hawkeye would be aware of it. However, modern CPR standards, including straight arm procedures, were not developed until at least 1960 by the American Heart Association. Using straight arms and bending at the hips uses the larger muscle groups of the core and legs, which provides more control, as well as stamina. This is not an error for the Korean War era.

Additionally, what Lorg said - you don't want to hurt the actor, you can see his shoulders rise as his arms straighten, giving the illusion of compressions. There is another episode where Hawkeye is performing chest compressions similarly, and yells at the unconscious patient that his arms are getting tired, which is what would happen with bent elbow compressions, and one of the reasons modern technique uses straight arms.

I didn't know that, but it makes sense that CPR procedures would evolve. You should submit that as a direct correction to my mistake.

Doc

10th Apr 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

The Smell of Music - S6-E15

Audio problem: After Potter convinces Saunders he still wants to live, the hiss from the anesthesia machine fades out even while Potter and Saunders are still standing next to it. Neither Potter nor Saunders turned off the valve again.

Doc

5th Apr 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

38 Across - S5-E15

Revealing mistake: Klinger makes a big show of removing a big nut from the Jeep's leaf spring. The nut is clean and shiny whereas the rest of the undercarriage is painted and dirty. If you look closely, there are no screw threads where he takes it off either, there's another hex under it. The simple reason for this is that that nut doesn't belong there and never was affixed, Jamie Farr just pretended it was.

Doc

20th Mar 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

The Korean Surgeon - S5-E9

Plot hole: This episode revolves around the doctors trying to "transfer" a north Korean surgeon to the outfit. To this end, they get him papers, uniform, dog tags, etc. In the end, the plot is toppled and The Korean Surgeon taken to a POW camp by the MP. In reality, it would not have ended quite so pleasantly. A combatant wearing the uniform of an enemy is usually automatically considered a spy, and Hawkeye, BJ and Radar would also have been considered guilty of espionage or at least complicity therein.

Doc

19th Mar 2020

M*A*S*H (1972)

The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan - S5-E6

Other mistake: As Frank cocks his gun in the Swamp, the slide locks open and he has to hit the slide release to get it to move forward. Next he fiddles with the hammer. Next we hear the shot go off. Burns' excuse later is that he was cleaning The Gun and it went off (although admittedly, Frank doesn't always stick to the truth that religiously in situations like that). The slide on a semi-automatic locks open only if the magazine is empty or missing. The Gun locking open is also a clear, unmistakable indication that the breech is empty. He would have to insert a filled mag, then pull the slide back again to chamber a round before The Gun even had the chance to go off. One never does that while cleaning a gun. One does what Frank did to begin with: Pull the slide back without a magazine inserted to make sure the breech is empty.

Doc

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Frank has demonstrated on numerous occasions that he does not follow the rules of safe gun handling, so ascribing his failure to do so is not a mistake.

LorgSkyegon

You are missing the point. His gun is demonstrably unloaded when we last see it. He would either have to change his mind about cleaning it and load it instead, or load it first and then try to clean it (which makes even less sense), neither of which is not supported by anything in the dialogue.

Doc

Cleaning The Gun was the lie. He told BJ he was going to hunt for Margaret. He had every intention of loading his gun at that point.

Bishop73

You got me there. Frank talks about looking for Margret, fiddles with The Gun, and only after the shot goes off, he talks about cleaning it.

Doc

18th Mar 2020

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

I Look Better in Basic Black - S1-E28

Factual error: The American women the SS brings into camp claim to be entertainers having performed for troops. The series is allegedly set in 1942. Before June 6th, 1944 there were no allied troop concentrations in central Europe, certainly not in Germany, and very certainly none of a size and security rating the USO (or probably rather its predecessor organization, since the USO was founded in 1941 and would not have been fully operational yet) would send a troupe of female entertainers to.

