Revealing mistake: Watch the opening sequence of this episode very carefully - Clarkson, May and Hammond are not in Downing Street (they are on a set that stands on the BBC backlot) and library footage of the Prime Minister is cleverly edited in to make it look as if they were there at the same time. Even taking into account the fact that the Prime Minister's security service would never allow such an intrusion onto Downing Street, the line up of the shots does not quite match - our three intrepid heroes should be visible in shot when the Prime Minister is shown exiting number 10, but they are nowhere to be seen. It is all sleight of hand and clever editing, but detectable if you watch carefully enough.
Joey and the Premiere - S1-E14
Continuity mistake: Joey is talking to Brody. He has a cup in his left hand, then when the shot changes, it's in his right. (00:05:50)
Factual error: In the episode, "Professor Blackjack", Manny puts a stack of one hundred dollar bills on the card table for the professor to bet. The bills are the new ones issued a few years ago with the enlarged portrait of Benjamin Franklin. The scene is supposed to take place in 1961.
Continuity mistake: When Theo hits the fence it becomes snapped a bit but in the next shot you can see him preparing to charge at the fence again, and it is whole again.
Continuity mistake: While Mike is cleaning out the armadillo's hay, just before he finishes the second one you can see the amount of hay in the bin is a few inches from the top of the bin. The next shot goes to a close up of him removing more hay but the amount of hay now in the bin is a bit below the top.
Other mistake: If you look on Disk Three, in the Features section, select "Behind the Tunes", you'll see three titles: "Too fast, too furry-ous", "Blanc Expressions", and "Merrie Melodies: Carl Stalling and Cartoon Misic". Misic? Just to be sure I unloaded the DVD player software and rebooted. Nope, still there. How did THAT get past quality control? Should be "music", in case you're wondering.
Outlaw Marshal, 76 Days Adrift, Diamond Hoax - S6-E5
Factual error: In the story about Anna Hahn, a close-up is shown of a person being sworn in to testify in court. The Bible used is a Revised Standard Version. Ms. Hahn was tried in 1937. The RSV Bible's first edition was not published until 1946.
Continuity mistake: Jamie and Adam are shooting at Police badges to see which one would potentially stop a bullet. When they get to the third badge, it is held up to the camera. It says 'Jamie Hyneman' on the badge. The badge is then shot, and shown again to the camera. This time the engraved writing on the badge has changed to 'Adam Savage'.
Continuity mistake: In the episode where they overhaul a 1976 blue van, there is a shot of the white donor van being carted away. Yet later on in the same episode, the white donor van is back in the workshop.
Factual error: They show a clip of a kamikaze diving into a ship. The clip they show was actually an event from much later in the war: offshore of Okinawa. No ship on either side was struck by a plane during the Battle of Midway.
Factual error: Near the beginning of the episode dealing with the life of Moses, they depict various scenes of ancient Egypt, during his time. But they show the Sphinx with the nose missing (as it looks today), when that face was intact until the early 19th century when Napoleon's troops used it for artillery target practice.
Continuity mistake: At dinner the two male guests in the forefront both have a full plate of food and a man in a brown shirt is pouring gravy on his meal. In the next shot the two men are shown serving themselves for the first time. (00:57:00 - 00:58:00)
Other mistake: The police are watching a bus traveling between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. As part of the surveillance, they show a policeman in a car taking pictures. The lens cap is still on.
Other mistake: In this true crime show there are both reenactments and actual police photos used. The narrator states that thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in the home where a crime was committed. But the accompanying "Actual police evidence" photo that's supposed to be ammo is actually stacks of Kodak Slide Carousels. (My dad was a photographer and we had these in my house.) (00:29:15)
Other mistake: A Mexican pilot based in Ensenada is interviewed. He owns a 1983 Cessna 172 aircraft. When they show it in the air, it is a 2005 Cessna 182 based in San Antonio per the FAA database. A US registry aircraft would not be based in Mexico, owned by a Mexican pilot. (00:11:20)
Pompeii's Gate to Hell - S4-E8
Factual error: This episode includes a segment about an abandoned dry dock in San Francisco. At one point, one of the commentators several times refers to the U.S.S. Ward as a "battleship," and marvels that it was built in 17 days. The Ward (DD-139) was a 1200-ton destroyer, not a battleship, and was launched after only 17 days, but then took another two months to complete. By way of comparison, the California (BB-44), an actual battleship of 32,000-tons built during the same time period, too nearly five years to complete.
Revealing mistake: In the second of two cases, a man who shot and killed his girlfriend is stopped by police. He is shown pointing his handgun out of the car window, but it is obvious that the barrel and recoil spring assembly of the gun have been removed. (00:41:03)
Factual error: Both Inspector Shaw and Chief Inspector Bailie wear their medal ribbons in the wrong order. The Golden Jubilee Medal is worn first, followed by the Diamond Jubilee Medal, followed by (for Bailie) the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
Factual error: Harold Alexander, although his rank of major-general is correctly mentioned by the narrator, wears the rank insignia of a full general.
Factual error: The crash took place in 1987. When we hear about the American salvage company that was hired to find the wreckage, we see a scene of traffic in Washington, DC that has a model of Lincoln Town Car that was not produced until 1998.