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chris12
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Another show with poor continuity was Boy Meets World. In a season one epiosde Mr. Fenney tells them they are the future high school class of 2000 yet a few years in they age two years and graduate as the class of 1998. Then, in the first year Cory and Topanga can't stand each other yet a few years later they suddenly say they've been madly in love with each other since they were three years old.
WKRP in Cincinnati had a couple of continuity errors.
In one episode during the first season, Les Nessman goes to Carlson and demands a raise, arguing that he had been with the station for seven years without ever having gotten one. Since the show started in 1978 and took place in the then-present time, this would indicate that Les had only been employed at WKRP since 1971. However, in a later flashback episode, as a spoof of A Christmas Carol, Carlson is taken back to 1955, and among the characters employed at the station back then is a young, squeaky-voiced Les Nessman (with a full head of hair as well). The then-general manger gives the young Les a bowtie as a Christmas gift and promotes him to "a full-blown cub reporter", to which Les responds, "You'll never see me without a tie again."
Also, in the first season, there is an episode where it is revealed that Venus Flytrap is an army deserter, and that his real name is Gordon Sims. In this episode, nobody, not even Venus' longtime friend Andy Travis, knew Venus' real name until he revealed it in this episode. However, in the fourth season, in a flashback scene to the night Venus first arrived in Cincinnati, he and Andy are shown at Andy's home talking, and Andy calls Venus "Gordon" as if he had known his real name all along.
In one episode during the first season, Les Nessman goes to Carlson and demands a raise, arguing that he had been with the station for seven years without ever having gotten one. Since the show started in 1978 and took place in the then-present time, this would indicate that Les had only been employed at WKRP since 1971. However, in a later flashback episode, as a spoof of A Christmas Carol, Carlson is taken back to 1955, and among the characters employed at the station back then is a young, squeaky-voiced Les Nessman (with a full head of hair as well). The then-general manger gives the young Les a bowtie as a Christmas gift and promotes him to "a full-blown cub reporter", to which Les responds, "You'll never see me without a tie again."
Also, in the first season, there is an episode where it is revealed that Venus Flytrap is an army deserter, and that his real name is Gordon Sims. In this episode, nobody, not even Venus' longtime friend Andy Travis, knew Venus' real name until he revealed it in this episode. However, in the fourth season, in a flashback scene to the night Venus first arrived in Cincinnati, he and Andy are shown at Andy's home talking, and Andy calls Venus "Gordon" as if he had known his real name all along.
Another M*A*S*H* blopper. In early episodes Henry Blake refers to as his wife as Mildred. In later episodes her name was changed to Lorraine.
Correct me if I'm wrong as its been many years, but wasn't Henry Jefferson originally Lionel's father on All in the Family? Then he became Lionel's uncle. (I'm talking as far back as the "God is Black" episode).
The Simpsons readily admits to their being no back story, as charachters and situations can change (Homer does have a heck of a lot of time off from the nuke plant to pursue all those other careers) at a whim.
The Simpsons readily admits to their being no back story, as charachters and situations can change (Homer does have a heck of a lot of time off from the nuke plant to pursue all those other careers) at a whim.
gr8oldies said:
Some trivia from IMDB.com regarding All In The Family (from which The Jefferson's was spun off):
The name of George Jefferson's brother, who was living with George and Louise, was Henry. In fact Henry once posed as George because George, who was as big a bigot as Archie, didn't want to set foot in the Bunker's house.
Here's another - sitcoms in which babies suddenly age 3 or 4 years between seasons. After a few seasons of Growing Pains, the Seavers had a new baby girl (good gimmick to boost ratings, right?). But I guess there are only a limited number of sitcom plot lines involving babies - dirty diapers and sleep deprivation from night time feedings don't go very far.
So by the following season, the baby girl was suddenly a wise-ass 5 year old. But, of course, none of the other kids had aged 4 years, or suddenly graduated college.
So by the following season, the baby girl was suddenly a wise-ass 5 year old. But, of course, none of the other kids had aged 4 years, or suddenly graduated college.
easttxtv said:
I watched that clip and it sounds at the end like an annonucer in Italian is saying something like "The role of Mason will now be played by Gordon Thompson." I've seen soaps announce that a new actor is taking over a role like this, but this was a rather weird way to shoot the scene.
anotherguy said:
One question - did this air as a single scene in the US? Just following the different camera shots, this easily could have been a "Friday Cliffhanger" scene in the US, but when re-edited for overseas (removing commercials, redubbing, etc.), the two scenes seen in the US could have ended up as one scene in the international version...
Just a thought.
Jim
Then there is the Burns & Allen episode where they switched actors playing neighbor Harry Morton. They did it in mid-scene. The new Morton, Larry Simms walked on to the set shook hands with outgoing Fred Clark and took over the role. Fred Clark walked off the stage. Nothing was said. Thatwas it!
