Character mistake: Deputy Olmstead says to Lorraine Lyon, "You think that you're rich 'cause you're better than me." Surely, the line should have been "You think that you're better than me 'cause you're rich."
Leicaman
2nd Mar 2024
Fargo (2014)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: No, she actually does mean Lorraine thinks she is rich because she is better than her. And to her, anyone who is not rich is therefore less, or else they would be rich too. It's the same type of thinking but with a different approach as what you suggest. It's about privilege.
Interesting. I can see it either way. Thanks for the thought.
11th Dec 2023
A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)
Corrected entry: When Ralphie is imagining he's in prison, the guard tells him he has a visitor and says, "Dead Man Walking." That refers to a prisoner being taken to his execution. Ralphie was not going to be executed, only to see his family.
7th Dec 2023
The Conners (2018)
Corrected entry: Ben says "we may be honing in on the problem." You hone a knife and you hone an argument. "Homing" means getting closer, either in distance or in understanding. They were HOMING in on the problem.
Correction: Either phrase is acceptable. "Honing in" means to move towards an objective or to focus attention on that objective.
It is a common usage, but still incorrect. https://grammarist.com/eggcorns/home-in-hone-in/.
It is an acceptable usage, even if it is not the best or most grammatically correct word to use. After all, the Conners are not the most sophisticated or educated family. Something that is not technically correct can be situationally right.
And I can't remember the last time (if ever) I heard anyone say "homing" instead of using "honing."
Correction: Merriam-Webster gives this as an example: The missile was honing in on its target. Researchers are honing in on the cause of the disease. Ben uses it in this manner. It is a colloquialism that we all understand. You can use either phrasing (and in the US it tends to be more common to use "honing in"). It is not a mistake.
2nd Jan 2004
Dante's Peak (1997)
Corrected entry: When Harry and the Wandos are crossing the lake which has turned into acid, you can hear the motor coughing right before it stops; and Harry turns the motor into the boat, and sees that the propeller is destroyed by the acid. Even though the propeller is gone, the motor shouldn't just stop, it would still run, but the boat wouldn't move. The director probably did this so that the viewers would understand that the motor was destroyed.
Correction: Those types of boat motors use the water to cool itself by cycling the water through the internals of the motor. The acid would have indeed caused the motor to die by destroying it.
In Dante's Peak, it shows that the propeller was melted, but stainless steel melts at 2550 degrees Fahrenheit, and the water was only 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Water can only get to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit under VERY high pressure.
24th Nov 2005
UHF (1989)
Question: What is meant by "We don't need no stinking baggers" line in the movie?
Chosen answer: It's making fun of "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" which is an often referenced 'quote' from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (Actually, the real line is "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!", but that's the way people say it.)
Mel Brooks borrowed the line in "Blazing Saddles." In that film, the line actually was "We don't need no stinkin' badges."
19th May 2023
General questions
Are there any TV series that were cancelled before a complete first season was even aired? I am mostly curious about sitcoms and dramas/thrillers, not reality shows.
Answer: Honestly, there have been numerous TV shows cancelled before a complete first season was aired. Another great example is cult-favorite sci-fi series "Firefly," which was cancelled before the 14 produced episodes finished airing. "Emily's Reasons Why Not" is another good example. It's a romantic comedy series that was cancelled after only one of the six produced episodes aired. (The remaining five episodes never aired on TV, but were quietly released on a DVD set.) "Viva Laughlin," a musical comedy-drama series produced by Hugh Jackman was cancelled after only two episodes, and none of the remaining episodes have aired or been given a DVD release. "Mockingbird Lane," a re-imagining of "The Munsters," was cancelled after it's pilot was aired as a TV-special, so the remainder of the first season was never produced. There's honestly probably hundreds of shows that were cancelled before a complete first season was aired.
I was wondering if there are contracts that require the entire first season to be shown, before a network can decide not to show another season. I guess not, based on the answers here.
Shows being pulled mid-season isn't indicative of what other shows' contracts consist of. Some shows may have had it in their contracts that the entire season be aired (there are shows that get pulled mid-season beyond season 1). I don't have personal knowledge because that would be a lot of contracts to read to find out. So maybe someone does. But there's plenty of shows that don't produce an entire season prior to being picked up, so it's possible all the episodes produced were aired.
Answer: So, so many. Drive comes to mind - Nathan Fillion thriller about an illegal road race, only had a few episodes before being pulled off air. "Selfie" (2014) with Karen Gillan and John Cho was cancelled by ABC after only 7 episodes. "Do No Harm" (2013) cancelled after 2 episodes. The Dictator (2012) starring Christopher Lloyd only had one episode.
Answer: One of the shortest TV shows ever was the 1997 series "Lawless," starring former NFL player Brian Bosworth. It was cancelled after the first episode. Also, "Cop Rock," a TV show in the 90s, was cancelled after only 11 episodes. "When The Whistle Blows," a TV sitcom in the 80s, also only lasted 11 episodes.
