Doc

That's Show Biz - S10-E1

Question: What is the title of the piece of classical music Ellie Carlyle impresses Charles with in the officer's club?

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The Swing Shift - S2-E21

Deliberate mistake: The film crew did not always bother to switch out the rank insignia on the uniforms of extras. In this episode, that leads to all kinds of enlisted and noncom rank insignia being present in the lineup of brand-new recruits when Klink inspects them. Rightfully they should all wear a single eagle on a borderless patch of a Flieger on their collar.

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Plot hole: After the six shuttles take off, there are obviously dozens, if not hundreds of Drax' minions left behind in the base. Not regular employees, but the kind that knows what's coming, if only because Drax is obviously talking about it, e.g. to Bond, quite openly. Would they just stoically stay behind to be gassed? One would think they would mutiny and rush the shuttles wouldn't one?

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Chief Surgeon Who? - S1-E4

Character mistake: As Hawkeye goes to help Maj. Burns right at the end of the episode, he touches the patient with his bloody, contaminated gloves he used to work on the last patient. Such a blatant error would be anathema to any surgeon from the civilized world of the 20th century, let alone one of Hawkeye's caliber.

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Trivia: In the German translation, the producers added an unintentional (and probably mostly unnoticed) meta joke. As an answer to Tim's joke question "What do you call a blind dinosaur?" they used "A See-Nix Saurus" which, unlike the original answer, with trivial spelling differences works just as well in German. (Probably) unbeknownst to them, the spelling of the answer is actually "A Xenix Saurus." It is aimed at aging Unix operators, implying they are old enough to still have used the Xenix OS, and are therefore a fossil. A probably quite small number of Unix geeks (including me) took that as a VERY clever jab at his computer geek sister, and were very disappointed by the fact that it isn't even present in the original dialog.

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Factual error: When the goat leg falls down onto the glass roof of the tour vehicle, the wound on it is much too clean. Whether it is actual meat, it looks like it was cut with a knife. Dinosaurs, like crocodiles had conical teeth and had to tear or rip their prey apart - unlike cats or dogs, whose premolars act in a scissor-like way and actually cut the meat. The wound surface should be frayed and messy. Also, a T-Rex wouldn't even be able to tear apart a goat, because it's too small to step on it and tear at it at the same time. Instead, he would chew and shake it a few times to shatter the bones, then swallow it whole.

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Baby, It's Cold Outside - S7-E9

Factual error: As Hawkeye performs CPR on the hypothermic soldier, he pumps his arms from his ellbows. CPR is done by keeping the arms stiff and pumping with the whole upper body. Hawkeye as a surgeon would know that. Fun Fact: You can perform CPR one-handed in a pinch, but only as long as you keep your arms stiff.

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The Smell of Music - S6-E15

Audio problem: After Potter convinces Saunders he still wants to live, the hiss from the anesthesia machine fades out even while Potter and Saunders are still standing next to it. Neither Potter nor Saunders turned off the valve again.

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38 Across - S5-E15

Revealing mistake: Klinger makes a big show of removing a big nut from the Jeep's leaf spring. The nut is clean and shiny whereas the rest of the undercarriage is painted and dirty. If you look closely, there are no screw threads where he takes it off either, there's another hex under it. The simple reason for this is that that nut doesn't belong there and never was affixed, Jamie Farr just pretended it was.

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The Korean Surgeon - S5-E9

Plot hole: This episode revolves around the doctors trying to "transfer" a north Korean surgeon to the outfit. To this end, they get him papers, uniform, dog tags, etc. In the end, the plot is toppled and The Korean Surgeon taken to a POW camp by the MP. In reality, it would not have ended quite so pleasantly. A combatant wearing the uniform of an enemy is usually automatically considered a spy, and Hawkeye, BJ and Radar would also have been considered guilty of espionage or at least complicity therein.

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The Abduction of Margaret Houlihan - S5-E6

Other mistake: As Frank cocks his gun in the Swamp, the slide locks open and he has to hit the slide release to get it to move forward. Next he fiddles with the hammer. Next we hear the shot go off. Burns' excuse later is that he was cleaning The Gun and it went off (although admittedly, Frank doesn't always stick to the truth that religiously in situations like that). The slide on a semi-automatic locks open only if the magazine is empty or missing. The Gun locking open is also a clear, unmistakable indication that the breech is empty. He would have to insert a filled mag, then pull the slide back again to chamber a round before The Gun even had the chance to go off. One never does that while cleaning a gun. One does what Frank did to begin with: Pull the slide back without a magazine inserted to make sure the breech is empty.

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I Look Better in Basic Black - S1-E28

Factual error: The American women the SS brings into camp claim to be entertainers having performed for troops. The series is allegedly set in 1942. Before June 6th, 1944 there were no allied troop concentrations in central Europe, certainly not in Germany, and very certainly none of a size and security rating the USO (or probably rather its predecessor organization, since the USO was founded in 1941 and would not have been fully operational yet) would send a troupe of female entertainers to.

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The Great Impersonation - S1-E21

Plot hole: This episode revolves around training the reluctant, untalented Schultz to impersonate Klink to get the captured heroes back from the Gestapo. This is actually a pretty common theme, somebody, usually one of the heroes, impersonating an officer to free a prisoner. The plot gives no reason why this time, they would have to use the cowardly, untalented Schultz instead of doing it themselves.

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Oil for the Lamps of Hogan - S1-E14

Plot hole: The Heroes take an empty oil drum to the depot, knowing full well that Schulz will protest, allowing them to steal a full one. However, all but their barrel have snow on it. Since it's really salt, it all falls off as they load it on the cart. With real snow, that wouldn't happen. It would be quite obvious that the barrel they are taking out is not the one they brought in.

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Funny Thing Happened on the Way to London - S3-E5

Plot hole: When the driver of the car addresses Roberts (the real Roberts that is, not the double), Roberts reprimands him, telling him not to call him Baumann. It is safe to assume the guard was supposed to be speaking German, since he addressed Roberts by his German identity. That poses some interesting questions. Did Roberts speak English? In those days, most Germans did not even have a basic knowledge of the English language. Did he speak German? That would imply he has a good enough command of the German language to pass as a German. Roberts however isn't a spy like Hogan and his crew, but a pilot in the RAF.

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Trivia: When the show was translated to German, the producers feared that some of the more patriotic lines of Klink would be too nationalist for the bruised German sensibilities. As a result, whenever Klink starts talking patriotic drivel in the original, in the German he starts rhyming nonsense rhymes or talks about his housekeeper and (secret) affair "Frau Kalinke" which does not even exist in the original.

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Encounter at Farpoint (1) - S1-E1

Other mistake: As the Enterprise is fleeing from Q, it peaks around Warp 9.6 which according to the fact books, translates to around 1000c in sidereal space. Also according to the fact books, the saucer section is not capable of sustained Warp flight on its own. Also, at the beginning of The Chase scene, the Enterprise is on course to Farpoint, Q's fence is perpendicular to it. The Enterprise does at least a 90°+ turn beginning her escape maneuver prior to separation, so it is definitely not flying past Farpoint during The Chase. Still the saucer section somehow makes it to Farpoint a mere 51 minutes after the engine section. There's no evidence at all in the dialog that it was Q's doing.

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Titans - S1-E1

Factual error: When Starfire gets out of the totalled car, there is a road sign visible. It is a settlement exit sign, denoting the exit of Königsstetten and Zeiselmauer as next settlement ahead. Obviously the makers tried to be extra thorough nailing down their "outside Vienna" location. They started OK - both Königsstetten and Zeiselmauer actually ARE outside Vienna - but then they completely botched it: Not only did they use a German black-on-yellow "StVO Zeichen 331" instead of the Austrian "StVO Hinweiszeichen 17b" which has black writing on a white base with a blue rim and doesn't list the next settlement, but they also put 852km as the distance to the next settlement, which is more than the length of Austria west to east. The real distance is 3.8km.

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Continuity mistake: As we see John Carlyle code, he has a short paragraph up on his screen, and he's adding text at the end of it. In the closeup, we're treated to a very nice bit of Assembly code, and he's adding a few lines in the middle. When we see his screen from the back next, his nice short paragraph from before has grown a table on top, and he's back to adding text at the bottom. (00:40:30)

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Factual error: As the shuttles are approaching Elysium Station, their engines are constantly firing. Still, bottles and other miscellaneous items are shown free-floating around the shuttles. Weightlessness exists on space ships only as long as they are coasting. As soon as they are under thrust, things "drop" to the rear of the ship in exactly the same way the bowling ball we probably all heard about in physics class rolls towards the back of the iconic train.

