Best comedy TV plot holes of all time

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The Three Stooges Show picture

Show generally

Plot hole: In the episode "Scheming Schemers" (1956 - fake Shemp episode) at the start of the episode, Moe is given the address for a plumbing job over the phone and he and Larry take off in their jeep - accidentally leaving Shemp behind. Next scene, Moe and Larry are in the house working on their plumbing job and minutes later Shemp just shows up outside in a separate vehicle. Shemp would not have known where the job is since he was left behind and never would have known the address Moe and Larry went to.

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Plebs picture

The Marathon - S4-E3

Plot hole: Jason cheated in three different ways in order to beat Aurelius in The Marathon, and admitted it. So the bet that they made between them is null and void. But the last shot shows them living up to the terms, which includes Aurelius starting to eat his own shit (literally), so revolted that he's trembling. Apparently the writers really really wanted to include coprophagy. But who would eat faeces for a bet, if you can simply avoid it by reminding your opponent that he cheated? Or even better, many would say that cheating means losing automatically, so he's the one who should be eating his own shit.

Spiny Norman

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The Good Place picture

Don't Let the Good Life Pass You By - S3-E8

Plot hole: When Janet and Michael visit Doug Forcett, they realise his lifestyle, like drinking his own urine and only eating lentils and radishes, is not the "blueprint" they imagined. However, Janet should already have known all of these details, due to knowing everything about everyone in the universe, so a) she could have told Michael this without visiting Doug, and b) she should not have been learning all this for the first time herself.

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The Conners picture

Keep on Truckin' - S1-E1

Plot hole: In "The Conners" premier, Dan solely blames neighbor Marcy Bellinger for Roseanne's death after finding a bottle of opiates with Marcy's name on it. He only relents after Darlene shows him additional opiates that other people gave Roseanne and were hidden around the house. However, in the Season 10 reboot of "Roseanne", Dan had previously discovered and confronted Roseanne about her multiple opiate stashes, including one bottle with Marcy's name on it which he read aloud.

raywest

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The Boys picture

Season 3 generally

Plot hole: In Russia, Soldier Boy is shown heading to the airport, He wanted to get to the US and start his revenge against his team. Problem is: he has no documentation and money to take a flight. Even if he stole the money somewhere, still would be impossible to travel without the proper documents.

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Ranma ½ picture

Hone made aishite? Akane koi o fukuzatsu kossetsu - S1-E5

Plot hole: Dr. Tofu is able to tell that Ranma was hit by a softball (he says something about the marks like he actually sees them), but Ranma's wound is still covered by the bandage, that he'll remove in the next episode. This is linked to a larger mistake in the following episode. (00:19:55)

Sammo

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The Rookie picture

Casualties - S2-E14

Plot hole: When Bradford and Chen arrive at her apartment to see the damage her newly adopted dog did, she discovers the dog ate her roommate's varsity jacket, but she had to turn the doorknob to open the door; there is no way the dog got into that room if the door was closed.

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Lupin the 3rd picture

Farewell My Beloved Witch - S1-E3

Plot hole: Lupin was captured by chance, and he did not plan for that, nor he seemed to have previous knowledge of Stern's appearance, but he escapes regardless using a Mission Impossible-like perfect mask of him. He also somehow kept his own blazer, tie and shoes underneath the uniform and boots he stole and wore. (00:16:00)

Sammo

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Agatha All Along picture

Circle Sewn With Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate - S1-E2

Plot hole: Spoiler - considering what emerges at the ending of the series, Agatha's behaviour in this episode hardly makes sense. She had no trust in the Witches' road; in fact, she knew it did not exist at all, and her only aim was to steal the powers of the other four witches during a fake ritual. However, one of them is a normal human with no powers, one is a witch with her powers sealed and thus impossible to steal, and she literally tells the third one how her very specific energy-stealing power works - which, of course, is entirely absurd considering she had no purpose for her, given the lack of a real ritual.

Sammo

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

Suggested correction: The whole point was to just get a witch to do the ritual. Agatha's earthly ability is to read people. Knowing it's a rouse, she tells Lillia what she needs to hear to participate in the ritual (the road will make Lillia more powerful) and that at the end of the road, Agatha cannot just steal her power. She knew she needed to show a bit of her hand and had no doubt a witch would blast her out of anger (and show no restraint) when the song was over and no door appeared (human nature).

Suggested correction: She made do with what she could find. Two of the witches had powers she could steal. Since she was totally powerless at that time, it would be enough for her. After taking the power of just one or two, she could have killed the others just as easily. It didn't matter to her that one of them was not a witch at all; she needed four to make them believe they were walking the witches' road.

lionhead

"I can't steal your magic unless you blast me with it. So if you show a little self-restraint, which, let's be honest, you're gonna need to, all that power is yours to keep." This is not me paraphrasing her for humour or to be concise; it's the actual dialogue to the person she plans to rob of their power. And it is 100% accurate; there is no "spark" she can steal without being hit directly. This level of candour makes sense only if there is an actual point to the ritual, and her subsequent attempt at taunting them is desperation because the ritual does not work, so then, at that point, she has to make do with what she has. Not if the whole thing was a sham to begin with.

Sammo

I agree it's strange she would warn her about her ability if she planned to have them attack her, but Alice did in fact use her powers on her later without thinking about those consequences. So maybe Agatha hoped she would forget or not show restraint once she angered them enough. The witches in the past all seemed very eager to attack her after being taunted, and seemed to have been working for her for centuries too, so why not now?

lionhead

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Happy Tree Friends picture

Idol Curiosity/Home Is Where the Hurt Is/Aw, Shucks! - S1-E9

Plot hole: Idol Curiosity: When the ship is dragging Russell through the water by his intestines, Russell gets launched in the air by a coral reef, then he goes through a ring of fire. In order for this to have happened, the ship itself would have had to go through the ring, which is very impossible. (00:04:19)

zenee

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Murderbot picture

The Perimeter - S1-E10

Plot hole: After Murderbot glitches out and stops attacking the workers, they realise it's defective and start attacking it. The camera cuts to a wide shot from above; it's surrounded by angry workers, with none of the other SecUnits anywhere in sight. They were all tackling the workers together, authorised for violence; there's no reason they'd suddenly be AWOL when things start escalating, except for the drama.

Jon Sandys

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