Best crime TV mistakes of all time

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Hustle picture

New Recruits - S5-E2

Factual error: The contract Stone and his team force Carlton Wood and Harry Fielding to sign guaranteeing Fowler's widow the royalties from his invention for life is signed under duress and is therefore invalid. It is hard to believe that none of Stone's team know this, but it is impossible to believe that Carlton Wood wouldn't.

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Prison Break picture

Ogygia - S5-E1

Continuity mistake: On the tombstone in the previous episode, Michael's date of death is 11.4.2005. But in this episode, when Linc goes to the graveyard to visit Michael's grave, his date of death is 11.4.2010. It is also a different grave from the original, as the original was in South America beside the beach, and here we are led to believe it is in New York. (00:50:50)

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Columbo picture

The Most Crucial Game - S2-E3

Factual error: Probably an in joke - the wheels of the "airliner" shown landing at LA international airport are those of a B52 bomber. They are very distinctive and look nothing like those on any airliner ever made.

PEDAUNT

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation picture

Show generally

Factual error: In a number of episodes people are shown eating and drinking in the laboratories. For instance, in "Miss Willows' Regrets" Nick and Greg are seen eating fried chicken in the lab, and in "Overload" Sara eats a sandwich while watching Grissom experiment with her deli pickle. There are other examples. No reputable laboratory (which this is supposed to be) would allow its staff to eat or drink while in the lab. It is basic scientific protocol to prevent contamination of samples or the person picking up toxins on their food.

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Monk picture

Mr. Monk Goes to Jail - S2-E16

Factual error: When Monk visits the prison for the first time, he is searched, passed, and has a mini-panic attack because people have touched him. Sharona steps forward to comfort him, and she puts her arms around him. This is a very serious breach of procedure and it is not possible for the guards to miss it, because Sharona has not been searched. It's a common technique for trying to pass contraband called 'a touch through' - a person with an item to be smuggled into the prison (drugs, usually), passes them on to a person who has been searched and is therefore 'clean'. Monk would be taken back to the guard's station to be searched again. He would not be allowed leniency because the guards happen to know or to like him - visitor ingress and egress is always done under CCTV and the guard would know he was being watched - quite possibly by someone who doesn't know who Monk and Sharona are.

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Suggested correction: Sharona was searched first by the female guard.

In fact Sharona breaks away from the female guard to go to Monk. She has NOT been searched.

The correction is correct. The female guard already finished patting Sharona down before the male guard even had a chance to start his pat down of Monk.

Bishop73

Yeah, the correction is correct. I went back six times through that clip: Sharona and Monk both get searched, and then Sharona touches Monk.

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Law & Order picture

Second Opinion - S5-E1

Factual error: Ryan, the laboratory technician, eats his lunch of burger and fries while discussing a murder case with Assistant D.A. Claire Kincaid. Trouble is, they are in his laboratory. No lab technician ever, ever eats or drinks in a laboratory - it is the most basic lab protocol imaginable. He could contaminate his samples in any one of a hundred ways, he inevitably contaminates his gloves or fingers with residue from his meal and he risks poisoning himself with accidental transfer. This is not a character error - lab security is hammered into science students starting with the first day of first year and number one on the list is never, ever eat or drink in your lab.

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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.

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Breaking Bad picture

Seven Thirty-Seven - S2-E1

Revealing mistake: At the end of the episode when Tuco shows up at Walter's house in the backseat of Jesse's car, he tells Walter to get in. As they drive off, the shot pans out to show the street sign across from Walter's house. The sign says Piermont, which is the real name of the street. In the show, the Whites live on Negra Arroyo Lane. (00:48:00)

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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit picture

Wrath - S3-E2

Continuity mistake: Benson visits Stabler at his home to confronts him about the FBI detail he has ordered to protect her. They talk outside and then Benson is seen walking away. The next shot shows a side shot of Benson approaching him again in silence but mouthing words to him. (00:49:00)

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The Blacklist picture

The Harem (No. 102) - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: Right at the beginning of the episode a Cadillac Escalade gets stolen. The car is the newest model. The chase begins and the car is a new model right up to a scene when they crash into some other cars. That part was filmed with older model Cadillac. The damage is quite severe, but the chase continues again with the new model that has only one bit of damage - a mirror that has come apart.

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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."

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The Twilight Zone picture

A Kind of a Stopwatch - S5-E4

Other mistake: When McNulty uses the stopwatch to rob a bank, he goes through a small wooden door and past the employees. With time frozen, the small door should have stayed open but immediately swings shut.

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CHiPs picture

Surf's Up - S1-E15

Continuity mistake: The scene is shot in a traffic jam on the freeway. The sky has a gray overcast. All close up shots of the irate female driver were filmed in a studio - the background is flat and is a vivid blue. (00:04:00)

jairodrigue

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The Sopranos picture

Proshai, Livushka - S3-E2

Continuity mistake: Tony's hair length alternates between a short buzz cut and longer in different shots in the scene where Sil, Paulie and Chris visit him after his mother dies.

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Dexter picture

Dirty Harry - S4-E5

Continuity mistake: When Dexter listens to Officer Lundy's tape recording, we hear Lundy say that the Trinity killer's weight is 190 to 200 pounds. When we saw him recording that, he said 200 to 220 pounds.

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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.

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Bones picture

The Parts in the Sum of the Whole - S5-E16

Continuity mistake: In this episode, Booth and Bones are telling Sweets about their "real first case" together - the case where they actually met for the first time. During this episode, Booth, Bones, and Angela take some evidence to Caroline, and Booth introduces them both (most importantly Brennan) to Caroline. However, in season 1, episode 19, "The Man in the Morgue", (which would have taken place after this initial first meeting) when Brennan is accused of murder in New Orleans, Booth has Caroline fly to NOLA to be Brennan's lawyer, and he introduces the two of them. If they had already been introduced during the first case Booth and Brennan worked on together, they would not have needed to be introduced here; they would have already known one another.

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine picture

DFW - S5-E17

Character mistake: When Gina tries to set up Rosa on a date, Rosa mentions the last person Gina set her up with (Justin) was a dork who rode a Yamaha motorcycle. She says "he might as well have picked me up in a station wagon." Rosa's bike is a Yamaha R1.

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Arrow picture

The Magician - S3-E4

Revealing mistake: When Oliver meets Thea at the Grind and Jot Cafe (Which looks unsurprisingly like CC Jitters) you can see the cups on the table are from CC Jitters. (00:20:50)

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