Hawaii Five-0 (1968) - 118 mistakes in entire show

Audio problem: Throughout series: "Hawaii Five-O's" favorite sound effect was squealing tires, and the effect was nearly always added whether McGarrett's big black Mercury actually "peeled out" or pulled away at a normal speed. More than once, the tire squeal sounded when the car was sitting on beach sand. Nice trick - if you could do it. But alas, you can't "burn rubber" on a beach.

Continuity: Throughout first season: Due to stock footage spliced in from the pilot film, McGarrett's '68 4-door Mercury sedan often peeled away from the Ionali palace and then turned into a '67 2-door coupe as it cruised down Honolulu's streets.

Deliberate "mistake": Throughout series: Five-O was said to be Hawaii's state police force, and was shown headquartered in the Iolani Palace. For decades, tourists were disappointed to learn that in reality, Hawaii had no state police, and that the palace was a state museum, not a state police station.

Continuity: There's much too abrupt a transition between Reese falling into the water and his body suddenly being back on the dock. As there's no time lapse implied at all, he seems to reappear on shore by magic. At least a brief shot of the body being fished out of the water might have helped.

Revealing: McGarrett's office is on the 2nd floor. Yet the photo backdrops outside his windows in this episode show us a ground-level view of grass, streets and a building. This boo-boo vanishes in subsequent episodes, replaced with the more likely views of balconies, palm trees and blue sky.

Factual error: McGarrett places the kidnappers' ransom tape on the reel-to-reel recorder, and before the tape is threaded or the machine properly turned on, the message immediately starts to play.

Factual error: Throughout this episode, the Japanese assassins are inaccurately referred to as "the Bushido." They should, as the episode title implies, be called Samurai. Bushido was the revered code by which Samurai warriors lived, but was never an appellation for them.

Continuity: McGarrett strong-arms Tommy-Tommy, the Hawaiian fence, on the beach, and the guy gets sand all over his face during their scuffle. When McGarrett pulls him to his feet, the sand is still there. But in the next shot, all but a small patch near his temple has disappeared.

Continuity: McGarrett gets out of his car wearing a gray suit, and walks into Dennisen's office wearing a blue one.

Continuity: Throughout the episode, Larsen's first name is "Dan." But in the end credits, he's listed as "Steve."

Continuity: Danno walks several feet into McGarrett's office to make a report. Though there's no break in the dialogue and no time for him to have moved, the shot cuts and he's suddenly standing outside the door as they finish their conversation.

Continuity: Auston leaves the unconscious Dan Williams lying on his back. But in the next shot, Danno's lying on his side. Later, the seriously wounded Danno instantly changes positions between shots several more times, switching from face down to face up on the floor.

Continuity: Kealoha puts his gun back in its shoulder holster before walking a few feet across the parking lot to meet McGarrett. When we cut to a two-shot of them, Kealoha puts his gun away all over again.

Factual error: Two deaths by bubonic plague, spread by casual human contact, have Five-O scrambling to prevent an epidemic on Oahu. But the disease isn't spread this way (its vector is fleas on infected rats). And since the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, bubonic plague has been imminently curable, so there was no need for panic, other than, of course, to make the episode more dramatic.

Continuity: During the stand-off, Big Chicken is standing several inches to McGarrett's left, on the other side of a seam in the concrete wall. When the shot cuts to a closer angle, Chicken is instantly close enough to touch shoulders with McGarrett, and is now blocking the concrete seam.

Plot hole: The first murder victim is so dim-witted that it strains the viewer's credulity. Her creepy blind date, who plans to kill her, is wearing surgical gloves already - but somehow she never notices.

Factual error: In the final shootout scene at the end, Manning's .38 caliber 6-shooter pistol fires 8 successive shots at McGarrett without being reloaded.

