Best comedy TV character mistakes of all time

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Gilligan's Island picture

Don't Bug the Mosquitoes - S2-E12

Character mistake: When the "Honey Bees" (Mary Ann, Ginger, Mrs. Howell) perform, Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schafer) messes up her lip-syncing throughout the number. But it is most noticeable at the very end when the girls put their heads together and say "buzzzzzzzzzzz" but Mrs. Howell is mouthing an "oooooooooo" which she changes to a "zzzzz" mid-way through the note.

kuffpah

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Hey Arnold! picture

Married - S5-E16

Character mistake: The first time Arnold tries Rhonda's marriage predictor test, he says his favorite number is five, but Rhonda actually makes six moves. The second time, Arnold says it's three, but Rhonda counts off four.

AidanN

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Kolchak: The Night Stalker picture

Primal Scream - S1-E13

Character mistake: The animal control officer tells Kolchak he was crazy shooting off a flash bulb at the gorilla, but the first frontal shot Kolchak took of the gorilla did not flash at all.

Scott215

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Married... with Children picture

Calendar Girl - S10-E16

Character mistake: When Bud is showing Al his school project of a fan page turner, he has it on the left side and blowing the pages left to right. That would be blowing the pages the wrong direction to flip pages. It should be on the right side changing pages right to left.

twstr988

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The Middle picture

The Bachelor - S4-E19

Character mistake: When Sue and her opponent switch sides right before her opponent smashes her racket, the score in games is 5-1. In tennis, you only switch sides when the sum of games is an odd number (4-3, 5-2, 1-0) for example.

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Cheers picture

Ill-Gotten Gaines - S11-E8

Character mistake: Cliff tests Norm's memory by asking him who the bad guy in 'Herbie The Love Bug' was (presumably meaning the first movie, which was just 'The Love Bug, ' no Herbie in the title, and not the TV series that actually had the 'Herbie, the Love Bug' title). Norm answers Keenan Wynn, and is told by Cliff that is correct and that his memory is OK. Wynn was the antagonist in the second movie, 'Herbie Rides Again' (reprising his role from the 'Absent-Minded Professor'). The bad guy in 'The Love Bug' was played by David Tomlinson of 'Mary Poppins' fame.

Vader47000

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Burn Notice picture

End Run - S3-E3

Character mistake: Near the end, when Michael reveals to Brennen he knows everything about him, he says, "I know everything about Tyler Brennen." Michael emphasizes "Tyler" as if it's a big deal that he knows Brennen's first name. Michael already knew Brennen's first name from the first time he met him, in Season 2, Episode 15 "Sins of Omission."

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Sex and the City picture

The catch - S6-E8

Character mistake: When Charlotte is looking at her wedding announcement in the New York Times, there is a close-up shot of part of the article. It says, in reference to Charlotte: "She is a writer and editor at Fashions Magazine in Manhattan". This is not true, nor has it ever been true. Perhaps the producers of the show threw that in, to see if anyone would notice. Also, the same article mentions: "The bride, who will be keeping her name..." and yet we never really hear Charlotte use the name York instead of Goldenblatt. (00:16:45)

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Jessie picture

G.I. Jessie - S2-E26

Character mistake: In the beginning of the pilot episode, Jessie told the cab driver that her father is in the Marine Corps. However, it is shown in this episode that her father is actually a lieutenant colonel in the Army. It's highly unlikely that Jessie wouldn't know what branch of the military her father was in considering how much she spoke about her military upbringing throughout the series.

AD

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The Darling Buds of May picture

A Breath of French Air (2) - S1-E6

Character mistake: It is mentioned several times that the Larkins' holiday to France takes place in August. Whilst on the beach, Ma Larkin says that Mariette and Charlie's first wedding anniversary is the following week. However, it is established in the previous two part episode, 'When the Green Woods Laugh', that their wedding date is the seventh of July, the same date that Pop has to appear in court.

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Batman picture

The Joker's Flying Saucer - S3-E24

Character mistake: Vertigris tells Joker he planted a bomb in the Batmobile while it was parked in front of City Hall/Police HQ. Only in this instance, it wasn't. It was parked in the alley out back, the better to hide his bomb-planting from public view, so it's strange that he'd forget this. (00:08:15)

Jean G

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Hannah Montana picture

I Can't Make You Love Hannah If You Don't - S1-E4

Character mistake: When Olivia turns up at Jackson's house, she says, "That was my Saturday afternoon. This is my Saturday night!" which indicates it is the same day. But when Cooper arrives, he says, "Sorry for blowing off at you yesterday," which means another day has passed. However, at the Hannah concert, it is the same day all the while, so Cooper had got his days wrong.

OliviaD3601

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Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This is an obvious reference to the Tango scene in "True Lies."

Leicaman

I see. Got it.

toroscan

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Monty Python's Flying Circus picture

Spam - S2-E12

Character mistake: When Mrs. Bun asks the dining lady if she has anything without spam in it, she forgot about egg & bacon, and egg, sausage & bacon. Those had no spam in them.

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I Love Lucy picture

Ricky Asks For a Raise - S1-E35

Character mistake: After Tropicana nightclub owner Mr. Littlefield replaces Ricky Ricardo with Xavier Valdez, "the Konga King," Lucy, Fred and Ethel try to get Ricky's job back by going to the nightclub in a succession of different wigs and costumes, then leaving when they learn that Ricky is no longer performing there. At one point, Fred and Ethel enter the nightclub, posing as "Mr. And Mrs. Crumley." A disguised Lucy enters one minute later and is outraged to hear that Ricky is no longer there. Ethel then pretends to phone a friend to tell her to not come to the nightclub. Lucy says, "Attagirl, Mrs. Crumley." However, when Ethel had told the maitre d' she had a reservation for "Crumley," Lucy had not yet entered and therefore should not have known that name.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: During the point when Mrs. Crumbley wants to call her friend to get her friend to cancel her reservations as well, Mr. Littlefield says, "But Mrs. Crumbley," to protest as she walks to the phone to make her call. So he did say her name in front of Lucy, thus giving her the name to reply with, "Attagirl, Mrs. Crumbley."

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