Best crime TV other mistakes of all time

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Hustle picture

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Other mistake: In a number of episodes Mickey Bricks takes great pains to explain (usually to bent coppers) that he and his team are not thieves, making it plain that as a talented grifter he takes the high moral high ground over common criminals. The trouble is, he and every member of his team ARE thieves. In the very first episode "The Con Is On" Three Socks Morgan cleans out the bank accounts of a number of innocent people by rigging an automatic teller machine. He is stealing money, either from them or the bank. Stacie Monroe is shown picking pockets in a number of episodes and in "The Henderson Challenge" both Mickey and Danny Blue steal wallets from bystanders, a trick Mickey repeats in "The Return of the Prodigal." He also steals the victim's car. There are too many other examples to list here, but Mickey's pride in his exalted position as a master conman is definitely misplaced.

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Suggested correction: It would be hard to call a delusional criminal's self aggrandizing a mistake (character or other). Many criminals (fictitious or real) display this same type of character. Plus, Mickey is suggesting common criminals aren't as skilled as his team, for example, at pick-pocketing, or that there's an art to his crimes only a conman can pull off.

Bishop73

Nonsense. He isn't delusional or self aggrandizing - he's far too smart for that. He states "We are not thieves!" on a number of occasions when, by any definition of the word, they are.

It should also be noted that the entire plot of Episode 6 of Season 2, "Eye of the Beholder," concerns the grifters' attempts to steal the Star of Africa, the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels, and sell it to the highest bidder. That is theft, and they are thieves by any definition of the terms.

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The Twilight Zone picture

A Kind of a Stopwatch - S5-E4

Other mistake: When McNulty uses the stopwatch to rob a bank, he goes through a small wooden door and past the employees. With time frozen, the small door should have stayed open but immediately swings shut.

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Criminal Minds picture

The Angel Maker - S4-E2

Other mistake: At the start, it's nighttime when the unsub hides in the house of the soon-to-be victim who goes to sleep when her alarm clock reads 'Tue 11:06', and then we see the time morph to 'Tue 1:13' when the victim is sound asleep, before the unsub comes out of the closet to kill her. However, the time on the clock should actually read 'Wed 1:13'.

Super Grover

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Prison Break picture

End of the Tunnel - S1-E13

Other mistake: When Michael climbs up the rope to get to the room below the infirmary, the rope is hanging from the manhole cover, but he still manages to lift the cover whilst hanging from it. In the next shot where he looks down the manhole, it's clear that there is nothing other than the rope he could have held on to while lifting the cover. An impressive accomplishment, defying the laws of gravity. (00:38:00)

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Elementary picture

While You Were Sleeping - S1-E2

Other mistake: When Sherlock was slapped, he later says he was surprised because the girl who slapped him was a "lefty." Then he rubs his right cheek and says it's leathery from all the slaps he's gotten, while the left is soft. This is backwards - anyone hitting him with their right hand would hit his left cheek.

Cathrine R

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Dexter picture

Do You Take Dexter Morgan? - S3-E12

Other mistake: The marriage certificate for Rita's first marriage shows her date of birth as 04-19-1989 and Dexter states she married at 16. The marriage date is 08-16-1989, when she would have been 4 months old. She also would only be 17 at the start of the series (2006) if she was born in 1989. (00:13:45)

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Columbo picture

Agenda for Murder - S9-E3

Other mistake: In the home of a murder victim, Columbo presses the telephone's "redial" button to see who was called most recently. A seven-digit number is displayed but only six beeps are heard as the number is redialed. Later, attorney Oscar Finch places a call by dialing only five numbers.

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Diagnosis Murder picture

Inheritance of Death - S1-E4

Other mistake: Jack follows J. Edison Nash to a wine warehouse and watches as Nash punches numbers on a keypad in order to gain entrance to a private room. Nash punches the 6 and a beep is heard. He then punches the 8 and another beep is heard. During a close-up of Jack, four more beeps are heard, for a total of six. Jack says the number out loud - 862, which is only three digits.

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Law & Order picture

Hindsight - S16-E21

Other mistake: When they are showing the rap sheets for the Cambodian man, the race on the sheet says Caucasian when he is Asian, and for the African American man, the sex says "F" when he is male.

Boobra

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation picture

Alter Boys - S2-E6

Other mistake: In the scene where Grissom is talking to the coroner about the man who was shot and strangled with his tie, you can see the actor that played the body breathing. (00:07:30 - 00:08:00)

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Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries picture

Raisins and Almonds - S1-E5

Other mistake: Miss Fisher takes a handwritten phrase in "ancient" Hebrew to one of the main characters to be translated. The writing is actually in cursive Hebrew and is properly written. While performing the translation however, the "expert" translator holds the writing upside down. He also follows the writing with his finger from left to right. Hebrew is written from right to left. (00:32:00)

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Medium picture

Lucky - S1-E8

Other mistake: In the two scenes that occur at Lucky's base in Iraq, it is quite obvious the writers did not do much research about the Army in Iraq now, or the Army in general. Alcohol is not allowed on any US base anywhere in the Middle East during the current conflict, and this is true for all branches of the military. Even if Lucky did manage to procure contraband alcohol, he would not drink it openly, because an MP would arrest him within minutes. If he appeared in his Sergeant's tent drunk, he would be arrested, and severely disciplined, probably demoted. No one on a US base would be known as a habitual drunk, because anyone found drunk more than once would be either sent back to the states for rehab, or dishonorably discharged. Also, in the US Army, Sergeants are never addressed as "Sir." This is one of the very first things a new recruit learns at Basic Training, and it is drilled into him. It is extraordinarily unlikely that a soldier would slip up and call a sergeant "Sir" once, let alone repeatedly, as Lucky's buddy does. After the first time, the Sergeant would correct him.

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CSI: Miami picture

Rampage - S4-E24

Other mistake: During the scene (towards the end of the episode) when Horatio's young wife Marisol dies, there are two worthy mentions. First is when we see Horatio walk into Marisol's room, there is a doctor present but the two do not speak. Horatio speaks to Marisol at the side of her bed and they joke about their supposed date later that night, and her speech seems fine. A few seconds later while holding her hand, we hear the "flat line" and Marisol passes away. About two seconds after we hear the flat line, the camera angle shows Marisol still turned toward Horatio, her chest still moving to breathe. A split second after that though, the camera angle now shows Marisol face up in the bed, presumably dead. Second issue and perhaps most importantly - Marisol was young, and a gunshot victim who had been in stable condition just the day before. Even if her condition had turned more critical, it seems almost impossible that as soon as she flat lined, there still would not have been immediate resuscitation attempts or calls for a resuscitation team, especially with a doctor who was already in the room.

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Adventures of Superman picture

The Dog Who Knew Superman - S2-E9

Other mistake: A gangster pushes a dog into a well and the dog can be heard splashing around. The man's wife is furious and several people are unable to retrieve the dog. Superman tunnels into the ground and into the bottom of the well and emerges holding the dog. Both he and the dog are completely dry.

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24 (2001)

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