Trivia / Forensic Files

• Adored by the Network: The show takes up a majority of HLN's lineup.
• Blooper:
  • In "A Voice from Beyond", a photo is shown of the murder suspect having committed suicide, with his face blurred. Par the course for true crime shows. But then just a few moments later, the photo is shown again, this time not blurred.
  • In "'Kill'igraphy", the opposite occurs. An uncensored photo of Virginia Ridley's dead body is shown early on in the episode. However, this same photo is shown twice in later parts of the episode, with the face censored out.
• Channel Hop: From TLC, to Court TV/truTV, to HLN. The series also occasionally aired on Investigation Discovery as Cause of Death. Finally, it used to air on Discovery Fit and Health as Medical Detectives.
• Completely Different Title: The series is known as Imperfect Crimes in Spain. Not bad, until the show airs a case where the "crime" is revealed to be an accident or a natural death.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer:
  • "The Stake-Out" says the killer David Copenhefer was given a life sentence. In actuality, he was given the death penalty.
  • "As the Tide Turns" claims that "Used to Love Her" by Guns N' Roses is about murder, when it's really about Axl Rose euthanizing a pet dog.
  • "The Day the Music Died", the episode that deals with the murder of grunge singer Mia Zapata, incorrectly claims that grunge is also known as sub pop.^note Sub Pop was the independent record label of many grunge acts when they were starting out, including Nirvana.
  • “Freedom Fighter” claims that at the time of the victim’s murder, her ex-boyfriend was in Auburn, New York, “an hour’s drive away.” The town where the farmhouse was located is actually just outside the Auburn city limits.
• The CSI Effect: A handful of cases have featured criminals who tried to throw the police off track by doing things that they'd seen on crime shows. But as one cop told someone, "Did you miss the part where it didn't work and they got caught?" Conversely, victims who survived their attacks or their loved ones have helped solve cases by doing exactly the same thing.
• Long Runner: Forensic Files is, according to creator Paul Dowling, the longest running non-scripted television show in history. In fact, it's such a long runner that sometimes cases in the show are solved because somebody involved watched an episode of Forensic Files.
• Science Marches On: Sometimes, the credibility of evidence from previous episodes is questioned in later episodes. "Pastoral Care" made the conviction based on a bite mark analysis. Two seasons later, the episode "Once Bitten" pointed out that bite marks should never be confirmatory but only exclusionary.
• Throw It In!: In "Bad Blood," the survivor wound up getting a phone call mid-interview. This was kept in, as it turned out to have something to do with the case.

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