Best drama 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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Little House on the Prairie picture

Times Are Changing (1) - S9-E1

Character mistake: Almanzo says he hasn't seen his brother Royal in 10 years, but in fact he saw him not long ago as he looked after his 2 sons who were terrors, and at that time Royal didn't even have a daughter.

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Suggested correction: Royal's wife was pregnant when he visited years before Laura had the baby.

What happened to Pearly Day? Almonzo's younger brother?

Not sure if this varied in the show, but in real life Pearly Day had six children and died in 1934 just a month prior to his 65th birthday.

Almanzo had 2 brothers. Royal and Jenny's dad, the one that was dying.

That may not work, unless Laura and Almonzo were not married yet at the time of Royal's first visit, but it is a good suggestion.

In the TV series, the episode that they were taking care of the boys was only six episodes before Laura found out she was pregnant, and Nellie's babies were still babies throughout that time so it wasn't that long. And Rose wasn't that big When they came to visit, so it was probably only 1 1/2-2 years of a time gap. Also, when Royal and Jenny came to visit, Almanzo introduced Royal to Laura as if they had never met before.

It was NOT years! Royal, his wife and 2 sons visited Almanzo in Season 7. His wife did announce she was pregnant in the end. However, when Royal comes back to visit with Jenny, at the beginning of Season 9. If Jenny is supposed to be the baby Royal's wife was pregnant with then she would have still been a year old or 2 at most. They do explain that his wife died, but what about those boys? They would have been early teens by then. Nothing is ever said about them or why they aren't with Royal.

But Laura says "glad to finally meet you Royal", when he came with Jenny. But she met him when he came with the boys.

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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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Emergency! picture

The Indirect Method - S5-E6

Factual error: When Roy is electrocuted and falls from the roof, after Karen uses the defibrillator paddles on Roy, she lifts both paddles, looks at the EKG monitor and says "He's converted." How exactly could Karen have known that he's converted? It's impossible for the EKG monitor to show anything at all. Either the defib paddles have to be in contact with Roy's body for the "quick-look" to get a reading, which they weren't, or the ECG electrode discs have to be on Roy's chest connecting him to the EKG monitor, and they weren't. As an aside, just watching Marco having problems attaching the air mask, and quickly glancing up towards the camera frustrated, then giving up is priceless.

Super Grover

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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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Jonathan Creek picture

The Sinner and the Sandman - S5-E2

Plot hole: Ian Avery-Cooper loses his lottery ticket which is immediately picked up and appropriated by Leonard Corbyn. However, Avery-Cooper immediately reports the loss to the shopkeeper who sold him the ticket. All lottery sales staff are trained in what to do under these circumstances, because it happens a lot - they cancel the lost ticket and issue a new one. Since Avery-Cooper used the same numbers every week this would not pose a problem, but even if he didn't the ticket would be recorded on the seller's computers and could be precisely reconstructed. This would be even easier since Avery-Cooper reports the loss within a minute of it happening and we see that he has the receipt for the sale in his hand. Corbyn's stolen ticket would be worthless and Avery-Cooper would be able to claim his rightful winnings. If nothing else Ian could have simply bought another ticket with the same numbers.

PEDAUNT

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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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Orange Is the New Black picture

Storm-y Weather - S5-E13

Character mistake: The officers count the inmates and say there's 10 missing. There are indeed 10 inmates hiding in the pool. However, Pennsatucky and Chang had escaped the prison. The officers counted Linda as an inmate, who had been hiding in Litchfield the whole season, and wasn't on the list. That would make it 11 people missing, not 10.

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Z Nation picture

Rozwell - S2-E9

Revealing mistake: As the gang drives up to the space-ship diner, cars are whizzing by in the background. When they are driving to the base there's also a clip of a fire truck going down the highway in the distance.

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The Office picture

Christmas Special: Part 2 - S3-E2

Plot hole: Lee and Dawn overstay their tourist visa in the US, then fly back to the UK for the Office Christmas party. They then get into a taxi to go out to the airport in order to return to the US. They're kidding themselves. As I know (to my cost) when you overstay a tourist visa, the US Immigration Service finds out when you check in at the airport on departure. They'll be refused reentry, and probably barred from entering the US for up to six years. (I got a three year ban.) Neither Lee nor Dawn could possibly be unaware of this nor think they could beat the system as they would have been arrested when they checked in in Florida on departure (as I was), and they would have remained in small holding cells until the paperwork banning their return had been processed and their passports stamped 'Invalid for U.S. Entry', as mine was. (All this takes about seventy two hours, so they'd have missed the Christmas party anyway.) The mistake is NOT that they were able to leave the USA - that is explained (it's still not possible, but in the context of the show and the suspension of disbelief we are meant to believe it) the mistake is that they are on the way back to the airport to return. That's absurd. They would have been under no illusions as to their banned status re reentry to the USA.

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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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Desperate Housewives picture

Show generally

Plot hole: When Zach Young's grandfather died, Zach was said to be the sole heir of the fortune. However, Noah Taylor (the grandfather) had a daughter that appeared several times while Mike Delfino was looking for Deirdre. Where was Kendra Taylor while Zachary Young was spending Noah's fortune on dresses for Gabrielle Solis? Why didn't she claim her share? She simply disappeared.

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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.

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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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