Best TV plot holes of all time

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Forever Knight picture

Father Figure - S1-E14

Plot hole: When the two henchmen who break into Nick's loft to kill Lisa are captured, the case is closed. But the two thugs were reporting back to a boss who wasn't caught, and who surely would have sent more hitmen after Lisa. So the case shouldn't have been closed.

Jean G

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Monty Python's Flying Circus picture

The Naked Ant - S1-E12

Plot hole: In the Upper Class Twit of the Year Show, there are five contestants. However, after Oliver runs himself over, in the events that follow there are only four props for the remaining twits (four mannequins, rabbits, and guns); since Oliver's death was unforeseen, shouldn't there be five of each? (This mistake, by the way, is rectified in the film version of this sketch).

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Ben 10 picture

Be Afraid of the Dark (2) - S3-E12

Plot hole: When the Corrodium Beam is shut down, there is a brief scene of the sky clearing at Mount Rushmore. But on the cliff face all four heads are seen, whereas the head of Theodore Roosevelt got crumbled in "Secrets," and it's too far forward to have been carved into the mountain face, in place (and same position) of the old head, yet again.

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The West Wing picture

Jefferson Lives - S5-E3

Plot hole: The Zoey Bartlett kidnap crisis cliffhanger that stretches across the end of Season 4 and the beginning of Season 5 makes no sense in terms of time. Charlie pulls out a note from his wallet that says they will dig up a bottle of champagne on May 7 - Zoey's graduation night. They do. Later that night she is abducted. She is gone three days. Four days later (in "Jefferson Lives") Abby chews out Leo, saying, "It's only been four days and her bruises have not yet begun to heal." The date should be May 14th. However, "Jefferson Lives" supposedly occurs on the Fourth of July - Zoey says it's the Fourth and they all watch the Capitol Fireworks at the end.

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Stargate: Atlantis picture

Home - S1-E9

Plot hole: General Hammond is promoted to 3-star general and command of the SGC is given to General O'Neill before the Atlantis gang even left earth. Why is it, that none of them find it the least bit odd that a 2-star Hammond greeted their return instead of O'Neill?

Grumpy Scot

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Suggested correction: The dream-state induced by the aliens had some ability to stop them from questioning their reality. (One of them takes quite a while to realise that a friend they're partying with died years before they left for Atlantis). It's not infallible or entirely consistent, but it would theoretically explain this.

Anson Gordon-Creed

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Cheers picture

What's Up, Doc? - S7-E18

Plot hole: At closing time, Cliff, Norm and Woody spontaneously decide to go to Cliff's house. Sam then enters the bar after his date at Melville's. Later in the scene, Rebecca asks Sam about the 'Three Stooges', to which Sam sarcastically replies that they went to Cliff's house. But how could he possibly know that since he entered the scene after they had already left.

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iCarly picture

IHave My Principals - S3-E5

Plot hole: Near the end, Sam locks Mr. Howard and Ms. Briggs in a closet. Sam and Gibby then put a heavy desk right against the door and leave them stuck inside. Then later the two teachers are seen frantically controlling the students. How did they escape? They were inside a closet with the door locked on the outside and with a heavy desk against it.

Kaiser Strien

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Suggested correction: It's clear that another teacher or teachers heard the announcement or heard them yelling and let them out... What we should be asking is why no other teachers helped them control to the students.

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Ghosts (US) picture

Show generally

Plot hole: The ghosts cannot cross the front gate since they died on the mansion's property, however, the Viking and Native American died before the property was laid out, so they should not be limited by the later boundary lines.

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Blake's 7 picture

Weapon - S2-E3

Plot hole: How very perspicacious of the clone masters to create their duplicate Blakes wearing the exact same outfit that the real Blake happens to have on in this episode, considering they have never seen Blake in person. (00:35:35 - 00:38:35)

Jean G

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Ghost Whisperer picture

Threshold - S4-E7

Plot hole: Jim taking over Sam's body just doesn't make any sense. It's plausible for a spirit to temporarily take over a living body, but a dead body is dead for a reason. It can't sustain life anymore. Death isn't a temporary ailment. It's permanent. What should have happened was the same thing that happened when another ghost took over a recently deceased person, which happened in a previous episode. The dead body would decay and start to lose function. Sam's body suddenly gaining back the properties of life is completely inconsistent with what we're led to believe in the setting of the show.