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Factual error: It takes a whole of two minutes from the discovery of the boarding party and the cry "Alarm" till the first Americans even enter the command central of U-571, and another almost 90 seconds till they secure the radio room. German subs were under strict orders to destroy all secret material the instant they had reason to believe a boarding was probable. To that end, all code books were printed in water-soluble inks on water-soluble paper, and even the electrical connections inside the rotors of the enigma machine were seawater-soluble. (Admittedly the latter was more with the idea of enemies salvaging sunk boats in mind, and I have no information on how fast that decay would have happened) All it would have taken is to lift up one of the floor plates and drop the stuff into the bilge below. And yes, since German subs of the era didn't have answering machines, the radio room would be manned around the clock. For that reason, boarding actions of that sort had to be above all lightning-fast. Dramatic as the fight scene is, in reality it would have ensured that the boarding party came away empty-handed. (00:38:30 - 00:41:45)

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The Top Secret Top Coat - S2-E29

Factual error: In Klink's quarters, there's an (obviously fake) banana in the fruit bowl. Bananas were luxury items in Europe in the 1940s, and certainly so in war-torn Germany. The majority of Germans didn't have access to exotic fruit until the 1960s, and fake fruit of this type wasn't available then either.

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Character mistake: Toward the end of the movie, the behavior of Newt is totally out of character - not just for him, but for any sane person. Newt tries to save Credence, and he has just gotten him to stop attacking and actually listening - when the other wizards blast what Newt knows to be essentially a traumatized and abused child to kingdom come. But Newt isn't the least bit distressed or mad, he just shrugs it off in a "shit happens, life goes on" kind of manner, catches Grindelwald for them and helps them save the world, happy as a flea and not giving a damn about the recent death of Credence. Only a complete and utter sociopath would be totally unmoved by the death of a child they were trying to save. A sane, feeling person (like Newt) should be at the president's throat spells blazing, cursing her and the whole American Wizard-hood to the nether regions of hell and not giving a blue damn whether or not they are exposed and in trouble, and whether or not Grindelwald goes free, because in that moment, in his eyes they would be hardly better than him. It is even more out of character since Newt is until that moment depicted as extremely protective of his creatures.

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German Bridge Is Falling Down - S1-E7

Character mistake: When counting the prisoners right at the beginning of the episode, Schultz counts to 15. However, including Hogan there are 19 men in formation.

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German Bridge Is Falling Down - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: When we see the men lighting cigarettes, there are 25 people forming the arrow. When we are treated to an aerial view of it, there are 37 dots of light visible.

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German Bridge Is Falling Down - S1-E7

Plot hole: We see Hogan's men empty out the gunpowder from a lot of cartridges inside the armoury. What did they do with their empties? It's not like a mound of empty cartridge cases on the ground wouldn't draw some suspicion is it? Yes, I am aware some options come to mind, e.g. putting the bullets back in and stuffing them back into the belts, but none of that is actually shown or talked about - LeBeau even chucks one cartridge over his shoulder, implying they are not very concerned about hiding their tracks.

Doc ★

German Bridge Is Falling Down - S1-E7

Continuity mistake: During his experiments to create explosives in the tunnels, Carter has a pretty extensive set of glassware on his workbench. Necessarily he would have to replace (most of) that after each explosion - not to mention various light bulbs, furniture and other non-blast-proof stuff by the way. A lot of that glassware is specialty equipment, it would not be easy to come by even one set of in peacetime for a free civilian. In wartime, for an allied prisoner (even with the heroes' connections) it should be nigh impossible, and totally impossible to have an inexhaustible supply of the stuff. So we can either assume a giant plot hole, or treat it (as I did) as a big continuity mistake.

Doc ★

Happy Birthday, Adolf - S1-E17

Character mistake: The artillery officer asks "Does headquarters expect a squad of infantry to replace experienced artillery men?" Hogan only offered "his detachment", and he's wearing a Luftwaffe uniform (and so is LeBeau). Why does the artillery officer get the idea that the "detachment" would be infantry, that is to say, ground forces (Heer) troops? To avoid confusion: Yes, the Luftwaffe did have infantry units, but those would be viewed by other branches as Luftwaffe guards primarily, not as infantry.

Doc ★

Trivia: In several episodes, we are treated to a glimpse of Col. Potter's paint box. He must have had this for quite some time - the inscription in the lid says "Capt. Potter"

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Bombsight - S5-E7

Continuity mistake: All through the episode, we are in a snowy, wintry camp surrounded by hills and trees. The target Gen. Burkhalter points out however is a little shed on a flat-as-a-board prairie with not a flake of snow OR a single hill visible anywhere, and the brown grass of late summer. (Yes I noticed there are some mountains off in the distance. So not relevant for this mistake).

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To Russia Without Love - S6-E18

Revealing mistake: As the motorcycle and the side car split apart and drive around independently, you can see that the side car has been given two extra wheels, and some other stuff underneath as well that's not present on regular Wehrmacht BMW sidecars - probably a remote control of sorts. Also, the motorcycle Schultz rides has training wheels mounted in the shot where the side car comes off.

Doc ★

Rockets or Romance - S6-E24

Factual error: Frankel suggests manipulating the missile's gyroscope, and Hogan suggests an electromagnet as means to do it, which is later implemented. Gyroscopes however are not affected by any magnetic force, which is what makes a gyroscopic compass superior to a magnetic one in many situations. To enhance that effect, gyroscopes are deliberately built out of materials with as little magnetic susceptibility as possible. A large electromagnet next to the missile could potentially cause all kinds of havoc with all kinds of parts of the missile guidance and control, but the gyroscope itself would not be among them.

Doc ★

Other mistake: When the camera pulls up from Hellboy embracing the dead Professor Broom, you can see that several of the evidence numbers are present more than once. Evidence numbers exist to identify and correlate different pieces of evidence without doubt in photographs of the crime scene. It would just be nonsensical to re-use them on different pieces of evidence on one and the same crime scene.

Doc ★

My Favorite Prisoner - S4-E18

Plot hole: In several occasions throughout the story, e.g. S4E18, Hogan attends parties at Stalag 13 wearing an immaculate US dress uniform. Where did he get that? Dress uniforms are not part of the usual kit a bomber crew brings along with them on their missions.

Doc ★

Kommandant of the Year - S1-E3

Factual error: A sharp brass cone has been put over the spike on Klink's Pickelhaube, so Hogan can pin the page torn from the Geneva Convention onto it. The real spike of a Pickelhaube has concave slopes, and it isn't pointy enough to pin a piece of paper onto it.

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The Kommandant Dies at Dawn - S5-E6

Trivia: This is not really a plot hole but more of a plot device: The episode revolves around using the unsuspecting Klink as a courier by hiding secret information in his belt. This episode however is the only time in the series Klink wears a belt on his coat. In all other episodes, he doesn't wear one.

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: As El Camaleon pulls the Cuba Gooding Jr. face off, there's an unshaven neck with a tattoo visible under it. After the cut, Lady Gaga's face (also presumably unshaven admittedly, but not visibly so) comes to light under a mask of visibly lighter skin tone. (00:45:05)

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How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis - S3-E7

Deliberate mistake: Burkhalter pulls some papers out of his bags marked "Top Secret." Why would German papers be marked in English, so the prisoners know what not to look at?

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Hot Money - S3-E9

Plot hole: The prisoners fake a fire with some smoke bombs to have an excuse to rush into the print shop and smash up the print plates. Afterwards they even receive thanks and a reward for their valiant efforts. In reality, the guards would notice immediately that nothing in that room is even singed, but everything important has been smashed by fire axes.

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: In several episodes, the fence around the cooler is visible, and hanging on it, a sign saying "Eingang verboten" meaning "no entry." The correct German term would be "Zutritt verboten." In German, "Eingang" is the opening where you enter a building, not the act of entering one.

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Show generally

Character mistake: In several scenes all over the show (though not always!), characters use the command "Raus!" to send somebody away from somewhere. Raus, short for "heraus" literally means "out" in the sense of "out of a building", which would be "aus einem Gebäude heraus" in German. Used as a command, it always means "get out", never "get away from there" or "get lost", in other words, the addressee must be inside of somewhere to be ordered "Raus." One example would be Schultz sending the prisoners away from general Burkhalter's car in S05E13.

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The Antique - S5-E12

Character mistake: Schultz states "In Hammelburg, they call me die Glitterzehe", which is a literal (but wrong) translation of the term "twinkle toes." That term does not exist in German, and even if it did, it would have to be GlitZerzehe, because the German word for twinkling is 'glitzern', the word 'glittern' does not exist.

Doc ★

The Safecracker Suite - S1-E27

Continuity mistake: As Günther leaves the room, Klink touches his forehead and begins to sit down (or his knees are buckling, not relevant). After the next cut, he sinks down into a chair in a closeup. That same chair was behind Hogan before the cut.

Doc ★

The Scientist - S1-E12

Audio problem: Hogan knocks out his pipe against the Prussian helmet on Klink's desk. It makes a tinny, metallic sound. The Prussian Pickelhaube was made from compressed leather, not metal.

