History AnachronismStew / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' took place in [[TheFifties 1952]], and mostly stayed within that era...with a few notable exceptions in regard to song choices. Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange), the owner of "Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities" (aka the titular freak show), sang [[Music/DavidBowie David Bowie's]] "Life on Mars?" in several episodes (it turned out to be oddly appropriate, given the lyrics' mentioning "the freakiest show" and oblique references to characters and events in the series). The song wouldn't be released until 1971. To complete the anachronism, Elsa is even dressed and made-up like Bowie in the music video for "Life on Mars" whenever she performs the number. She also later covers "Heroes", which wasn't released until 1977.

** Elsa wasn't the only one singing impossible covers. Two standards from TheNineties are sung by Jimmy and Bette/Dot, respectively: {{Music/Nirvana}}'s "Come As You Are" (1991) and {{Music/Fiona Apple}}'s "Criminal" (1997).

* ProfessionalWrestling can have a good deal of this, primarily because the programming is identified [[LampshadeHanging even in-universe]] as staged entertainment and [[{{Kayfabe}} doesn't have to correspond at all to reality]]. Much of it is in the spirit of RuleOfFunny (the [[GreaserDelinquents '50s greasers]] Deuce & Domino, two medieval Scottish warriors called the Highlanders, etc.), but occasionally it's done apparently without irony. The best example of non-ironic anachronism in WWE is probably Wrestling/DolphZiggler, whose hair and clothes give the impression that somebody puked every imaginable [[TheEighties 1987]] stereotype into a blender and then made a man out of it -- and Ziggler is talked up by everyone as a straight-out arrogant "cool" guy rather than the laughable DiscoDan he really is.

** Deliberately used in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E66Two Two]]". The man wears what appears to be a Confederate uniform but military posters showing tanks and planes are seen in the ruined city. Nuclear weapons were responsible for destroying the city and the world. The woman wears what appears to be a Soviet uniform. The discarded rifles that he and the woman find are {{Ray Gun}}s.
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E117TheIncredibleWorldOfHoraceFord The Incredible World of Horace Ford]]", a poster for the 1938 film ''The Toy Wife'' is seen on Randolph Street in 1935.

* ''{{Series/Cursed}}'': As the series seems to be set around the 8th century (at earliest), the Red Paladins' crusade against witchcraft is several centuries early; the Pope didn't declare witchcraft heresy until 1484 (and it still wasn't formally made a capital crime throughout the British Isles until the late 1500's), with people ''really'' going witch-crazy in the 16th and 17th centuries. In fact, for much of the medieval period the Catholic Church's official stance was that witches didn't exist at all, dismissing such things as pagan nonsense (ironically, this means the Red Paladins might have been branded heretics for spreading such beliefs in the real world); the link between witchcraft and the Devil didn't become popularly ingrained in Christian belief until the 15th century. Furthermore, burning wasn't always the preferred method of execution; while in Scotland and several other European countries condemned witches were burnt at the stake, in England witches were usually hanged. However, it is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact that magic and magical creatures really exist in this setting, so the anti-witchcraft stuff could realistically have occurred much earlier.

--->'''[[Series/{{Today}} Mere]][[Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire dith]] [[TheCameo Vieira]]:''' Crowds lined the mall today as Holy Roman Emperor UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill returned to the Buckingham Senate on his personal mammoth.

* ''Series/Merlin2008'': Based on the legend of Myth/KingArthur a supposed king of dark age Britain - has [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory people of various races in what would, at the time, have been a Celtic Britain]] as well as armour and architecture from the late medieval period and YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe (justified given that few people would want to hear it in Old Celtic, Old English, or even Middle English without subtitles), with the worst example being lighting candles with matches (strike matches weren't invented until 1805!). However, the programme-makers have repeatedly stated that the show is supposed to be set in [[AlternateHistory a "fantasy" imaginary Britain]] and isn't intended to be accurate.

* ''Series/{{Frontier}}'' is ostensibly set in Canada during the late 1700s, but there are many elements that wouldn't appear for decades later or in some cases had disappeared earlier.

* ''Series/Legion2017'': In season 4, when Syd lives a second childhood with Melanie and Oliver, the setting seems to be a mixture of fairy tale, Victorian era, and late 20th century.