Knever

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

Suggested correction: This is a fictional show that pushed the boundaries and constantly changed the rules; how is this a mistake?

I tell myself that Sam's injuries were not as extensive as prom ghost so his body was able to stay alive.

I think what happened is that Sam jumped out and went into the light before they were able to revive him. Had he waited just a few more seconds next to his body He would have gone right back in. Some people die for a few seconds, and then they're able to bring them back through CPR or using the paddles and shocking his heart, etc.

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Frasier picture

A Midwinter Night's Dream - S1-E17

Plot hole: Niles makes up Frasier's couch to sleep in and when he lies down he lets out a yelp - and pulls a plastic pirate's hook from behind the cushions. Earlier Niles had appeared wearing a pirate's costume but at no point did he have a hook, nor did he go near the couch. His overcoat had been on the floor the whole time so it couldn't have come from there. It would have been difficult for it to get behind the cushions unless deliberately shoved there, which we never saw and makes no sense anyway.

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Doug picture

Doug's Shock Therapy / Doug Is Hamburger Boy - S3-E11

Plot hole: Doug recalls previous years (in a flashback, where he was next to Skeeter at the window of the Honker Burger as they looked outside) of seeing the Hamburger Boy when Mr. Dink is confessing that he *was* Hamburger Boy. However, Doug has only been living in Bluffington for one year - this was his first summer there.

redbaron2000

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House, M.D. picture

Skin Deep - S2-E13

Plot hole: When Wilson does an ultrasound to check for cancer in Alex' ovaries he fails to notice the fact that she doesn't have a uterus. If he mistook her bladder for her uterus, which sometimes happens, she would have appeared to be missing her bladder instead. Yet Wilson doesn't pick up on anything being missing.

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Luke Cage picture

Take It Personal - S1-E10

Plot hole: They only take out the shrapnel from the gut shot - they never deal with the shrapnel in his shoulder at all. (00:04:25 - 00:05:00)

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One Tree Hill picture

What Is And What Should Never Be - S1-E20

Plot hole: How in the world could Keith be hired as a teacher? Not only is he a college drop-out with no teacher training, Dan mentions just an episode or two earlier how Keith is incapable of using modern machinery (specifically saying how every high school graduate will be more qualified than Keith).

Shay

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The Bold and the Beautiful picture

Show generally

Plot hole: During the week of Aug. 29, Taylor catches Thomas and Gabby about to make love. She then tells Gabby that Thomas is not mature enough for a sexual relationship. First of all, Thomas and Gabby are married. Secondly, Thomas is college age and can legally have sex. And to top it off, has no one told Taylor that while she was supposedly "dead", that Thomas dated and had a sexual relationship with Amber?

Allyson

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air picture

Bang the Drum, Ashley - S1-E2

Plot hole: Ashley says she is 9; later in that season, in "Just Infatuation," Phil says she is almost 12. Will is 17 for the first two seasons, and 18 in season three. Nicky Banks grows from baby to preschooler between seasons four and five (though this was humorously addressed).

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Sons of Anarchy picture

The Revelator - S1-E13

Plot hole: When the guys break into the safe house and free the witness against Bobby, they are wearing masks to hide their identities. Yet after freeing the witness, Jax and Tig decide to get involved in a fist fight inside the house which would leave their DNA all over the place. Since both are undoubtedly on the police database, it would take no time at all for the police to find at least two of the culprits who assaulted two officers, an ATF agent and intimidated their star witness.

The_Iceman

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Las Vegas picture

Shrink Rap - S5-E2

Plot hole: The man plays his last nickel and wins the jackpot. You have to play the maximum number of coins to hit the huge jackpot which on that machine states is 5 coins.

Boobra

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