The Big Bang Theory made fans laugh for 12 seasons, and it’s the highest-rated sitcom ever. While fans couldn’t get enough of Sheldon, Penny, and the rest of the crew, the series wasn’t always perfect.
Just like with any other long-running television series, there have been mistakes including plot holes and continuity errors. Here are 10+ more Big Bang Theory mistakes fans missed.
RELATED STORIES
1. Sheldon’s shifting laundry.
In the first episode of season 2, “The Bad Fish Paradigm,” Penny and Sheldon talk while Sheldon folds laundry.
Keep your eyes glued to those clothes for this mistake, because something funny is about to happen.
While he starts out arranging a blue shirt, the shirt changes suddenly into socks and then back to the blue shirt!
But there wasn’t enough time for this to have happened. If I had to guess, I’d wager that this scene required multiple cuts.
That would explain why things seem to jump around so often.
2. The name of Penny’s dad.
In episode 15 of season 2, “The Maternal Capacitance,” Penny says that her father’s name is Bob during a conversation with Beverly.
However, at other points in this episode, her father is named Wyatt. The only plausible explanation is a weird nickname.
3. An iPod that changes colors.
In “The Tangerine Factor” episode from season 1, Penny throws a black iPod through an open window.
But, when Raj brings it back outside after picking it up, the color has changed from black to silver which doesn’t make any sense.
4. This subtle spelling error.
Some mistakes on television are more glaring, but others take some detective work.
In season 5 episode 21, there is a sign plastered on the front of Howard’s lab door that reads, “RESTICTED AREA” instead of restricted.
He might be a scientist and not an English teacher, but it’s still a pretty glaring spelling mistake.
Is Howard getting his signs custom-made? How on Earth does no one notice that an “R” is missing?
Also, isn’t it ironic that there’d be a spelling mistake on such an important sign?
5. Stage equipment is visible in the pilot episode.
The very first episode of the series includes a minor but detectable error.
When Penny is telling Sheldon and Leonard all about herself, there is a mirror that is on the table by her. In this mirror, it’s possible to see the reflection of part of the set.
6. Stage lights are visible in season 1.
In the episode “The Jerusalem Duality,” fans can see stage lights from the set, but only if they pay attention.
This happens in the scene where Dr. Gablehauser is giving a speech. The lights are reflected in both the wine glass and the glasses he’s wearing.
7. A yellow bag that moves by itself.
This continuity error occurs in the third episode of season 1 when Sheldon is talking to Leonard.
There is a yellow food bag sitting on the counter between them, but it keeps moving around in every shot. Maybe the kitchen was haunted?
8. Raj claiming he didn’t know how to speak Hindi.
In season 10 episode 22, Raj says that he doesn’t know how to speak Hindi because he never learned it.
But, this is in direct conflict with the fact that he has spoken Hindi multiple times in past seasons!
9. Contacting customer service would have ruined the plot of this episode.
It’s common in sitcoms for hilarious but ridiculous situations to happen that could easily have been fixed.
In the “The Zarnecki Incursion” episode of season 4, the entire plot of the episode could have gone away if Sheldon had just gotten in touch with customer support at Blizzard to get his things back.
10. Can Amy ice skate or not?
During season 9 episode 2, Sheldon returns Amy’s scarf and says she wore it while they went ice skating.
This doesn’t make sense, however, since she said in season 8 episode 12 that she has “unnaturally brittle ankles” and can’t ice skate.
11. This lie about *World of Warcraft.*
In episode 4 of season 4, “The Hot Troll Deviation,” Howard says that characters in the game are able to engage in adult activities.
But, this actually isn’t the case. There aren’t even romance options in this game, so it’s a pretty obvious error to a lot of nerds.
12. Sheldon’s reappearing and disappearing burger.
One rather humorous continuity problem happens in season 1 episode 5.
Sheldon is eating a burger but how much he’s eaten keeps changing with the camera angles. Some shots even have a different burger altogether with a different-colored bun.