Doc

5th Jan 2020

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

The Great Impersonation - S1-E21

Plot hole: This episode revolves around training the reluctant, untalented Schultz to impersonate Klink to get the captured heroes back from the Gestapo. This is actually a pretty common theme, somebody, usually one of the heroes, impersonating an officer to free a prisoner. The plot gives no reason why this time, they would have to use the cowardly, untalented Schultz instead of doing it themselves.

Doc

4th Jan 2020

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

Oil for the Lamps of Hogan - S1-E14

Plot hole: The Heroes take an empty oil drum to the depot, knowing full well that Schulz will protest, allowing them to steal a full one. However, all but their barrel have snow on it. Since it's really salt, it all falls off as they load it on the cart. With real snow, that wouldn't happen. It would be quite obvious that the barrel they are taking out is not the one they brought in.

Doc

4th Nov 2019

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London - S3-E5

Plot hole: When the driver of the car addresses Roberts (the real Roberts that is, not the double), Roberts reprimands him, telling him not to call him Baumann. It is safe to assume the guard was supposed to be speaking German, since he addressed Roberts by his German identity. That poses some interesting questions. Did Roberts speak English? In those days, most Germans did not even have a basic knowledge of the English language. Did he speak German? That would imply he has a good enough command of the German language to pass as a German. Roberts however isn't a spy like Hogan and his crew, but a pilot in the RAF.

Doc

5th Sep 2019

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

Trivia: When the show was translated to German, the producers feared that some of the more patriotic lines of Klink would be too nationalist for the bruised German sensibilities. As a result, whenever Klink starts talking patriotic drivel in the original, in the German he starts rhyming nonsense rhymes or talks about his housekeeper and (secret) affair "Frau Kalinke" which does not even exist in the original.

Doc

Encounter at Farpoint (1) - S1-E1

Other mistake: As the Enterprise is fleeing from Q, it peaks around Warp 9.6 which according to the fact books, translates to around 1000c in sidereal space. Also according to the fact books, the saucer section is not capable of sustained Warp flight on its own. Also, at the beginning of The Chase scene, the Enterprise is on course to Farpoint, Q's fence is perpendicular to it. The Enterprise does at least a 90°+ turn beginning her escape maneuver prior to separation, so it is definitely not flying past Farpoint during The Chase. Still the saucer section somehow makes it to Farpoint a mere 51 minutes after the engine section. There's no evidence at all in the dialog that it was Q's doing.

Doc

12th Feb 2019

Titans (2018)

Titans - S1-E1

Factual error: When Starfire gets out of the totalled car, there is a road sign visible. It is a settlement exit sign, denoting the exit of Königsstetten and Zeiselmauer as next settlement ahead. Obviously the makers tried to be extra thorough nailing down their "outside Vienna" location. They started OK - both Königsstetten and Zeiselmauer actually ARE outside Vienna - but then they completely botched it: Not only did they use a German black-on-yellow "StVO Zeichen 331" instead of the Austrian "StVO Hinweiszeichen 17b" which has black writing on a white base with a blue rim and doesn't list the next settlement, but they also put 852km as the distance to the next settlement, which is more than the length of Austria west to east. The real distance is 3.8km.

Doc

9th Jan 2019

Elysium (2013)

Continuity mistake: As we see John Carlyle code, he has a short paragraph up on his screen, and he's adding text at the end of it. In the closeup, we're treated to a very nice bit of Assembly code, and he's adding a few lines in the middle. When we see his screen from the back next, his nice short paragraph from before has grown a table on top, and he's back to adding text at the bottom. (00:40:30)

Doc

9th Jan 2019

Elysium (2013)

Factual error: As the shuttles are approaching Elysium Station, their engines are constantly firing. Still, bottles and other miscellaneous items are shown free-floating around the shuttles. Weightlessness exists on space ships only as long as they are coasting. As soon as they are under thrust, things "drop" to the rear of the ship in exactly the same way the bowling ball we probably all heard about in physics class rolls towards the back of the iconic train.

Doc

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