Best drama TV character mistakes of all time

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Life on Mars picture

Show generally

Character mistake: When Hunt was interviewing Rocket, he asked him who killed the "P*ki". At the time, the Asian man who had been shot was still alive in hospital, only to die later in that episode.

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Black Sails picture

XXXV - S4-E7

Character mistake: When Billy Bones gives himself in to the redcoats, he states he is Long John Silver. In one of the next cuts, he talks about Silver in third person. The governor shows no shock and they keep talking as if Billy Bones had said at the start of the conversation who he truly was. Then he instructs the governor on how to take on "himself" and Flint.

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Matlock picture

The Scandal - S9-E2

Character mistake: Billy has second thoughts about selling his late sister's beach house to a developer who plans to tear it down and build a hotel. Billy tells Ben, "She lived the last years of her life here." But in part 1 of this two-part episode, it was established that the woman had lived in the house for only six months.

Steven Lee

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Forever Knight picture

I Will Repay - S1-E10

Character mistake: Nick asks Janette if she's ever turned anyone else into a vampire - an odd question, considering the fact that he already knows she has. He was there when she brought the baroness across in the 18th Century flashback sequence for "If Looks Could Kill." It's even odder that Janette tells him she's never done it, since she knows that Nick knows she has. Apparently, the only one not in the know here was the scriptwriter.

Jean G

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air picture

Bang the Drum, Ashley - S1-E2

Character mistake: When Geoffrey serves tea after his sassy cough at Vivian's sentence about High Tea not being a sacred institution, the actor messes up when it's time to actually serve tea, with a napkin getting caught in the teacup saucer. Granted, accidents do happen, but it's quite uncharacteristic for the perfect butler Geoffrey is portrayed to be, and simply a flub by Joseph Marcell. (00:17:45)

Sammo

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The Unit picture

Dedication - S1-E7

Character mistake: When they show the helicopter containing Alpha team, it is a Bell 206 JetRanger, and the sound effects match it, but Brown says "This is the first time I'm on a Huey." The Huey and JetRanger look and sound nothing alike. (03:25:00)

Ian Hunt

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SEAL Team picture

Objects in Mirror - S3-E14

Character mistake: Sonny and a Turkmen soldier are having a competition shootout, and they're both using CZ75 9mm pistols. These firearms are very high end and are made in Czechoslovakia. Sonny says "I have this little Russian pea-shooter." The place of manufacture is stamped on the frame and its Czechoslovakia. (00:20:00 - 00:20:30)

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The Resident picture

Show generally

Character mistake: Every single time they place a baby on a resuscitaire they put it the wrong way round. Babies are placed feet first into the bed so that you have easy access to the face for resuscitation and chest compressions while standing at the end of the bed, but they put them so the head is furthest away from them.

Snowysnowyowl

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The Man in the High Castle picture

The New World - S1-E1

Character mistake: When Juliana puts the film on the projector she loads the reel backwards.The film is supposed to drop from the front of the reel, not the back.

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Wild at Heart picture

Episode #5.6 - S5-E6

Character mistake: When Alice is releasing the cape vulture at Mara, she twice says "good boy" to the vulture, which means that the vulture is male. When she returns to Leopard's Den and tells Danny about the release, Alice says "Watching her flying away like that was amazing" which would mean that the vulture was female. (00:00:40)

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Numb3rs picture

Sabotage - S1-E6

Character mistake: In the epilogue, Charlie illustrates the relationship of mathematics to real life by discussing the golden ratio and its presence in a host of real-life situations, including the shape of a nautilus shell and the distribution of petals in a flower. These claims are disputed by some mathematicians (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio#Nature), and the one about the nautilus shell one is untrue (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spiral#Spirals_in_nature). It's possible Charlie is just repeating what he has read or heard without investigating it for himself, but this is uncharacteristic of him.

paolog

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Family Matters picture

Brown Bombshell - S3-E16

Character mistake: When Estelle gives her guest speech about the Tuskegee airmen she shows a slideshow. There is a photo of an airplane that she incorrectly labels as "a single engine P-47." This is not correct. The plane in the photo is a P-39 Airacobra. (00:19:45)

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