Answer: There was a police drama roughly 10 years ago called Golden Boy. It was about the youngest police Commissioner in NYPD history and kept hinting at a department-wide shootout that led to the man's promotion. It lasted 13 episodes.
Answer: Another show was called "Brimstone" and had actors Peter Horton and John Glover. The show only had 13 episodes.
The 1963 ABC "The Jerry Lewis Show" was originally planned for 40 episodes in the first season. It went off after 13 shows.
Answer: Outlaws 1986, was cancelled after a few episodes. Sitcom In Case of Emergency, with Kelly Hu, was cancelled after only a couple of episodes.
18th Aug 2023
Young Sheldon (2017)
Little Green Men and a Fella's Marriage Proposal - S6-E18
Character mistake: When Dr. Bell examines baby Constance, she has the stethoscope in her ears facing backwards. Also, when Sheldon and the professors are looking at the data from the telescope, Dr. Linkletter says "what about that" and Dr. Prakash says "no, that's within the standard deviation." That doesn't make sense.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Not taking anything away from the other correction, but these are two separate mistakes put into one entry.
13th Jan 2023
Young Sheldon (2017)
Legalese and a Whole Hoo-Ha - S6-E8
Corrected entry: This episode takes place in approximately 1992, but the video store has a copy of The Passion of the Christ. That movie was released in 2004.
Correction: No, it's "The Last Temptation of Christ". Connie even says this on the phone while ordering movies.
Correction: I watched all the scenes at the video store and never saw "The Passion of the Christ." The closest thing that came close was ordering "The Last Temptation of Christ." I would suggest you submit a screenshot of the video.
Mandy is on the phone ordering some more movies. She lists "Passion of the Christ."
Connie was on the phone, not Mandy. And she orders "The Last Temptation of Christ", which came out in 1988. Unless you're talking about a different episode.
No, she lists "Last Temptation of Christ," released in 1988. https://youtu.be/gbFkKuUQJcM?t=119.
21st Jun 2004
American Graffiti (1973)
Corrected entry: At the end of the movie, they have the black Chevy flip over. It was actually very hard to get the Chevy to flip, as the car had been lowered and the suspension had been upgraded. To make matters worse, this shot was always filmed at magic hour, which only gave them a window of an hour to film it. It took almost a month, and 4 or 5 attempts before they could actually flip the Chevy.
Correction: The chevy used in the crash scene is not the same car seen throughout the movie. That car, which was later used in the movie Two Lane Blacktop and others, was not lowered, it was lifted, and you can see from the bottom of the car that was crashed that it has the stock engine and exhaust (still coated with grease and oil). You can find many articles regarding the history of the '55 black chevy. It is at many car shows these days, as is Milners '32 coupe.
The car was used in Two Lane Blacktop before American Graffiti.
Correction: Milner's car was a '56. Check the tail lights or the front chrome.
Sorry. Not Milner's car, but Falfa's. There is a line where someone says to Milner that there's a '56 Chevy looking for him.
It's a 55, no matter who said it in the movie. The car still exists, actually both of them, as one was a camera car, and both were and still are 55s.
6th Jun 2016
Dirty Harry (1971)
Question: When Harry delivered his famous "do you feel lucky" monologue at the start, did he know his gun was empty? And when he repeated it at the end, did he know the gun was loaded?
Answer: He certainly knew at the start, which is why he felt confident in pointing the gun at the (disarmed) robber and pulling the trigger. Harry knew he was bluffing, but passed it off so well the robber wasn't sure. At the end of the film, again, he knew he had one bullet left and wanted to bait Scorpio into attacking him, giving him an excuse to fire.
Chosen answer: That question is the entire point of the first scene. You're meant to wonder whether he knew or not. At the end of the film, you're given the impression he does know, and is hoping the killer will attack him, giving him an excuse to fire.
The way I see the scene, he knows that he still has one round, and he is giving Scorpio a chance to live. He will only fire if he has to.
12th Sep 2022
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Corrected entry: Tom plays a Captain but there is a scene in the hangar where he is wearing the rank of Lt Colonel on his shoulder.
Correction: I've rewatched this scene (I assume the one where they find out who POPS really is) in particular and there's not a really clear shot of his rank patches, and from what I could tell they were the eagle of a USN Captain.
There is no rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the US Navy. The equivalent rank (three stripes or a silver oak leaf cluster) is Commander.
24th Mar 2022
Young Sheldon (2017)
A Free Scratcher and Feminine Wiles - S5-E14
Corrected entry: Dr. Lee says that she worked on IBM's Watson. The episode takes place in the 1980s or early 1990s. The Watson program was from 2004 to 2011. It won on "Jeopardy" in 2011.
1st Mar 2005
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Question: I'm not sure if this is a mistake or not, but shouldn't Greg be wearing a yarmulke during his wedding? He and his family are Jewish so why would he not be wearing one?
Chosen answer: Wearing a yarmulke is a custom, not a religious law. There are orthodox jews who don't wear them, as well, since it's a cultural thing.
Not so. Many Jews don't wear yarmulkes, but Orthodox male Jews do-as a religious law, not a custom.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.