Best TV plot holes of all time

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The Dick Van Dyke Show picture

Dear Sally Rogers - S5-E21

Plot hole: Sally Rogers appears on the Stevie Parsons show which is a late night talk show, the next morning she receives letters from as far away as Hawaii... the US mail isn't that fast.

Pam-I-am

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Doctor Who picture

Planet of the Spiders - S11-E5

Plot hole: At the climax of episode 2, the Doctor is about to catch Lupton when the latter simply teleports to safety. So why didn't he do that in the first place, before engaging in a 15-minute chase?

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The X-Files picture

Darkness Falls - S1-E20

Plot hole: At The End, a man is attacked while standing in the light of his automobile's headlights. Supposedly, though, the bugs were terrified of light. (00:38:45)

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Lupin picture

Chapter 1 - S1-E1

Plot hole: The protagonist gets in the exclusive, multi-millionaire, invites-only auction because the invitation is on a printed letter that he faked. This means that the guards at the entrance don't have a guest list to check, and since nobody knows who this person is, the staff does run a background check on his identity when he makes the first outrageous bid...by looking his name up on Wikipedia. That's mighty low standards of security, especially for an auction that was supposed to be for a selected audience and the most important in France.

Sammo

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The Amazing World of Gumball picture

The Mothers - S3-E17

Plot hole: When the "refrigerator" falls on Tobias's mom, the boys are watching from a side view. It is later revealed that the fridge was just a cardboard cutout. The boys were watching from the side, so how did they not notice it?

bobthedancingdonut

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The Fairly OddParents picture

Father Time! / Apartnership! - S1-E4

Plot hole: Timmy uses his heat vision, that he previously wished for, to win the race for his future dad. But it's revealed later in "Smarty Pants" that if you use a previous wish in a contest, it is magically taken away because it's cheating.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: That is true, that rule was mentioned in a later episode. However in the episode Christmas Every Day, it was revealed that new rules could be added at anytime. So it's possible that the rule simply didn't exist yet. Although, this plot hole may apply to any episode released after "Smarty Pants."

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Ally McBeal picture

Boy Next Door - S3-E16

Plot hole: Throughout the show it is reported several times that Billy and Ally met when they were both eight years old in a park by sniffing each other's bottoms. However, when Billy is buried in season 3 his tombstone reads, 1968-2000, making him 32 years old. Ally is only 29 and does not turn 30 until later in that season which would at the very least, put them 2 years apart. (00:41:15)

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer picture

What's My Line? (1) - S2-E9

Plot hole: If Spike and his gang only take a few hours to break through the door to Ford's club in 'Lie To Me' (which we are told is six feet of solid steel), why can't Angel break through a thin wire door that visibly shakes every time he hits it, given the same amount of time? (00:38:05)

Shay

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Pokemon picture

Viva Las Lapras - S2-E32

Plot hole: Officer Jenny asks Ash what he knows about the "trio" when he tells her that the pirates are likely Team Rocket, but he hadn't said anything about there being three of them before that. And Jenny obviously didn't know anything about Team Rocket, either. (00:05:30)

Knever

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The Incredible Hulk picture

Darkness and Light: Part 1 - S1-E11

Plot hole: When Hulk and Banner have been physically separated by the nutrient bath, they are both wearing tattered pants. Given that Hulk and Banner were previously occupying the same body, this should not be possible. Hulk was the one that went into the nutrient bath, so if Banner's body was separated from Hulk, then Banner should be naked.

Phaneron

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It was done deliberately as a form of censorship. They didn't want to show Bruce's genitals.

Explaining why the mistake occurred doesn't invalidate it. Unless you're suggesting the nutrient bath also was able to duplicate the pants.

Bishop73

I am not. I am just explaining the reason behind this error.

Do you have a source for this explanation? If not, I would call it conjecture and while it doesn't invalidate the mistake, it does change it to a deliberate mistake if true.

ctown28

You realise a character can be drawn naked without actually showing their genitals (and/or breasts in the case of women), right? The Little Mermaid is a good example of this.

Phaneron

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Full House picture

You Pet It, You Bought It - S8-E6

Plot hole: When Jesse and Michelle wake up in the morning, you can see that the picture Danny got was behind the couch, resting on the seat in the alcove. Later, when Danny goes into the living room and screams, Shorty is standing in the middle of the room, with his head in the picture, and the picture is facing the family. There is no way that the donkey could have put his head in that way.

