Corrected entry: Several times throughout the show, Leonard makes reference to having sleep apnoea, a condition where the airways close up when you are asleep and you stop breathing for periods of time before your body's reflexes kick in and wake you up. However we also see him sleeping numerous times but he doesn't have any form of cpap (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine. This is vital for anyone who has sleep apnoea as it pumps air into the users airways via a nasal cannula or face mask to keep the airways open and stop the user from stopping breathing. Since sleep apnoea in the most extreme cases can cause death (depending on type of sleep apnoea) a cpap machine is vital and should be seen whenever we see Leonard sleeping or in bed.
Correction: This is simply not true, I suffer from sleep apnoea, albeit a mild form, and have never used a cpap machine. I suggest learning the facts before posting on here.
Correction: Everyone seems to be missing the important point here: Sheldon. Remember how Sheldon acted when Leonard had to have the nose operation? Would Sheldon EVER let Leonard sleep without his CPAP mask knowing Leonard has sleep apnea? Would Sheldon EVER not know that Leonard has sleep apnea? Would Leonard ever allow himself to be caught without his mask on if he has sleep apnea, and he knows that Sheldon knows - keeping in mind we all know just how often Sheldon walks right in on Leonard in bed.
The Pork Chop Indeterminacy - S1-E15
Corrected entry: Sheldon asks Missy why she doesn't tell her friends that he is a toll taker on The Golden Gate Bridge. There are no toll takers on the Golden Gate Bridge. Tolls are paid by credit or debit card, a prepaid account or by invoice to the registered car owner's address. There is no way Sheldon would not know this.
Correction: S1-E15 aired in May, 2008, but the Golden Gate Bridge didn't switch to all-electronic toll collection until March 2013, and the decision to convert to electronic toll collection wasn't made until January, 2011.
Correction: Sheldon was just suggesting that being a toll taker or something of that profession is as ridiculous as her telling everyone he was a "rocket scientist." Even if the statement was indeed true it doesn't affect my point.
Factual error: Characters sometimes talk to one another on video calls, and a character (A) often watches these from an angle rather than face on, allowing the viewer to see both character A and the character on the call (B). When this happens, character B is shown turned a little to one side, to give the impression that they are looking directly at character A (as they would be if they were present in the same room). In reality, this means that character B is looking off to one side of their monitor and not at the image of character A, something that it makes no sense to do. No matter what angle the laptop is shown from, provided character B is visible, they should appear to be facing the viewer.
Suggested correction: Since we almost always see these video calls using full-screen, people sitting side-by-side would be on different sides of the screen. You wouldn't look into the webcam itself to see them. You would look at the screen, and move your head slightly to look at the left part versus the right.
The Proton Regeneration - S11-E6
Character mistake: While bedridden after his vasectomy, Howard asks Bernadette to grill up a couple steaks instead of picking up Chinese for dinner. She gives him a disapproving look and he says "Kung Pao Chicken, please." A major ingredient of Kung Pao Chicken is peanuts. A major allergy for Howard is peanuts. (00:09:04)
Suggested correction: Since they are both quite well aware of it, they likely have either found a Chinese restaurant that doesn't use them, or they get it without peanuts.
Yup. My friend is allergic to peanuts and our local Chinese restaurant makes hers with almond instead of peanut.
Continuity mistake: In the early episodes, Leonard is depressed and buys cat stuff. He comments that he has taken in to account Sheldon's asthma with a hyper allergenic cat. Later in the series it is Leonard with asthma and Sheldon who gets all the cats.
Suggested correction: Presumably Sheldon also buys non-allergenic cats.
The Closure Alternative - S6-E21
Continuity mistake: Sheldon and Amy are talking while drinking tea together. The entire time, Sheldon has his hand next to his other hand, but in an individual shot, his hand is suddenly on his other wrist.
Suggested correction: There is a moment when he puts his hand there. So nothing wrong here.
The Holographic Excitation - S6-E5
Corrected entry: When Sheldon has the tea kettle at any time, there are stage lights reflected on the pot.
Correction: The pattern on the teapot suggests that the spots are actually overhead lights in the kitchen. The patterns are constant throughout the scene and the same at every angle whereas crew's spotlights have different placements for different angled shots.
The Barbarian Sublimation - S2-E3
Corrected entry: When Penny is having trouble unlocking her apartment door, she says she is waiting for the locksmith but she never took the time to call the locksmith.
Corrected entry: When Leonard and Leslie are talking about assuming a relationship, in the cafeteria, the angle of the straw sticking out of Leonard's soda can continually changes throughout the whole scene. (00:06:05)
The Barbarian Sublimation - S2-E3
Corrected entry: When Sheldon is helping Penny with the game, we see Leonard, Howard and Raj discussing what's happening. However at this point Penny is still in the room and Raj has not been drinking so shouldn't be able to speak. (00:07:40)
The Military Miniaturization - S10-E2
Corrected entry: When Raj and Howard are trying to decide whether to accept Col. Williams' offer, they can't think of any lawyers to ask for help with potential legal issues; they both seem to be forgetting that they do know a lawyer: Raj's sister Priya.
Correction: Given how things ended with Priya and Leonard, it probably would have been very awkward for both of them. In addition, she knows far more about Indian law than American law.
It is noted (by Leonard) in a previous episode that Priya is qualified to practice law "in three countries, and your face!" Presumably, as she is there for some time, works for a law firm, etc, one of those three countries is the US.
The Fetal Kick Catalyst - S10-E6
Factual error: When Raj, Howard and Bernadette are in the car, Raj puts on Batman the Animated Series to distract Howard from his back pain. Howard says "I'm in too much pain to watch cartoo-oh, this is a good one!" However, there is no way he could know that it's a good episode of the show because the opening theme song can be heard playing and the name of the episode does not appear until after it.
