The MMM operated with algorithms that were able to predict human behavior with astonishing accuracy, and so it was able to activate Midos Alerts even before the actual aveira was committed.
That said, since the MMM is not the Ribono Shel Olam and so does not have actual Yedia, there must be times when the algorithm was inaccurate. I imagine that these cases resulted in often comical misfires of the MMM. Of course, the cases that have been preserved for posterity comprise a sort of “Best of the MMM” collection.
I think that Abie should put out an album of MMM Bloopers. This would be potentially even more entertaining than the existing record.
As an aside, @munkatch, the chair wasn’t actually a time machine, it was a sleep and dream machine. Shnooky didn’t really meet young George Washington (who, incidentally, never really admitted to chopping down the tree).