The Launch Acceleration - S5-E23
Factual error: In all the episodes leading up to Howard and Bernadette's wedding, Howard was going into space to install a space toilet. But in this episode, Howard tells her they want his telescope, so he has to go.
Bishop73
6th Oct 2023
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
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Suggested correction: The space toilet was something Howard designed that NASA installed back in season 2. His mission to the ISS in season 5 was always about his telescope. In episode 5, "The Russian Rocket Reaction", Howard says NASA picked his team's design for the deep field space telescope that's going on the International Space Station in the spring.
18th Sep 2023
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Maternal Congruence - S3-E11
Corrected entry: Sheldon tells Leonard and Penny that he had inflatable lawn decorations as a child (in the late 80s/early 90s). Those weren't invented until 2001.
Correction: Sorry, but this is completely incorrect. I had inflatable decorations back in the 90s, and there were absolutely inflatable lawn decorations in the 80s. You can still buy some inflatable 80s decoration secondhand on sites like eBay. "Modern" inflatables like balloons date back 200 years, and the air-inflation process had been used prior to that even. I can only presume you're referring to the more current in-vogue inflatables that use fans... but even those existed before 2001, albeit they weren't as widely used. (Ex. The StarLab inflatable planetarium that many schoolchildren still experience to this day uses the same basic fan system and was invented in the 1970's.)
I researched my answer. Can you provide more info on yours?
How could you have possibly done research on inflatables and come to the conclusion that inflatable decorations were invented in 2001? My info is that I literally owned some, and you can still find plenty second-hand online. Go to Etsy and search "vintage inflatable" and there are currently multiple inflatable decorations that date from the 80s and earlier that people are selling secondhand.
Correction: He says he had an inflatable Santa Claus, but nothing to suggest it was an "air blown" version that you seem to be talking about.
Inflatable means you blow air into it.
Yes, but it doesn't mean to blow air into constantly with a portable fan. That's why kids before 2001 had beach balls and other inflatable pool toys. What you seem to be describing or alluding to are called "Gemmy Airblown Inflatables," introduced in 2001.
Very true, Bishop. And even then... the technology Gemmy Airblown Inflatables use existed long before 2001. As I said in my response, it's the same basic tech used for things like inflatable planetariums. I'm confused as to what MovieFan612 is getting at. They seem to be indicating that inflatable decorations in general didn't exist before 2001... which is just factually wrong.
7th Jan 2022
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Confirmation Polarization - S12-E13
Corrected entry: Sheldon meets two new fellow scientists, one of which is Sean Astin, who played Sam Gee wise in the Lord of the Rings. Surely, Sheldon would know who he is.
Correction: Suspension of disbelief has to play a part here. Actors are allowed to play other roles, and being many years later, Sean Astin looks quite different, so even if there was a meta element of "this person looks like the actor who played Sam", Sheldon wouldn't necessarily even notice the similarity.
Correction: I'm not sure if this is meant to be a troll entry or a joke. Sean Astin doesn't play himself in this episode, he plays Dr. Pemberton.
9th Apr 2014
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Locomotive Manipulation - S7-E15
Corrected entry: Sheldon asks whether the train carriage has "link-and-pin" type couplers, when he would know that such couplers were outlawed by the Safety Appliance Act of 1893.
Correction: It would easy for Sheldon to ignore this fact when he is aboard a train that has been restored to its original design; internally and externally. He has been building toy models since he was a kid. He just wanted to know to what level this train has been restored.
8th Jun 2020
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Robotic Manipulation - S4-E1
Corrected entry: While driving towards the restaurant, Amy mentions she uses dandruff shampoo for her "dry" scalp. Dandruff and dry scalp have the same main symptoms, which are falling flakes and an itchy scalp, but they are two different conditions. In dry scalp, the skin gets irritated and flakes off. With dandruff, the cause is too much oil on the scalp. That excess oil causes skin cells to build up and then shed. Therefore dandruff shampoo should be used for an oily scalp, not a dry scalp. (00:11:19)
Correction: Except there are dandruff shampoos that specifically treat dry scalp. In addition, dry scalp is commonly caused by dandruff.
More of a continuity error regarding this is that much later she claims that lice isn't attracted to her hair cos of her naturally oily scalp (contradictory).
Then that should be entered as a mistake. What was entered isn't a mistake.
13th Jan 2013
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Bakersfield Expedition - S6-E13
Corrected entry: At the end of the episode Sheldon's sat nav voice asks "Can you name the four state capitals that are not served by the interstate system?" In fact, there are five, according to the Interstate System's website. Juneau, Alaska; Dover, Delaware; Jefferson City, Missouri; Carson City, Nevada; and Pierre, South Dakota.
Correction: Although there used to be 5 state capitals not served by the interstate system, the completion of I-580 means that Carson City is now served, hence there are only four, and the sat nav was correct. 580 was completed in 2012, the episode in question aired in 2013.
What about Hawaii?
Honolulu, HI has an Interstate Highway. Not all Interstate Highways physically go from one state to another, the name just indicates it receives federal funding as part of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways initially set up through the Federal Aid Highway Act.
Honolulu Hawaii is served by H1, H2 and H3, all part of the U.S. Interstate system.
