Best war TV mistakes of all time

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.

Add time

Doc

Show generally

Visible crew/equipment: In the opening scene you see an old ship in the water, if you look closely you can also see the shadow of the helicopter that is filming the scene.

Add time

Song in the Dark - S4-E16

Revealing mistake: When Mary enters her husband's secret room she lights up the room using a paraffin-oil lamp, but the room lights up before her match has reached the lamp.

Add time

Don't Forget the Diver - S5-E2

Factual error: While Capt. Square is looking through his binoculars at what he thinks is Mainwaring's platoon marching with their rifles, a 1960's Bedford lorry drives past on the road behind them.

Add time

Carentan - S1-E3

Factual error: In this episode we see Blithe get shot in the neck and are told that he died in 1948. In reality he was shot in the shoulder and survived. He later served in Korea and was promoted to master sergeant as well as receiving the paratrooper of the year award. Blithe died in 1967 while on active duty in Germany.

Add time

Stealing From Saturn - S1-E4

Factual error: The verse Octavia recites is from Virgilius' poem "the Aeneid". That poem was written at least a quarter of a decade after the death of Caesar.

Add time

PFC Gomer Pyle - S2-E1

Factual error: Sgt. Carter is wearing a plain belt buckle with his dress blues uniform. Since Sgt. Carter is Gunnery Sgt, he is a staff NCO so his buckle should have the USMC emblem on the buckle.

00:24:00

Show generally

Factual error: Aetius' troops don't look anything like 5th century Roman soldiers. They are carrying a large rectangular shield, a pilum (a spear which was used for throwing) and a sword (gladius) on their right. This was typical for the Roman army until about the 3rd century A.D. In Aetius' time, the soldiers would have had smaller oval shields, a hasta (a lance used for stabbing and for fending off cavalry attacks) and a sword (spatha) on their left. Also, there would be an enormous amount of "barbarian" mercenaries in the Roman army (Goths, Vandals, even Huns.), so it was hardly a Roman army anymore. And where's Aetius' cavalry?

Add time

Show generally

Factual error: Part 4: The cord on the telephone Pug uses to call Pam should be a straight wire. Instead, it's coiled: a design not yet in use in the 1940s.

00:13:30

Show generally

Factual error: In episode 7, we see a toilet in the improvised jail. In fact, most "toilets" in Iraq are specially built holes in the floor.

Add time

Episode 8 - S1-E8

Revealing mistake: In the scene where the king and his entourage are walking through the crowd, someone in the crowd (right side) is wearing a watch on his left hand while applauding.

Add time

A Prime Problem - S2-E8

Other mistake: When Spike is thrown out of the base by Megatron at the end of the episode, Optimus calls him 'Splik'.

Add time

Show generally

Continuity mistake: Episode: "Man Hunt": When Jonas tries to interrogate the hardware store owner, the owner falls off his chair, knocking it over. In the next shot it's standing upright again.

Add time

Klink for the Defense - S6-E19

Continuity mistake: General Burkhalter is eating Klink's dinner. When finished he places a metal cover over the plate. In the next shot the cover is lying on the table and there is extra food on the plate.

00:15:25

Show generally

Factual error: When Pug comes home, Rhoda puts on a Christmas record. The record player has an automatic changer that drops the disc and then moves the arm into place. Though a small 45 rpm changer was designed as early as 1938, and this movie's set in 1942, the type Rhoda uses here wasn't around for another 20 years.

00:09:00

Show generally

Visible crew/equipment: During the Battle of Bull Run, just before the first shell is fired towards the plantation house, at the upper part of the screen you can see a helicopter flying over the battle action.

01:45:00

Class of 1945 - S7-E5

Continuity mistake: In "Twenty-one today" (4-8) Williams says that he grew up in an orphanage and didn't know who his parents were, but in this episode he says that his father was a coal miner in South Wales.

Add time

Mercy Moment Murder Measure - S1-E7

Factual error: Early in the episode, there is a long shot of Woodhull's farm, snow on the ground...and aeroplane vapor trails in the sky.

Add time

Show generally

Factual error: The battalion commander wears the correct crown and pip of a lieutenant-colonel, but the four cuff rings of a full colonel (lieutenant-colonels wore three).

Add time

PT 73 Where Are You? - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: Halfway through the show, they get caught not having the boat, and McHale gets taken by boat to the commander's office. As he leaves the pier, he drops the rope on the seat next to him, they do a close-up and the rope is behind him about 5 feet away.

Add time

An Act of War - S1-E13

Continuity mistake: Savage's bomber is hit and the left wing catches fire. But in the stock footage shot that follows, it's the right wing that's burning.

00:10:00

Basilone - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: In the scene where John Basilone goes looking for his friend Manny. Basilone has 3rd degree burns on his left forearm and left hand but in the shot he is walking through the jungle holding a pistol tightly in his left hand and his canteen is on his right side as he walks past a group of trees. The next shot he is continuing walking through the jungle but the gun is in his right hand (which isn't burned) and his canteen has also switched sides as he walks past the same group of trees.

Add time

Show generally

Factual error: Helmuth von Moltke is addressed and referred to several times as Field Marshal. He wasn't promoted to that rank until 1871. He was a lieutenant-general during the Second Schleswig War in 1864.

Add time

Show generally

Factual error: Throughout the mini-series, the First Recon Marines use AN/PAQ-4 laser sights, when in reality they used the AN/PEQ-2 laser. Another error is that they are using (according to them) AAA batteries for the sights, while both sights actually run on AA batteries.

Add time

The Cost of Doing Business - S1-E22

New this month Factual error: A CH-47D Chinook helicopter is shown on the tarmac with N160BE in large white letters. This is a civilian registration number, not one for a military aircraft. A check with the FAA shows it is registered to Unical Aviation at City of Industry, California.

00:26:00

Black Blood - S1-E1

New this month Other mistake: All the Greek name variants are used over the Latin ones - including even "Odysseus" over the more familiar "Ulysses" (who is the same person). However when the story of Actaeon comes up, it's suddenly the goddess "Diana" that he saw. But all the gods have their Greek names, so that should be "Artemis." (As indeed is used in episode 2).

00:39:35

Carpetbagging, Anyone? - S2-E28

Visible crew/equipment: In the opening sequence, when troopers Stanley and Livingstone are heading towards the Captain's office, shadows of a production light and a boom mike and operator are seen on the ground.

Add time

Alix - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: When the princess moves between rooms, the door in the first room is left well open, but when the shot changes to the second room, the first door is almost closed.

00:05:40