Best sci-fi TV deliberate mistakes of all time

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Fringe picture

In Which We Meet Mr. Jones - S1-E7

Deliberate mistake: Dunham comments that she works for Homeland Security. While the FBI is under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department, she works as part of a special Homeland Security task force; so saying she works for DHS is an accurate statement.

Cubs Fan

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Under the Dome picture

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: When the dome is blacked out and blocking Chester's Mill from the sun, there should be no light at all in the forest, yet it's lit as if under a full moon. (01:10:40)

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The Outer Limits picture

The Invisible Enemy - S2-E7

Deliberate mistake: Though by 1964 it was already suspected (and later confirmed by Mariner IV) that Mars has an atmosphere humans can't breathe and temperatures too low for humans to tolerate, Merritt and his crew are here exploring the planet sans spacesuits. This was "fudged" because space helmets A)are expensive, B)reflect cameras, and most importantly, C)obscure the actors' faces. (00:24:00)

Jean G

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Star Trek: The Next Generation picture

Darmok - S5-E2

Deliberate mistake: To fix the error of the Enterprise firing phasers from the torpedo bay, the Blu-ray version uses footage from "The Best of Both Worlds" to show phasers firing from the dorsal emitter. In doing so, they created a new goof; the planet El Adrel is not visible in the background during these shots.

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

Suggested correction: I rewatched the original version on the old DVDs. El Adrel wasn't visible in the original either, so this is not a new error.

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The Wild Wild West picture

The Night of the Pelican - S4-E13

Deliberate mistake: After Jeremy Pike drops the box in front of the firing squad and it begins to emit smoke, the wind blows the smoke to the right. The actors playing the soldiers in the firing squad then move themselves into the smoke and begin coughing and choking from it.

Scott215

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The Incredible Hulk picture

Raw Power - S1-E3

Deliberate mistake: As usual when the Hulk reverts back into Bruce Banner, he is left wearing nothing but tattered pants. When Mitch McCutcheon sneaks Bruce Banner into the nuclear research facility, Banner is shown wearing his usual outfit of a gray collared shirt tucked into purple slacks that are intact. Given that the Hulk was just in the middle of the Nevada desert, Bruce Banner would be in no position to have a change of clothes on him, and the idea that the top secret facility would have an exact match of his go-to outfit is ludicrous.

Phaneron

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Yu-Gi-Oh! GX picture

Etowâru saibâ - S1-E3

Deliberate mistake: There is a shot of Alexis getting blasted with electricity when Etoile Cyber is attacked by Sparkman. This same shot is reused later in the episode when she attacked directly by Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, as the electricity and Alexis' position in the shot is the same. (00:12:20 - 00:18:36)

Casual Person

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Agents of SHIELD picture

Season 6 generally

Deliberate mistake: The last season touched on Infinity War happening - this season jumps forwards a year, meaning that we should be one year into the "blip" (or snap), with half the universe missing. But The Team is all together, and the world/universe is utterly unaffected. Largely a byproduct of disagreement between the film and TV sides of Marvel, plus scheduling vagueness meaning they couldn't risk spoiling Endgame if they came back on the air before that was released. But considering the show is 100% part of the MCU, that's a pretty massive contradiction.

Jon Sandys

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Another Life picture

Across the Universe - S1-E1

Deliberate mistake: In the restaurant after their daughter finishes talking to Niko, Erik turns the tablet device around and sets it on the table to talk to Niko. From his perspective, he is looking down at the screen. But in the other shots from Niko's perspective, where he is a life sized hologram, his figure is shown looking up and meeting her eyes. But from her perspective it should look like he's looking down at the table.

Quantom X

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The Greatest American Hero picture

The Hit Car - S1-E3

Deliberate mistake: When Starlet asks Ralph if he believes that stars can predict his future, Bill tells them to put a dimmer on the googoo eyes because of the killers on their tails, and the two shots facing Bill are flipped. (00:14:40)

Super Grover

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