15th Nov 2019
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Platonic Permutation - S9-E9
Continuity mistake: In episode 16 of season 1, Penny is talking about making a cake for Leonard's birthday and states she knows his birthday because she was checking a horoscope for him. But in this episode she does not know when his birthday is, which leads to Leonard revealing he was secretly reading Penny's diary. (00:40:00)
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Suggested correction: It's certainly possible to forget something you knew eight years ago.
This is perhaps true for two people who rarely have contact, but I would list this as a character mistake. Penny and Leonard are in a serious relationship and are married at this point.
This is also a couple who BOTH forgot it was their anniversary.
I forgot my wife's birthday on a number of occasions. It's one of the reasons she is now my ex-wife.
There's a difference between forgetting and not knowing.
12th Nov 2015
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
Continuity mistake: In "The Luminous Fish Effect" (S1E04) Sheldon tells Penny he weighs 140 pounds. In "The Porkchop Indeterminacy" (S1E16), he tells his sister he weighs 165. 25lbs difference would be a noticeable change, but he looks the same.
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Suggested correction: Lying to Penny but not to his sister, not inconsistent with the characters and his relationships.
24th May 2019
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Big Bran Hypothesis - S1-E2
Other mistake: Leonard is awoken by the apartment door closing. When he walks into the living room the door is open. (00:08:55)
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Suggested correction: He's awoken by a door closing, not necessarily the front door. He could have heard Sheldon closing his door.
26th Sep 2018
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Beta Test Initiation - S5-E14
Character mistake: Sheldon says (during Fun With Flags) "But like the flag over Fort Sumter, I'm still here." The Sumter flag was lowered when the fort surrendered to the Confederates. The flag over Fort McHenry was never taken down despite the British bombardment and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the National Anthem about it. Whouldn't a vexologist know that?
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Suggested correction: Sheldon is referring to the actual Fort Sumter flag, which still exists and is on display at the Fort Sumter museum.
Sheldon is not referring the actual flag (especially since if the actual flag is in a museum it's not still over Fort Sumter). Sheldon is referencing the line from The Star-Spangled Banner "our flag was still there." Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner after seeing the flag over Fort McHenry was still there. The writers simply made a mistake and Sheldon the character would know which flag inspired the line. Incidentally, the actual Fort McHenry flag also still exists.
1st Aug 2017
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Excelsior Acquisition - S3-E16
Corrected entry: Penny doesn't know who Stan Lee is in this episode, though earlier in the series she not only knew who he was but met him at the Cheesecake Factory and had him sign a napkin for Sheldon.
Correction: The signed napkin (from s02e11 "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis") was from Leonard Nimoy (who played Spock) whom Penny met at the Cheesecake Factory, not Stan Lee.
19th Jul 2017
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Friendship Algorithm - S2-E13
Corrected entry: When Sheldon and Barry are rock climbing, Sheldon looks down and shouts in fear. When Barry asks "You all right there Cooper?", Sheldon answers "I feel somewhat like an inverse tangent function approaching an asymptote." An inverse tangent function approaches its asymptote in the horizontal axis, not the vertical. (00:15:55)
Correction: The vanity card at the end explains the joke. "A linear asymptote is essentially a straight line to which a graphed curve moves closer and closer but does not reach. In other words, given a function y=fn (x) with asymptote A, A represents a number that, no matter how big (or, given the function, small) you make x, y will never make it to A. The particular example Sheldon quotes is the inverse Tangent function, or Arctangent, which has two asymptotes. If you graph it, it sort of looks like a horizontal S. No matter how big you make x (that is, how far you move to the right [that is horizontally]), the function is never going to hit that top line (π/2), and no matter how small x gets (moving to the left), y is never going to be smaller than - π/2" Sheldon is saying he will never reach the top.
25th Jan 2016
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
Corrected entry: In the discussion between Raj and Howard about "shiksa goddess" plus Sheldon's later mispronunciation of the word and Howard's correction, it is never clarified that the term applies only to a Gentile girlfriend of a Jewish man. No other relationship qualifies.
Correction: This is incorrect as it also applies to a Gentile woman who is the object of desire by a Jewish man. However, like many words, the appropriation of the word by English speakers has transformed it into any Gentile woman (although usually an attractive woman) and is as such, commonly used as a term of endearment rather than an insult.
2nd Feb 2015
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Wheaton Recurrence - S3-E19
Corrected entry: In previous episodes, it's mentioned that Leonard is lactose intolerant, but at the bowling alley he eats from a plate of chili cheese fries.
Correction: Just because he's lactose intolerant doesn't mean he can't have dairy (as opposed to Howard's peanut allergy where he can't have any peanut product). In fact, in several episodes others have made fun of Leonard's flatulent as a result of him having dairy, evidence that he's had dairy products before.
9th Nov 2013
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Wiggly Finger Catalyst - S5-E4
Corrected entry: Five minutes into the show, Sheldon has written down what a dice roll will tell him what to do. He rolls the dice, pauses and looks at the list to see what he has to do for that dice roll. The problem is he has an Eidetic memory and wouldn't take the time to look at the list when he can already see it in his head.
Correction: This is not at all accurate. The list he his looking at is the Cheesecake Factory menu, not one he created himself. Given the nature of the menu page Sheldon looks at, it's unlikely he's ever looked at that page before.