Revealing mistake: Jack Albertson's character is taking pictures of The Cartwrights and ranch hands. The video camera moves across the front of the prop camera as Albertson pushes and holds the button to take a picture. The shutter on the camera never opens and isn't open until he releases the button. In those days the shutter had to stay open an elongated time to enable the light to infiltrate the negative. People had to stay still during this time.
Revealing mistake: When Mary enters her husband's secret room she lights up the room using a paraffin-oil lamp, but the room lights up before her match has reached the lamp.
The Rescue - S2-E23
Revealing mistake: The mountains outside the dining room window of the Ponderosa house are obviously part of a painted backdrop. As Ben walks past the window and sits at the table, he casts a shadow on the mountains.
Revealing mistake: When Gunnar lifts Vaca over his head during the fight, in the closeup he's holding up a barrel over his head instead of Vaca and throws the barrel. (00:35:05)
The Gentleman from New Orleans - S5-E18
Revealing mistake: They are trying to find where Jean Lafitte is hiding. Thinking that he is behind the drapes which cover a window, two bullets are fired into the drapery. The bullets should have shattered the window, but when they look behind them (and he is not there) the window and the frame are untouched.
The Saga of Muley Jones - S5-E26
Revealing mistake: The Cartwrights' second cousin shows up and sings a lot. His singing breaks glass all over town. 1/4 of the way through the episode, while at the ranch, Ben is about to serve tea or coffee while Huley is singing upstairs. As Ben goes to pour it into a cup, the pottery kettle shatters but no tea or coffee or water comes out of the pot, showing it was empty.
Revealing mistake: The courthouse sits above a mine shaft. Blasting in the mine causes a portion of the courthouse to collapse. Fallen bricks, lumber and other debris trap Ben and four others in the vault room beneath the main floor. The shaking of the vault room was obviously simulated by the cameraman shaking the camera back and forth. The table, chair, books, file box and other objects in the room do not move.
Revealing mistake: The scene outside the window of the dining room is obviously a painting and it does not match the scenery shown in exterior shots of the home.
Revealing mistake: Joe and Eddie are in a corral in a big valley, taking turns trying to tame a horse known as Hammerhead. In the long shots, obviously using stunt doubles atop the horse, Hammerhead is bucking and running. The close-ups of Joe and Eddie show them only from the waist up and they are not moving forward. They are simply bouncing up and down. In addition, the close-ups show only blue sky and not the surrounding hills.
Revealing mistake: Near the end of the episode, Tracy Ledbetter is carrying a double barreled shotgun, trying to get her dogs back. There is the sound effect of a shotgun blast, then video of another blast with Hoss running inside the barn. She gets inside the barn and another shot goes off inside without her reloading. How did the third shot come from the gun? It only holds two shells.
