Best thriller TV factual errors of all time

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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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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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Prison Break picture

Season 1 generally

Factual error: When Michael fills the tank with water (below the stock room), he then strips his clothes off, and slides down a pipe and into the water at the bottom of the tank. Since the water level was way above him, the pipe he slid down and the access to get there would have been flooded also. There was no water in the pipe he slid down, so for that area to be dry, it would have to be above the water line.

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Bates Motel picture

Visiting Hours - S5-E9

Factual error: In Oregon and New Jersey, state law requires that a gas station attendant pump the gas. Romero pulls into an Oregon gas station and encounters a nosey person. They are both pumping their own gas.

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The Blacklist picture

The Major (No. 75) - S2-E15

Factual error: Tom Keen watches an arms deal. The supposedly German plates of the BMW read "DD17-36F9." This, however, is not a possible combination in Germany, as there would not be numbers in the first half, nor a letter after a number in the second part. [exceptions from the first being the most important officials' cars like the federal president's, but even then the latter applies]. Furthermore, no more than 4 numbers can be used, except for in police and military vehicles (which also never have a letter after a number, and start "Y" for military, or "DD-Q" for Dresden police). "DD-F1736" would have been a correct plate for the town of Dresden, for example. (00:23:15)

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CSI: Miami picture

Show generally

Factual error: Calleigh Duquesne frequently wears completely inappropriate clothing throughout the whole series. She often wears blouses that are so low cut that the neckline is below the lower curve of her breasts. No officer of the court in the US would be allowed to dress this way. There is no grey area here, and this is not a character mistake - first time a CSI turned up at work dressed like that, she'd be sent home to change. Second time, she'd be on suspension until she agreed to change her dress standards. Also (and this regularly happens in CSI: NY as well) she is regularly wearing high heels - also a certain no-no for as CSI. Incidentally, male CSIs have equally strict dress standards.

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Supernatural picture

Devil May Care - S9-E2

Factual error: When Sam and Dean show up at the crime scene to investigate, they are stopped by a woman wearing digital Army ACU's. She introduces herself as Sergeant Miranda Bates, even though she has rank insignia on her cover and her chest that identifies her as a PFC (private first class). (00:14:05)

Micah80

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Homeland picture Homeland mistake picture

The Good Soldier - S1-E6

Factual error: Raceme's girlfriend Morgan is seen in a mugshot taken by Edinburgh Police, Scotland. They are known as Lothian and Borders Police, not as shown "Lothan and Boarders". (00:28:30)

Sinx

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Limitless picture

Page 44 - S1-E4

Factual error: When discussing a recent search of a suspect's home, Hill Harper says "we got his hard drives", but pulls a computer power supply out of a bag. Hard drives are significantly smaller and don't have a bundle of wires coming out the back of them.

Jon Sandys

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JAG (1995)

JAG picture

Washington Holiday - S2-E9

Factual error: In the whole episode, Romania is depicted as a monarchy with the king in a position that allows him to make political decisions. However, Romania ceased to be a monarchy in 1947. By the time depicted in the episode (circa 1997), Romania was a republic and its head of state was the president. Members of the ex-royal family did not hold any positions in the Romanian government and were certainly not authorized to represent Romania in international events.

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Fringe picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: When the 747-aircraft of the fake German airline is being shown, you can see the German flag on the plane. But you also see an "N-xxxxx" registration which stands for USA. If it were a real German plane, it would have a "D-xxxx" registration.

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The Twilight Zone picture

Elegy - S1-E20

Factual error: The astronauts land on an asteroid said to orbit a binary star 655 million miles from Earth. This is impossible, as that distance would place them well within our solar system. In fact, they'd be inside the orbit of Saturn, where of course there aren't (nor could there be) any extraneous suns. The nearest star to our system is, in fact, trillions (not millions) of miles away. (00:02:15 - 00:04:00)

Jean G

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Alias picture

Show generally

Factual error: In the episode where Sydney is supposed to be in Helsinki, there are visible skyscrapers in the background. There are no skyscrapers in Helsinki.

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Designated Survivor picture

Commander-in-Chief - S1-E14

Factual error: The building shown between the stated times is located in Japan instead of the US/Washington DC as suggested by the actions in the scene. This is proven by by the Chinese characters In the Dark-gray concrete wall in the lower left side of the frame, as well as the red and blue colored circular road signs in the lower far right of the frame which are not in use in the US but in this combination unique to Japan. The street furniture, such as the road markings, the vegetation and the buildings also resemble Tokyo. (00:06:55)

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Dexter picture

Let's Give the Boy a Hand - S1-E4

Factual error: When Dexter and Doakes are looking at the severed foot wearing a soccer cleat, Dexter states, "The foot was severed between the tarsus and the metatarsus." However, the foot was severed proximal to the tarsus, through the tibia and fibula. The cut was easily too high to be between the tarsus and metatarsus. (00:16:45)

Limemime

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Angel picture

A New World - S3-E20

Factual error: Connor has been raised since he was a few months old by Holtz, a man with a British accent, in a dimension where there are no other humans. There is no possible way he could have an American accent, yet from the moment of his return he speaks with one.

Shay

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Suggested correction: The demons in Pylea spoke English with American accents (possibly due to Wolfram and Hart's interference), and in tie-in comics, demons in the dimension Connor and Holtz went to were shown speaking regular English, though these comics were released years later.

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Lost picture

Some Like It Hoth - S5-E14

Factual error: In the classroom where Jack argues with Roger next to the chalkboard we can see a poster of the periodic table of the elements. We can see some elements that wouldn't be there in 1977 since they weren't discovered until 1999.

EvilFreD

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Zoo (2015)

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Suggested correction: The power drops out but later on in the episode they have backup power. The problem is that the bat that gets into the base then takes out the backup power.

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