Doc ★

The Big Broadcast - S6-E12

Factual error: Hogan calls the radio detection truck "radar" when he orders the SS guard to switch it off. From other episodes, we know that Hogan knows what radar is, and back then, the difference between radio homing equipment and radar was even clearer to people than it is today, because radio homing was an established technology, while radar was brand new, and most people were not even aware it existed.

Doc ★

The Big Broadcast - S6-E12

Factual error: Baker picks up a lot of static in his radio, then suddenly signs off and says "Sounds like the radio detection unit picked up our signal." Unlike radar, radio signal homing relies entirely on measuring the signals emitted by the transmitter that is tracked. It works by comparing the strength of the signal arriving at each component of an array of directional antennae. The process is completely passive and does not cause any alteration of the signal measurable at either receiver or transmitter at all, and certainly not any audible interference or humming.

Doc ★

The Big Record - S6-E9

Audio problem: When the quartet plays, Klink's bow strokes don't match the music. That is all the stranger since Werner Klemperer was a proficient violinist. Maybe his playing wasn't bad enough on the stage recording?

Doc ★

Is There a Doctor in the House? - S3-E18

Continuity mistake: Hogan pulls a container with a red cross out of the drop box and opens it. It is labeled "penicillin" inside and contains among others several vials of clear liquid. Back in the camp, Hogan gives a box with a red cross on top to Kinchloe, saying "here's the penicillin." It is a completely different box.

Doc ★

How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis - S3-E7

Stupidity: As Burkhalter tries to straighten the picture of the Führer, he stands right in front of it, looking directly at it. A moment later, Klink walks over and fiddles with the thing. It would be absolutely ridiculous to claim they wouldn't instantly notice the difference between a photograph of a microphone and an actual microphone inset into the picture at this distance.

Doc ★

The 43rd, a Moving Story - S1-E23

Character mistake: When Klink explains the route of the trucks carrying the red cross packages to Kühn, he for once uses a map actually showing Germany. Unfortunately, the places he points to start near Luxemburg and track all across Germany. The spot he places Hammelburg at would be near Poznan in Poland.

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Operation Hannibal - S4-E17

Factual error: The cover of the plan for Unternehmen Hannibal is marked "SEHR GEHEIM." That phrasing does not exist in German. The correct term would be "streng geheim".

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The Missing Klink - S4-E15

Stupidity: The plans Hochstetter and Burkhalter find in Hilda's desk turn out to be for the Hindenburg, a large dirigible. Burkhalter says he never saw the plane (sic) they show before. The Hindenburg was a German propaganda icon and very well known to every child in Germany. It's nigh impossible a Luftwaffe (Air Force) general would not recognize plans of a dirigible when he saw them, or not know the Hindenburg. Note that despite everything, the plans from Hilda's desk are probably meant to be not the same ones Carter later says he found inside the boxes - A Luftwaffe general not recognizing the difference between a jet plane and a dirigible is even more stupid. To avoid unnecessary corrections: Yes, according to the boxes the kits aren't for the Hindenburg but for JU-87 Stuka bombers, but that's a different mistake and not relevant for this one.

Doc ★

Praise the Fuhrer and Pass the Ammunition - S2-E19

Factual error: In the ammunition dump, a sign saying "Warnung Hoche Sprenggefahr" can be seen. That is not correct German. First, and foremost, it must be "hohe" and not "hoche", the latter form does not exist. Secondly, the word "Sprenggefahr", while not formally wrong, was never used in German. Depending on what the meaning of the sign is supposed to be, it must either be "Explosionsgefahr", if the overall danger of an explosion is meant, or if the property of the ammunition of being explosive is meant, it should be "Hochexplosiv." If the general presence of explosive material is being warned of, "Explosivstoffe" or "Hochexplosives Material" would be possible.

Doc ★

Life With Father - S3-E8

Audio problem: As Trapper opens the door to the swamp and the football flies in, a splash is heard as if it hit a tub of water, followed by the sound of a high, fluted vessel filling with water. Neither of those sounds make sense in this case. (00:07:00)

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Check-Up - S3-E7

Revealing mistake: As Hawkeye calls for quiet in the officers' club, Henry pulls the tonearm off the record player, it comes away trailing a long wire behind it. Why would it even have a long wire to trail? After all, wire costs money too. It's not like the tonearm is designed to come off and be used remotely. My guess is: they lengthened it, so the shot could be taken several times without repairing the record player every time. Now, WHY they would do it that way and not simply use a dud record player is beyond me. (00:20:55)

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Get Fit or Go Fight - S5-E16

Factual error: In the rec hall where Klink is weightlifting, there is an advertisement poster for the Grindelwald region on the wall, which is in Switzerland. The German propaganda poured a lot of money into promoting the Reich's own recreational regions through the "Kraft durch Freude" program. With the war going badly, they especially wouldn't want a "Look how beautiful Switzerland is" poster in plain view of their troops every day.

Doc ★

Factual error: The Avalon generates its gravity by rotating, which is made evident by the fact that the elevators connecting the three helical pods are without gravity. When the passengers go spacewalking, the instant they walk out the airlock, they have to be secured by magnetic boots. When they turn them off, they become weightless. Both assertions are wrong for the same reason: If the gravity is created by centrifugal force, that force is present on all points of the ship with the strength depending on the distance to the hub of the ship, no matter whether that point is inside or outside the ship's hull. That of course includes the ledge in front of the airlock. Any surface that is oriented towards the hub of the ship is felt as "floor", surfaces radially oriented to the hub would feel like "walls", surfaces oriented away from the hub would be "ceilings." So if you step off a ledge on the outside of the ship the way the actors do, you'd be drifting away from the ship on a tangent to the ledge you stepped off, and end up hanging by your tethers. You wouldn't accelerate away from the ship like you would in a real gravity field, but you would float away with a speed equal to the acceleration simulated by the artificial gravity. The only way to become weightless would be to cancel the sideways motion imparted by the rotation of the ship. At the rotation speeds depicted in the movie, that would take at least a motorbike to do.

Doc ★

The Swing Shift - S2-E21

Factual error: In this episode, the HofBrau (which should correctly be written "Hofbräu") is displaying a big red neon sign above its door. From 1939 on, air raid regulations throughout Germany strictly prohibited any unnecessary display of light at night. Any light visible from more than 500m away was considered a breach of air raid regulations.

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The Great Brinksmeyer Robbery - S2-E18

Factual error: In the restaurant in Hammelburg, where Schultz discovers Hogan and Newkirk, there's an advertisement for "Brauerei der Jager, Stadt Wien." (Wien = Vienna) Vienna and Hammelburg are more than 500km apart, and if Hammelburg were near Düsseldorf, where the series puts it, it would be more like 700km. That's a bit far away for a brewery to advertise in the pre-globalisation era.

Doc ★

Radar's Report - S2-E3

Factual error: Radar claims in his report that Father Mulchahy tried to calm the prisoner by saying "bang zhao", thinking it means "peace and friendship" when it really means "your daughter's pregnancy brings much joy to our village." There is, unsurprisingly, not even a remotely similar word in Chinese that means either of those things.

Doc ★

Reservations Are Required - S1-E15

Continuity mistake: Hogan dumps a bucket of water on Barnes and Davis each, to make it look like they were the ones who hid in the tanker. They get big wet patches on their uniforms from it, but aren't completely wet through and through - which is to be expected, after all it's just a small bucket of water each. After the next cut however, they are completely soaked like they went swimming.

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Is There a Doctor in the House? - S3-E18

Revealing mistake: As Carter blows into the bottom of the oven, the suds that hit Newkirk in the face come out in a thin stream on top, not out of the whole stovepipe.

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Show generally

Plot hole: Hogan's men have that clever device in Klink's quarters, where they turn the oven from below to reveal the trap door. That however unplugs the oven from the chimney, you can even see the smoke pouring out of the oven in some shots. Often enough, they have the oven unplugged for half a minute or more. If an oven smoked into a room that long, the whole room would fill with smoke so badly it could actually lead to smoke poisoning. If nothing else, Klink would have the oven checked. Any device that can turn a heavy cast-iron stove flawlessly like that would by definition have to be quite massive and not disassemble easily. If Klink had the oven checked, that would certainly lead to the discovery of the turning mechanism.

Doc ★

Crittendon's Commandos - S5-E25

Character mistake: To have an excuse not to start up the truck motor, Schultz claims his driver's license has expired. German driver's licenses don't expire.

Doc ★

Hogan's Hofbrau - S1-E13

Factual error: Hogan mentions a store that offers "thirty percent off on T-shirts." T-shirts were mostly unknown in Germany during the 3rd Reich, and didn't see widespread use before the 1960s. Before that, the traditional Unterhemd, known in America as tank top or wife beater, was worn almost exclusively.

