TV shows messing up highway shields

[national highway 1]

How big is the gap?

[Ian]

Why do both directions blink yellow?!

All sides blink yellow because the side street (or in some cases, all ways) probably has a yield. There are a few intersections in the northeast with flasher beacons with that story including this one on US 1/ME 3 at ME 172 in Ellsworth, ME:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ellsworth,+ME&sll=43.561657,-71.175721&sspn=0.007603,0.019205&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ellsworth,+Hancock,+Maine&ll=44.539529,-68.428152&spn=0,0.019205&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=44.539589,-68.428064&panoid=ysp2AqB6TXN_vzCG2mMthw&cbp=12,215.82,,0,1.08

Also, that 4-way signal looks a lot like the Crouse Hinds type D:

[D-Dey65]

I once saw a music video for a song by John Mellencamp with supposed Indiana State route shields in the background that were shaped like New York cutouts.

[algorerhythms]

This isn't directly related to this thread as this isn't a TV show... but it should be fairly easy to spot the messed up highway shields in this map of central Oklahoma from the Norman Transcript.

[Scott5114]

Oh, God, it burns... so does the misspelled map title...

[algorerhythms]

Oh, God, it burns... so does the misspelled map title...

Heh. I hadn't noticed the misspelled title...

[ctsignguy]

I havent seen it in years, but i recall an old flick tilted "The Gumball Rally" (which led to Burt Reynold's Cannonball Run movies) showing some of the competitors racing what was supposedly I-80 in Illinois (well, the shield said "Interstate I-80")......somehow, i must have also missed school the day they taught us about the sagebrush/desert environment of Illinois...

[AZDude]

Don't forget in the movie National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation where the family is driving back to Chicago and there is a distance sign for Chicago (showing 1600 miles or so).  Plus the fact that it looks like they are traveling SOUTH on I-15!

[algorerhythms]

I know this is an old thread (I searched for a newer one on this subject but didn't find one), but when watching the Weather Channel earlier I saw a doozy of an example: they showed a highway camera for a road that was obviously not a freeway, and announced that it was I-60 near Covington, VA...

[bassoon1986]

Weather channel in my area shows US 82 crossing through Sherman and Gainesville as US 80

[OCGuy81]

I finally saw, via YouTube, the TV miniseries of Stephen King's "The Stand".  There is a scene when they're heading to Nebraska with a US 49 West shield.  To their credit though, they did have a proper Arkansas state shield for a scene that took place there.

The book did something similar.  They referenced an article in the LA Times about the Army quarantines on US 5, US 15, and US 10.  Me thinks they meant to use "I".

[apeman33]

I remember one scene in "Smallville" where there was a Kansas 90 shield that was a state outline.

[sp_redelectric]

Another bit that shows and movies do that really irks me: Routing.

This example is from Untraceable, set and shot in Portland...

Bandits was a good example of a movie filmed and set in Portland where in one particular scene where the woman goes into a panic, she is supposed to be driving somewhere - but she drives in a wild circle that includes scenes from the Broadway Bridge, Lloyd Boulevard, streets in downtown, and the junction of McLoughlin Boulevard and Johnson Creek Boulevard - multiple times in the same driving scene.

Then again, the "Bandits" break out of the "Oregon State Prison" and are chased by sheriffs' deputies whose vehicles are painted very closely to Clackamas County Sheriffs' vehicles.  (The Oregon State Penitentary is located in Marion County.)

[florida]

In the past two weeks, Wheel of Fortune had their Road Trip Across America shows and there was a CA-style US 63 shield on the set, plus some other goofball signs.

[hobsini2]

In the Blues Brothers there are so many scene goofs it's not funny.

When Joliet Jake is released from prison In Joliet, the boys go to visit "the Penguin" at the orphanage in Calumet City. The bridge jump scene on the way was on the 95th St Bridge (bridge plaque is shown for a second) over the Calumet River. So instead of taking I-80 East which would have been logical, they go over 10 miles out of the way. But that's not the worst bit about that particular trip. Still before they arrive, they somehow end up on the Chicago Skyway heading WEST! There is another scene shot that shows the skyline with a I-90 West sign. All before getting to Cal City.