* ''Series/WonderWoman'': Filmed in the 70s. The first season was set in the 1940s. The anachronisms are abundant, but subtle:

* {{Series/Xena|WarriorPrincess}} and {{Series/Hercules|TheLegendaryJourneys}}: In their Universal TV series, live in a world where not only are [[AllMythsAreTrue all myths and legends true]], but are also all happening within a few seasons of each other. The Argonauts sailed just a few years before Julius Caesar ruled, and Hercules was old friends with [[{{Dracula}} Vlad Tepes]] who mentions being with war with the Ottoman Turks (you know... In UsefulNotes/AncientGreece).

** Technology is all over the map. Most cars date from the 1970s, characters wield modern firearms while carrying old flip phones, televisions are old [=CRT=] models, the dominant portable music medium is cassette tapes. There's an old-fashioned glass aspirin bottle without a childproof top is seen in the pilot. Typewriters are used instead of personal computers in the first season, and those computers that do show up are old desktop boxes with [=CRT=] monitors... except in the future Batcave where Thomas Wayne had set up an office that had flat-panel displays and a server stack.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' took place in [[TheFifties 1952]], and mostly stayed within that era...with a few notable exceptions in regard to song choices. Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange), the owner of "Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities" (aka the titular freak show), sang [[Music/DavidBowie David Bowie's]] "Life on Mars?" in several episodes (it turned out to be oddly appropriate, given the lyrics' mentioning "the freakiest show" and oblique references to characters and events in the series). The song wouldn't be released until 1971. To complete the anachronism, Elsa is even dressed and made-up like Bowie in the music video for "Life on Mars" whenever she performs the number. She also later covers ""Heroes"", which wasn't released until 1977.

* ''Series/{{Legion}}'': In season 4, when Syd lives a second childhood with Melanie and Oliver, the setting seems to be a mixture of fairy tale, Victorian era, and late 20th century.
* ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'': When Loki and the Time Variant Authority travel to a department store in 2050, the store somehow looked ''less'' modern than one from the present-day, with low drop ceilings even though large-scale retail stores built since the 90's have been using open ceilings and exposed rafters. There's also the fact that the merchandise on the shelves are clearly from the 2020's. The only things marking the store as futuristic are the occasional hologram displays and the clerks' LED nametags.

* ProfessionalWrestling can have a good deal of this, primarily because the programming is identified [[LampshadeHanging even in-universe]] as staged entertainment and [[{{Kayfabe}} doesn't have to correspond at all to reality]]. Much of it is in the spirit of RuleOfFunny (the [[GreaserDelinquents '50s greasers]] Deuce & Domino, two medieval Scottish warriors called the Highlanders, etc.), but occasionally it's done apparently without irony. The best example of non-ironic anachronism in WWE is probably Wrestling/DolphZiggler, whose hair and clothes give the impression that somebody puked every imaginable [[TheEighties 1987]] stereotype into a blender and then made a man out of it - and Ziggler is talked up by everyone as a straight-out arrogant "cool" guy rather than the laughable DiscoDan he really is.

* True to [[Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents the books it's based on,]] ''Series/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2017'' has a field day with this. To start with, the Baudelaires seem to have vaguely 80's-ish wardrobes, Olaf mentions buying an hourglass online, Snicket mentions gay marriage being legalized (happened in 2015 in the U.S.), the Architeture is all over the place, all cars seem to come from the 40's, Mr. Poe dresses based in the 20's fashion, a group of people dresses in a 50's fashion shows up, and Sunny at one point suggests using Uber to get somewhere. And don't get us started on Bo Welch's eclectic set design...

* ''Underbelly'': The pilot is set in 1995 and features the Spiderbait song "Shazam" (1999) playing on a stereo.

* ''Series/{{Loki}}'': When Loki and the Time Variant Authority travel to a department store in 2050, the store somehow looked ''less'' modern than one from the present-day, with low drop ceilings even though large-scale retail stores built since the 90's have been using open ceilings and exposed rafters. There's also the fact that the merchandise on the shelves are clearly from the 2020's. The only things marking the store as futuristic are the occasional hologram displays and the clerks' LED nametags.

