CLASSIC SHOWS WITH CLASSIC ERRORS/GOOFS

[flashback]

My favorite goof is on "The Brady Bunch" when Mike and Carol take Bobby to the ice cream eating contest. They drive away in the blue convertible (Dodge Challenger?), but come home in the brown station wagon!

And as for Happy Days (set in the late 50's, early 60's), I'm surprised the rednecks didn't drag Chachi off to the barber shop for a haircut! ;D

they obviously knew he was related to the fonze and knew better.
HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

 

[bpatrick]

My favorite goof is on "The Brady Bunch" when Mike and Carol take Bobby to the ice cream eating contest. They drive away in the blue convertible (Dodge Challenger?), but come home in the brown station wagon!

And as for Happy Days (set in the late 50's, early 60's), I'm surprised the rednecks didn't drag Chachi off to the barber shop for a haircut! ;D

they obviously knew they were related to the fonze and knew better.
HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Actually, it wouldn't be the rednecks who would have taken Chachi to a barber shop. His hairstyle didn't begin to appear until 1964, with the coming of the Beatles, so even his friends could have dragged him in.

 

[MattParker]

Add in all the times Cheers didn't keep the boom mic out of the picture.

 

[LKellerIII]

*Emergency....exactly how big was Squad 51's coverage area? It seems it was the entire county of LA. One minute up in the mountains..the next out into the ocean.

and the same thing could be said for Adam-12, except for covering the entire city of LA (including LAX and close enough to take a boy to Rampart General/Harbor General Hospital, which is outside LA City). and the Call sign (1-Adam-12) as well. Adam-12 should be a Central Division (1) unit, but roll out of Rampart Division (2).

Well, obviously different locations make these shows more visually interesting - that's why they do it. I wouldn't call that a "goof" - just 'creative license.'

Along those same lines, Streets of San Francisco was the only show I've seen with a San Francisco setting that showed exterior shows of the actual central police headquarters - the Hall of Justice. It's an depressingly ugly 50s era building next to a freeway in a visually bland part of town, so most movies and TV shows use exterior shots of San Francisco City Hall (a classically beautiful building downtown with a rotunda) as police headquarters. Again - creative license.

Creative license? Bull. It's production convenience combined with a belief that nobody can tell the difference. Human Target is set in San Francisco. A recent show had scenes at the railroad station, which (guess what) looked just like the CN terminal in Vancouver. Oh, wait. Monk had a scene in a train station that looked just like Union Station in LA. One show tried to pass off Union Station as Grand Central Terminal. And how many Cold Case viewers who have ever lived, worked or spent any time in Philly don't know that the old Union Old Building (now a film studio) is not The Roundhouse (Philadelphia Police headquarters)? Also FBI headquarters in Numb3rs and various airport terminals. Sorry, license revoked for abusing the privilege.

"Bull," huh? OK - you win the macho battle. I'm not trying to get into a fight about this, and I realize production convenience is a common thing.

. But I would call Emergency or Adam 12 filming in different locations across LA is creative license not "production convenience." Production convenience would mean they should shoot in the same geographic location all the time - it would save a lot of travel time and money. But it would also be boring. Even with Jack Webb's tiny production budgets, Webb knew they needed to add as much visual appeal as they could.

And the TV shows and movies that use SF City Hall as a proxy for the Hall of Justice is not because it's convenient, but because it's visually more attractive.

But along the lines of what you've said - I've seen Los Angeles and Vancouver do 'stand-ins' for San Francisco many times. I recall an episode of The X Files set at Fisherman's Wharf. There were docks and boats all over the place, but the hill above the "Wharf" was filled with evergreen trees, not thousands of houses, as it should be. It was obviously shot in Vancouver, or some other coastal city in Canada.

 

[mleach]

It's production convenience combined with a belief that nobody can tell the difference.

