The night is long and full of errors.
Listen, making TV is hard! Long hours, tight schedules, sometimes less than ideal filming conditions...it's a lot to handle, which is why mistakes that feel super how-did-they-miss-that do happen. Sure, they don't happen a lot, but when they do, you can rest assured that the Internet will take notice and promptly have a field day with it.
Bridgerton is just one period drama to come under scrutiny for a slip-up when it comes to an era-inappropriate object accidentally making its way into an episode, but it's far from the first. Who can forget the infamous coffee cup that seemed to prove Westeros did in fact have a Starbucks on Game of Thrones? And that was just one of several gaffes the HBO fantasy hit made during its eight-season run. Forget winter, memes were always coming when it came to their mistakes.
Even Downton Abbey and The Mandalorian aren't exempt from such unintentionally hilarious viral moments.
Here are some of the most glaring hiccups period dramas have made when it comes to accidentally allowing modern elements to infiltrate their worlds...
Blink and you'll miss it! Eagle-eyed Lady Whistledown followers noticed a historical inaccuracy within the first few minutes of the Netflix hit's premiere.
The Bridgerton blooper? Viewers see horse-drawn carriages on a cobblestone road in one of the Shonda Rhimes series' opening scenes. While these fit right in a series set in the 1800s, the yellow lines marking the street do not. In fact, the Daily Mail reported the yellow line didn't make its debut in the U.K. until the 1950s. The scandal!
Some social media users were quick to point out the historical inaccuracy. "Oh dear, modern yellow no parking lines on the street in the tv drama 'Bridgerton,'" one commenter tweeted. "I've worked on a few films/tv shows as historical consultant and art department, I remember our lot painting over modern white lines on a street or covering the whole street with earth ;)"
'Twas the Starbucks cup seen around the world—including Westeros.
In the fourth episode of the HBO fantasy hit's final season, "The Last of the Starks," the gathered forces at Winterfell celebrate their victory over the Night King, as they have every right to. During the drunken celebration, Tormund (Kristofer Hivju) sang the praises of Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and his ability to unite forces, ride dragons and come back to life after being murdered by his own men.
But during the cheering, fans were distracted because they could see a modern coffee cup sitting in front of an unhappy Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). The internet went wild(ling), launching a thousand memes inspired by the faux pas.
In response to inquiries about the gaffe, HBO said in a statement: "The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea." Alas, the network later edited the mistake from future airings of the episode.
What would the Dowager Countess of Grantham have to say?!
The PBS drama caused a lot of giggles (and headlines) in 2014 when it released a publicity photo showing Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and his daughter Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) that included a plastic water bottle on a mantel behind them.
"We don't know whose it was, to be honest," star Joanne Froggatt later told E! News of the error. "We're only human. Things happen and you have to have a sense of humor about these things." Like the cast all posing with their own water bottles for a group photo to raise awareness for WaterAid, an organization that helps provide clean water to underserved communities.
While reports that cast and crew are now banned from bringing modern day products to set (including underwear!) ran rampant post-water bottle-gate, producer Gareth Neame set the record straight. "A lot of stuff written about our show and other shows is made up," he said. "We do let the cast and crew drink [water] when they're working."
Downton Abbey isn't the only show that's had a thirsty cast.
Game of Thrones' final season had another modern error when not one, but two water bottles were visible in the series finale. Both Liam Cunningham and John Bradley forgot to remove their refreshments from under their chairs prior to cameras rolling. Oops!
Hey, mistakes happen—even in a galaxy far, far away.
In episode four of Disney+ hit's second season, Baby Yoda's fans couldn't help but notice a person wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt during an action-packed scene, standing just behind Mando (Pedro Pascal), Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano).
Considering the attire hardly matched the rest of the cast's Star Wars-appropriate costumes, many assumed the unexpected cameo was accidentally made by a crew member.
Yep, another GOT fumble.
Sure, no one was likely to shed any tears during Stannis Baratheon's (Stephen Dillane) death in the season five finale, but the fact that what appears to be a laptop charger was visible near his knee definitely didn't help set a somber tone. While the gaffe was a bit harder to spot in the actual episode, it was clear as day in an official behind-the-scenes photo.