* ''Series/{{Loki}}'': When Loki and the Time Variant Authority travel to a department store in 2050, the store somehow looked ''less'' modern than one from the present-day, with low drop ceilings even though large-scale retail stores have switched to open, exposed rafters since the 90's. There's also the fact that the merchandise on the shelves are clearly from the 2020's. The only things marking the store as futuristic are the occasional hologram displays and the clerks' LED nametags.

** Sofie uses a mop, which wasn't invented until nearly 20 years later.

** The attitudes of the female characters are more indicative of modern women than women in the 1930s. At the same time, the men who interact with the women simply accept the attitudes of the women.

* ''{{Series/Cursed}}'': As the series seems to be set around the 8th century (at earliest), the Red Paladins' crusade against witchcraft is several centuries early; the Pope didn't declare witchcraft heresy until 1484 (and it still wasn't formally made a capital crime throughout the British Isles until the late 1500's), with people ''really'' going witch-crazy in the 16th and 17th centuries. In fact, for much of the medieval period the Catholic Church's official stance was that witches didn't exist at all, dismissing such things as pagan nonsense (ironically, this means the Red Paladins might have been branded heretics for spreading such beliefs in the real world); the link between witchcraft and the Devil didn't become popularly ingrained in Christian belief until the 15th century. Furthermore, burning wasn't always the preferred method of execution; while in Scotland and several other European countries condemned witches were burnt at the stake, in England witches were usually hanged. However, it is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the fact that here magic and magical creatures really exist, thus all that (or similar actions) is jump-started.

* ''Series/LaverneAndShirley'': The show had little issue with using props available only in contemporary times. In one episode a character is eating cereal from a box of Wheaties featuring a famous photo of Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner winning the gold medal in the Olympic decathlon in 1976.

* ''Series/MadMen'' is usually very good for keeping the timeline straight, but in one episode, a hard-bound copy of "The Corps" by W.E.B. Griffin can be seen in Don's office. The book wasn't published until 1986.

** A black Marine corporal is seen in Washington DC before there were any black Marine corporals.

* ''Series/TheWonderYears'' has many anachronisms, especially with plot-relevant music being released later than the date the episode is supposed to take place in. The pilot takes place in 1968; Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was released in 1969, and the book "Our Bodies Ourselves" was published in 1973. "Alice in Autoland" is set in 1973; Johnny Rivers' "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)" wasn't released until 1977, and the plumbing fixtures are from the 80's-90's. "Scenes from a Wedding" takes place in 1972, and Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" was released in 1973. "Heart of Darkness" takes place in 1968-1969; The Doors' "Riders on the Storm" was released in 1971.
* {{Lampshaded}} re a clip on ''Series/WorldsDumbest'' featuring a fight between two nerds. One wields a sword and is dressed in vaguely medieval garb; the other one looks like "WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget with nunchuks".

** The producers explained early on that they were perfectly aware of this and did it simply to add to the {{camp}} value, further explaining the one rule they had was that anything BC was fair game, and AD was off limits. They missed the boat on that rule a lot: Boudica's rebellion in England (60AD), and [[UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler Vlad Tepes]][=/=]{{Dracula}}, who was a ''medieval'' ruler, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and his three sons, and the episodes in the modern world. Myth/KingArthur manages to get around the rule thanks to Myth/{{Merlin}} using magical TimeTravel.
** They also often show inventions that haven't been invented yet, ala ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones''. One episode had Hercules playing basketball. Another involved a giant spiderwoman, which lead to a "website" quip.

* ''Series/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' (the TV Series): Amy travels back in time to 1976 to date her history teacher. One scene shows an arcade, the Pong machine is not an anachronism, but in the background you can clearly hear people playing ''VideoGame/{{Asteroids}}'', ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'', and ''VideoGame/PacMan''; also they want to play ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''. ''Space Invaders'' did not come out until 1978, ''Asteroids'' in 1980, and ''Donkey Kong'' and ''Pac-Man'' in 1981.

--->'''[[Series/{{Today}} Mere]][[Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire dith]] [[TheCameo Vieira]]:''' Crowds lined the mall today as Holy Roman Emperor UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill returned to the Buckingham Senate on his personal mammoth.