Years ago when Tornoto's 1050 CHUM was doing their "Farewell Weekend " ( CHUM was about to launch their infamous sports format ), don't remember who it was but one of their announcers had brought up the number of American TV shows and movies who were passing off cities such as Toronto as being American cities ( Showtime's Queer-As-Folk using Toronto as Pittsburgh for example ) and in the process showing real life Canadian retail/restaurant chains such as Zellers, The Hudson Bay Company, Harveys Hamburgers, Mr. Sub, Shoppers Drug Mart..etc...in many scenes with the production people thinking that outside of the boarder cities..well who in Texas would actally know what in the hell is a Zellers? To those people its all "made up". The 1050 CHUM folks felt it was funny as to how many of us Americans would reallly believe that Toronto "can be" Pittsburgh, Denver, Atlanta, Phoenix or even Los Angeles on TV and in the movies.

 

[cowboybud]

On one episode of the Brady Bunch, Greg calls Jan "Eve (Plumb)". They missed it in post-production and still airs to this day.

 

[firepoint525]

On one episode of the Brady Bunch, Greg calls Jan "Eve (Plumb)". They missed it in post-production and still airs to this day.

Similarly, in another scene, Carol (Florence Henderson) refers to Peter by his real name, "Chris" (Christopher Knight). That one also slipped in.

Going back to Chachi on Happy Days, how was he always able to wear sleeveless shirts? Did it never get cold in Milwaukee?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

In an episode of Superman's called "The Hidden Clue" Clark Kent splices two bits of audio tape together in an effort to learn where Inspector Henderson's son may have been taken. He does so to a brand new reel of tape, but then says, "I've spliced them to the beginning of a new rule".

 

[firepoint525]

Another one from American Dreams:

Meg was class of 1966. The Left Banke played her prom. Not surprisingly, they played "Walk Away Renee." Her date (who was actually her brother J.J., but that's a whole 'nother matter) commented on them apparently playing "Walk Away Renee" more than once, to which Meg replied, "that's their only hit." Only problem was, "Walk Away Renee" didn't become a hit until fall, 1966.

Several people have commented that American Bandstand moved to L.A. earlier in real life than it did on American Dreams (actually, it never moved on Dreams). I can't comment on that because I am not old enough to remember. Maybe they were planning to move it the next season, in time for Meg to move out to California for the "summer of love," but that, of course, never happened, because the show was cancelled before that could happen.

 

[compubit]

How many times have there been "New York" subway scenes using LA Subway stations? I've been to many NYC subway stations and they're rarely:
a) that clean
b) that new looking
c) that "empty" during the day
d) that spacious inside
e) having red-LED marquees with train info (yes, NYC is adding that, but IIRC, they use a different style of sign...)

Makes me wonder if there's a subway car(s) out in LA with a NY 1 line that gets rolled out for shoots (it always seems to the the #1 line, red circle and all...).

J

 

[bpatrick]

In an episode of Superman's called "The Hidden Clue" Clark Kent splices two bits of audio tape together in an effort to learn where Inspector Henderson's son may have been taken. He does so to a brand new reel of tape, but then says, "I've spliced them to the beginning of a new rule".

There's also one where Superman reverses course while flying, and the "S" on his shirt is backward.

 

[jwk1979]

Going back to Chachi on Happy Days, how was he always able to wear sleeveless shirts? Did it never get cold in Milwaukee?

The same with the rest of the cast of "Happy Days". Richie was often shown wearing either his Letterman Sweater or Letterman Jacket and the Fonz was usually shown wearing his black leather jacket and white t-shirt. No one was shown wearing a parka or bundled up like they were going to a Packers game. It gets pretty COLD in Milwaukee during the winter, with LOTS OF SNOW. I think about the only time Milwaukee got snow, according to "Happy Days'', was on the Christmas episodes.

 

[firepoint525]

Going back to Chachi on Happy Days, how was he always able to wear sleeveless shirts? Did it never get cold in Milwaukee?

