Best sci-fi TV factual errors of all time

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Roswell picture

Max to the Max - S1-E20

Factual error: When Nasedo kidnaps Liz, he stops in a gas station to leave the FBI another clue. As he is pulling into the station, the sign above the gas pumps misspells the word "brakes" as "breaks."

zanijoey

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Suggested correction: From a different perspective it's not a factual error. Because Jane shot multiple bullets. It means the gun still can be shot after the space suit case got pierced from the first bullet. So it's a possibility that the characters thought wrong (even though it's a bit silly for space travellers to not know this fact but doesn't mean it won't happen).

Terry Tim

More Firefly factual errors
Primeval picture

Series 5, Episode 2 - S5-E2

Factual error: Many of the Royal Navy details are completely wrong. The submarine captain's cap badge is not that of the Royal Navy. "Midshipman" Leonard wears the insignia of a chief petty officer. "Officer" (not a naval rank) Neal wears the insignia of a petty officer. "Officer" Shaw wears the insignia of an able rating. The Flag Office Submarines is depicted as a full admiral, whereas in fact he was a rear-admiral and the position no longer exists.

Necrothesp

More Primeval factual errors
Under the Dome picture

Alaska - S3-E5

Factual error: When Jim is watching the guy about to be blown up, the reflection in the binocular lens is the same as we just saw, when it should be a reversed image.

Bishop73

More Under the Dome factual errors
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Superman: The Animated Series picture

Double Dose - S2-E10

Factual error: Season 2 episode 10 "Double Dose": When Superman snatches Parasite's escape boat and hauls it back to Stryker's, Parasite attempts to blast him with a shotgun found aboard. But somehow the animators appeared unable to decide whether the gun should be a double-barrel or a pump-action type; and building a double-barrel pump gun would be impractical due to additional weight and bulk.

Daniel4646

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The Invisible Man picture

Bad Chi - S2-E9

Factual error: Darien sets up a tripod and videotapes himself leaving a message for the Agency. When the tape is played back later, the camera can be seen to have both zoomed in and panned to follow his movements, even though no one was there to make those adjustments. (00:30:30)

Jean G

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Daredevil picture

Into the Ring - S1-E1

Factual error: At an eating area, a collector shows a man a computer screen with his daughter in real time and has her call him. She then speaks in the phone and you can see her lips and actions lining up perfectly with the words he is hearing. It would not be this perfectly in sink even in the most optimal of conditions. There is a slight delay between the video from the camera and sending that to the computer being shown. And then there is also a slight delay of the phone single traveling through one phone to the other. These would not line up right and so the father would not see the lips moving exactly with what he hears his daughter saying over the phone.

Quantom X

More Daredevil factual errors
Alphas picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: The show is supposed to be taking place in NYC, however its clear by the shooting locations that its shot in Toronto. This can also be seen very by the various signs throughout the city that are not found in the US and are very Canadian in nature, such as the Do Not Enter and One Way.

jerimiah

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The Invaders picture

The Leeches - S1-E4

Factual error: When David Vincent lands at the airport, a sign there says, "Welcome to San Diego." When Vincent exits the airport, it says, "Maricopa Airport." There is a Maricopa in California, but the episode takes place in Arizona, as indicated by the license plates on the cars and mentioning the city of Tucson close to the town the episode takes place in.

Scott215

More The Invaders factual errors
Next picture

FILE #1 - S1-E1

Factual error: Paul tells Shea that he has a condition called Sporadic Fatal Insomnia. Later, Shea finds a fork in a bag labelled Abby. Paul explains that Abby is his daughter, and he wants to test her DNA, because she has a 50-50 chance of contracting the disease. This is false. Sporadic Fatal Insomnia is not hereditary. Fatal Familial Insomnia is genetic and is the inherited form.

toroscan

More Next factual errors
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Intelligence picture

Delta Force - S1-E8

Factual error: Chip-augmented federal agent Gabriel Vaughn is chasing a former Delta Force comrade, now suspected of being a hired assassin in Bolivia. He catches up to the man, telling him to freeze because he's standing in a minefield. Vaughn says the field was planted by "Pinochet," which is wrong, since the episode takes place in Bolivia, and General Augusto Pinochet was the military dictator of Chile. Earlier in the episode, Vaughn is asked what happened between him and his former close friend, and he refers to an incident in Fallujah. But flashbacks of the incident show the two men in Afghanistan in 2006. Fallujah is in Iraq. (00:37:00)

Nightguy

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The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance picture

The Crystal Calls - S1-E9

Factual error: At the end when Skeksis enters the crystal chamber, in the overhead shot you can see 22 arcane symbols around the crystal when there should only be 18, one for each exiled skeksis. (00:45:53)

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Heroes Reborn picture

Company Woman - S1-E12

Factual error: As Ren enters Renautas and meets Emily, the word "Welcome" keeps scrolling in various languages on the screens in the background. Although hardly seen, the Hebrew is wrong, as it is reversed (text from left-to-right, as opposed to right-to-left).

IDFS33140

More Heroes Reborn factual errors
Nowhere Man picture

Absolute Zero (Pilot) - S1-E1

Factual error: When Tom is locked up in an institution for the mentally ill, he is given a bed on a mixed gender ward/wing (both men and women). Wings and wards in mental institutions have not been mixed gender for more than 100 years - it is inconceivable that this practice would be existing in the 1990s in a large city in the USA.

swordfish

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Out of the Unknown picture

Sucker Bait - S1-E7

Factual error: It is quite true that atoms that do not occur naturally are bad for humans. However, in a space age as this story's, that would apply to most or even all planets. It would be a well known risk that didn't require an abnormal specialist to diagnose. (This fact rarely figures in other SF, because it would severely limit most stories).

Spiny Norman

More Out of the Unknown factual errors
The Incredible Hulk picture

The Waterfront Story - S1-E12

Factual error: The story takes place in Galveston, Texas. The geographical area is flat, but if you look closely near the last hulk out, there are mountains in the background.

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Lexx picture

I Worship His Shadow - S1-E1

Factual error: When His Divine Shadow lays on the table to have his brain removed, the machine cuts his skull open and simply reaches in with a three pronged hand and tugs on the brain pulling it out. It would not have worked this way... The brain is about the same consistency as gravy and the prongs on the hand/claw putting pressure on it to pull would have caused them to sink into the brain's tissue destroying it. Also it pulls the brain out without cutting or separating it from the spinal column and merely just pulls it out from the top. This would have caused his brain to be torn into pieces as it was tried to be pulled off the spinal column, not come out perfectly in one piece as shown. (01:09:00)

Quantom X

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