Doc ★

Radar's Report - S2-E3

Stupidity: Radar takes his glasses off, takes a sip of coffee, then props his clipboard onto the typewriter and accidentally starts typing on the desk calculator. Even if he didn't know his desk well enough to wonder what he laid his clipboard upon AND was so blind he couldn't even orient himself by the desk lamp (which he isn't), he would have felt the difference the instant he touched the keys. Note that he puts his hands on the keys, squints at the clipboard (sic!), then starts typing, he doesn't hammer away right off, which would have added at least a little plausibility to the joke.

Doc ★

Information Please - S2-E15

Revealing mistake: When Schultz checks the barbed wire to see if it is fixed now, he noticeably wiggles the vertical wire, but only barely touches the horizontal one - because it is rigged to come apart, and will again if he handles it too roughly.

Doc ★

Monkey Business - S3-E29

Factual error: In this episode, the Royal Navy submarine that acts as a radio relay for Hogan's men is hunted by a destroyer. Like in most such Hollywood scenes, depth charges are seen exploding right next to the submarine, which just shrugs the blasts off. In reality, any depth charge that went off closer than 100 meters was instantly deadly to a submerged sub.

Doc ★

Monkey Business - S3-E29

Factual error: In several episodes, Hogan's men communicate by radio with a British submarine, and the dialog hints that the sub is submerged at the time. During the WWII era, submarines could not communicate by radio without surfacing first. In most episodes one might argue that the sub could be running shallow with a mast up, which would perhaps be within the technical possibilities of the era, but in this episode, the sub is talking to Hogan's men while under attack by a destroyer. This pretty much rules out running at periscope depth, because ramming was regularly-used tactic for killing subs that were in the process of diving or surfacing. To avoid confusion: Nowadays, subs can communicate while running several hundred feet deep by using VLF and ELF. However, these are definitely not capable of transmitting voice, but are text-only.

Doc ★

Guess Who Came to Dinner? - S4-E9

Factual error: Schultz says, Von Grubner has "a castle right next to the Führer's in Berchtesgaden." Hitler's famous real estate in Obersalzberg wasn't a castle but a mountain chalet based on a former farm estate called the "Steinhaus".

Doc ★

Guess Who Came to Dinner? - S4-E9

Audio problem: When Hogan says "Why is it you can only trust short, dumpy spies?" the movement of his lips does not match the words.

Doc ★

Hogan's Trucking Service... We Deliver the Factory to You - S4-E4

Deliberate mistake: When Schultz drives off with the motorcycle leaving the sidecar behind, you can see that the sidecar has been propped up. It has to be, or it would fall over. Sidecars, bringing only one wheel to the party themselves, can't stand up on their own.

Doc ★

The Gypsy - S6-E13

Factual error: In this episode, LeBeau pretends to be a psychic gypsy to fool Klink. Gypsies generally didn't fare too well in the Third Reich. Admitting to being of Gypsy origin would probably have earned LeBeau a ride to the concentration camp.

Doc ★

Duel of Honor - S3-E22

Factual error: Erica says she has a plane to take Klink and her to Argentina. The only transatlantic airplane in Germany at that time was the FW-200 Condor, whose military value would have made it hard to requisition even for an SS Gruppenführer (which would be the real rank a "General" would hold in the SS, different mistake), let alone for his wife. Plus, even the FW-200 could not have made it even to the Brazilian coast without a refueling stop somewhere along the African west coast, which would have been a problem, because Germany had no possessions there. Klink, being a Luftwaffe (Air Force) officer, should have at least been suspicious of that plan, even if he didn't know all the details off the top of his head.

Doc ★

Request Permission to Escape - S1-E32

Character mistake: When ordering Schultz to finish cleaning his car, Klink salutes Schultz, his returning the salute with the garden hose in his hand leads to Klink being soaked. A salute is, except in rare circumstances, always initiated by the lower-ranking individual and returned by his superior, not the other way round. This rule is broken especially by Klink in several other places as well.

Doc ★

Rockets or Romance - S6-E24

Plot hole: Hogan has his men play romantic music over the radio. Earlier they were afraid of the radio in the observation post being detected. Elsewhere in the series, they try to avoid sending too long to avoid being homed in on - which is correct. Now, if they were to play a whole record at once, wouldn't the homing devices pick up on the transmitter at the camp?

Doc ★

Trivia: This isn't properly a mistake, since it can't really be spotted except in pause, but it's still interesting: Some of the articles on the piston peak air attack wall of fame are legible, but they don't correspond with the headlines but talk among others about the Vietnam War. (00:28:40)

Doc ★

Happy Birthday, Dear Hogan - S4-E26

Plot hole: In the cinema, Hogan and his female underground contact avoid attention from a passing plain clothes policeman by kissing. This is wrong for three reasons. Firstly, 3rd Reich Germany wasn't so liberal that open kissing in the cinema would have passed as normal, it would probably rather have been viewed as libertine and offensive. Secondly, the scene takes place with a speech of Hitler as the background, which can hardly be viewed as romantic, and thirdly, this is even more true for the Gestapo, who was tasked with ratting out political dissent. To a Gestapo officer, ignoring the Führer's speech and kissing instead would make them stand out doubly.

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: During the whole show, the iconic Prussian helmet, the Pickelhaube, is present on Klink's desk. If Klink was a flier in WWI as he often hints, that is wrong. The German Reich's air corps didn't wear such helmets but had peaked caps instead.

Doc ★

Six Lessons from Madame LaGrange - S5-E22

Character mistake: The SS guard salutes Major Hochstetter with his palm out, in the British fashion. Firstly, German soldiers salute palm-down, secondly, by the Wehrmacht (and SS) military protocol, he should just click his heels and not salute at all when receiving an order.

Doc ★

Revealing mistake: In some of the shots showing the muddy town street, tracks from modern rubber tires can be seen. (00:28:00)

Doc ★

Plot hole: Indy stows away on the Nazi sub on the way to the secret Nazi base somewhere near Greece. Where did he stay all that time? Inside? On a VII-Class boat, there's barely enough room for the regular crew, and hardly any places to hide. Also, everybody knows everybody, so no passing yourself off as "the new guy." Outside then maybe? Well, the boat did dive, it's in the dialog, and while on the surface, German U-boats always had a bridge watch on the tower, so no luck there either. Note that by all accounts I could find, German submarines were required to always post a bridge watch, if only because otherwise they would be running essentially blind. It's not like the helmsman's station in the tower had any windows.

Doc ★

April Fools - S8-E25

Other mistake: When Charles, BJ and Hawkeye steal Margret's tent, what's left is a frame of wood, including roof beams. From other episodes we know that the tents are held up by a wooden frame around the edges and a center pole. We even know for a fact that Margret's tent is built that way, because in an earlier episode Hawkeye and Trapper saw through the center pole of Margret's tent. We also know that the construction principle of the tents hasn't fundamentally changed since then, because when Hawkeye finds the oatmeal in his boot earlier in the same episode, you can see the center pole of the Swamp.

Doc ★

The Price - S7-E17

Revealing mistake: Margret is running out of the shower tent screaming where just moments before we saw her taking a shower. We can see she's wearing a flesh-colored pantyhose.

Doc ★

Dear Sis - S7-E14

Revealing mistake: When the ambulance arrives in the compound at Christmas eve, it drives through the newly fallen snow, but it doesn't leave any tracks. Vehicles driving over a very thin snow cover always leave dark tracks, because the pressure instantly melts the snow just below the wheels. Even a person walking through the snow would leave dark footprints under these conditions.

Doc ★

An Eye for a Tooth - S7-E13

Continuity mistake: Charles arranges a prank that involves a cake. The cake looks totally different in the respective shots. At least three cakes were involved: The one Klinger gives to Margret looks different from the one she holds in her hands when walking over to Capt. Hill. The one she holds in her hand in the closeup counter shots is yet another pie.

Doc ★

A Cook - S1-E8

Continuity mistake: Dolores walks to the computer and tells Georgia "Apparently Stinky5000 votes for 'Ferns and Flowers'." The first look we get at the screen shows the message "Could you tell us what the dog's name is?" and nothing else. The next two glimpses of the screen we get shows "You forgot to put detergent into the dishwasher" and nothing else. It's after the next cut that Dolores says Hungrygirl wants to know the dog's name. As Dolores walks away from the computer, we get a last look at the screen. You can see Stinky5000's message "I vote for "Ferns and Flowers'" appearing on the screen. (00:29:40)

Doc ★

Operation Briefcase - S2-E4

Character mistake: As Stauffen parts company with Col. Hogan at the road checkpoint, he salutes Hogan. While that is understandable under the circumstances - after all Hogan just saved his life, it would also be highly suspicious. Both Schultz and Stauffen's adjutant were watching them, so it can't be said they did it surreptitiously either. After all, Stauffen is a German general whereas Hogan is an allied prisoner officer of inferior rank. For an officer of higher rank to initiate the salute is a demonstration of great respect and/or thanks, which, as far as anyone besides Stauffen and Hogan knew, was not warranted in this situation.

