Best TV character mistakes of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Little House on the Prairie picture

Times Are Changing (1) - S9-E1

Character mistake: Almanzo says he hasn't seen his brother Royal in 10 years, but in fact he saw him not long ago as he looked after his 2 sons who were terrors, and at that time Royal didn't even have a daughter.

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

Suggested correction: Royal's wife was pregnant when he visited years before Laura had the baby.

What happened to Pearly Day? Almonzo's younger brother?

Not sure if this varied in the show, but in real life Pearly Day had six children and died in 1934 just a month prior to his 65th birthday.

Almanzo had 2 brothers. Royal and Jenny's dad, the one that was dying.

That may not work, unless Laura and Almonzo were not married yet at the time of Royal's first visit, but it is a good suggestion.

In the TV series, the episode that they were taking care of the boys was only six episodes before Laura found out she was pregnant, and Nellie's babies were still babies throughout that time so it wasn't that long. And Rose wasn't that big When they came to visit, so it was probably only 1 1/2-2 years of a time gap. Also, when Royal and Jenny came to visit, Almanzo introduced Royal to Laura as if they had never met before.

It was NOT years! Royal, his wife and 2 sons visited Almanzo in Season 7. His wife did announce she was pregnant in the end. However, when Royal comes back to visit with Jenny, at the beginning of Season 9. If Jenny is supposed to be the baby Royal's wife was pregnant with then she would have still been a year old or 2 at most. They do explain that his wife died, but what about those boys? They would have been early teens by then. Nothing is ever said about them or why they aren't with Royal.

But Laura says "glad to finally meet you Royal", when he came with Jenny. But she met him when he came with the boys.

More Little House on the Prairie character mistakes
Criminal Minds picture

What Happens at Home... - S6-E10

Character mistake: After the murder that takes place while the team is at the church meeting, they gather together to talk about narrowing down the suspect list to the people who didn't show up to the meeting. Spencer shows up with a stack of papers and says 18 suspects didn't show up. We then see his actor break character and almost laughs when he looks over at Ashley, whose actress too almost breaks character from laughing.

More Criminal Minds character mistakes
Porridge picture

Pardon Me - S3-E4

Character mistake: "Blanco" Webb refuses parole on the grounds that, under Home Office rules, that would mean he had to admit to murdering his wife, a charge he vehemently denies. However, he accepts a pardon from the Home Office issued on the recommendation of the prison governor. Surely someone like Blanco, a man who quotes Home Office regulations by chapter, paragraph and verse, must know that a pardon is a remission of all punishment for a crime committed by the person being pardoned? By accepting a pardon he is admitting his guilt in exactly the same way as he would have been had he accepted parole.

More Porridge character mistakes
Hustle picture

The Hush Heist - S6-E6

Character mistake: Ash Morgan tells the grifters that "Anxious" has a basement flat in Camden, and he sends Sean there to get phoney identity papers. It is quite clear that the flat is on the ground floor, not in a basement. The front door opens onto the street.

More Hustle character mistakes
Orange Is the New Black picture

Storm-y Weather - S5-E13

Character mistake: The officers count the inmates and say there's 10 missing. There are indeed 10 inmates hiding in the pool. However, Pennsatucky and Chang had escaped the prison. The officers counted Linda as an inmate, who had been hiding in Litchfield the whole season, and wasn't on the list. That would make it 11 people missing, not 10.

More Orange Is the New Black character mistakes
The Big Bang Theory picture

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.

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

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.

More The Big Bang Theory character mistakes
The Golden Girls picture

Bedtime Story - S2-E17

Character mistake: When all of the ladies are sharing Sophia's bed because there's been a cold snap and she has an electric blanket, Blanche mentions that her bed has never been so cold on a Saturday night. A few minutes later, Dorothy - upset that the other ladies are keeping her awake - states that she has to get up for work "very early in the morning." Dorothy is a substitute teacher, and would not have to be up for work early on a Sunday morning.

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

Suggested correction: Teachers often have to work the weekend to prepare for the school week.

Knowing Dorothy, she probably made the statement about having to work - to trick the others into being quiet. But, as the script goes.

Even as a long-term sub, she wouldn't have to be up early in the morning for work just because she might have papers to grade or a lesson to prepare.

Bishop73

Agreed. Not a mistake.

Ssiscool

I never believed this was a mistake. Bedtime Story aired in February 1987 and Dorothy was probably referring to her job at the museum that Blanche worked for. That episode (Joust Between Friends) aired two months earlier in December 1986, so it's possible she was still working there in the flashback (since it was never mentioned when/why she left).

I always thought that Dorothy was teaching drivers education, which was often on a weekend or after normal school hours. She complains a couple times about teaching drivers ed throughout the series.

immortal eskimo

More The Golden Girls character mistakes
Alexa & Katie picture

Wigs - S1-E2

Character mistake: Lori said "Lori, let me. It's no big deal." to Jennifer instead of saying "Jennifer, let me. It's not big deal." (00:13:20)

More Alexa & Katie character mistakes
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Randy says when that uncle dies that they were never close, so his leaving him the farm comes as a total surprise. It's still a character mistake, however, Randy is established as the sort of person who could "blank out" a relative that long-lost.