The same with the rest of the cast of "Happy Days". Richie was often shown wearing either his Letterman Sweater or Letterman Jacket and the Fonz was usually shown wearing his black leather jacket and white t-shirt. No one was shown wearing a parka or bundled up like they were going to a Packers game. It gets pretty COLD in Milwaukee during the winter, with LOTS OF SNOW. I think about the only time Milwaukee got snow, according to "Happy Days'', was on the Christmas episodes.

Interesting point. I recall one episode in which they were planning to have a "Hawaii party" at their apartment, but the heat went out, so they made a last-minute change, and converted it into an "Alaska party." They opened the windows, and if I recall, they even left open the door to their refrigerator, uh, icebox! (Apparently, this was one of the few episodes in which the writers/producers stayed "in period," as this episode was evidently created with the idea of commemorating the addition of Alaska and Hawaii to the union in 1959 and 1960.)

 

[azumanga]

...this was one of the few episodes [of "Happy Days"] in which the writers/producers stayed "in period," as this episode was evidently created with the idea of commemorating the addition of Alaska and Hawaii to the union in 1959 and 1960.)

Actually, both states were admitted in 1959, though not simultaneously.

 

[Hal Erickson]

McHALE'S NAVY, purportedly set during WW2,is rife with errors.
1) In one episode, the men are invited to watch the nurses swimming "in their bikinis." Why would a two-piece swimsuit be called a bikini before the A-bomb test at Bikini Atoll?
2) In another episode, Binghamton is seen operating a tape recorder. This technology, invented in Germany, wasn't available to the US until after the war.
3) In still another episode, Binghamton is put to sleep by an overdose of tranquilizers, which hadn't yet been put on the market during WW2 (or even developed).
4) In yet another episode, the crew shows up at an airport with a poster for an Italian airline on the wall...with a drawing of a jet plane (certainly not being used for commercial travel back then).
5) And in the final season, Ensign Parker has bad dreams after reading a spy novel that is clearly based on James Bond--a cute trick, since the first James Bond novel wasn't published until the early 1950s.

 

[firepoint525]

...this was one of the few episodes [of "Happy Days"] in which the writers/producers stayed "in period," as this episode was evidently created with the idea of commemorating the addition of Alaska and Hawaii to the union in 1959 and 1960.)

Actually, both states were admitted in 1959, though not simultaneously.

I'm probably thinking about when the stars were added to the flag.

 

[firepoint525]

McHALE'S NAVY, purportedly set during WW2,is rife with errors.
1) In one episode, the men are invited to watch the nurses swimming "in their bikinis." Why would a two-piece swimsuit be called a bikini before the A-bomb test at Bikini Atoll?

Did those two-piece swimsuits (whatever you want to call them) even exist prior to that A-bomb test? My thinking is that they did not, but that was well before my time!

 

[LKellerIII]

McHALE'S NAVY, purportedly set during WW2,is rife with errors.
1) In one episode, the men are invited to watch the nurses swimming "in their bikinis." Why would a two-piece swimsuit be called a bikini before the A-bomb test at Bikini Atoll?

Did those two-piece swimsuits (whatever you want to call them) even exist prior to that A-bomb test? My thinking is that they did not, but that was well before my time!

The bikini was invented in 1946, and named after the nuclear tests that same year on Bikini Atoll. But less skimpy two piece bathing suits for women were first marketed in the early 20th century, though they were meant to be worn in woman's athletic events - probably in non-co-ed settings where men couldn't ogle. Beach and poolside wear in those days was very modest.

As for McHale's Navy - the reason for WW2 girls in bikinis is obvious - to provide some eye candy for mid 20th century viewers.

Another such faux-pas mentioned in the past in similar threads - the 70s shaggy hair styles and facial hair worn by the doctors on M*A*S*H. No such thing in the early 1950s, and certainly not in the military.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

If I'm not mistaken, the bikini was originally called the Atom Bomb.

 

[WPPCProductions]

I remember reading online years ago about 1980's Knightriders KITT had scenes with a bad paint job on the sides when they pop out when he goes into the turbo mode.