Best TV deliberate mistakes of all time

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The Inbetweeners picture The Inbetweeners mistake picture

Thorpe Park - S1-E3

Deliberate mistake: In the scene where Jay spots the "car full o' muff" and they follow the car until it turns left (just after Jay says he'd "give a left bollock for em"), when it pulls away, the shot is flipped. The number plate is reversed, all of the logos on the back of the car are backwards, and the car is actually turning right, as it heads to the right hand side of the road. The shot is just flipped to make it look like they're turning left. (00:10:50)

EpicFishFingers

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Full House picture

Lust in the Dust - S3-E15

Deliberate mistake: Jesse is looking for his keys and thinks Michelle took them. Near the end, Joey comes home and finds the keys in the door, hands them to Jesse, who puts them in his pocket. A few seconds later Danny comes home, takes Michelle into the kitchen. Joey and Jesse exchange a couple lines and go into the kitchen, where Michelle is sitting in a booster chair at the table. The 3 guys chat for a few minutes, then Jesse is going to leave, but can't find his keys again. It turns out Michelle has them. But how did Michelle get them? She was in the booster seat the entire time Jesse was in the kitchen and Jesse never went to that end of the room, so there's no way she could have gotten them.

Bowling255

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The Bob Newhart Show picture

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: The circular desk where Carol sits should be rotated 180 degrees so she is facing the elevators. How many times have you gotten off an elevator in a fancy office building only to see the back of the receptionist's head?

William Bergquist

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The Dresden Files picture

Second City - S1-E12

Deliberate mistake: Kermani finds a nitroglycerin tablet in the suspect's apartment. Because we need to see it when he holds it for the close-up, the tablet he has is much too large to be nitro. That drug is dispensed as an extremely tiny pill designed to dissolve instantly under the tongue. (00:22:30)

Jean G

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Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea picture

Long Live the King - S1-E15

Deliberate mistake: The Seaview's 8 huge picture windows were a concession to design over practicality. Though they knew that such big windows could never withstand deep sea pressures, the producers wanted the characters - and the audience - to be able to see all the underwater wonders "up close." The "impossible" windows became one of the show's most popular features. (00:25:10)

Jean G

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Monty Python's Flying Circus picture

Njorl's Saga - S3-E1

Deliberate mistake: Eric Idle's 'Stock Exchange Report' (in Series 3, Show 1) has a very obvious edit in the middle. This is a monologue delivered without cutaways, so the jump in the video tape is very easy to spot. Whether this edit indicates material removed or a simple joining together of two takes is unclear. However, since Idle gets drenched with water at the close of the routine (and given that, under BBC constraints, there was no time for drying out), we can assume that he must have made his fluff quite early on in the piece.

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Family Guy picture

Yug Ylimaf - S11-E4

Deliberate mistake: The time machine reverting causes everything in life to go backwards. However, although the characters' actions are reversed, their dialogue is always spoken forwards and not backwards. (00:08:00)

Casual Person

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Once Upon a Time picture

A Tale of Two Sisters - S4-E1

Deliberate mistake: Elsa's dress in Season Four is different from the dress she was wearing in the Season Three finale. The new dress is a different shade of blue, and has a completely different design, even though the present day events of Season Four take place mere moments after the end of Season Three.

Kylantha

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Nip/Tuck picture

Cara Fitzgerald - S1-E8

Deliberate mistake: While Megan O'Hara is undergoing breast reconstruction surgery, as the camera pans a close-up side angle view of her face you can see she is wearing make-up, specifically eye make-up, which is strictly prohibited in a surgical sterile environment in the United States, especially in pre-scheduled surgeries. (00:23:50)

OneHappyHusky

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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit picture

Inconceivable - S9-E14

Deliberate mistake: When James is shot on the courthouse steps, the crowd of reporters that has gathered quickly scatters to escape the gunfire. One of them is a woman in a black windbreaker holding a camera. The camera cuts away briefly and then back to the crowd - you see the exact same people, including the woman in black running in the exact opposite direction as before. The footage was apparently mirrored and repeated for the second shot of the fleeing crowd.

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Sapphire & Steel picture

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: "The Creature's Revenge" (Adventure 3, Part 5): The 2-inch heels on Sapphire's bright blue boots disappear and reappear repeatedly. They're most often missing in the scenes she appears in with Steel, presumably so that her height won't exceed his. (00:15:15)

Jean G

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The High Chaparral picture

Stinky Flanagan - S2-E21

Deliberate mistake: At the end, the U.S. Cavalry "brand" Blue finds on the mule isn't a brand at all: it's obviously been applied with white paint to make it more visible to the camera. It's also unlikely that it would be so large, or that it would be located on the animal's neck instead of on its rump. (00:46:50)

Jean G

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Glee picture

Show generally

Deliberate mistake: Many times throughout the show, a large bandage or makeup blot is visible on Lea Michele's right wrist, which is used to cover up her "I Believe" tattoo. This is most visible during "Don't Rain On My Parade" and her "Poker Face" and "For Good" duets.

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The Mentalist picture

Red Scare - S2-E5

Deliberate mistake: When the investigators are in the basement wine cellar, they turn on their flashlights to illuminate the pitch black area as they walk around. However there is a light source moving with the camera shining on them as they are casting a shadow behind them.

jerimiah

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