Doc ★

Psychic Kommandant - S1-E25

Plot hole: Hogan's men steal the motor from the silent plane. When Klink and Burkhalter inspect the plane, Burkhalter doesn't notice the engine missing. Later Klink doesn't notice the fact that it has been put back. This is totally impossible for two reasons: Firstly, if a propeller airplane misses its motor, there is no place to mount the propeller. Secondly, when we get to see the whole plane, it becomes obvious that it has an open engine cowling which leaves the motor exposed to be cooled by the airstream. The propeller issue aside, if there is enough light to see the hand in front of your eyes, it is impossible to miss either the presence or the absence of an engine inside that kind of cowling. Add to this the fact that both Klink and Burkhalter are Luftwaffe (Air Force) officers and therefore by trade have some experience with airplanes, the whole thing becomes even more ridiculous.

Doc ★

What Time Does the Balloon Go Up? - S3-E24

Plot hole: Hogan has the men fly kites to get wind data and build a hot air balloon for a man to escape in. In reality, kites and hot air balloons are pretty much mutually exclusive - if there's enough wind to fly kites, one can't launch a hot air balloon, and vice versa.

Doc ★

Other mistake: As Johnny looks down on the wrecked car after defeating the devil, we see a blank brake disk without a wheel on. I guess it would theoretically be possible for all five lug nuts to rip clean off during an accident and leave the brake disk bare and exposed. But then the threads in the disc would still contain the shorn-off remnants of the lug nuts, instead of being empty. (01:23:00)

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: Throughout the series, the SS and the Gestapo are often used interchangeably, as if the two organisations were basically the same. The most notorious example is "Major" Hochstetter, who sometimes claims to be Gestapo, sometimes SS, most of the time wearing an SS uniform. This is historically incorrect. The SS was a paramilitary and military organisation, while the Gestapo was a secret police force and since 1939 part of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt. The Gestapo, being essentially a plain clothes police, never had any uniform of their own.

Doc ★

Factual error: The sign outside Einsargen Prison says "high security area." For some inexplicable reason, the German writing just above reads "Hochsicherheitssteckdose", thus declaring the area to be a high security electric wall outlet. (00:25:40)

Doc ★

The Gasoline War - S5-E4

Other mistake: As Schultz tries to find Flensheim on the wall map, what he's checking isn't a road map, but a city plan with a harbor on it.

Doc ★

Factual error: Prior to and during the orbital rendezvous rescue scene, the dialog states that a) the capsule with Watney is on a parabolic trajectory and will drop back to Mars b) the Hermes is on a swing-by trajectory that will carry it past mars c) the Hermes doesn't have the fuel to spare to do more than swing-by, i.e. They can't brake enough to even enter an orbit (yes, when one is on a fly-by, one has to brake to get into an orbit. Watney would be way slower still) d) the relative speed of the spaceships at the time of rendezvous is less than 20 m/s e) the spaceships are at a distance of less than 200m. All those statements can't be true at the same time. What orbit you are on is pretty much defined by your altitude and speed. If the speed and altitude of two spacecraft are the same, they are on the same (general shape of) orbit. Conversely, if they are on the same altitude but one is on a suborbital trajectory and one doing a swing-by, the latter is faster than the former by hundreds, if not thousands of m/s. By comparison, the rendezvous depicted in that scene would be like granny with her walker trying to "rendezvous" with an Amtrak train at full speed.The dialog states explicitly that the Hermes can't brake into orbit of Mars to pick up Watney because it doesn't have the necessary reaction mass to do that and get home too. If they can't even brake into orbit, they can brake to match Watney's speed even less. Even without that dialog, it wouldn't make sense either way. The acceleration required to do that would be measured in thousands of m/s. Translated into fuel, that would be dozens, if not hundreds of tons. No spacecraft this side of complete science fiction carries that much spare fuel, for the simple reason that lofting the extra weight to orbit would be prohibitively expensive.

Doc ★

Other mistake: When Jo readies Dorothy IV on the back of the truck, she switches it on, but she never releases the rubber catches holding the lid in place.

Doc ★

Other mistake: When the twister hits the drive in theater, the sirens are wailing, but nobody reacts. Only when Jo screams at the waitresses they start panicking and run. The movie is set in Oklahoma, smack in the middle of tornado alley. The people there know what the sirens mean, they sure don't need no out-of-town big-shots to tell them to get under cover.

Doc ★

The Ultimate Weapon - S3-E28

Factual error: Towards the end of the episode, Burkhalter gets a call from a General Seidenbaum. Anybody with such a "Jewish" name would have been weeded out of the officer corps by the Nazis. In fact, anyone of that name would have had great trouble even getting his Ariernachweis (proof or aryan ancestry), and without carrying a copy with him he could not have opened a charge account at the local bakery. Most people with such names (those who managed to pass the Nazi board of racial review) had them changed to more "German" ones like Müller or Schmidt to escape the constant bullying. A little bit of background on "jewish" names: At some time during the medieval period, Jews in the German Reich who traditionally didn't use last names were forced to have them. Many selected names like Gruenbaum, Cornfield, etc. Which over time were perceived as "typical Jewish" names, even though many bearers weren't even of Jewish faith any more.

Doc ★

Six Lessons from Madame LaGrange - S5-E22

Factual error: Hilda is writing with her left hand. At the time of the Third Reich, it was still the practice in Germany to force left-handed children to learn to write with their right hand.

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: In several episodes, German hand grenades, the famous "potato mashers" are seen. In (almost) all cases the Stielhandgranate 43, easily identified by its pull pin through the base of the head, was used. If the series is set in 42, the grenades should be the 24 or the 39 model, because the Stielhandgranate 43 - as the name suggests - was introduced in 1943 and didn't see widespread deployment until 1944. The earlier models didn't have a pull pin but used a pull cord that ran through the handle and was hidden by a screw cap at the end.

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: As the expedition sets out after collecting their parachuted gear, the scenery instantly changes from Savannah in the shot with Elliot and Munro to deep jungle in the shot with Amy and the chameleon.

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: The Avro Triplane goes back and forth between using the authentic four-blade metal-and plywood propeller from the era and a two-blade massive wood propeller. The reason is, the producers originally tried to use the historic designs as much as possible, but had to change some things in the course of the shooting because the originals proved to be not airworthy enough.

Doc ★

Factual error: The British pilot takes off in his Avro Triplane even though the American pilot hangs from his tail. By our modern standards, the planes of this era would be considered ultralights. The weight of a human hanging from its tail would put any ultralight so badly out of trim that it would stall instantly, even assuming it could handle the extra weight of a second person at all.

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: Throughout the show, German officers talk about "Nazi" this, "Nazi" that, even in official capacity. In fact, the mere mention of the diminutive "Nazi" could get you in serious hot water for the disrespect and dissent it implied. Correct would be either "National Socialist" or some reference to the Reich: e.g. "Officer of the Third Reich" instead of "Nazi officer."

Doc ★

Trivia: In the show, Klink is depicted as thoroughly unmusical and an atrocious violinist. In real life, Werner Klemperer was a proficient violinist and also a piano player. After the show was canceled, he worked as a classical musician.

Doc ★

Kommandant of the Year - S1-E3

Continuity mistake: The missile sitting on the trailer is thin and yellow, the missile actually seen flying is a fat, pointy, silver Atlas missile - which is an American intercontinental missile by the way, not a German tactical missile.

Doc ★

The Sergeant's Analyst - S5-E23

Factual error: In this episode, the running gag is that Schultz keeps flattening Col. Hogan's pumpernickel loaves. In reality, pumpernickel is a very compact bread that contains virtually no air at all and is impossible to flatten in this way. The shape is also wrong: pumpernickel is almost always baked in rectangular baking pans. To avoid confusion: the original, German pumpernickel is quite different from what's sometimes referred to as pumpernickel in England and America.

Doc ★

Hogan Gives a Birthday Party - S2-E1

Factual error: When the crew in the plane gets ready to drop the bombs on the refinery, Hogan (in the pilot seat) tells Carter (who is looking through the bomb sight) exactly when to push the button. In fact, the pilot of a WW2 bomber had no way of even knowing when exactly to release the bombs - it was the job of the bombardier, looking through his targeting optics, to know that. Carter at the bomb sight should be telling Hogan how exactly to steer to get the bombs onto the target.

Doc ★

Man in a Box - S4-E14

Factual error: When the safe doors blow, we have another case of a fuse still burning after the charge blows. Since the charge blows when the fuse is burnt up, that's literally impossible. (00:20:00)

Doc ★

Will the Blue Baron Strike Again? - S4-E12

Factual error: The "Blue Baron" tells the dancer that the Kaiser gave him a certain medal. In fact, the medal he points to (and the girl fondles) is a WW2 repeat badge to the Iron Cross first class, instituted in 1939 to denote presentations of the Iron Cross first class to personnel who had already received it in WW1. He may have received the original Iron Cross from the Kaiser, but by the time he had a chance to receive that repeat badge, the Kaiser was long through handing out medals. (00:15:10)

Doc ★

Klink's Old Flame - S4-E20

Factual error: When the farmer sticks his pitchfork into the haystack, a scream is heard, but then everybody emerges unscathed. Wounds from pitchforks aren't like sitting on a brass tack - even a quick jab usually earns you a trip to the surgeon (I've seen such wounds), a vigorous stab like the one in the scene would go through limbs and could easily kill a man. There's no way anybody would walk away from such a hit.