13. This geographical error.
The show is located in Pasadena, California, and the apartment has windows that face outside. The windows show a landscape that contains mountains in the far distance.
However, the mountains would actually be up close based on the actual geography of California.
14. Leonard’s glasses usually don’t have lenses.
This is a pretty glaring mistake (get it?) that can be seen many times throughout the series.
While there are moments when Leonard’s glasses do have lenses in them, most of the time they don’t.
Which seems a little odd, doesn’t it? I mean, why not put glasses in the frames?
It doesn’t make sense from a character standpoint, but the reasoning behind this was so that the glasses wouldn’t catch the light during filming.
I guess that would have been pretty distracting.
15. A video game error no nerd would make.
During season 2 episode 2, Sheldon brings his Nintendo 64 to play Super Mario 64 .
He tells Leonard that they can pick up where he left off in the game once he finds the memory card.
However, anyone who has played on the Nintendo 64 consoles knows this game doesn’t use a memory card to save progress.
It was one of the first systems with a built-in hard drive that made memory cards obsolete!
Speaking of, I think I’m about due for a wicked round of Mario Party !
16. Why are we seeing Sheldon’s knock in flashback episodes?
Sheldon clearly elicits some obsessive compulsive tendencies; I think we’d all agree with that. None is perhaps more recognizable than his trademark knock, which was established toward the end of season 1.
Yet whenever there is a flashback sequence to a time that predates that episode, Sheldon still knocks three times.
Clearly, the joke came along as the series progressed. It’s more than likely that the writers were just trying to keep things consistent.
Still, for those who had been watching since the beginning, it’s a bit weird.
17. The Barenaked Ladies need to double check their facts.
The lyrics to the theme song go “The earth began to cool, the autotrophs began to drool, Neanderthals developed tools.”
While this is an incredibly clever rhyme, it is factually inaccurate.
In reality, Neanderthals didn’t develop tools.
It’s not to say they didn’t use them in some capacity, but the first of our ancestors to actually develop stone tools for practical use is thought to be Homo habilis .
How did no one catch this?
While we’re on the subject, autotrophs don’t drool at all.
An autotroph is a word used to classify an organism that is capable of producing its own food. For example, how plants use photosynthesis to create sugars.
So while it is an undoubtedly cool rhyme scheme, it makes no sense whatsoever.
18. Sheldon’s recollection of the events from *Superman* are hazy at best.
This is one of the few times in my life that I can confidently say: I am nerdier than Dr. Sheldon Cooper.
Watch this clip of Sheldon explaining his Superman argument to Penny.
Now, watch the actual clip from *Superman* and tell me if you notice any discrepancies in Sheldon’s version.
For one thing, Superman doesn’t swoop down to save Lois Lane — he flies up from the ground. When he catches Lois, the two appear to be about ten stories in the air, not two feet from the ground.
How could someone with an eidetic memory not recall a scene from his favorite movie?
19. The paradox of Sheldon’s paychecks.
We learn in season 2 that Sheldon has been storing his paychecks in his desk at home because he doesn’t trust the banks.
If this is the case, how does Sheldon have any money at all to pay rent?
20. Missy’s accent is all over the place.
I once wrote that accents are something that can make or break it when it comes to movies and TV shows. In “The Pork Chop Indeterminacy,” Missy’s drives me insane.
Why force actors to perform a dialect they’re clearly uncomfortable with? I don’t get it.
21. All of Sheldon’s contracts are technically null and void.
Sheldon is notorious for entering into contractual agreements with his friends and roommates. But in reality, Sheldon wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on.
A notary cannot notarize their own signature. It’s illegal.
22. Leslie is mixed up on opiates.
In the first season, episode 5, Leslie explains that heroin causes the pupils to dilate; just like Leonard’s every time he looks at Penny.
In actuality, heroin is an opiate . That category of drugs causes the pupils to constrict.
23. Sheldon has terrible spelling.
Take a look just above Sheldon’s red marker. On the board, written in black, you’ll see the words “D-D Fushion.” It should be written as “D-D Fusion.”
Sheldon would never make such a basic spelling error.
