Factual mistakes in shows and books

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

This is a great blog - the author who writes it is a pediatric nurse, and among other topics she covers is debunking medical errors in fiction and TV. https://redwoodsmedicaledge.com/

I'm not sure whether the prevalence of medical errors is due to ignorance, needing it to be true for a story, or what. I have to say I don't particularly notice them unless they're pointed out to me.

Blue Bloods recently did an episode that made fun of the inaccuracies that happen in cop shows, where it's noted, for instance, that two female cop characters would wind up shooting each other, the way they're standing.

So I just wonder, do you notice it that much? Does it take away from your enjoyment of the story? Or do you suspend your disbelief and watch/read it?

 

[sojourner]

Anyone watching a show pertaining to their profession can spot errors like this. It just depends on the level of absurdity as to whether it gets a pass or not. For example, <Scorpions> will give anyone in I.T. or engineering an aneurysm within the first twenty minutes of an episode.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Is there any show that doesn't do this but is still action packed and compelling?

 

[Marc]

Anyone watching a show pertaining to their profession can spot errors like this. It just depends on the level of absurdity as to whether it gets a pass or not. For example, <Scorpions> will give anyone in I.T. or engineering an aneurysm within the first twenty minutes of an episode.

Law and Order had IP addresses starting with 355 and NCIS had computers shutdown by shooting the monitor so Scorpion isn't alone

 

[sojourner]

Law and Order had IP addresses starting with 355 and NCIS had computers shutdown by shooting the monitor so Scorpion isn't alone

using a 355 IP is sort of the equivalent of using a 555 phone number prefix in a movie or show though. And yeah, NCIS is bad sometimes, but <Scorpion> is relentlessly painful.

 

[Marc]

using a 355 IP is sort of the equivalent of using a 555 phone number prefix in a movie or show though. And yeah, NCIS is bad sometimes, but <Scorpion> is relentlessly painful.

or they could simply use the a 192.168.x.x or 172.16.x.x - private ranges - wouldn't be quite so jarring.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

They should probably be using IPv6 addresses nowadays although they would have to extend the running time of the shows somewhat.

 

[Marc]

They should probably be using IPv6 addresses nowadays although they would have to extend the running time of the shows somewhat.

now that would be plain cruel to them

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I think I've seen a couple of TV shows with IPv6 addresses displayed onscreen -- "Mr Robot" and "Person of Interest" perhaps.

On topic, I'm more annoyed by factual mistakes in non-fiction news and documentaries than in fiction provided the latter is entertaining and any inaccuracies are reasonably consistent within the fictional universe.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Fiction isn't a place I get overly concerned by errors unless they are hopelessly egregious (I do have a fondness for that astronaut who brought the pack of cigarettes with her on the moonwalk in Cat-women of the Moon.) Shows aren't just screw ups on sci/tech or law, the foolish absinthe myths that float around among many other things in fiction all add up to what made Myth Busters a thing for so long.

 

[Sgt_G]

Agreed, they're fictional stories not tech documentaries. But when there's a show like "CSI Cyber" that was based on tech, they should try harder to get things right.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

 

[retroenzo]

I actually quite liked the CSI Cyber series and I do miss it, but yeah I learned to switch off my brain and enjoy the ride. Although I did laugh at all of the websites which were authentic to start with but then replaced with fictional sites which couldn't do what the authentic sites were capable of: Facebook being replaced by Friendagenda, Instagram being replaced by Picthread, and whatever they used as the replacement of Twitter.

As I used to work in the technical side of the mobile telecommunications industry I used to laugh at what TV programmes used to tell us that mobile phones were capable of in the pre-smartphone era. Yeah we can only accurately pinpoint your location if you're using GPS, otherwise it's best guess where you are.

 

[Nebusj]

Anyone watching a show pertaining to their profession can spot errors like this. It just depends on the level of absurdity as to whether it gets a pass or not.

I recall back in the day a fascinating blog that reviewed each episode of The West Wing, written by someone who'd been a minor staff member for the White House. The main points were on how the show reflected the actual workings of things in the White House complex. Generally, the show did rather well, especially in capturing the petty little drives for prestige and status. The mistakes would be on the order of, like, how many letters the public had written to the President; the show mentioned one year a figure something like twice what the actual number would be. I'm willing to give The West Wing a pass on something like that.

My real profession is mathematician, which just doesn't come up in pop culture. Professors come up a modest bit and the presentation is all over the place. Usually professors have more private space and spend less time on bureaucracy and class prep than the real-world version allows. But that's so reasonable on dramatic grounds. There just are not great stories to be told about trying to get four classes' Calc I exams marked by Tuesday when you also have to get through the Faculty Senate committee meeting.

 

[publiusr]

I didn't like how The West Wing made missile defense experts look like fools
Better

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Here is a write up on how they botch space launch: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3082/1

It makes ITS look cramped.

 

[Noname Given]

For example, <Scorpions> will give anyone in I.T. or engineering an aneurysm within the first twenty minutes of an episode.

QFT
[Not to mention the majority of the CSI: shows.]

 

[Snaploud]

In the series finale of The West Wing, President Jed Bartlett mistakenly blamed the founding fathers for having inaugurations in January. The 20th amendment (1933) moved inaugurations to January.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

If it's a trivia mistake, I get that. People make mistakes in real life. But if something procedural (such as a medical/biological fact or a computer capability) is incorrect (unless we're dealing with futuristic tech or genetic anomalies), that's less understandable.

 

[Santaman]

http://quantumchymist.blogspot.nl/2014/02/why-arent-more-blades-made-of-titanium.html

Blade's titanium sword or better, why there aren't any..

 

[publiusr]

Just divers knives --and some of them are a good size.