Best comedy TV factual errors of all time

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Dead Like Me picture

Vacation - S1-E13

Factual error: Towards the end of the episode, Mason reads a report on Daisy's death indicating she died 13 December 1938 in Marietta Georgia of smoke inhalation. It apparently was common knowledge that Daisy died on the set of Gone with the Wind (supported in the Halloween episode by someone who knew her when she was alive). The filming of the big fire scene in GWTW was 10 December 1938 so the dates are pretty close. But these early parts of the production of GWTW (and I believe the rest of the movie as well) were filmed in Culver City, CA, not Marietta. (00:34:50)

bytecrawler

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The Dukes of Hazzard picture

Road Pirates - S2-E5

Factual error: When Roscoe tries the same jump the Dukes did, his car goes nose first into the wall of the ravine. Upon a close up, Roscoe is fine, but not wearing a seatbelt. According to physics, he should go through the windshield or get cut up.

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I Love Lucy picture

Home Movies - S3-E19

Factual error: In the film Lucy and the others make, there is a long sequence of footage played forwards, then "mistakenly" repeated backwards. With the equipment and techniques they were using, this would have required not only making a complete copy of the segment, but also reversing the order of individual frames. Just feeding the film in backwards would have also flipped the image vertically. The result seen would be nearly impossible to produce accidentally.

More I Love Lucy factual errors
Roseanne picture

No Talking - S2-E12

Factual error: When Becky locks Roseanne out of her bedroom, Roseanne heads to the garage for a screwdriver to take the door off the hinges - an impossibility since the hinges are on Becky's side of the door. In the next scene, the door is off the hinges.

mirtom

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Suggested correction: Roseanne could have waited until Becky opened the door at a later time. She would have to come out at some point. Dan could also have ordered her to open it, and Roseanne then took it off the hinges. It was also Darlene's room, so Becky would have to let her in. Roseanne was making a point and to make sure Becky didn't do it again.

raywest

This is the most ridiculously convoluted "correction" ever. It was a monumental mistake, or at the very least, they hoped viewers wouldn't notice.

Yeah, not an impossibility whatsoever considering even if the door had to be forced open, it was going to be taken off the hinges. Classic 80's/90's parenting.

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The Rookie picture

Greenlight - S1-E16

Factual error: Captain Anderson pulls a suspect underwater and shoots him. There's a bright, yellow flash under the water. In reality, this wouldn't happen, only a large amount of bubbles would appear, but no flash.

Matdan97

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Recess picture

Randall's Reform - S1-E18

Factual error: At the end when Ms. Finster tells Randall to give her the names of the kids involved with the ball incident, she says to list them in alphabetical order. The first name Randall says is "Dettweiler, T.J." But "Blumberg, Mikey" would actually come before that, and given what we know of Randall, this isn't the kind of mistake he is likely to make.

shorty30490

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The Venture Bros. picture

The Invisible Hand of Fate - S3-E3

Factual error: When Billy is in his first Underground Quiz Match, the host says at the start of the match "Jeopardy Rules apply," then starts with the first answer. Billy buzzes in with the correct question and wins it, however, Jeopardy Rules state that contestants may not buzz in before the host finishes reading. If they do, they lose their chance to buzz in first. (00:07:20)

Captain Defenestrator

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The Nanny picture

Shopaholic - S3-E6

Factual error: In the last scene, Fran has a soda cup from In-N-Out, which at the time, of the show, only had one restaurant out of the state of California, in the state of Nevada. Even today (2020), they don't have any stores east of Texas.

wb6vpm

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Gavin & Stacey picture

Episode Six - S3-E6

Factual error: Dave and Nessa's wedding is meant to be on 13th June and at the end supposedly 6 months later Nessa, Gavin and Stacey are sat on the sea wall in beautiful sunshine in summery clothes when it should be middle of December.

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Suggested correction: Didn't they get married on 6th April, Stacey's dad's 50th birthday?

That was Gavin and Stacey's wedding. Not Nessa and Dave.

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2 Broke Girls picture

And the Sophie Doll - S6-E7

Factual error: Caroline says to Max, "You've had rabies once," implying that she was infected with rabies and recovered. Rabies, once you get infected, is lethal and untreatable. (00:00:10 - 00:10:15)

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

Suggested correction: Rabies is curable if you are infected, as long as you don't show symptoms. You can get treatment - the sooner, the better. Also, the further away the wound that infected you is from your brain, the longer time you have until symptoms show.

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Burn Notice picture

Fight or Flight - S1-E4

Factual error: When Michael attempts to start the Charger, the starter just clicks, indicative of a dead battery or faulty starter. He checks his father's logbook and reads "spark plugs." Unless the cylinders are filled with an non-compressible liquid, there is no way that spark plugs are going to prevent the engine from cranking.

goofyfoot

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Private Practice picture

Nothing to Talk About - S2-E3

Factual error: In the opening scene Addison and Pete are running on treadmills side by side. They are seen increasing their speeds to 8 mph and above. Addison even had hers to 10.1 mph yet they are both still talking, smiling, and laughing easily. 10 mph is a very fast speed for humans and they would not be able to laugh or even speak at those speeds. (00:02:10)

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No Ordinary Family picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: When J.J. first discovers his powers and understands math, the parabola "seen" on the board is wrong for the given equation and it's different than what J.J. actually ends up drawing, which seems more like the right answer.

Bishop73

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One Day at a Time picture

Ann's Decision - S1-E1

Factual error: Ann enters Julie/Barbara's room and Eton John's "Rocket Man" is playing. Barbara is siting in front of the turntable playing a 33 LP that has the distinctive Atlantic Records Red/White/Green label. Rocket Man was never published on Atlantic records. (00:19:00 - 00:20:00)

gempler

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Rush Hour picture

Assault on Precinct 7 - S1-E5

Factual error: When the trucker reaches into the bag that's suppose to have his cash with his "bonus", he's bitten by a venomous snake. However, we see the snake and it's a non-venomous king snake.

Bishop73

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Space Force picture

It's Good to Be Back on the Moon - S1-E9

Factual error: The Apollo 11 flag gets knocked over by the Chinese rover...but the flag was blown over by the Eagle's takeoff thrust, witnessed by Buzz Aldrin. This was confirmed years later by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which showed shadows of the flags planted at all six Apollo landing sites, bar Apollo 11's. The other 5 were all planted further from their landing craft precisely for that reason. It's also widely assumed that the flags on the moon would have been bleached white by decades of unfiltered sunlight, not in good condition like the one shown.

Jon Sandys

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Hangin' with Mr. Cooper picture Hangin' with Mr. Cooper mistake picture

Warriors: Part 2 - S1-E7

Factual error: When Charles Barkley says "Welcome to the NBA" after dunking on Mark, the ceiling shown above Barkley is way too low to be the ceiling for Haas Pavilion at UC Berkley where the game is being played. It only appears to be about 30 feet high.

Phaneron

More Hangin' with Mr. Cooper factual errors
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