Factual error: Danno, who's posing as a Marine, has hair that's far too long to be permitted in the Corps. In fact, all of the Marines in this episode have non-regulation (too long) haircuts. 'T'was the same then as it is now: US Marines are given "buzz jobs," and hair longer than an inch is not allowed.

Factual error: At the end, Simms shoots at McGarrett and is instantly riddled with bullets from the 8 or 9 cops who shoot back. Yet, when McGarrett walks over to the body, there are no holes - and no blood - marring Simms' pristine uniform.

Continuity: Pool balls redistributed on pool table between the time after the Sargeant breaks and McGarrett casually takes a shot. Especially, noticeable since Tommy, the other player, does not move off the table's edge after the break when two balls comes towards his position and his bottom or pants may interfere with their travel. In the next shot involving the table, those balls are not there and the rest of them seem more evenly distributed across the table.

Continuity: When Nagata breaks into the boarded-up house, he walks through a doorway full of cobwebs, covering his black suit with white dust and webs. But when the shot changes, his suit is suddenly perfectly clean again.

Visible crew/equipment: When Wo Fat's lackey drives away from the Chinese pharmacy, his car door reflects the camera crew and set lights.

Revealing: McGarrett and Victoria watch surfers from the beach. Thanks to the insertion of stock footage, they "see" surfers riding huge 6-foot waves. But in the shots of the actual locale behind them, the ocean is virtually flat.

Visible crew/equipment: At the end, when McGarrett walks around his desk to confront Sloan, the boom shadow sweeps across the wall at the upper left of the screen.

Continuity: The bad guys are driving a dark green '62 Cadillac - with fins. After Five-O's sharp shooters fire at it, the Caddy hits a concrete wall. In the next shot of the wreck, the green '62 has turned into a black '64 - without fins.

Continuity: When Angela is talking to Sloan, her position in the hotel room chair changes back and forth noticeably between takes.

Deliberate "mistake": Han is shot several times as he dives from the board into the pool. But when his body is shown slowly floating back to the surface, there's not a trace of blood on him or in the water.

Continuity: As Kono talks to Johnny Kalama in the students' apartment, an orange lava lamp sits on the shelf between them. Each time the camera angle reverses, the wax bubbles in the lamp are very noticeably in different positions and configurations.

Continuity: Danno, posing as a photographer on the beach, snaps the shutter at a bikini-clad girl and quips, "I only wish I had some film." Seconds later, he takes a picture of the suspects that's then used to identify them. The scene is continuous, and at no time did he ever load film into the empty camera, nor did he have another one.

Factual error: During the shoot-out at the end, McGarrett's 6-chamber .38 caliber police special fires 8 rounds without being reloaded.

Audio problem: When McGarrett and Danno pull away from the curb in McGarrett's big black Mercury, the tire-squealing sound effect begins before the car actually starts to move. (Doesn't happen unless you're flooring it and "peeling out," which they're not.)

Continuity: Although the plane making an emergency landing is repeatedly referred to as a jet, the aircraft we see in the air (and later landing) is a prop job.

Factual error: Don, who professes to be a Buddhist, chants in the jail cell and refers to Buddha as "god." Adherents to this religion do not worship the Buddha and never refer to him as god. Later on, Don chants to Krishna, a Hindu deity not even remotely connected with Buddhism. So, just what is Don - a Buddhist or a Krishna?

Factual error: Tommy races past the outside of two of Five-O's office windows before climbing in through a third. Unless he can fly, this is impossible: McGarrett's office is on the second floor, and its windows have balconies that are not connected to each other.

Continuity: Danno drives to Brohme's house in a black 1966 Ford Galaxy 500, but arrives in a green 1969 Ford LTD.

Continuity: At the end, Krenter is shot during the final gun battle on the beach. Between takes, his body and the deflated rubber raft that was also on the sand both disappear.

Continuity: Recycled footage is again a bit too obvious here, when McGarrett's 4-door Mercury suddenly becomes the 2-door model he drove in the pilot film. It also causes him to arrive, exit the car and walk into the building wearing a grey suit, but enter the Federal agent's office in the next shot wearing a blue suit.