Suggested correction: He meant the cartoon is good, in general. Not the specific episode.
Nah, he was told right beforehand that it was Batman: The Animated Series. A nerd like Howard definitely knows which cartoon that is and that it's a good cartoon without needing to look at it.
The Confirmation Polarization - S12-E13
Corrected entry: Sheldon meets two new fellow scientists, one of which is Sean Astin, who played Sam Gee wise in the Lord of the Rings. Surely, Sheldon would know who he is.
Correction: Suspension of disbelief has to play a part here. Actors are allowed to play other roles, and being many years later, Sean Astin looks quite different, so even if there was a meta element of "this person looks like the actor who played Sam", Sheldon wouldn't necessarily even notice the similarity.
Correction: I'm not sure if this is meant to be a troll entry or a joke. Sean Astin doesn't play himself in this episode, he plays Dr. Pemberton.
Continuity mistake: In "The Luminous Fish Effect" (S1E04) Sheldon tells Penny he weighs 140 pounds. In "The Porkchop Indeterminacy" (S1E16), he tells his sister he weighs 165. 25lbs difference would be a noticeable change, but he looks the same.
Suggested correction: Lying to Penny but not to his sister, not inconsistent with the characters and his relationships.
The Habitation Configuration - S6-E7
Corrected entry: Howard states in The Shiny Trinket Maneuver that he started doing magic to try to get girls to come to his room, but in this episode he tells her he started magic when his Dad left because it made his Mom happy and made her forget for a while.
Correction: He also may have gotten the idea for doing magic to get girls to his room, but actually started doing it to cheer up his mother.
The Boyfriend Complexity - S4-E9
Corrected entry: Penny's father says, "I want grand kids before I die, and I want them to grow up in a house without wheels," but in season 2, E20, Penny asks Leonard to buy a comic book for her 13 year old nephew. Her nephew would be her father's grandson.
Correction: Her mother may have had a child with another man before marrying her father, which would make the nephew a step-grandson and not a "real" one in her father's eyes.
Revealing mistake: Most of the time, though not all the time, Leonard has no lenses in his glasses.
Suggested correction: Not obvious at any point in the show.
Continuity mistake: In the beginning of the series Sheldon knocks on Penny's door only once. Later in the series Sheldon explains he has always knocked 3 times because he walked in on his father with another woman.
The Rhinitis Revelation - S5-E6
Other mistake: When Mary is rubbing VapoRub on Sheldon's chest, she makes a comment that last time she saw that there was no hair, to which Sheldon replies "Yeah it filled in last year." In Season 1, Episode 11, Penny rubs VapoRub on Sheldon's chest and a very clear remark about chest hair was made. Season 1 for the show was 4 years ago.
Suggested correction: Sheldon is probably joking when he tells Mary his chest hair filled in the previous year.
He doesn't understand sarcasm, hence, doesn't know when to be sarcastic.
And nearly all instances of Bazinga are not used in a funny circumstance. Indicating poor judgement and lack of knowledge regarding jokes.
They were funny to him. And to the audience.
The Pork Chop Indeterminacy - S1-E15
Character mistake: In his conversation with Missy Sheldon makes it clear that his superior intelligence is a result of a random, mutated gene. Since Missy isn't similarly intelligent she obviously isn't carrying this mutated gene (which would be a billion to one shot anyway) so her offspring wouldn't inherit it. Sheldon would know this - his offspring would carry the mutated gene for superior intelligence, Missy's would not. Anyone knowing enough about genetics to use the term 'randomly mutated gene' understands enough to know that the mutated gene would only be expressed in a direct line from the carrier - Sheldon. Also bear in mind he has a model of the DNA molecule in his living room - it is obviously an interest.
Suggested correction: Genes can be dormant. Which allows them to skip generations. Therefor Missy's children could actually get the "mutated" gene. This is especially true since Sheldon and Missy are twins. Also, since the episode is about who out of Leonard, Howard or Raj, Sheldon would allow to "mate" with his sister, there is the added "insurance" of getting any smart genes from any of the 3 Lothario's mentioned above.
If you are going to try to argue with a geneticist about genetics, please use the correct terms. Sheldon is not referring to a recessive gene - there is no such thing as a dormant gene - he is speaking of a randomly mutated gene. Those are the words he used. If he had inherited a homozygous recessive karotype - one recessive gene from each of his parents - then somewhere in his family tree there would similarly gifted people, in which case he would use the correct term - a recessive gene. If Missy is a heterozygotic dominant karotype possessing the recessive gene for super-genius and the dominant for ordinary intelligence then mating her with Howard, Raj or Leonard would be a waste of time as their dominant genius gene would prevent the recessive super-genius gene from being expressed in the phenotype of the resulting child. The child would be highly intelligent but not on Sheldon's standards. It doesn't matter if Sheldon does not know any of this as he refers several times to a randomly mutated gene, not a recessive one. Missy does not carry the super-genius gene. The posting is correct.
Sheldon is prone to magical thinking when necessary to preserve his obsessive need to control his environment. He may have simply ignored the flaw in his reasoning, as even the most intelligent humans do when venturing outside their ares of expertise. He may be interested in the science of genetics, but his Ph.D. in physics doesn't qualify him as an expert in that field.
Correction: There is no mistake simply because he chooses not to use one (if he even owns one). There are individuals with sleep apnea who don't use them and just deal with waking up in the middle of the night. If Leonard says he has to use a CPAP machine every night and then is seen not using one at night, that could qualify as a mistake, but this isn't the case.