Best TV deliberate mistakes of all time

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The Apprentice picture

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: Before each season begins filming, each potential apprentice is filmed leaving Trump Towers and entering the taxi as if they were just fired. Once the person is actually fired on the show, this becomes an obvious mistake as hairstyles, etc. change from the boardroom scene to the cast member's exit.

Steph_Jared

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The Prisoner picture

Once Upon A Time - S1-E16

Deliberate mistake: The credits list "Number 86" as played by John Maxim. But no such character appears in the episode. Apparently, 86 was left on the cutting room floor, but the titles weren't altered accordingly.

Jean G

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Scrubs picture

Season 2 generally

Deliberate mistake: In one of the later episodes of season 2 Turk is seen being bored in surgery and checking the patient's wristwatch to see how long they have been operating. Patients are not allowed to wear jewelry or watches during surgery as there is a VERY high risk of infection and it might kill them.

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Ben 10 picture

Hunted - S1-E5

Deliberate mistake: When Sixsix impacts with the ground due to Greymatter sabotaging his jet pack, the furrow he ploughs into the ground is already present when he skips across the ground.

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Game of Thrones picture

The Gift - S5-E7

Deliberate mistake: After Ramsey shows Sansa her flayed northern friend, when it cuts to Davos riding the horse through the encampment one of the shots is flipped. Note his sword and his cloak's crossed straps have switched to opposite sides.

Super Grover

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Little House on the Prairie picture Little House on the Prairie mistake picture

Whisper Country - S4-E15

Deliberate mistake: When Mary gets to the school where she is going to be teaching, all the children are standing outside wearing shoes. However when they come in to the school they are barefoot. I have a feeling this was done to show how poor the community she was teaching in was supposed to be, but it looked like too cold and rainy of a day to let the actors be outside barefoot.

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One Foot in the Grave picture

The Beast in the Cage - S3-E4

Deliberate mistake: In the shot where we see the cars in front of Victor's (shortly after Victor gets out of the car and gets back in when the traffic starts moving) you can see that after the white car on the right that there are no more cars even though the episode takes place in a traffic queue! If you listen to the commentary on the DVD, writer David Renwick points out the mistake and informs us that they had a limited number of cars for the shot. (00:11:25)

James Ransford

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Heroes picture

Don't Look Back - S1-E2

Deliberate mistake: The newspaper that shows Petrelli's victory has repeated paragraphs through the article. The article seems to be composed of three paragraphs. One paragraph starts with "I was," and two paragraphs start with "The."

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The Sopranos picture

Cold Stones - S6-E11

Deliberate mistake: Tony smashes AJ's front windshield of his Nissan SUV one time with a plastic sports helmet and it leaves a hole 4 times the size. Not only is the scale size of helmet to hole incorrect, but front vehicle windshields don't shatter like that. Modern windshields are made of laminated safety glass, which consists of two curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and bonded into the window frame. It would've taken many impacts to cause such a hole, not one hit. (00:49:00 - 00:49:45)

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The Cosby Show picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Deliberate mistake: In the very first episode, the kids are fighting and arguing all throughout the house. Claire then asks Cliff, "Why did we have 4 kids?", referring to Denise, Theo, Rudy, and Vanessa. In all of the following episodes, they actually have 5 kids. I guess they decided to add Sandra (the oldest Huxtable) later down the road.

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The Twilight Zone picture

Mr. Garrity and the Graves - S5-E32

Deliberate mistake: Garrity blackmails the town citizens into paying him not to resurrect their unlamented "loved ones." Amazingly, every man in the saloon just happens to have hundreds of dollars ($500 - $1200 each) in his pocket to pay up with. In 1890 money, that's roughly equivalent to a group of modern-day bar patrons all carrying ten to thirty thousand dollars around in their pockets. The scenario was apparently used in spite of its incredibility just to more quickly advance the plot.

Jean G

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Little Britain picture

Season 1 Episode 4 - S1-E4

Deliberate mistake: In the scene where Peter Andre and his producer watch the footage of the royal family, in the background you can see princess Diana and the queen mother who had both unfortunately passed away before Little Britain was made. They had to use the old footage but it is still a mistake.

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One Tree Hill picture

Life in a Glass House - S1-E7

Deliberate mistake: After the party, in the scene where Lucas goes into the cafe, he finds Haley crying. The shot is a distant shot with Lucas and Haley in it. Haley's hands are covering her face. In the next shot, just of Haley, her one hand is over her forehead.

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Queer as Folk USA picture

Episode 306 - S3-E6

Deliberate mistake: In the locker scene where Brian confronts Ben about his steroid use, there are no obvious objects on the lockers (such as slats) that would make the cut and bruise on Brian's back. Brian is not tall enough to have been cut by the top of the locker and Ben didn't pick up in his tirade. (00:25:25)

Nikki

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