Television productions are high-intensity, with many larger projects requiring effort equivalent to that of a Hollywood movie. Due to the incredible amount of work required to complete these TV shows — as well the sheer amount of moving parts involved — sometimes a mistake slips through.
Unfortunately for the production crews of many incredible shows, even the smallest mistake is cemented forever within the minds of the viewers. Be it a Starbucks cup on the set of Game of Thrones or Rachel and Chandler meeting four times on Friends, each one of these small mistakes is destined to remain a part of the show's legacy, be it for better or worse.
10 Game of Thrones Actors Need A Drink Too
Game of Thrones is famous for the incredible production quality that went into creating the eight-season fantasy epic. Unfortunately, the final season abandoned that production quality. Famous for its many slip-ups and a general miscarriage of the plot, Season 8's troubles are perfectly captured in the infamous Starbucks coffee cup. In Season 8, Episode 4, Daenerys can be seen at a banquet with a drink very much not at home in Westeros: a Starbucks coffee cup. The mistake is later repeated in the finale, this time with actors sitting beside plastic water bottles. The community following Game of Thrones rallied around these mistakes as a sign of how far production quality had fallen in the final season.
9 Stranger Things Nostalgia Forgets The Year
Stranger Things is a smash hit show on Netflix with an intense commitment to capturing the nostalgia of the 1980s. An intense effort has been put in each season to make Stranger Things the most accurate rendition of the 1980s it can be. However, more than once, an error makes it in. For example, the monster which stalks the main characters throughout the first season, the Demogorgon, is based on a Dungeons and Dragons character that wouldn't come out until the following year.
Additionally, several times throughout Stranger Things, cars appear in the 1983-set that weren't made until the late '80s — like Barb's '88 Volkswagen Cabriolet. Admittedly small mistakes, they are surprising considering Stranger Thing's commitment to nostalgia and an accurate historical rendition of 80s small-town America.
8 The Hidden Smoke Monster in Lost
Lost is a show which has gone down in history for its mystery and open ending. The classic show, completed more than a decade ago, is still heavily debated even today due to the sheer mystery still remaining. As a result, fans have taken to tearing apart the show frame by frame, looking for hidden meanings and secrets. One such secret was found in the very first episode.
The mysterious smoke monster that haunts the cast throughout Lost can be seen sabotaging the crashed Flight 815, destroying the engine. Initially believed to be a secret that was up-till then undiscovered, it was later clarified to be a CGI error, breaking the hearts of Lost fans around the world.
7 Supernaturals' Name Mix Up
Sam and Dean Winchester of Supernatural fame have become TV icons since the first season came out in 2005. The names Sam and Dean were quickly imbedded in TV culture, as the two brothers roam the United States hunting monsters and demons. Early on, however, it seems the names weren't as iconic as they would later become, as a famous mistake in the early seasons occurs when Dean Winchester calls his brother "Jared" — the name of the actor playing Sam rather than the character himself. The mistake is humorously remembered is always fun to see when rewatching the show.
6 The Three Dads Of Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World follows a group of school kids as they navigate the world and grow up, meeting the world. One such character, Topanga, is a main character of the show. However, something that keen-eyed viewers of the show would notice is that her parents don't seem consistent, as they are recast throughout the series. Topanga's dad in particular carries a humorous reputation, as he is cast three separate times throughout the show. The ever-changing parents are an amusing, if unaddressed, inconsistency throughout the Boy Meets World.
5 Buffy The Vampire Slayer's Vampires Don't Breathe
Buffy The Vampire Slayer — a series that first aired in 1997 — establishes very early on that vampires cannot breathe, when one is unable to give CPR to Buffy. However, that introduces an entire bevy of issues, as the vampires consistently do things that require breathing during the series — such as smoking.
In fact, one of the vampires, Spike, is even tortured by drowning. So the question remains, how could any of that happen if vampires cannot breathe? Not to mention, how do they talk? Unfortunately, seeing as this has never been addressed, it likely never will be.
4 Firefly's Missing Yoke
Cult classic space western Firefly follows the crew of the Serenity, a now iconic starship, as they travel the fringes of the star system. However, it's hard to imagine the Serenity being easy to pilot when the yoke, the instrument used to pilot said starship, is outright missing. This is the case in the pilot episode, where actor Alan Tudyk can be seen piloting the starship with his hands on a nonexistent yoke. A quite humorous slip up, it was apparently due to issues with the set as the yoke couldn't be in position for the desired shot and thus the scene went without it.
3 Rachel And Chandler Met Each Other Four Times On Friends
Friends is a show famous for its flashbacks, which are used to show how the friends the show become as intertwined as they are now. It makes for a fun and consistent joke throughout the series, and is an interesting way to develop the relationship between the characters on the show. Two of the characters, Rachel and Chandler, have to be introduced to each other on the pilot. However, later seasons' flashback episodes amusingly reveal Rachel and Chandler have met at least four separate times before the start of Friends. Eventually, the introduction stuck, and they became tight friends — as the title of the series suggests.
2 Killer Bob's Surprise Appearance In Twin Peaks
For those unfamiliar with the 90's mystery-horror show Twin Peaks, it takes place in the titular town of Twin Peaks, in which nothing is as it seems. Following FBI agent Dale Cooper as he investigates the murder of a high schooler, it's an eerie series with an air of mystery and not-quite-right permeating its entire essence. One character who captures that perfectly is the antagonist, Killer Bob. Funnily enough, Killer Bob's original appearance was completely accidental, as set dresser Frank Silva was caught in the background of a shot when he accidentally got himself trapped on set. The director liked the presence he brought to the shot so much the character of Killer Bob was birthed and later made a core character of the narrative.
1 Melisandre's Necklace In Game of Thrones
An intensely high production show like Game of Thrones is likely to have some mistakes slip by purely due to the sheer scale of the production, and while the series became prone to set mistakes in later seasons, one mistake in Season 4 was never truly addressed and left a rather large plot hole. Throughout Game of Thrones, Melisandre wears a large, enchanted, ruby necklace that conceals her true identity. When she removes it in Season 6, viewers are finally shown her true form, but keen-eyed viewers would recall this is not the first time she removes her necklace. In Season 4, Episode 7, the Red Priestess is in a bath with her necklace removed. Despite not wearing the enchanted jewelry she still appears as her young self. The plot hole, addressed as a set mistake later on, was a glaring mislead for viewers for years.