Best TV factual errors of 2010

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The Walking Dead picture

Welcome to the Tombs - S3-E16

Factual error: When Rick has given Andrea his revolver to end her life, he leaves the room with the others to leave Andrea and Michonne alone. The next thing you see is Rick, Tyrese and Daryl waiting outside the room. You hear the gun go off and then you hear a tinkle as a shell casing hits the floor (noticeably "lighter" than the sound the revolver would make when dropped). Revolvers do not eject a shell casing.

Orrie-Nay Algoust-Fay

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The Pacific picture The Pacific mistake picture

Guadalcanal/Leckie - S1-E1

Factual error: On the map behind the colonel during the first scene, Iceland is labelled as being under Nazi control. This is incorrect, as the British were in control of the country during the whole of the war. (00:05:10)

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Downton Abbey picture

Episode #4.5 - S4-E5

Factual error: When Lady Edith visits a Harley Street doctor his nameplate is shown outside his surgery. His name is prefixed with "Dr." However, one of his post-nominal qualifications is "FRCS." As a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, his name should be prefixed with "Mr.", as with all qualified surgeons in the British Isles.

Necrothesp

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Sherlock picture

His Last Vow - S3-E4

Factual error: Sherlock takes pains to explain in detail that he will deliberately corrupt the magnetic code stripe on an access control card he intends to use to enter the elevator to the villain's penthouse, by carrying it next to an operational cell phone. (This is possible due to the low frequency magnetic field from a phone's vibration motor.) But when he actually goes to access the elevator, he simply touches his access card to the reader instead of swiping or inserting the card through a slot, which is how a magnetic stripe reader would operate. The elevator uses an RFID proximity reader, not a magnetic stripe reader - a phone wouldn't corrupt an embedded RFID tag.

Stringman

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Hawaii Five-0 picture

No ke ali'i wahine a me ka 'aina - S7-E2

Factual error: Five-0 brings up a map of all nuclear power plants in Western Europe that is completely inaccurate - most of the trefoil markers in Great Britain are placed nowhere near nuclear installations, and has 3 in Ireland (which doesn't have any nuclear reactors).

Andy Benham 6979

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Spartacus: Blood and Sand picture

The Red Serpent - S1-E1

Factual error: One of the naked female dancers at the party has breast implants. Although some forms of plastic surgery were known to the Romans, breast augmentation was not one of them. If you want to check for yourself she appears just after the masked dwarf moves through the shot.

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No Ordinary Family picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: When J.J. first discovers his powers and understands math, the parabola "seen" on the board is wrong for the given equation and it's different than what J.J. actually ends up drawing, which seems more like the right answer.

Bishop73

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Haven picture

Last Goodbyes - S3-E11

Factual error: Will's hospital chart states he is taking Warfarin and Coumadin. These are both the same drug to prevent blood clots. He would not be on both. (00:31:50)

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Good Luck Charlie picture Good Luck Charlie mistake picture

Bad Luck Teddy - S3-E2

Factual error: PJ is getting his hair cut by an attractive female barber. Attached to the outside of the window is a neon sign reading "BARBER SHOP," but the sign faces the inside of the building so it would be backwards to people outside.

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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 Sinking of the Laconia picture

Show generally

Factual error: The Merchant Navy rank insignia is very poorly researched. Each officer seems to have a different style of insignia, despite working for the same company and they incorrectly wear rank insignia on the shoulders of their blue uniforms as well as the cuffs. The main character, Junior Third Officer Mortimer, wears a bizarre mix of insignia, apparently consisting of a Royal Navy petty officer's sleeve badge, a Royal Navy chief petty officer's cuff buttons, and a rank badge of three inverted chevrons on his shoulder boards that doesn't seem to resemble anything from reality. In reality, he should simply wear a single cuff ring (or shoulder bar in white uniform).

Necrothesp

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Life Unexpected picture

Love Unexpected - S1-E13

Factual error: The wedding is at a Christian church preformed by a Christian minister, but at a Christian wedding the groom stands on the Minister's left side and the bride on his right. The way Ryan and Cate stand is the way that the bridal party stands at a Jewish wedding.

kristenlouise3

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Pretty Little Liars picture

A Person of Interest - S1-E19

Factual error: Emily is supposed to meet Paige at a karaoke bar at the intersection of 202 and W. Chester Pike, however this intersection is actually an overpass. 202 crosses over top of West Chester Pike, but never actually intersects it.

Sporty786

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Justified picture

Fire in the Hole - S1-E1

Factual error: When Walter Goggins fires a LAW at the church from next to the vehicle, the back-blast from the rocket would have shattered the car's windows, and flying glass fragments would likely have injured the occupant. The show depicts neither outcome.

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Rookie Blue picture

The Girlfriend Experience - S3-E8

Factual error: The group set up a sting for prostitution/solicitation, even though it isn't illegal in Canada. The unnamed city they patrol is Canadian, established in the "sister cities" they name, plus often referring to Rochester and New York as "across the border. As for prostitution, the only two times its illegal for adults in Canada is public solicitation (street walking) which doesn't apply for websites, or in running bawdy (cat) houses, neither of which apply here.

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