Best sci-fi TV factual errors of all time

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Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers picture

Return of the Green Ranger (2) - S2-E45

Factual error: Billy, Kim, Rocky, Aisha, and Adam return to Angel Grove in the 1700's...and there are British Redcoats there. On the West coast, in California. England never deployed troops to California, especially considering it was part of the empire of Spain at that time.

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Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea picture

The Price of Doom - S1-E5

Factual error: Crane clears an Air Force jet to land at the Antarctic ice station. But the station is located on a completely snow-covered sheet of ice with no runways. How and where could it possibly land? (00:27:30)

Jean G

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Threshold picture

Shock - S1-E5

Factual error: Molly and Ramsey find out that the van they are looking for was ticketed in Baltimore City at "the corner of Pennington and Fifth," and they are looking at a computerized map of the area. However, the map can be easily matched up to the actual Mapquest map of the area around the corner of Fifth St. and Patapsco Ave., except that the latter has been relabeled as Pennington. There is a Pennington Ave. in Baltimore City, but it runs parallel to Fifth, about a mile east of it.

DavidK93

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The Outer Limits picture

It Crawled Out of the Woodwork - S1-E11

Factual error: When the energy monster kills his entire research staff by stopping their hearts, Dr. Block brings them all back to life (with their minds and personalities intact) by installing pacemakers. But when the heart stops functioning, brain death occurs within minutes. For this to work, he'd not only have to operate on several people simultaneously, he'd also have to be the fastest heart surgeon on Earth. (00:40:00)

Jean G

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The Six Million Dollar Man picture

Show generally

Factual error: There is no physical way that Steve Austin could perform most of his superhuman feats of strength in the ABC television series, due to the fact that they simply replaced his arm and legs, but didn't rebuild or reinforce the rest of his skeleton and muscles to handle the physical loads. Interestingly, author Martin Caidin (creator of Steve Austin in his novel, "Cyborg") actually did describe an incredibly complex whole-body rebuild that included vertebral reinforcement and ribcage and pelvis replacement, which was far more scientifically-accurate than the subsequent ABC television interpretation. ABC only accepted the series on the condition that it was less technical for their audience.

Charles Miller

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Jericho picture

Federal Response - S1-E5

Factual error: When the girls input the thing they call an IP address, it is not an IP address. The numbers are out of range (0-255). This isn't like a "movie" phone number - the address they use is fundamentally impossible. (00:06:05)

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The Handmaid's Tale picture

Show generally

Factual error: In several different episodes characters are escaping on foot to Canada, as evidenced by Ontario license plates. But the show is set in New England, and the only way to get to Ontario through the Eastern United States is by crossing a major body of water: The St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, The Niagara River, or Lake Erie. You can't walk there.

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UFO (1970)

UFO picture

The Responsibility Seat - S1-E25

Factual error: Moon Base is imperiled by a rogue Russian mining trawler said to be heading "straight for it." But several shots of the vehicle show it veering wildly in very wide arcs, moving far too erratically to determine that it's on a collision course. (00:38:00)

Jean G

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Power Rangers Zeo picture

Rangers of Two Worlds: Part II - S1-E47

Factual error: The climax of the episode features the Aquitain and Zeo Rangers fighting together, in Angel Grove. However, they are actually fighting outside the Tokyo Dome, in Japan. Further proof: http://www.rangergallery.com/albums/userpics/10012/Zeo%2520Rangers%2520and%2520Alien%2520Rangers.jpg.

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V (1984)

V picture

V: The Final Battle: Part 3 (2 Hrs) - S1-E5

Factual error: When the world celebrates the Visitors' flight, there are scenes of joyous people from all around the world. Curiously, in each of these scenes it is daytime - even in Italy, China, and India, where it would be either night or dawn, given that L.A. time of the attacks is between 11 and 12 AM.

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Star Wars: Clone Wars picture

Chapter 12 - S2-E2

Factual error: After Oro Dassyne has boasted about his fortress' defenses and the droid standung by him announces that he has spotted two Jedi approaching, Dassyne snatches the binoculars from him to take a look himself. Curiously, he holds them at a very different angle, i.e. he is not looking into the same direction the droid was looking, and still he spots the Jedi immediately.

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Power Rangers in Space picture

Dark Specter's Revenge: Part 1 - S1-E29

Factual error: Bulk, Skull, and the Professor try to get in a Apollo Saturn V rocket to escape Earth. They head up the tower, and are seen getting into the ship via the thin pillar at the top - this pillar was used in case there was an emergency early on in the launch. Astronauts got into the ship in the Command Module, which was slightly lower down.

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Kyle XY picture

Show generally

Factual error: In the episode where Kyle, Lori, and Josh first go to the pool together, Kyle jumps off the diving board, but he's only in the water for about three seconds before he sees Amanda, who is already swimming toward him. This means that he was in the water for just a second or two before she jumped in. That isn't enough time for anyone to appear to be drowning, especially to a trained lifeguard like Amanda.

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

Suggested correction: First, at least 10 seconds pass before Amanda jumps in, not 1-3 seconds. But that doesn't mean only 10 seconds passed in the show. But additionally, Amanda already knows Kyle has memory loss and could be thinking Kyle forgot how to swim or forgot that he can't swim. So she goes to get him.

Bishop73

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Teen Titans picture

Wavelength - S3-E8

Factual error: When Cyborg learns the hard way that Bumblebee can fly, his inbuilt Sonic Cannon rips a hole into the wall which glows with heat. A sonic weapon does not work with heat; it would shatter the wall, not melt it.

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Relic Hunter picture

Thank You Very Much - S1-E5

Factual error: The scenery is set in Berlin, following the 1989 Re-Union of Germany. Only thing is: the guards at the archive building use AK-47s, while after the Re-Union, the East German National People's Army and the West German Bundeswehr (Federal Defense Force) were joined - and the West Germans don't use any AKs.

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Time Trax picture

Show generally

Factual error: "Treasure of the Ages": Haskell finds a jeweled cross that's supposedly from a shipwreck hundreds of years old. Only the relic he pulls from the sand is spotless: not a barnacle, rust spot or touch of encrustation on it. After centuries at the bottom of the ocean? Wouldn't happen. (00:02:00)

Jean G

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Dark Angel picture

Pilot (1) - S1-E1

Factual error: One of the bases for this show is the idea of computers and electronics being wiped out by an EM Pulse. With the amount of digital communications equipment still operational, it is inconceivable that the whole world system is inoperable, and rebooting of existing servers would have meant that the only information lost was that in transmission at the time of the pulse. A single pulse capable of erasing hard drives would have crushed everything between any two magnetic objects - i.e., parked cars would have slammed together regardless of how many pedestrians were standing between them.

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Beast Wars: Transformers picture

Season 2 generally

Factual error: Megatron tells Ravage that the Golden Disc was launched aboard the Voyager spacecraft, just as the Great War between Autobots and Decepticons began. Either Megatron is wrong or Cybertonian history is wrong, because Voyager was launched in 1977, and the Great War didn't begin until 1984 (the first season of The Transformers), seven years later. The disc can be read by lasers, but it was in fact an analog recording (as digital recording did not exist until the early 1980s with the compact disc). Just as well, the disc was only twelve inches wide; it looks much bigger in Beast Wars.

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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

More The Venture Bros. factual errors

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