MITM Mistakes / Goofs / Errors / Contradictions

Amigo22

Super Moderator
This one was probably deliberate, but in "Krelboyne Picnic," watch for that scene where Dorene throws away Lois's brownies because she's concerned about nonexistent peanut allergies. Look right behind Dorene and there's a concession sign reading... wait for it.... "Peanuts"

Oh, I hadn't noticed that before. Interesting.
 

Seosamh

New member
MITM Mistakes

I Found These Funny Mistakes On IMDB and moviemistakes.com

In the Pilot episode (Season 1 Episode 1) Malcolm and Stevie are in his room. When Stevie is talking you can see the boom mic poking out at the bottom left part of the screen.

In Red Dress (Season 1 Episode 2) when Dewey yells for Lois because the bow was put on the present, if you look to the left of Lois, you will see a crewmember kneeling down, handing Lois the red dress, who is holding a bucket of water. He quickly gets out of the camera's view.

At the end of Lois vs. Evil (Season 1 Episode 9) Malcolm speaks to camera with several children moving in the background. One boy doesn't know where or when to move and he tries to speak to someone off camera. In the end he gives up, shrugs his shoulders and walks off.

At the end of Traffic Jam (Season 2 Episode 1) when the family have got back in the car Malcolm says something like "who would have thought a traffic jam could be so cool, we should do this again". Well near the end of the sentence we can see Malcolm's mouth and it isn't moving.

In Flashback (Season 2 Episode 25) When Lois goes into labour with Malcolm, she runs outside taking Francis and Reese with her. When Francis says, "You're a liar, you're a liar," watch the back window of the car and you will see the camera and camera operator's reflection in the window.

At the end of Zoo (Season 4 Episode 1) in the last argument scene where Malcolm and Dewey are in the tigers cage,if you look over Malcolm's right shoulder you can see a man with a camera filming them.
 
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Batch

New member
At the end of Lois vs. Evil (Season 1 Episode 9) Malcolm speaks to camera with several children moving in the background. One boy doesn't know where or when to move and he tries to speak to someone off camera. In the end he gives up, shrugs his shoulders and walks off.

I noticed this, really obvious, but quite funny!
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
Thanks! Yes, I've always liked these little mistakes, although I think a lot of the so-called continuity and synchronization errors on IMDB are a bit far-fetched, and hardly noticeable, let alone irritating.

Most movies are dubbed afterwards, so there will always be slight mouth movement discrepancies, and the same is true of the disjointed nature of the filming process, where shots and counter shots (or reverse shots) from character to character will often result in slight misplacements of hands or objects like napkins or the amount of drink in a glass. But I'm nitpicking now, and I think the glaring errors are always enjoyable!

Here are a few I can remember noticing:

  • In Softball (5.12) when Francis bashes Reese for his toilet seat grabbing record, the vapour trails of a plane in the sky change and disappear between close-ups and long shots.
  • In the same episode, so-called 'secret agent in the making' Hal returns to the secret service headquarters to see the whole building gone. Yet in the frontal shots of Hal, we see an enormous shadow looming over him - indicating the building is still there.
  • In Francis Escapes (1.7) there are three cups hanging on the kitchen rack in some shots, and two in others. This must have been, because one is in the way of the wall phone that Lois is trying to use. In some shots, we see the third cup has fallen down on the draining board.
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
At the end of Lois vs. Evil (Season 1 Episode 9) Malcolm speaks to camera with several children moving in the background. One boy doesn't know where or when to move and he tries to speak to someone off camera. In the end he gives up, shrugs his shoulders and walks off.

Yes, that was something funny :) I hadn't noticed yet! I think the kid was waiting for a cue to walk to the drinking fountain (I think it is) in the background, which is where he ends up later.

Rich
 

raidon04

New member
Recently found error:

In 'College Recruiters (2)', after Francis pulls a neighbours cable into his apartment whilst they are away, watch the cable miraculously move back and forth from two alternative positions during camera shots as he is sitting on the bed talking with Dewey
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
In episode Kicked Out (4.12), just before Francis smashes the keyboard of Otto's irritating cousin Willy, you can clearly see it isn't a real keyboard, or at least it has suffered some damage from previous takes, because the keys are loose and some stick out!

Rich
 

FRED

New member
Not sure if this counts, but in 2x05 "Casino", when Hal, Malcolm, and Reese are in the army testing area and first see the cougar (or whatever it was), they used doubles, obviously so no one would get hurt. The Branston double turns his head toward the other two and for a split second you can clearly see his face.
 

Freack

New member
In some of the episodes the words don't match the way Malcolm's lips are moving. Malcolm didn't know he was genius until the first episode, but in some episodes it tells how Malcolm taught his dad things when he was 5.
 

mr.tamnus

New member
Malcolm In The Middle Error????

I noticed something that the writers may have not have noticed. In the episode called " bomb shelter ", Hal is trapped in a bomb shelter that is located i think, under the sand box. However, in the episode where the boys get a baby sitter while Hal and Loise go to a convention, Reese and Malcolm pull up the same door which is thought to be as the septic tank. They put a blanket over it and lay a book next to it. Later Reese falls through it. Did the producers mess this up or am i looking at the wrong part of the back yard?
 

tjpeople

Site Administrator
Staff member
I noticed something that the writers may have not have noticed. In the episode called " bomb shelter ", Hal is trapped in a bomb shelter that is located i think, under the sand box. However, in the episode where the boys get a baby sitter while Hal and Loise go to a convention, Reese and Malcolm pull up the same door which is thought to be as the septic tank. They put a blanket over it and lay a book next to it. Later Reese falls through it. Did the producers mess this up or am i looking at the wrong part of the back yard?

I think they are in two separate places, but I'm not sure.

Please note: I have just merged around 6 Goofs/Mistakes/Errors threads into this one. And made it a sticky as its a popular topic. Ahh, nice and tidy. :)
 
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