Welcome to Historically Inaccurate TV

Historically Inaccurate TV is a page where history nerds, history majors, and the detail-obsessed can come together to point out historical inaccuracies in TV shows, movies, and books. If you have any questions or comments, or want to contribute to the site, please write to the editor. She will be happy to set up pages for any historically inaccurate TV shows, movies, or books that you would like to see added to the site, and to add any facts that you send her.

Pointing out historical errors in popular entertainment is fun. All too often, the history lover's comments are met with eyerolls because the world is filled with dull-witted, pedestrian-minded bozos and philistines. Some of them may call themselves your friends. If you casually point out one of the inaccuracies in Braveheart, they will do one or all of the following:

  1. Roll their eyes
  2. Say “Who cares? It's only a movie.”
  3. Tell you to get a life.

What these people don't understand is that we point out inaccuracies because we enjoy doing so, not because we are a bunch of no-life killjoys. At Historically Inaccurate TV, you'll find an enthusiastic audience of other people eager to dissect every missed detail, anachronism, or incorrect date you care to comment on. Heck, we wouldn't be watching those TV shows and films if we didn't enjoy it. A little inaccuracy can tighten a story and juice up a plot. Real life has a way of meandering. Many of the works featured on Historically Inaccurate TV, Historically Inaccurate Movies, and Historically Inaccurate Books are arguably better for having been historically incorrect. That doesn't mean that we can't enjoy pointing out where the authors and creators bungled the facts. I've enjoyed plenty of historical films that were not exactly faithful to history. If historical movies were forced to adhere strictly to the events as they transpired, most of them would be much longer and less enjoyable as films. If all of the actors who appeared in historical films had to be identical to the people they portrayed, many great performances would never have been filmed. This site exists so that that those of us who simply enjoy pointing out the inaccuracies will have a space to do so. And if you're really annoyed by an error taht you saw in film , please chime in too.

If you see anything on a TV show or in a film or book that you know is historically inaccurate, drop us a line, and we'll be happy to add it to Historically Inaccurate TV. 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 an entry for. Just write to the editor at editor@historicallyinaccuratetv.com. She will set up the page, add any comments that you have submitted on its subject, and e-mail you to let you know when the page is up on Historically Inaccurate TV.

You can explore the world of historically inaccurate television here. More shows and episodes will be added all the time, so please submit any comments or requests that you may have by contacting the editor.

You can also comment on inaccurate historical novels and historical movies. Why did I put Historically Inaccurate Books and Historically Inaccurate Movies into a site superficially devoted to historically inaccurate television shows instead of giving them their own dot.com sister sites? Because I didn't feel like maintaining multiple domains just yet, that's why. Sites for Historically Inaccurate Books and Historically Inaccurate Movies are in the works. For now, content that will eventually move to those sites lives on Historically Inaccurate TV.

Thoughts on Historically Inaccurate Books, Movies, TV shows, and Plays

One thing that I've noticed about the historical inaccuracies in popular entertainment is that the level of care that a work's creators show towards accuracy seems to decrease the further back the story is set. For example, in One Million Years B.C., we see what appear to be Homo Sapiens, a species that arrived at least 800,000 years later, interacting with dinosaurs despite the 59,000,000-odd years since the giant lizards went extinct. Moving on to 10,000 B.C., we find wooly mammoths engaged in the construction of some Egyptian pyramids, bringing the chronological inaccuracy in species interaction down to mere eons. Flash forward to Mel Gibson's Apcalypto, set around 1500 C.E., and the discrepancies between history and its onscreen depiction are off by six measly little centuries.

This brings me to the Apocalypto Corollary: the greater the distance between the U.S.A. or Western Europe and the geographical setting of the film, the less likely the film is to be accurate. Of course, I am sure that I haven't seen every historical movie ever made, and that anyone who puts their mind to it might find plenty of exceptions to the rule. However, I think that my theory works pretty well as generalizations go. Perhaps we should refine the Apocalypto Corollary to state that:

  1. The level of inaccuracy can also be determined by the geographical distance between the U.S.A. or Western Europe and the native landmass of the majority of the characters. I say "the U.S.A" rather than "North America" because:
    1. Mexico is in North America.
    2. Very few films are made about Canadian history.
  2. The accuracy of a historical film increases inversely to the decreasing distance between the native landmass of the majority of the film’s characters and the country or main corporate headquarters of the corporation that financed the film. While I haven't really watched enough Asian cinema to pass jugdement in this case, I would assume that an Asian film that related to Asian history and was financed by Asian sources would be more accurate than a U.S.-financed film about Asian historical event. However, I know that many martial arts films and Bollywood musicals take place in the past. I really can't say whether Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Raise the Red Lantern is accurate because I really don’t know enough about Chinese history. If anyone has any comments on specific historically inaccurate Bollywood pictures or martial arts films, I would love to set up sites for them on Historically Inaccurate Movies.

Introducing Inaccurate Entertainment

I'm happy to announce the addition of Inaccurate Entertainment. I added this site because many of the people that I spoke to about Historically Inaccurate TV began to enthusiastically describe film moments where characters magically change shoes in the middle of a conversation, or visit a New York City landmark that is actually in Philadelphia. So, I've created what I hope will eventually become a comprehensive go-to spot for everything that the media gets wrong—and I do mean everything. If you see a film or read a book whose plot is too ludicrous to warrant the willing suspension of your disbelief, post a rant on the Inaccurate Movies section. If you read something in the news you can prove is wrong, link to it on the Inaccurate News page and tell us why. We hope that, as the site grows, many of you will take the opportunity to plunk down any non-historical errors that you happen to see.

What's New on Historically Inaccurate TV

The World of Historically Inaccurate TV

The World of Historical Inaccuracy Historically Inaccurate TV Historically Inaccurate Movies Historically Inaccurate Novels General Topics and Articles on historical inaccuracy in entertainment

If you have any questions, or wish to contribute your comments to Historically Inaccurate TV, please write the editor to editor@historicallyinaccuratetv.com. Eventually, all of the pages will have comment boxes in them. Historically Inaccurate TV welcomes your comments, and we will be happy to create new pages for any historically inaccurate films, television shows, plays, or books you would like to see on the site.

You can check out some of my other writing at This is By Us.

Here's a brief word about me.

I also write for The Sunny Way.

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