Visible crew/equipment: When the morgue lab techs come out into the hall to report to McGarrett, the closing glass door captures a brief reflection of the moving camera.

Audio problem: The landing jumbo jet's tires start making skidding noises before they've actually touched the ground.

Continuity: When the surfer examines the test tube in his beach shack, the level of white powder inside the tube keeps changing between shots. It's nearly full, then has only an inch inside, then is full again, etc.

Audio problem: At the Governor's pageant, a group of young children sings and dances to ukulele music. But the song is just a little too noticeably dubbed in: none of the kids' lips are moving.

Factual error: Kono gives the operator a six digit number for the public phone. By 1970, when this episode was shot, Hawaii had long since initiated seven digit phone numbers, as had most of the US more than a decade earlier.

Plot hole: McGarrett is hunting for heroin dealers who've laced the drug with arsenic. Yet when he and Chin Ho arrest Harry Parch and find his stash, McGarrett performs the TV cop cliché of sticking his finger into the white powder and tasting it. Even that small a dose of arsenic could be lethal, and seasoned cop that he is, McGarrett would know that.

Visible crew/equipment: Several times in this episode, the side of McGarrett's shiny black Mercury sedan mirrors an entire bank of big square studio light reflectors.

Audio problem: Probably due to poor sound pick-up outdoors so near the ocean, much of the dialogue on the beach house patio is noticeably overdubbed. The sound is often out of sync with the actors' lips.

Revealing: McGarrett paces in his office, and when the shot cuts to a close-up of his feet, the actor's blocking mark is visible, chalked on the carpet.

Visible crew/equipment: The shadow of the boom mike's pole rigging follows McGarrett as he passes the ambulance and coroner's wagon. It disappears when the shot cuts to a different angle.

Continuity: At the end, McGarrett hands Filer an orange monopoly "Go Directly to Jail" card. In Filer's hand, the card is white. He hands it back to McGarrett and it's orange again.

Revealing: When Sally is driving the blue station wagon full of singing kids, several light reflections on the side of the car never move at all, revealing that it's really a stationary mock-up sitting on a soundstage.

Continuity: McGarrett's left hand rests on the side of the large multi-line telephone as he makes his call. The camera angle reverses, and his hand instantly jumps to a different position, resting on top of the phone.

Visible crew/equipment: During McGarrett and Chin's interview with the Chinese bookie, the boom dips into the shot several times at the very top of the screen.

Visible crew/equipment: The boom shadow is moving back and forth at the top of the door when McGarrett and Danno arrest Wilke.

Revealing: When McGarrett and the modern-day posse find Frank's euthanized horse, the "dead" animal is quite visibly (and vigorously) breathing.

Continuity: When McGarrett and Danno question Frank's daughter, she has her hands clasped in front of her. When the shot cuts, her arms are suddenly extended down at her sides instead.

Continuity: Stock footage turns McGarrett's 1970 Mercury into his old 1966 model when he drives out of the Iolani Palace parking lot.

Visible crew/equipment: When the bad guys pull up to the loading dock warehouse, the door of their shiny black sedan reflects several large round studio lights.

Continuity: The HPD snipers watch McGarrett's office window, trying to get a clear shot at Collins. In camera views from inside the office, there's a coat rack with a hanger on it standing in front of the window. But in all the shots from the snipers' POV, the coat rack isn't there.

Continuity: The bomber wants revenge on Danno for killing his brother, Joey Collins, whose death is recapped in flashbacks to a first season episode in which Danno first killed someone in the line of duty. But in that episode, Joey's name wasn't Joey or Collins - it was Thad Vaughn.

Continuity: The monogrammed handkerchief has cursive initials the first two times we see it. But when Lon gives it to McGarrett, the initials are in block letters.

