When a show like Game of Thrones comes to an end, you expect a lot of news headlines surrounding it, but in recent weeks, it’s been for the wrong reasons.
First, a Starbucks coffee cup made its way into the final edits of the fourth episode of the season (“The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake,” HBO said in a statement reported by Variety. “Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea”).
Then it happened again during the show’s finale — only this time it was a modern-day water bottle spotted not-so-hidden behind Sir Samwell Tarly’s foot.
Game of Thrones leaving a plastic water bottle sitting there in the finale is such perfect symbolism for a show that spent the last two seasons rushing to get done and ignoring the important little details that made it great in the first place. pic.twitter.com/P4VWTuGvBM
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) May 20, 2019
Of course, this mistake is only one of many that have aired on TV over the years. Some a pretty minor and hard to spot while others are blatant.
Some mistakes that were caught have been so “good” that the directors and showrunners decided to keep them in. Here are some of the best of the worst:
Homeland
Over the years, fans with eagle eyes have noticed and reported many scenes that featured production crew members trying to hide out of view or boom mics wanting to sneak in. There are too many to mention however there is that one time on Homeland where a Saudi diplomat was being interviewed and the entire crew was reflected in his glasses.
Bewitched
In the episode “Double, Double, Toil and Trouble,” Elizabeth Montgomery not only played the blonde main character Samantha but also her evil black-haired sister Serena. However, in one shot just before Serena gets a pie thrown in her face (always comedy gold), blond hair is spotted under the dark-colored wig.
Firefly
Joss Whedon’s series is famously known for lasting only one season despite many fans wishes that it had lasted longer. But the show is also known for a famous flub shown during the show’s pilot episode.
Speaking of pilots, Alan Tudyk who played pilot Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne is seen during the end of the episode leading the crew home pretending to be gripping the steering wheel…because it wasn’t there.
Orange is the New Black
If you watch the first few episodes of the series, you’ll notice that the saltshaker tattoo sported on the back shoulder of inmate Piper, changes position from upright to sideways from time to time.
Lost
When Lost first premiered in 2004, viewers were shocked by the unexpected death of one character just minutes into the show. The shot shows a group of people stumbling about after the Oceanic flight 815 crashes on an island.
One of them, Gary Troup, gets sucked into one of the plane’s engines. It’s gruesome, but if you notice, a black object briefly appears over the engine at the same time.
Years later fans speculated that the black image was the Smoke Monster, but the creators of the show have said that it was just a CGI error.
Shogun
During the opening scene, Shogun features a shot of a very old ship. Though the storyline is set in Japan during 1600, a helicopter can be seen in the distance filming the scene.
Sons of Anarchy
During an episode of the second season, Opie is shown breaking into a car using a “slim Jim” tool. Unbeknownst to him, the scene shows that the car is clearly unlocked the whole time.
Here Comes the Brides
Here’s a strange one.
ABC’s Here Comes the Brides was set just after the civil war, but throughout its three-year run, Jason Bolt’s Robert Brown’s character was shown wearing a gold turtleneck with his leather outfit despite the fact that turtleneck sweaters weren’t invented for another 100 years.
Maybe he was ahead of his time?
Farscape
During the 22nd episode of the show (“Family Ties”), there is a scene where the characters are facing each other with weapons drawn. When Claudia Black’s Aeryn checks for hidden weapons, a blue crash mat is on the floor. And then vanishes.
Mash
In the fifth episode of the ninth season (“Death Takes a Holiday”), a director’s chair is clearly shown just outside the mess tent.
American Horror Story
In the fourth season of the show, Jessica Lange’s Elsa character is featured sporting two prosthetic legs, but during the season’s finale, Elsa learns that her road to stardom has come to an end and collapses on the floor clearing showing her two very real legs.
The X-Files
In the episode “Travelers” from season five, David Duchovny’s Mulder character is shown wearing a wedding ring in a flashback scene when he wasn’t married. Turns out, Duchovny has just gotten married and didn’t want to take his ring off.
Twin Peaks
In this case, a crew member got his big break. In one scene, Laura Palmer’s mother is seen screaming and in the mirror that hung on the wall was the scary face of Frank Silva, part of the film crew.
Director David Lynch liked the scene so much, he kept it in, and Silva became the mysterious “Bob.”
Seinfeld
In the famous episode “The Parking Garage,” the fab four are seen throughout the entire episode wandering around a parking garage trying to find Kramer’s car, having forgotten where they had parked it.
When they finally find the vehicle and get it, it fails to start. It was supposed to, but when it didn’t, the writers thought it was the perfect way to end the most imperfect day for the foursome.
Prison Break
At the end of the first season, when Michael Scofield escapes the prison, Stacy Keach’s Warden Pope loses his job and flips out. During his rage, he smashes a model with a lamp and turns over a table.
At one point he looks at his hand which had been sliced up from the broken lamp, but the very real injury was left in because it looked so good.