Rules for Contribution

For now, please email editor@historicallyinaccuratetv.com. Eventually, you will be able to enter comments or request shows, movies or books that you would like to see added to Historically Inaccurate TV by submitting them through a comment box.

Guidelines

We will be happy to set up a page and links for any historically inaccurate film, book, or television show that you would like to see. Just write to the editor. She will set up the page, add any commentsthat you have submitted on its subject, and e-mail you to let you know when you update.
Submissions will be edited for grammar and clarity.
Submissions will be incorporated into the articles on the tv show, film, or book that they refer to.
You don't need to have a source to contribute. You supply the facts, and we'll supply the backup research if necessary. If you want to provide a source on your own, please see below.
If you already have a source, please cite it.
Please use Wikipedian sources only if they cite a reliable outside source. Wikipedia does not count as a 100% legitimate source. Wikipedia can only be used as a starting point if the reference within a Wikipedia article refers directly to a legitimate source such as a book or news article. While Wikipedia is generally considered accurate, it is open to abuse, and the links can change.
Another good source for citable, credible information is Amazon.com's nifty "Search Inside" feature. just choose a book that has searchable inside sample pages, and enter the subject you're looking for in the search field with "Search Inside This Book" selected in the field above. Here is an example, using Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII. The search will generate links to pages within the book with relevant information that you can go read and use in citations.
The New York Times has a search page that will let you search articles since 1851. Many are free.
TIME.com has a searchable database going back to 1924. Here's an article on the 1929 crash.
The “trivia” and “goofs” sections within individual entries on the IMDB are another good starting point for ideas. But if you're going to use the IMDB, please also check elsewhere for backup.

What counts as a historical film, novel, or TV show?

Any film, novel, or TV show deliberately set in a time period earlier than its date of creation counts as historical for the purposes of Historically Inaccurate TV. If the action is set far enough behind the work's creation to require the creator or their staff to research and obtain costumes, scenery, pop cultural references etc., it's a historial film/novel/TV show. For example, The Wedding Singer, released in 1998 and set in 1985, counts as a historical film for the purposes of Historically Inaccurate TV, as do the 1950s portions of the first Back to the Future and the flashback scenes in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel. However, comments related to works set way, way back are heavily appreciated.

If the characters film or TV show set in the past are wearing clothing or using products that would have been unavailable to them at the time in which the action is set, it's historically inaccurate, and you should write to us about it. For example, if you see characters in a 9/11 movie using camera phone to take pictures of the attack on the World Trade Center, and you can demonstrate for a fact that camera phones were not yet available in the U.S. in 2001, your comment definately belongs on Historically Inaccurate. Just e-mail the editor by hitting this link, and she'll set up a page for your comment, and post your comment. Contributors will be mentioned in the credits following the end of each article, if you wish to be named. The editor can add a link from your credit to your online profile (i.e., Myspace, Facebook, Friendster, etc.) or personal website upon request.

Version 2.0 of Historically Inaccurate will contain comment boxes that you will be able to use to send comments directly. Until our the Webmistress gets around to adding these comment boxes, please email all comments to the editor at editor@historicallyinaccuratetv.com. Please be patient with us, for we are the same person.

What doesn't count as a historical film, novel, or TV show?

Our standards here are pretty relaxed. So long as a movie, book or tv show is set in a year earlier than its creation date, it is eligible for inclusion on this site. If a film was made in 2002, released in 2003, and has scenes set in 1999 where someone is reading a newspaper dated 2000, it deserves an entry on Historically Inaccurate TV. However, there are certain cases that we can't use, not matter how much we would like to.

Works that are set in the present day cannot go on Historically Inaccurate TV. This includes older films set in what was the present day at the time of their creation. For example, a film that was released in 1936 and takes place at an unspecified, undated “present” that we can assume to be 1936, it does not count as a historical film even if it contains scenes where characters extol the health benefits of cigarettes and the benevolence of our German allies. Something like that belongs on our upcoming sister site, inaccurateentertainment.com.
Works set in the future can't be posted on Historically Inaccurate TV, even if 2015 rolls around and we still don't own hoverboards or flying cars.
Works set in a fantasy land during a vague long, long ago or once upon a time. Unless you can prove that Guilder and Florin are real places, we will never be able to list The Princess Bride. In another example, Lord of The Rings can't be mentioned here either even though is is supposed to take place in the past, because the past that it takes place in never existed.
Until we find out whether Battlestar Galactica takes place in the distant future or the distant past, its status will remain in limbo. All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again my ass. We live in a linear society.

If you have any question or comments, or want to contribute to the site, please write to the editor at editor@historicallyinaccuratetv.com.