Revealing: Stock footage turns the doctor's black 1970 Lincoln Continental into a 1950s model when it goes over the cliff, crashes and burns.

Factual error: Johnny makes two direct-dial calls from his car phone and is instantly connected - something not yet possible in 1971. His calls would have to go through a mobile operator before connecting.

Factual error: The professional hitmen murder their victim in the hospital with a silenced .38 revolver. You'd think the mob would know better. Silencers have absolutely no effect on revolvers. They only work on closed-chambered, automatic weapons.

Audio problem: During McGarrett's second visit to question the professor, in the midst of their conversation, something off-camera makes a very loud thump. Professionals that they are, Buddy Ebsen and Jack Lord carry on with their lines as though nothing has happened. But this looks just a bit odd, because you wonder why their characters aren't curious about the noise.

Continuity: Danno boards the helicopter wearing a brown suit, but arrives wearing a Hawaiian shirt. When he gets out of the aircraft a few shots later, though, he's back in the brown suit, with no time to have changed.

Visible crew/equipment: In the office, when McGarrett hands Chin Ho the murdered cop's notebook, the microphone shadow can be seen moving across the set wall at the upper left of the screen.

Visible crew/equipment: The crooks drive off in their blue '56 Chevy, capturing the reflection of a row of studio lights in the car's shiny side panel as it pulls away.

Visible crew/equipment: When the bad guys enter the print shop, the boom shadow moves across their heads and onto the wall behind them.

Character mistake: Cameron's attempt to assassinate the governor fails because McGarrett has everyone wear bullet-proof vests. It's been established that Cameron is brilliant, a top-of-his-class ex-cop and a crack shot. And he's been sending death threats, so he knows they'll expect him. Yet he fires at the governor's back and is shocked that the man doesn't die. Anyone with his expertise would have anticipated the vests, and aimed for the man's head.

Visible crew/equipment: As the mob bosses gather for their summit meeting, one of their big black Lincoln Continentals reflects several banks of studio lights when it comes through the security gates.

Continuity: At the end, Filer puts his jacket on, and the left side of his shirt collar is sticking out above the coat. Every time the camera angle changes, though, the shirt collar is neatly tucked in.

Factual error: An injured McGarrett is trapped in an overturned car, which emergency workers flip over before cutting him free. No rescue crew would ever do this: such violent movement could kill the patient. It's crucial that crash victims be extricated without causing further trauma: McGarrett would be freed leaving the wreck exactly where it was - upside down.

Continuity: When Vogler stands in the doorway talking to Danno, the position of his arms alternates with each change of shot, from down at his sides to propped at 90-degree angles on his hips.

Continuity: McGarrett leaves the parking lot driving a two-door Ford Mercury, but arrives at the crime scene in a newer, four-door model.

Continuity: McGarrett approaches the Governor's office building wearing a light blue suit, but enters the lobby wearing a dark navy blue one.

Revealing: Near the end, McGarrett's boat is preceded by the wake of another boat that isn't there when the angle of the shot reverses. The wake belongs to the vessel carrying the camera crew.

Revealing: When the underwater camera breaks the surface in what is supposed to be open ocean, the domed roof of a Hawaiian aquatic theme park building is visible in the background.

Character mistake: When Chin Ho reads Wellman's license plate number to the police dispatcher and repeats it to confirm, he recites a different number the second time.

Visible crew/equipment: Aboard the smaller boat that comes out to pick up McGarrett from the tug, you can plainly see a cameraman shouldering his camera and standing up to film the tug boat.

Continuity: The Five-O computer here lists McGarrett's name as Steven J. McGarrett. But in "A Gun For McGarrett," his middle name is revealed to be Aloysius. Strange that the computer doesn't know the name of its own department's head.

Character mistake: McGarrett tells Pereno that the sabotaged race car went over a cliff. But the car crashed into a wall, with no cliff in sight. It's very unlike Hawaii's top cop to get the facts wrong - especially when he was an eye witness to the event.