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: Klink usually wears an EK1 (EK= Eisernes Kreuz = Iron Cross first/second class) chest cross with a WW1 EK1 repeat badge, but he neither wears an EK2 ribbon nor a WW1 EK2 repeat badge. This is not a legal combination, he either has to wear both or none at all. The EK1 and EK2 repeat badges were awarded to soldiers who were awarded an EK1 in WW1 and another in WW2. To be awarded an EK1, you had to have the EK2 already. The Legal combinations would be: EK2 ribbon in the button hole with or without EK1 chest cross, EK2 ribbon in the button hole with repeat badge with or without EK1 chest cross, again with or without repeat badge. One legal way of wearing it is seen in S5E3, "The Klink Commandos", where Hogan wears a black-and-white WW1 EK2 ribbon with repeat badge and an EK1 chest cross with repeat badge. It doesn't make any sense for him to wear that (separate mistake), but the way of wearing it is correct.

Doc ★

Klink's Escape - S5-E26

Continuity mistake: When Klink is "taken hostage" in the barracks, he is in his tunic only. Later in the car he has his overcoat on. He was supposed to be kidnapped, he could hardly ask Hogan to let him slip into his office for his coat.

Doc ★

Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13 - S1-E16

Revealing mistake: When the "Boat" is loaded on a "trailer", you can see that it has very little ground clearance. The wheels of the "trailer" actually are hidden behind the boards like on a parade wagon. The boat has no keel and no hull below its freeboard. Besides the question of how the boat got onto the trailer if it is practically built around it, there remains the question of how it is supposed to stay afloat without a keel or a bottom.

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: In many episodes, SS members of all ranks appear - the most notorious recurring character being Major Hochstetter. Curiously enough, Hochstetter couldn't have been a Major in the SS, simply because that rank didn't exist there. The SS used the SA rank system, not the Wehrmacht one. Hochstetter for example would have to be a Sturmbannführer. Colonel Feldkamp would have to be a Standartenführer. To avoid confusion: Hochstetter sometimes claims he is Gestapo, even when he's wearing an SS uniform (different mistake). However, he couldn't be a major there either - he'd have to be a Kriminalrat or Kriminaldirektor, because the Gestapo, which was in principle a civilian police organisation and wasn't half as closely integrated with the SS or the military as the series would have us believe, didn't use military ranks at all.

Doc ★

The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz - S2-E6

Factual error: General Kamler awards Schultz what he calls "The Iron Cross Fourth Grade." There never was a version of the Iron cross called that. The Iron cross came in two ranks, called 2nd class ("zweiter Klasse") and 1st class ("erster Klasse"). The ranks higher than that were called the Knight's Cross ("Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes") and were never pinned to the chest but worn around the neck.

Doc ★

Color the Luftwaffe Red - S4-E8

Factual error: The medal Newkirk steals from the German officer in the pub is a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. There were a total of 148 presentations, most of them 1943-45. By 1942 (where the series is apparently set), less than 25 had been presented. That Newkirk should actually stumble across a wearer by pure chance is highly unlikely, that the wearer should actually "never miss it" as Newkirk states, is plainly impossible. Being the fourth highest ranking military decoration of the Wehrmacht, it would have been missed almost immediately - if not by the wearer himself, then by his fellow officers. (00:22:35)

Doc ★

Drums Along the Dusseldorf - S3-E30

Factual error: All through this episode, characters keep referring to the river the bridge *du jour* spans as "The Düsseldorf" or "Düsseldorf river." The city of Düsseldorf is situated on the river Rhine - there is no "Düsseldorf river." It's a well known fact that the producers were hardly geography whizzes, but not knowing the Rhine is bad even by their standards. Curiously enough, there kinda is a "Düsseldorf river" called the Düssel, and it meets the Rhine there. The Düssel however is a small streamlet that a well-trained man could probably jump over - so the mistake is still a valid one.

Doc ★

Dear Peggy - S4-E10

Character mistake: When he sees the 'P' for Protestant on Davis' chart, Col. Hollister states "A lot of your Davises are 'J's, you know" implying that Davis is a Jewish name. In fact, the ID tag code for Jewish faith was 'H' for Hebrew. (00:18:45)

Doc ★

Reservations Are Required - S1-E15

Character mistake: In this episode, Hogan suggests a helicopter as means for escape from Stalag 13. As a matter of fact, the allies had no helicopters operational before April 1944. The famous R-4 made its first flight only in January 1942. So unless Hogan planned to steal one of the Luftwaffe's 20 FW Drache (a maximum of ten or so existing at any given time) or a whole bunch of the single-seat Flettner Kolibri (24 total built) he was out of luck.

Doc ★

Easy Come, Easy Go - S6-E15

Factual error: Klink and Hogan sit behind each other in the P-51 they try to steal. The P-51 is a single-seat airplane, the only twin-seat P-51 are trainers. A trainer would not be at the flight line with the regular airplanes, and if a trainer would actually scramble with the others, it would at least arouse suspicion.

Doc ★

Bombsight - S5-E7

Revealing mistake: When the homing bomb hits Burkhalter's car because Klink used the radio, you can see the mini tank from "Tanks for the Memory" (s2e9) sticking out of the wreckage.

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: In several episodes, Hogan and his men are confronted with mobile missile launchers. These are depicted as a missile on a flatbed from which it is launched at the push of a button. While there existed mobile German missile launchers for the A4 missile better known as "V2", they consisted of a whole column of trucks, among them a transport truck for the missile with erector hydraulics, at least two tankers for the fuel, a control vehicle and several other trucks full of equipment, not counting the transport capability for a dozen or more operators that were necessary to launch them. Also the missiles weren't launched from the transport vehicles, but placed on mobile launch racks that were transported separately.

Doc ★

Revealing mistake: When Bowen is being pulled through the woods on his saddle, you can see the "rope" bend and snap like an antenna. (00:29:00)

Doc ★

The Pizza Parlor - S1-E22

Revealing mistake: LeBeau hands Schultz the pan straight from the hot plate, but Schultz puts at least three fingers around it while eating without any apparent issues. Note that LeBeau earlier said the Crepe Suzette were "not quite ready yet" - or in other words, still cooking. (00:01:40)

Doc ★

One in Every Crowd - S3-E10

Revealing mistake: After the cell door blows, you can see the fuse of the stick of "dynamite" Newkirk placed still burning on the ground. Since the dynamite would blow when the fuse is burnt up, that literally can't happen. (00:22:40)

Doc ★

Show generally

Factual error: Baker and Kinchloe, the radio experts of the troupe, often use Morse code to communicate by radio. When they do, they hammer the Morse key in different intervals, but always just barely tap it. Morse code is made up of "short" and "long" beeps. To produce a "long" in Morse code, you have to hold the key down three times as long as you would for a "short". A tap would be a "short" - the beeps they are sending are spaced long and short, but that's not how Morse code works.

Doc ★

Audio problem: When Dr. Norton disassembles RoboCop to demonstrate to him the reality of his situation, the movement of his lungs do not match Murphy's speech. (00:33:30)

Doc ★

Factual error: Burt claims his watch updates its time "by connecting directly to the cesium clock in Colorado via ultrasonic frequency." Later the graboids home in on him by the ultrasonic sound emitted by his watch. Firstly, radio controlled watches update their time by receiving signals, but they don't emit any signals - the battery would be way too weak for two-way communication. Secondly, they work on radio waves, not sonic waves. Thirdly, if a hypothetical time transmitter did work on ultrasonics, the smallest distance between Colorado and Nevada is some 435 km (around 270 mi). An ultrasonic signal strong enough to reach that far would probably be deadly within a sizable range around the transmitter. (00:08:20)

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: As Johny Blaze stumbles down the warehouse, his boots are on fire. When the camera pulls upward to drop right back down on his face, they are not. (00:41:40)

Doc ★

Plot hole: When Bond wakes up in the monsoon palace, his watch is still beeping with the activated tracking mode. Wouldn't somebody have noticed the constant beeping while he was brought there? The tracker is shown to have a range of several hundred meters, so it would certainly have been in range of the transmitter at least part of the time while Gobinda dragged him back to Kamal's palace.

Doc ★

Factual error: Bond pulls his mini jet out of the path of the missile racing in from behind, making it narrowly miss his aircraft. Like most such piloting stunts from Hollywood, it wouldn't have worked. Modern anti-aircraft missiles have proximity fuses and fragmentation warheads or continuous-rod warheads. They actually deliberately pass by the aircraft they are trying to destroy and explode next to them, because the cross-section is greater that way. There have even been cases when a missile actually hitting an airplane just disintegrated without exploding, thus saving the target.