JuliaD

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The Thundermans picture

Weekend Guest - S1-E6

Plot hole: It turns out that the Venus Fly Trap ate Dr. Collosso, but this doesn't make sense for a few reasons. 1. There's no way that it could've opened the kennel without completely destroying the door. 2. The shot was off it for only 3 seconds, it couldn't have eaten him in that amount of time.

ryderpoints

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Castle picture

After Hours - S5-E8

Plot hole: Beckett and Castle lose their cell phones and wallets and are being chased by the mob. Beckett steals a cell phone from a car but can't use it, since it is locked and then shut off remotely. Any cell phone can always dial 911, whether locked or blocked from service.

Grumpy Scot

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Dawson's Creek picture

100 Light Years From Home - S5-E19

Plot hole: At the end of the episode, Dawson is seated in the kitchen talking to Pacey in a normally loud voice. At the same time, Joey and Charlie are awake and talking in the pup tent in the living room, very close to the kitchen. Later in the Season we learn that Joey had no idea Dawson had driven down to Florida to see her, as apparently he left without seeing or talking to her. But being in such close proximity that morning; there is no way Joey would not have been able to hear Dawson's voice as he talked with Pacey. The living room was close enough to the kitchen, so it doesn't make sense that Joey wouldn't have known Dawson was there and if she did-she would have gone to talk to him.

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The Simpsons picture

E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) - S11-E5

Plot hole: When the Simpsons run away from the duel, they go to Homer's childhood farmhouse. But Homer and Grandpa burned the farmhouse down in the episode "Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy".

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The Man From U.N.C.L.E. picture

The Quadripartite Affair - S1-E3

Plot hole: Solo blows open the ceiling vent of Illya and Marion's cell, and she stands on Illya's shoulders until Solo can reach her and pull her out. This leaves Illya with nothing/no one to stand on, no way to reach the vent and no apparent way out of the cell. But he's out just the same in the next scene, with no explanation as to how. (00:42:40)

Jean G

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Fawlty Towers picture

Communication Problems (a.k.a. Theft) - S2-E1

Plot hole: Basil torments Mrs. Richards by miming when he is speaking to her, so she will think her hearing aid has failed. However, she speaks twice during the scene, and she would hear herself - obviously - and would know that he was trying to fool her.

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The Mentalist picture

Strawberries and Cream: Part 1 - S3-E23

Plot hole: In the heat of killing fake Red John, Jane forgot to notice that Craig O'Laughlin never knew about the mall setup to lure Red John. So definitely Gale Bertram himself was in contact with the serial killer which he may have missed first up, but all that time in jail afterwards he could have figured it out.

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M*A*S*H picture

I Hate a Mystery - S1-E10

Plot hole: Hawkeye calls a number of people into the mess tent over the PA - the ones he allegedly suspects of being behind the thefts he is suspected of himself. Interestingly enough, Ho Jon, later revealed to be the guilty party, is not on Hawkeye's list - yet he shows up uninvited, just to be ensnared by Hawk's clever ploy. Note also that he had no way of knowing what the purpose of the meeting was, so we cannot ascribe to him the motive of wanting to find out how much Hawkeye knew.

Doc

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Suggested correction: Of course Ho-Jon would come to the tent; it makes perfect sense, since he is the "houseboy" of the Swamp and, consequently, a sort of personal assistant to the Swampmen (Hawkeye, Trapper, and Spearchucker). He simply followed Trapper and Spearchucker to the tent after the announcement, probably figuring they might need him in some way.

It's late evening. It's, as far as anyone knows, an official meeting. Ho Jon isn't "standing attendance", he's sitting at the table (which is very convenient for him to hide his hands later). If he WERE standing attendance, it would be the only time in the series he does so in the mess tent instead of the swamp. It would also be the only time he's attending a meeting anyone called. Also he isn't a "house boy" - that would be totally out of character for Hawkeye, see "The Moose" - he's more an adoptee and roommate who makes himself useful. And last but not least: What a convenient coincidence, that just the guy who turns out to be the culprit would turn up uninvited, because he "might be needed" instead of staying the hell away because he is guilty and suspicious of the whole affair! Had - HAD, which he hasn't - Trapper said "Ho Jon, you better come too", you could call it a Deus Ex, but the way it is, it's just a plot hole, to quote Margaret Houlihan, "period, end of sentence."

Doc

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