Visible crew/equipment: On top of the mountain, miles from any artificial light source, several studio lights and reflector panels are visible in the side of McGarrett's shiny black Mercury.

Revealing: We see the body of Karen Bell 30 fathoms underwater, with her feet tied to a concrete block. But just before the shot cuts, the "corpse" wiggles its toes.

Revealing: When the shot pans to its feet, the dead body floating in the water can be seen to wiggle its toes.

Factual error: Danno, who's been a cop long enough to know better, reports to McGarrett that the lab has determined Wong's blood type to be AO. Blood is typed as A, B, AB or O. There is no type AO.

Revealing: A loud, fierce gun battle rages between dozens of 5-0 sharpshooters and the desperadoes inside the payroll office. Amidst all the high-powered rifle fire, a woman in a blue dress strolls casually by in the background, well within bullet range, and never even turns her head to see what all the ruckus is about. Gee, you'd think colossal shooting wars broke out on her block every day.

Continuity: Aboard the boat, when Danno draws his gun, both his suit and his tie change colors and patterns completely between takes.

Continuity: When the police cruiser with Danno aboard leaves HPD HQ, it's a 1967 Ford Galaxy 500 with wind wings. But in the next shot of it on the Honolulu streets, the car is a '71 or '72 model with no wind wings.

Continuity: McGarrett wears a blue suit on the ride to the airport, but when he gets out of the car, his suit is brown.

Continuity: From his office on the second floor, McGarrett looks out at the office building across the plaza. But the POV shot that follows is taken from ground level.

Character mistake: Hayward tells Vashon that McGarrett's office is on the third floor of the Iolani Palace. Previous episodes have placed the office on the second floor, or have shown the palace to have only two floors.

Character mistake: After distracting the guards, Danno tosses a grappling hook onto a ledge and climbs the side of the building. He then goes about his business, carelessly leaving the hook and rope dangling from the ledge for all to see. For a seasoned 5-0 team member, that's pretty sloppy covert operations.

Plot hole: As a security test, McGarrett secretly has several dummy bombs planted in the court building, then later shows the governor where they are. Each time he pulls one of the devices from its hiding place, citizens in the courthouse stroll casually by without so much as glancing at the loudly-ticking "bomb." No one knew about the test, so McGarrett's bombs should be attracting some attention, if not causing outright panic.

Continuity: Danno boards the helicopter without his briefcase, but arrives to conduct the interview carrying the case and tape recorder. He takes the copter back home again with nothing in hand, getting into his car empty handed as well. But he enters McGarrett's office carrying the briefcase again.

Continuity: At the airport security checkpoint, Sam drapes a garment bag over the counter, but leaves after the inspection without taking it. Next shot, though, it disappears.

Revealing: A bad matte superimposed over Cavel's rearview mirror makes McGarrett and Danno, who are actually in a car behind him, appear to be sitting in his back seat instead.

Audio problem: In the film left behind by the killers, the two men in the picture can be heard talking - but their lips aren't moving.

Revealing: The teaser contains footage of a stunt-gone-wrong. The getaway truck smashes into a mock-up police cruiser that has been secured with a chain to pull it back out of the shot. The chain breaks, and is visible trailing from the bumper as the fake cruiser starts an unplanned roll down the hill. (It went on to collide with and damage two real HPD patrol cars rented for the production).

Continuity: Danno reports that the salvage boat is "The Pacific Pearl." But when we see the vessel, the name painted on its hull is "Louise."

Visible crew/equipment: 7-1 "The Young Assassins": The People's Attack Group van speeds past the camera and briefly captures the reflections of several film crew members.

Continuity: 7-1 "The Young Assassins": The hotel towel draped over the first victim's beach chair instantly changes positions between shots. You can see the words "Aloha, Hawaii" emblazoned on it, until the shot changes. Then it's moved up, and only the word "Hawaii" and the hotel's logo are showing.

