Best crime TV factual errors of all time

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Sons of Anarchy picture

Huang Wu - S6-E10

Factual error: When Tara goes into her office there's dried blood on the carpet from her faked miscarriage. Considering it's a bio hazard that happened days ago it would've been cleaned up and sanitized since it's a hospital.

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Suggested correction: The blood is on carpet which is very difficult to clean as it's such an absorbent material. The carpet will keep the stain, but as long as it has been thoroughly sanitised there is no issue here. Yes, the carpet could have been replaced, but hospitals don't generally keep spare carpets laying about. Plus the fact that her office isn't a treatment area, there isn't much of a hazard anyway.

Doctor's office with a blood stain on the carpet? Highly unlikely.

Amy Emerick Tice

Highly unlikely doesn't make it a mistake.

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And Then There Were None picture

Episode #1.1 - S1-E1

Factual error: Unlike Christie's novels, there is no explicit statement of the date - the original novel started on the August 8th, which is compatible with what is shown here; Vera is interviewed and the letters are all posted on August 2nd 1939, which would fit. However, there's a problem when Vera changes seats en route to Soldier's island. A passenger is reading the Daily Express, and the headline is from August 29th of that year. Too much time elapsed and it's the end of the Summer while the chat between Emily and Vera implies otherwise; it's also Tuesday but the doctor comments "It's been a long week" when he apologizes at dinner - the weekend feels a more appropriate time for a party and gathering as shown. (00:06:15)

Sammo

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American Crime Story picture

Alone - S2-E9

Factual error: You can see the Unicredit Tower on the Milan skyline - the episode should be set in 1997 but the unicredit tower was built in 2012. (00:31:00)

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Bull picture

Free Fall - S1-E16

Factual error: Almost all the people being shown skydiving have no experience doing it, but the instructor allows them to jump out of the plane unassisted after only giving a theoretic introduction into the subject. First time skydivers are always assisted in some fashion, usually through a tandem-jump or a parachute opened by a line attached to the plane.

Tanngrisnir

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Sister Boniface Mysteries picture

Show generally

Factual error: The police car used in this programme, which is set in the early 1960s, is an Austin 1100 Mark 2. However, the Austin 1100 Mark 2 did not start production until 1967.

eric 64

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Power picture

Reversal of Fortune - S6-E14

Factual error: Congressman Tate and his brother are on the shooting range. They are wearing high-tech electronic earmuffs that block harmful noise like gunfire while amplifying speech and other low-volume sounds. Although, they are wearing high-tech earmuffs, they both have an ear exposed so they can hear each other talk. (00:13:00)

Snag.1

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Perry Mason picture

Chapter Five - S1-E5

Factual error: Pete uses the term "throwing shade" when talking to Perry Mason in the middle of the episode. As this show is set in 1932, the phrase "throwing shade" did not yet exist (the phrase was first introduced in the 1990s). (00:35:00)

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Suggested correction: The phrase was not first introduced in the 1990's. While it did become popular in the 1980's, the idea of "throwing shade" as an idiom would have been around before then. A variation of the idiom is found in writings from the 1800's, for example "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen.

Bishop73

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Millennium picture

19:19 - S2-E7

Factual error: Broken Bow is in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma. US 60 is shown here, but actually cuts across the northern part of the state. (00:09:30)

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The Beast picture

Mercy - S1-E8

Factual error: At the beginning of the episode, Patrick Swayze is looking at photos of two Iraq veterans who have been murdered. He identifies one as a Marine Lance Corporal and the other as an Army PFC, but both pictures show men in U.S. Army uniforms. A bit later, his partner, who is supposed to be a Marine vet, refers to his decision not to "re-up," using the Army term for re-enlistment, rather than "ship over," as it's referred to in the Navy and Marines.

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A Confession picture

Show generally

Factual error: Almost none of the senior police officers wear the correct medal ribbons. Brian Moore and Pat Geenty wear the Order of the British Empire, which neither had. Geenty wears the General Service Medal, for military service in Northern Ireland, although he was never in the armed forces. Moore does not wear the Queen's Police Medal, which he was awarded in 2009. Both wear the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2011, although it was not awarded until 2012. Andy Parker wears an unidentified ribbon (possibly intended to be the Queen's Police Medal, which he was awarded in 2010, but looking nothing like it) and the Golden Jubilee Medal, but does not wear the Diamond Jubilee Medal or the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal to which he was also entitled. Mike Veale and Ray Hayward wear no medal ribbons at all, although both would be entitled to the Golden Jubilee Medal and Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (and Veale also to the Diamond Jubilee Medal after 2012).

Necrothesp

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Babylon Berlin picture

Episode #4.9 - S4-E9

Factual error: Renate escapes from the prison in a Morris Ten Four, with the badge visible on the bonnet. However, this designation was not introduced until 1935 and the episode is set in 1931.

Necrothesp

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NCIS: Los Angeles picture

The Livelong Day - S5-E7

Factual error: When the stolen freight train is braking, the air pipe becomes disconnected. This should trigger the brakes on the train, but the train keeps going with no brakes. When the train is being slowed with no brakes working, why are there sparks coming from all wheels on the train? (00:32:00 - 00:38:00)

M1CGP

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Dirk Gently picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: When Susan is sorting Ruth's things, she finds Gordon's iPhone wrapped in a newspaper from 1994 with her voice-mail to him and realizes he went back in time, where Ruth killed him and took the phone from his corpse. Even if the phone had been turned off, after 16 years idle, the battery would have died long ago, but we see the phone is on with her message waiting. (00:55:50 - 00:56:45)

Captain Defenestrator

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Magnum, P.I. picture

Two Birds of a Feather - S3-E19

Factual error: Sam crashes the plane running out of gas, but just barely. His boss and the client are mad at him, but he actually worked some miracle, since from Van Nuys to Honolulu there's a distance of over 2,200 nautical miles, and even considering additional fuel tanks, that is over 3 times the range of the Cessna 172 plane he was flying, also considering it had headwind throughout the voyage (it's even a plot point).

Sammo

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The Good Fight picture

The Gang Goes to War - S4-E5

Factual error: A general court-martial is being held. A general court-martial, the highest level of military court, consists of a trial counsel, defense counsel, a military judge, and a panel that must have at least five officers. An enlisted accused can request a panel composed of at least one-third enlisted personnel. In this TV show episode there were only two officers and five enlisted personnel on the panel. (00:40:50)

toroscan

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