Best sci-fi TV mistakes of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Revolution picture

Dreamcatcher - S2-E15

Plot hole: Every time the nanos stop absorbing electricity (for whatever reason), street lights, radios, everything 'on the grid' immediately starts to come back on. No re-building infrastructure, no restarting turbines, etc., even 15 year old streetlights lying on the ground, in the middle of nowhere.

More Revolution mistakes
Grimm picture

Map of the Seven Knights - S5-E10

Factual error: The Czech crime database (which appears to be an official Czech database) is headed 'Czechoslovakia'. Czechoslovakia has not existed since the Czech Republic and Slovakia separated in 1993 and neither country uses the term any more.

Necrothesp

More Grimm mistakes
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons picture

Winged Assassin - S1-E2

Revealing mistake: As Delta Tango 19 takes off from the airport, there is a shot where it is actually landing. This can be seen from the fact that there is no runway behind them, as it is in front of them.

Jcamts

More Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons mistakes
More Spider-Man mistakes
The Dead Zone picture

Here There Be Monsters - S1-E10

Plot hole: The female police officer has a theory that Johnny was the Strangler in the case the papers claimed he helped solve but this hardly makes sense. If she was researching him as was seen in the episode, surely it would have said something about Johnny being in a coma during the bulk of the murders since the story was about Johnny.

More The Dead Zone mistakes
The Invisible Man picture

Exposed - S2-E17

Continuity mistake: The establishing shot of the Agency's headquarters building zooms in on 3 tall, narrow windows recessed into a brick wall. We then cut to an interior view - of several wide, continuous windows without any recesses. They don't match the exterior windows at all. (00:07:30)

Jean G

More The Invisible Man mistakes
Highlander picture

Eyewitness - S1-E12

Continuity mistake: When the immortal who's trying to kill Tessa snipes at her in Duncan's car, his shot shatters the passenger-side window. When Duncan tails Tessa and her police escort to the safehouse, the passenger-side window is intact. (00:30:05 - 00:35:50)

Captain Defenestrator

More Highlander mistakes
Time Trax picture

Show generally

Continuity mistake: "A Stranger in Time, Part 2": Darien's arrival in 1993, shown in part 1, is recapped in part 2. But the director appears to have chosen different takes for the recap. Much of the dialogue differs substantially, and Selma's explanation that he's materialized in the ladies' room is left out altogether.

Jean G

More Time Trax mistakes
More Samurai Jack mistakes
More Bionic Woman mistakes
More Mutant X mistakes
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

More Threshold mistakes
More The Venture Bros. mistakes
Power Rangers Wild Force picture

Forever Red - S1-E34

Plot hole: Tommy states that he and the other Zeo Rangers destroyed the Machine Empire's leaders and ultimately destroyed the Machine Empire except for the Generals who escaped. This is not true - Lord Zedd and Rita destroyed the Machine Empire leaders at the end of series 4, and the Space Rangers destroyed them again in Countdown to Destruction in series 6. The Zeo Rangers never destroyed the Machine Empire.

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

Suggested correction: How would Tommy know that? He didn't watch the show or know the ins and outs of what happened in space. This is what he believed based on his experiences on Earth. Everything you described is factually correct, but Tommy did not witness this. So, to his knowledge, he destroyed the Machine Empire.

More Power Rangers Wild Force mistakes
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy picture

Episode 3 - S1-E3

Revealing mistake: At the point where someone gets a small bruise on the upper arm, the crew are all in a pile and thrashing about on the floor. There are 5 pairs of legs instead of 4. Arthur is in his pajamas, Zaphod is in orange trousers, Trillion is lying on top of Ford and Ford is too far away for them to be his legs. [The fifth pair of legs belong to the person playing zaphod's third arm - doesn't mean it's not a mistake, but that's where they come from.]

More The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy mistakes
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds picture

Strange New Worlds - S1-E1

Character mistake: The Enterprise is targeted by projectiles from the planet. Spock identifies them as "plasma torpedoes", and Captain Pike reacts with surprise; "Plasma torpedoes? That's 21st century tech" and from that they all establish that the civilization they contacted is not yet capable of warp drive. Plasma torpedoes are the main weaponry of the Romulans centuries later, and Earth itself did acquire warp drive in the 21st century, so this claim and deduction don't seem to add up. (00:22:15)

Sammo

More Star Trek: Strange New Worlds mistakes
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

More The Six Million Dollar Man mistakes
Power Rangers Megaforce picture

Show generally

Other mistake: If you look closely at the army of Rangers in the opening credits, you can see four versions of Tommy Oliver: Green Ranger, White Ranger, Zeo Ranger Red, Black Dino Ranger. Even though he had a single clone made, he can't be four variations at the same time.

More Power Rangers Megaforce mistakes
More Power Rangers Samurai mistakes
The Man in the High Castle picture

Season 3 generally

Other mistake: John is promoted to Oberst Gruppenfeuhrer and assumes the uniform of such. He is soon after promoted to interim Reich Marshal. And then he is subsequently fully promoted to Reich Marshal. But he continues to wear the rank insignia of an Oberst Gruppenfeuhrer.

toroscan

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

Suggested correction: John does eventually put on the insignia befitting a Reichsmarschall. It's safe to assume he didn't immediately put it on, either because it took a short time to produce new insignia and send it to him (they wouldn't stock insignia for a rank only a few people hold), or because he was still only acting Reichsmarschall.

You have a point. Thanks.

toroscan

Good point. Thanks.

toroscan

More The Man in the High Castle mistakes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.