Plot hole: 8-22 "Love Thy Neighbor, Take His Wife": The police cars speed to Tanaka's house with their sirens screaming, warning him in plenty of time to allow him to escape. Apparently these guys never heard of the law-enforcement standard "silent approach."

Visible crew/equipment: 8-16 "Legacy of Terror": As an HPD cop escorts the old man out of McGarrett's office, he trips over a camera cable and nearly falls. When the actor recovers his footing and finishes his exit, the cast regulars simply pretend it never happened and go on with the scene.

Deliberate "mistake": 8-4 "Target? The Lady": During the car chase, a crowd of real-life tourists is standing on the sidewalk, very obviously ogling the film crew as they shoot the scene. The footage was left in to avoid an expensive retake of the stunt chase.

Plot hole: 8-22 "Love Thy Neighbor, Take His Wife": McGarrett has two unexplained clairvoyant moments in this episode. First, he divines that the Indian-style headband is turquoise without seeing it. Then, after the kidnappers' phone call proves untraceable, he somehow knows that it was made from a specific pay phone.

Factual error: 8-12 "Honor is an Unmarked Grave": Marshall has been in Hawaii for only 3 weeks, yet he has his cat, which he brought along, living with him. Hawaii requires a 4-month quarantine on all pets brought in from the mainland. Marshall's kitty should still be in lock-up.

Revealing: 8-5 "Death's Name is Sam": The plane hit by the missile is a little too obviously a still photo with the explosion superimposed over it.

Continuity: 8-13 "A Touch of Guilt": The assault is said to have occurred at the Zanza Bar. But when we see the location, the bar is called The Makai Lagoon Club instead.

Continuity: 8-9 "Retire in Sunny Hawaii - Forever": When Danno leaves his car, he's wearing a brown suit, but he enters Ellen's office wearing a black one.

Continuity: 8-15 "Deadly Persuasion": Danny says he hasn't fired his old 45 automatic "since I got out of the service." But at least two previous episodes had established that he joined Five-O right out of college, and was never (not even before college) in the service.

Continuity: During the airport chase, the airplane the bad guys board has propellers. As soon as it's airborne, though, it becomes a jet.

Continuity: 9-4 "Man on Fire": McGarrett's blackboard already lists plutonium as the poison source before Dr. Ormsbee enters to inform him that plutonium was the poison source.

Deliberate "mistake": 9-12 "The Bells Toll at Noon": When McGarrett picks up Danny and drives away in his Mercury Grand Marquis, the rear view mirror is missing, probably removed to prevent it from blocking the actors' faces. It reappears later on.

Factual error: 10-13 "The Big Aloha": McGarrett compliments Palahana on his surfing skills with the line, "Nice ride." But the ocean behind them in the shot is virtually flat. With no waves, Palahana's supposed "nice ride" is impossible.

Factual error: 10-4 "The Friends of Joey Kalima": Guest star John Rubinstein (son of classical pianist Artur Rubinstein) guest stars as Joey - but his name is misspelled in the end credits as "Rubenstein."

Continuity: Danno kicks one of the bad guys out of the van, leaving the rear doors swinging open. But when the shot immediately cuts to an exterior view of the speeding van, the doors are tightly shut again.

Continuity: Stoner strikes Danno across the right cheek. But in the next shot, he's bleeding from the left corner of his mouth.

Plot hole: Nadira hides from the bad guy behind a screen - with her feet in plain view. Then, after capturing her, the bad guy inexplicably lets her go, even though her knowledge poses a danger to him. Given that he's killed without a qualm before, this makes no sense at all.

Continuity: 12-17 "A Bird in Hand": We see Angie take photos of mobster Del Vecchi with a 35mm camera. But later on, she develops the same photos and says she took them with a 110 camera hidden in her purse. She's a professional photographer and would certainly know the difference between 35mm and 110 film.