Captain Defenestrator

More Monk character mistakes
Law & Order: Criminal Intent picture

Anti-Thesis - S2-E3

Character mistake: Nicole Wallace has murdered and stolen the identity of Professor Elizabeth Hitchens, who was Australian. While speaking to Detective Goren she refers to her life in Melbourne, pronouncing it the American way : "Mel-born." No Australian would do such a thing - it is pronounced "Melbun." A detail-obsessed knowall like Goren would pick up on that immediately.

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

Suggested correction: Not everyone who is Australian says 'Melbun' when referring to Melbourne.

Utter rubbish. I lived in Australia for thirty five years. Nobody - absolutely nobody - calls it "Mel-Bawn." It's "Melbun." Incidentally, this also applies to the American pronunciation of the capital of Queensland - "Bris-bayne." It's pronounced "Brisbun."

More Law & Order: Criminal Intent character mistakes
Columbo picture

Suitable for Framing - S1-E5

Character mistake: Art expert Dale Kingston describes Goya as 'the penultimate artist'. "Penultimate" has nothing to do with greatness or artistry, it means second to last, and nowhere during his speech does he indicate that Goya is 'second to last' in anything to do with the discussion. In the context he uses it the word is completely meaningless.

More Columbo character mistakes
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation picture CSI: Crime Scene Investigation mistake picture

Too Tough to Die - S1-E16

Character mistake: Seven minutes into the show, Sarah Sidle is about to do an internal sexual assault exam/kit on an unconscious victim in the hospital, Sarah picks up a metal speculum and says aloud to the victim (in a presumed moment of empathy), that she "never really liked this part of my yearly exam. These things are always freezing" referring to the speculum in her hands. She then brings a speculum to her mouth and begins to blow open-mouthed on it two times, forcing her hot breath on it to warm it. She then begins to insert it into the victim as the scene cuts away. This is pure stupidity, as no trained CSI would ever contaminate the tool like this. Sarah just added her own DNA to the speculum via her breath so any saliva or body fluids are now on the speculum what she is about to use on this patient, who is now also exposed to any STDs from Sarah.

More CSI: Crime Scene Investigation character mistakes
Ghost Whisperer picture

Birthday Presence - S5-E1

Character mistake: When Aiden and Melinda go the the hospital to visit Jim/Sam the picture on the hospital badge is of Jim Clancy not Sam Lucas... Jim has been in Sam's body for many years at this point. You can see the badge multiple times in the episode.

More Ghost Whisperer character mistakes
Game of Thrones picture

The Last Of The Starks - S8-E4

Character mistake: Gendry gets declared as Lord Gendry Baratheon of Storm's End by Daenerys. But he refers to himself as Gendry Rivers - the surname given to bastards from the Riverlands. Gendry comes from King's Landing, and bastards from there are called Waters, not Rivers. Given that Gendry is not an acknowledged highborn bastard, he should never have had a surname in the first place.

More Game of Thrones character mistakes
Full House picture

Just One of the Guys - S1-E18

Character mistake: In the scene where Steve is changing the diaper on the toy, DJ asks if he would like to go ice skating tomorrow. When he says he can't she then says "well we can go tomorrow." (00:11:43)

More Full House character mistakes
More The Real Ghostbusters character mistakes
Bonanza picture

A Dream to Dream - S9-E26

Character mistake: When Hoss takes Timmy for a horseback ride, after they both dismount by the lake, Hoss calls Timmy by his real name Johnny (Whitaker) and not Timmy.

More Bonanza character mistakes
The Office picture

Business Ethics - S5-E2

Character mistake: Meredith admits during the ethics seminar that she has been sleeping with Bruce, the HammerMill rep, for discounts on paper/paper supplies for the company, as well as Outback steak coupons, for 6 years. But, Dunder Mifflin did not begin selling Hammer Mill products until 3-2 "The Convention" when Michael got the contract.

Anastasia Nicole Lapidakis

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

Suggested correction: Michael didn't establish the contract with Hammer-mill. Rather, he locked them up as an exclusive supplier. It's unknown if they were already selling the products to Dunder Mifflin alongside Staples and Office Max.

Wrong, Josh says they cannot sell Hammer-mill products as they are exclusive to Staples so therefore they wouldn't have been able to sell there products alongside as mentioned before until Michael made them an exclusive to them solely, Dunder Mifflin. Therefore the original mistake stands true.

More The Office character mistakes
White Collar picture

Live Feed - S5-E10

Character mistake: When Neal tells Rebecca about an Indian Idol and describes the idol to her, she tells him it's the Hindu Idol of Seeta, the goddess of wealth. Actually the idol is of Goddess Laxmi.

More White Collar character mistakes
Jonathan Creek picture

The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish - S3-E1

Character mistake: The whole mystery kicks off when Creek sees a photograph of Alice Spearfish with her parents, and concludes that she is adopted because two people with brown eyes cannot have a child with blue eyes. An obsessive polymath like Creek must surely know that that is wrong. The genetics are complex and though uncommon it is possible for a couple with brown eyes to have a child with blue eyes and the other way around.

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

Suggested correction: Jonathan actually states it's a photo of 2 blue eyed parents and a brown eyed daughter.

Which is still possible! It isn't even uncommon. Brown eyed parents can have a blue eyed child and vice versa - that's what recessive genes are all about.

More Jonathan Creek character mistakes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.