Best crime TV factual errors of all time

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Time Trax picture

Show generally

Factual error: "Treasure of the Ages": Haskell finds a jeweled cross that's supposedly from a shipwreck hundreds of years old. Only the relic he pulls from the sand is spotless: not a barnacle, rust spot or touch of encrustation on it. After centuries at the bottom of the ocean? Wouldn't happen. (00:02:00)

Jean G

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The Rookie picture

Greenlight - S1-E16

Factual error: Captain Anderson pulls a suspect underwater and shoots him. There's a bright, yellow flash under the water. In reality, this wouldn't happen, only a large amount of bubbles would appear, but no flash.

Matdan97

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Chicago P.D. picture

Chin Check - S1-E3

Factual error: The cops raid a house and find some rifle ammunition. The female cop says "cop killers." A few seconds later three cops are looking at the bullet and a box used to store it, it appears to be a 5.56x45mm round used in the AR-15 style rifles. All high powered rifle ammunition, doesn't matter if its bullet is fmj or armor piercing will go through soft armor which is what all police officers wear. Such ammo is available to civilians in every store. All rifle ammo could be considered "cop killer." (00:03:50 - 00:04:56)

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Lethal Weapon picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: When Riggs and Murtaugh go to investigate the scene where the body of Ramon Alvarez is discovered Scorsese states that Alvarez's dog tags say "SEAL" on them. His dog tags would not say that he is a SEAL on them. The information listed on dog tags is as follows: Name, Social Security Number, Blood Type, Service Branch, and Religious Preference. There is no way to tell what a given service member's MOS (job) from his or her dog tags. (00:14:00)

03Outlaw

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Suggested correction: Scorsese never mentions the dog tags. Riggs just happens to be looking at them while Scorsese is giving them the information they've already gathered about Alvarez, including the time he served from.

Bishop73

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Manhunt: Unabomber picture

Lincoln - S1-E7

Factual error: The show has a BMW X5 (2007 - 2012) appearing when the media goes to the brother's house. (00:27:50)

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Unbelievable picture

Episode #1.7 - S1-E7

Factual error: When Marie is talking with her therapist, she talks about having just gone to see Zombieland. Given that the scene takes place in 2008 and Zombieland wasn't released in the US until October 2009, this simply is not possible.

THGhost

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Suggested correction: The series starts in 2008, but it's 3 years later. At the beginning, RoseMarie says Curtis was born February 3, 1981 and is 30 years old.

Bishop73

The therapy scenes are in 2008. It's only when the photographs of Marie are discovered that we see Marie 3 years later, in episode 8.

THGhost

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The Professionals picture

Killer With a Long Arm - S1-E4

Factual error: The assassination attempt takes place on Wimbledon Finals Day, yet there seem to be other matches going on at the same time, which doesn't happen when the final's occurring.

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Magic City picture

Show generally

Factual error: Noticed this watching season 2, and I assume it was also the case in season 1. The entrance of the Miramar Playa has flags from various countries flying. One of them is the Canadian flag with the maple leaf. Wrong flag. In that period the Canadian flag was the "Red Ensign", or "Dominion Flag." The maple leaf flag wasn't introduced until 1965.

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In the Heat of the Night picture

A Matter of Justice - S8-E1

Factual error: About 45 minutes into the episode, the girls' car stalls because the alternator's wire has been removed to cause this. For a car to stall like this, the battery has to be heavily drained which it would wind up being. When the killer comes up to the car, he tells her to try and start the car. She does and it turns over but doesn't start. The battery would never have enough amperage to turn over the car if it didn't have enough to keep the motor running.

terry s

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Batman: The Brave and the Bold picture

Triumvirate of Terror! - S3-E8

Factual error: During the final fight in Lex's lair, Joker gives Batman a good smack with his large hammer. As is common in this show, when a good hit is delivered, a freeze frame is show with the figures moving in slow motion with a stylized colorful backdrop to add to the drama dynamics. But as Joker delivers this hit and this stylized shot is shown, the show cuts to some inmates in a prison cell watching the fight on TV. The same stylized shot is shown on their TV, where it would be show like that there, only to us. They would have just seen Joker hit Batman with the hammer and him fly off in real time with no stylized back drop or slow mo. (00:20:00)

Quantom X

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Haven picture

Last Goodbyes - S3-E11

Factual error: Will's hospital chart states he is taking Warfarin and Coumadin. These are both the same drug to prevent blood clots. He would not be on both. (00:31:50)

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Fargo picture

Season 2 generally

Factual error: Peggy and Ed are hiding out in a cabin "just outside of Sioux Falls," but are somehow also close to Mt. Rushmore. Mt. Rushmore is near the western border of SD, Sioux Falls on the eastern border, more than 340 miles apart.

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NCIS: New Orleans picture

Show generally

Factual error: LaSalle's 2015 pickup truck is shown with a green Louisiana license plate. Those plates were only distributed in 2011 and 2012 in celebration of Louisiana's Statehood bicentennial. Furthermore, pick-up trucks in Louisiana are always provided with basic seven digit plates with only the state name, the digits, and the state motto Sportsman's Paradise. The vehicle owner could request a vanity plate with a specific order of digits, or a sport's design, but again, the state hood could not be one.

Benjamin Lesley

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Gotham picture

Into the Woods - S2-E17

Factual error: The address on Lee's business card shows her zip code for Atlanta, GA as "11453." This is a non-existent US zip code, and the zip code for Atlanta is "303xx."

Bishop73

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Inspector George Gently picture

Gently Liberated - S8-E1

Factual error: As Bentley is shown round the control room of the plant there are modern LED light panels and modern health and safety stop buttons which would not have existed in the 1960s.

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Legends picture

The Legend of Curtis Ballard - S2-E3

Factual error: In the first flashback scene of Ballard serving a Mormon mission in Lithuania, he laments that he has been on his mission for 18 months and has yet to baptize a single person. In a later flashback scene when he and his companion are visiting the prostitutes, he states that he and his companion are 19 years old and they should be in college, going to parties, getting drunk, getting laid, etc. Instead of serving missions. These scenes take place in 1991, at which time young men did not serve missions for the Mormon church until after they turned 19, so if Ballard had already been on his mission for 18 months, then he should have been at least 20 years old, and closely approaching 21.

Phaneron

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