Doc ★

Other mistake: When Bond starts up his plane during the pre-credit chase scene, the Cuban forces are visible at the horizon closing fast - they have to be to keep the tension up - but with the closing speed and the time it takes for Bond to roll out his plane, there would never be enough street left for him to get airborne.

Doc ★

Character mistake: As Bond offers Ms. Brink to help her if she helps them, she answers "Ja, mein Herr Bond" meaning, "Yes, Mister Bond." It should simply be "Ja, Herr Bond." The way she says it would roughly translate to "Yes, my Lord Bond."

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: Bond fixes the end of his rope with a spring-loaded camming device (which is unsuitable for lose, porous rock by the way). When Apostis tries to dislodge him, the end loop of the rope is fixed to a piton - it has to be, because SLCDs literally cannot be knocked out of the rock.

Doc ★

Revealing mistake: As Bond prepares to drop Blofeld into the smoke stack, you can see that the cervical collar isn't put on correctly, the actor can still move his head. The intention of a cervical collar is to take all strain off the spine and neck muscles and prevent any movement that could cause damage to the spinal cord. To work, a stiff neck must be fixed so the neck is completely immobilized and slightly extended. However, wearing a cervical collar is very uncomfortable to the wearer, so they probably used a slightly lower one and didn't fully tighten it.

Doc ★

Plot hole: If you look closely at the lamps on the tables at the casino restaurant and at the size of the tape recorder Columbo uncovers, you can see that it would never fit in the base.

Doc ★

Factual error: Aircraft have multiple independent tanks. If one tank is hit, it should be able to fly for hours on the others. It would be very unlikely that all tanks of the plane got hit during the firefight - some are in quite well-protected spots. It is actually very nigh impossible to pierce every single tank from the outside and still have a flyable plane remaining.

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: During the aerial showoff, in some shots the landing gear of the plane is extended, in some retracted.

Doc ★

Plot hole: Bond leaves Kara to fly the plane because he needs to disable the bomb he placed earlier. He could have just enabled the autopilot instead of leaving Kara to fly the plane. (01:47:20)

Doc ★

Character mistake: When the butler surprises Necros in the kitchen, he does not conform to standard emergency radio procedures. During an emergency, the emergency code word always stands right at the beginning of the message, precisely because the reporter might go off the air before he can finish his transmission. Rightfully, the message should read something like "Intruder alert, this is three-four, intruder in the kitchen, I repeat..." Of course this would have toppled the plot to no end. (00:27:25)

Doc ★

Trivia: Whatever other qualities movie props have, durability and quality is not among them. If you look closely as Triple X jumps into Bonds arms inside the escape capsule, you can see that the dye of her costume wasn't exactly washer-dryer-proof.

Doc ★

Factual error: As the SLBMs eject from the submarines, they visibly jostle and shake the missile tube hatch, especially the second one - the hatch even scrapes the missile surface. Real missile hatches don't do that. In fact, if the missile actually did scrape the hatch, both the hatch and the missile would be irreparably damaged - consider the momentum of a 10m high, 13 ton missile... (01:43:20)

Doc ★

Factual error: When the two missiles blast out of the water, the first thing you see is the glare of the rocket motors under water. SLBMs rise out of the water solely on the air or steam pressure impulse that propels them out of the launcher. The rocket motors ignite only after the missile has left the water completely. (01:43:20)

Doc ★

Trivia: When Bond drives his hovercraft gondola down the Piazza San Marco, a tourist gives his wine bottle quite the guilty look. It is the same tourist who gives his wine bottle exactly the same look as Bond drove his car out of the sea in "The Spy Who Loved Me". (00:39:05)

Doc ★

Factual error: As Bond switches his gondola to hovercraft mode in Venice, a large skirt unfolds from the bottom of the craft. There could never be enough room below the deck of a gondola to store the folded skirt plus whatever fans and machinery the air cushion drive would require. (00:38:40)

Doc ★

Factual error: Moonraker 6 with Holly and James on board jettisons its booster rockets after reaching space. The solid fuel boosters are jettisoned after they burn out at about 50 km height, far below orbit. Their empty weight is considerable, it is highly doubtful if the shuttle would even be able to carry them into orbit. (01:28:55)

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: When the boat jettisons its roof, you can see the "folded glider" prop below being torn away with it towards the boat's left side. In the next shot it is centered again (of course) and unfolds properly. (01:16:05)

Doc ★

Deluge - S4-E23

Continuity mistake: When Klinger is scrubbing the sink, it's empty, or almost so. Klinger turns on the water. When BJ brings in the wounded soldier, the sink suddenly is more than half full - and the water is off again.

Doc ★

Dear Peggy - S4-E10

Audio problem: As Hawkeye calls for X-rays, you can see Klinger hollering a reply through the door, but nothing is heard. (00:21:30)

Doc ★

Of Moose and Men - S4-E11

Continuity mistake: When Frank inspects the local workers, the laundry woman bends down to help the kid put away the sandwich Burns suspected of being a bomb. After the cut, she's upright again. (00:10:45)

Doc ★

The Klink Commandos - S5-E3

Plot hole: In his German uniform, Col. Hogan wears a number of decorations, among them the Iron Cross first and second class. When did he earn those if he has just been drafted for a suicide mission? After all he was not posing as a Wehrmacht soldier for a change but wore the uniform "officially". (00:17:00)

Doc ★

Pilot - S1-E1

Other mistake: When Hawkeye has Lt. Dish draw the winner of the raffle, he turns the bottom of the glass towards the crowd - meaning they would be able to see Lt. Dish pick the raffle ticket that has been taped to the bottom of the glass, just like the audience does.

Doc ★

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 ★

That's Show Biz - S10-E1

Question: What is the title of the song Ellie Carlyle dedicates to Maj. Winchester, calling him "a swell guy - with a head to match"? Winchester's reaction implies the song is some kind of joke in its own right.

Doc ★

Heroes - S10-E18

Continuity mistake: As Col. Potter toasts the champ, his glass jumps from the table into his hand with the cut from side view to frontal.

Doc ★

Peace on Us - S7-E2

Revealing mistake: Klinger says "The sun is going to ruin my comb-out", fingering his hair net. He has curlers under his hair net, but his hair is not around the curlers, they're just stuffed into his hair net. (00:01:10)

Doc ★

The Kids - S4-E8

Plot hole: When the truck with the orphans arrives, Col. Potter and Nurse Cratty greet each other like one would an old friend. Being new to Korea, Col. Potter doesn't know Nurse Cratty - as becomes clear from his reaction to Hawkeye's explanation to BJ earlier (who doesn't know Nurse Cratty for the same reason, but that's not relevant for this mistake). Note that in other parts of the series Col. Potter is depicted mostly as somewhat old-fashioned and reserved towards strangers. (00:05:20)

Doc ★

Tuttle - S1-E15

Character mistake: Hawkeye and Trapper make Tuttle an alumnus of "Berlin Polytechnic" and translate that (wrongly) as "Berlinishes Polytechnikum". Berlin's polytechnic university was named "Technische Hochschule Berlin" at the relevant time - and at no time offered a medical curriculum. To study medicine in Berlin, Tuttle would have to attend "Freie Universität Berlin" instead.

Doc ★

The Merchant of Korea - S6-E14

Plot hole: In this episode, the military money, or scrip, is being called in and exchanged for a different color (and assumedly design - otherwise counterfeiters could just keep using their printing plates) to battle counterfeiting. However, in previous episodes several colors of scrip are being used equally and at the same time - e.g. in episode "Hey, Doc" (4-5), Sgt. Kimble collects a pot consisting of both blue and tan one-dollar scrip notes. No previous indication was given in the show that the army started a practice of using just one color at a time.