The other major flaw is from the time the boys escape the Palace Hotel Ballroom to when they dump the car in front of the Cook County Building. According to Elwood, the Palace Hotel is on Hwy 16 in Lake Wazapumantee (sp?) which is a fictional place (fine). He also says before the big chase starts, that "It's 106 miles to Chicago...". So I guess one is to believe this place is somewhere in the area of Lake Geneva/Oconomowoc/Waukesha WI. (fine) The boys are traveling "southbound on Route 47" (which is obviously an Interstate). Route 47 besides not being an interstate, is still a good 50 miles west of Downtown Chicago. Again bad sense of direction. Then when they finally reach the first "Chicago shot", they somehow get onto Lake Shore Dr heading north where the 23rd St exit used to be (now part of McCormick Place). So they are coming into the city on the southside of the Loop. On Lower Wacker, Elwood says, "We should be passing the honorable Richard J Daley Plaza" to which Jake replies "That's where they got the Picasso." "Yup."  Well if you are on ANY part of Lower Wacker, you miss Daley Plaza by blocks. They cross the Chicago River (that's the drawbridge) heading SOUTH.  They turn left (EAST) at Washington St causing a massive Police car pileup (my dad worked in the building on the left known as the Ameritech Building in the 1990s as they turn that's how I know it is Washington). Then as they end up ditching the police, the Illinois Nazis start to chase them.  From the time that starts until the Nazis fall off the bridge, you can tell that part of the chase was shot in Milwaukee. The street signs were black on yellow which Milwaukee used until sometime in the mid 1980s. The bridge the Nazis fly off was at the time, the unfinished part of I-794 East going to Lincoln Memorial Dr North. When the Nazis finally do crash into the street, the street signs change back to white on green.

I still love the movie but someone did not do their homework at all.

[roadfro]

In the past two weeks, Wheel of Fortune had their Road Trip Across America shows and there was a CA-style US 63 shield on the set, plus some other goofball signs.

I noticed a few of these as well. I think one of them was a California state-named "I-50" shield...

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I still love the movie but someone did not do their homework at all.

If someone had done their homework, the movie would not have been as absurdly funny. (See Blues Brothers 2000)

[BamaZeus]

The thing that always fractured me about "106 miles to Chicago" is that with Elwood driving at breakneck speed to get there, it still took them 8 hours to arrive.

If the show started at midnight, even 1 am to allow for them sneaking into the building, and they play 3 songs, plus talk to Carrie Fisher, at the very latest they leave at 2am.  The Cook County Assessor's office can't open until 8 or 9, and with the "back in 5 minutes" sign on the door, that would indicate that the office has been open for a little while.

So, does it really take 6 hours to get there without any traffic present, even with all the detours they take around roadblocks/Illinois Nazis?

[achilles765]

The movie "Mr Brooks" was filmed in Shreveport.  However, it took place in Portland.  There is a scene where Kevin Costner's title character is driving on a freeway, and the exit signs are all for exits on IH 20 in Shreveport like Jewella and Hearne Ave.  If I remember correctly, a couple of the signs shown display the shields for US 79/80 or US 171, but I don't remember.

[kphoger]

So, in truth, the movie got the highway shields exactly as they are in real life. 

[formulanone]

"Convertible Waitresses"? I've seen Cars about twenty times, and never caught that one! 

[kphoger]

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"Convertible Waitresses"? I've seen Cars about twenty times, and never caught that one! 

I just told all my best friends that (most have young children), and they're all cracking up.  Thank you so much!

[achilles765]

So, in truth, the movie got the highway shields exactly as they are in real life. 

.... true... but in the... wrong place....

oops

[texaskdog]

Just watching Season 1 of the A-Team on DVD and there was a US 16 south sign on one of the episodes.  First of all, there is no 16 in California (and they were taking their watermelons to Fresno), plus it's 16 south and not west or east.

[huskeroadgeek]

This isn't exactly an example of "messing up" highway shields, but it's either poor editing or more likely dramatic license, but I have noticed the Discovery Channel series "Stormchasers" sometimes puts in footage that clearly was not taken where a specific chase is taking place. Only a roadgeek would probably notice these, and you have to be watching really closely to notice them, but I watch the series as much for the roadgeeking aspects as I do the stormchasing.
A few examples-during one chase that was taking place in Oklahoma, there was a brief scene where they drove by a "K-14/K-96" reassurance sign, which is far from the Oklahoma border. Occasionally too you will see them driving towards a specific destination and you will see a mileage sign-then later see another mileage sign which was taken at some point before the first one. The most egregious example I can remember was when they were supposed to be driving on I-94 in North Dakota(the mileage signs and exit signs that were visible were consistent with this) and they had to get off the interstate to make a stop. Suddenly, they cut to a scene of the car(the "Dominator" if you are familiar with the show) getting off a freeway. A "US 70" sign was clearly visible as they got off on the exit ramp. Based on the fact that the ramp quickly joined a frontage road, it seems pretty clear that scene was taken in Plainview, TX off of I-27-far from North Dakota where the chase was taking place.