Doc ★

Souvenirs - S5-E22

Factual error: The MP describes the antique vase Burns is supposed to have bought as "An 800-year-old seladon vase of the Ko-Yu dynasty". Later, Burns packs up a white vase to send to his wife. Seladon is by definition green, and that kind of color glazing definitely wasn't around in the 13th century. What Burns packs up looks most like early to middle Quing period - or rather a contemporary ripoff. (00:09:00 - 00:14:00)

Doc ★

Where There's a Will, There's a War - S10-E16

Revealing mistake: When Hawkeye injects the adrenalin into the chest of the dying soldier at the battalion Aid Station, you can see that he is actually injecting into a piece of rubber foam soaked with prop blood. (00:13:25)

Doc ★

Heroes - S10-E18

Continuity mistake: When the Champ falls forward, he gets wine all over his sweater - you can see it when Potter and Hawkeye lift him. After the cut, his sweater is clean again. Considering the position of the stains relative to Hawk's hand, at least some stains would be visible. (00:08:10)

Doc ★

Bottle Fatigue - S8-E16

Continuity mistake: When Klinger refuses to give Winchester the letter from his sister, Winchester screams at him, Klinger jumps and falls to the ground next to Winchester's bunk. After the cut, Klinger is sitting next to Hawkeye's bunk (note the airplane seat in the background instead of the door) and Winchester is holding the letter in his hand opening it. Rightfully it should be on the floor next to Winchester's bunk. If you look closely, you can see it flying out of Klinger's hand towards the door. (00:16:25)

Doc ★

Abyssinia, Henry - S3-E24

Continuity mistake: When Henry kisses Margret, she grabs her hat. In the reverse shot, her hand is around Henry's neck. After the next cut, it's on her hat again. (00:20:00)

Doc ★

There is Nothing Like a Nurse - S3-E10

Stupidity: Hawkeye and Trapper park a jeep over a foxhole to trap Maj. Burns in it. While it is certainly possible to trap somebody in a hole with, say, a sports car, an off-road vehicle like a jeep is particularly unsuited for the task - the chassis has so much ground clearance, even a quite fat man could squeeze out past it. You can even see the gap when the camera cuts to Major Burns screaming "Let me out!" (00:18:10)

Doc ★

U.N., the Night and the Music - S11-E10

Continuity mistake: When Col. Potter runs out of his tent to say goodbye to Capt. Lal, he wears only one slipper. When the jeep drives away and Potter's feet once more are visible, both feet are in slippers. (00:22:05)

Doc ★

Mulcahy's War - S5-E8

Continuity mistake: When Hawkeye and BJ unload the chopper, the dog, Corp. Cupcake, is lying on its paws in the long shots and on its side in the closeups. (00:03:35)

Doc ★

As You Were - S2-E20

Continuity mistake: Hawkeye pulls the blanket over Frank's right arm, then pulls his left arm up to take his pulse. In the following closeup Frank's right arm is uncovered, and the blanket is below the screen. (00:18:45)

Doc ★

Patent 4077 - S6-E16

Plot hole: When Hawkeye and BJ buy Margaret a new ring, it takes a typo in the inscription to give them away - which makes both of them and Mr. Shin almost clairvoyant. Not only did they somehow guess Margaret's ring size, but Mr Shin - phew, Houdini and Uri Geller together don't hold a candle to this guy - actually somehow divined the exact type and font of the inscription in the original so perfectly that Margaret actually only spotted the difference from the missing 'n.'

Doc ★

Hey, Doc - S4-E5

Revealing mistake: When Radar carries the field phone from Col. Potter's desk over to Hawkeye who is squatting in the corner, the phone doesn't have a phone line attached. It is an EE-8 Military Field Phone, which is a wired device, not a radio - even if Radar elsewhere says he has somebody "on the radio" when in fact he is using an EE-8. (00:17:35)

Doc ★

Dear Ma - S4-E16

Plot hole: In this episode, Maj. Burns is trying to avoid the foot inspection because he has nail polish on his toenails. Having access to a fully outfitted hospital dispensory, he'd be able to remove that nail polish in a minute.

Doc ★

Period of Adjustment - S8-E6

Other mistake: Rosie says she took the darts away from Klinger and BJ, but there are still plenty of darts sticking in and around the dartboard. (00:12:45)

Doc ★

Continuity mistake: When the race begins between the staff car and the hot rod, they immediately pull away from the convoy, as is logical. However, in the next shot the convoy is right behind the staff car again - which is still accelerating racing the hot rod. When the convoy pulls off the main road towards Area 51, the convoy again is right behind the staff car. (00:01:40)

Doc ★

5 O'Clock Charlie - S2-E2

Continuity mistake: When Margret puts The Gun belt around Frank's waist, it is twisted in the back. After the cut, it is righted. (00:02:30)

Doc ★

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Other mistake: When Hawkeye drives the damaged tank out of the camp, the front MG is missing. There's not a mark on the armor surrounding the MG port that might suggest it was destroyed in battle. Why would a tank in combat just be missing one of its MGs?

Doc ★

A War for All Seasons - S9-E6

Continuity mistake: When Maj. Winchester hears that the Giants won, he drops his baseball cap. A few shots later we see him lying on his back, clasping his cap in his hand.

Doc ★

April Fools - S8-E25

Continuity mistake: When Sgt. Rizzo comes out from under the jeep, in the closeup his cigar is in his mouth. After the cut, the cigar is in his hand.

Doc ★

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Factual error: When Hawkeye leaves the tank after parking it in the trash heap, he comes out of the cupola hatch. He should be coming out of the driver's hatch, because he sure as hell didn't drive that tank from the turret.

Doc ★

Soldier of the Month - S4-E12

Trivia: When Igor salutes Hawkeye and BJ as they enter the Post-Op, he bangs the stove, making a "Doinggg" sound. Together with the crisp parade-ground salute, it's really hilarious once you have spotted it. If you wonder whether or not it was deliberate, you can almost see Igor slipping something into his pocket as he exits. (00:04:35)

Doc ★

Abyssinia, Henry - S3-E24

Factual error: Henry says that every Wednesday, his wife drives up Route 26 with some friends. US. Route 26 starts out in Nebraska and leads to Oregon. The closest thing that could be described as a "Route 26" would be the road leading from Princeton, IL to Dixon, IL which begins 85 miles from Bloomington. The writer probably meant Route 24, which passes about 20 miles north of Bloomington. (00:03:10)

Doc ★

Dear Mildred - S4-E7

Revealing mistake: In the shot where the horse kicks in the door, there's actually two shots - a kick, a quick cut, another kick. If you look closely, you can see how the hoof of one of the horse-leg props breaks off during the first kick. The second kick is performed by one leg only. If you look really closely - and probably use the slow-motion function - you can even make out the hand of the one wielding the leg through the hole made in the first kick. (00:18:10)

Doc ★

Deal Me Out - S2-E13

Factual error: In this episode, Henry is seen handing Radar the keys to his jeep. While this probably benefited the understanding of the audience, it is historically incorrect. Jeeps assigned to a combat zone were outfitted with an ignition switch, not an ignition lock, for the simple reason that in an emergency the vehicle had to be useable by anyone. (00:03:40)

Doc ★

Trivia: Throughout the series, Nurses Able and Baker are often seen or heard of. "Able" and "Baker" stand for the letters A and B in the civilian spelling alphabet, just like Alpha and Bravo do in the Nato spelling alphabet. "Nurse Able" and "Nurse Baker" are just plain old Nurse A and Nurse B - not very creative but whatever works, I guess.

Doc ★

Dear Ma - S4-E16

Character mistake: Radar says about The Gun the enemy sniper brings into the mess tent: "What funny printing on there. All the R's and the P's are backwards." While there is a mirrored R in kyrillic (pronounced "Ya") there is no mirrored P. (00:09:40)

Doc ★

The Birthday Girls - S10-E11

Plot hole: In this episode, Margaret is required to give a lecture on the use of Levophed, because it is being introduced. However, in the Episode "Period of Adjustment"(8-6), Hawkeye orders an IV of Levophed for one of his patients. (00:12:15)

Doc ★

The Gun - S4-E13

Revealing mistake: When Radar walks into the supply room, he carries four or five ammunition belts around his neck. Since he stows them in The Gun bin, it has to be assumed that they are not meant to be empty. If they were only half filled each, he would still be carrying something in the area of 60-100lb. However he moves with absolutely no visible strain and tosses the belts into The Gun bin with ease. Elsewhere in the series Radar is depicted as being none too strong. Clearly the magazine pouches were stuffed with something light and the effect carrying the real weight would have on Radar was overlooked. (00:06:45)

Doc ★

For the Good of the Outfit - S2-E4

Continuity mistake: Henry pops out the golf ball he is washing into the towel. After he finishes talking to Hawkeye, he resumes washing. However, no ball is missing from the dirty pile. (00:02:45)

Doc ★

Trivia: The pictures painted by Col. Potter throughout the show actually were painted by Harry Morgan, the actor playing Col. Potter, who is an amateur painter in real life.

Doc ★

Springtime - S3-E6

Trivia: In the background, two soldiers are washing an ambulance. As Hawkeye and Mulchahy walk by, one empties a bucket over the other's head - and not for the first time: the shot must have taken several takes. (00:06:00)

Doc ★

Trivia: During the whole series, the same short loop of background chatter is used in every OR scene. You can make out the words "Doctor, do you want me to hold that for you?" and "Irrigate this!" over and over again.

Doc ★

Hawkeye Get Your Gun - S5-E10

Character mistake: After Potter mocks Hawkeye for not hitting anything, Hawkeye replies "You fired as many shots as I did". In fact, Potter fired seven shots, Hawkeye only five. On a side note, this also suggests that Hawkeye probably was supposed to fire seven times, but his weapon jammed after the fifth shot. (00:22:00)

Doc ★