The show Roseanne did it over several years with both Lecey Goranson and Sarah Chalke both playing the role of Becky and they occasionally broke the 4th wall to explain it.
From Wikipedia:
During the show's fifth season actress Lecy Goranson left to attend Vassar College. At first, her character Becky was merely absent from the show, explained in the story when she marries and moves away to live with her husband Mark. During the sixth season, however, the show's producers recast Becky with actress Sarah Chalke. This change is addressed in the show by obliquely "breaking the fourth wall", which becomes a running gag for the remainder of the series as both Goranson and Chalke continue to alternate in the role of Becky, depending on Goranson's availability. Examples of this gag include:
-At the end of Chalke's first episode, the Conner family watches the television show Bewitched and several characters complain about the recasting of the show's main character Darrin Stevens, with Chalke asserting that she prefers the second actor to play Darrin.
-When Goranson returns to the role in the eighth season premiere, Roseanne and Darlene ask Becky, "Where the hell have you been?" and comment that "it feels like you've been gone for three years." Becky responds, "Why does everyone keep saying that?"
-The eighth season premiere concludes with Goranson and Chalke dancing as if they were each other's reflection in a black-and-white parody of the closing credits from the television series The Patty Duke Show, a series in which actress Patty Duke plays two identical cousins. The song to which the two Becky's dance, Nearly Identical Beckys, is set to the tune of the theme music from The Patty Duke Show'. At the end of the segment, William Schallert, who plays Patty's father on the series, appears with Dan. This parody was excised from the eighth season DVD box set.
-Beginning with the eighth season, the show's opening credits sequence, which displays morphing images of the main characters over the years, features images of both Goranson and Chalke in the role of Becky.
When Roseanne announces that the Conner family is planning a vacation to Walt Disney World, Becky (played that week by Chalke) tells Roseanne how excited she is to be going to Disney World. Roseanne responds, "Aren't you glad you were here this week?"
-In an episode that pretends to glimpse into the future, John Goodman portrays an adult version of D.J. who has suffered a mental breakdown. He repeatedly mutters "They say she's the same, but she isn't the same." At the end of the episode, a montage sequence of the two actresses playing Becky reveals the meaning of D.J.'s mantra.
-Because cast and crew believed that the eighth season of Roseanne would be its last, Goranson had signed back on only for that season. When the show was renewed for a ninth season, Chalke replaced Goranson full-time.
From Wikipedia:
During the show's fifth season actress Lecy Goranson left to attend Vassar College. At first, her character Becky was merely absent from the show, explained in the story when she marries and moves away to live with her husband Mark. During the sixth season, however, the show's producers recast Becky with actress Sarah Chalke. This change is addressed in the show by obliquely "breaking the fourth wall", which becomes a running gag for the remainder of the series as both Goranson and Chalke continue to alternate in the role of Becky, depending on Goranson's availability. Examples of this gag include:
-At the end of Chalke's first episode, the Conner family watches the television show Bewitched and several characters complain about the recasting of the show's main character Darrin Stevens, with Chalke asserting that she prefers the second actor to play Darrin.
-When Goranson returns to the role in the eighth season premiere, Roseanne and Darlene ask Becky, "Where the hell have you been?" and comment that "it feels like you've been gone for three years." Becky responds, "Why does everyone keep saying that?"
-The eighth season premiere concludes with Goranson and Chalke dancing as if they were each other's reflection in a black-and-white parody of the closing credits from the television series The Patty Duke Show, a series in which actress Patty Duke plays two identical cousins. The song to which the two Becky's dance, Nearly Identical Beckys, is set to the tune of the theme music from The Patty Duke Show'. At the end of the segment, William Schallert, who plays Patty's father on the series, appears with Dan. This parody was excised from the eighth season DVD box set.
-Beginning with the eighth season, the show's opening credits sequence, which displays morphing images of the main characters over the years, features images of both Goranson and Chalke in the role of Becky.
When Roseanne announces that the Conner family is planning a vacation to Walt Disney World, Becky (played that week by Chalke) tells Roseanne how excited she is to be going to Disney World. Roseanne responds, "Aren't you glad you were here this week?"
-In an episode that pretends to glimpse into the future, John Goodman portrays an adult version of D.J. who has suffered a mental breakdown. He repeatedly mutters "They say she's the same, but she isn't the same." At the end of the episode, a montage sequence of the two actresses playing Becky reveals the meaning of D.J.'s mantra.
-Because cast and crew believed that the eighth season of Roseanne would be its last, Goranson had signed back on only for that season. When the show was renewed for a ninth season, Chalke replaced Goranson full-time.
At least the ones from Burns and Allen and Roseanne were played for laughs and not passed off like nothing happened.
"Beginning with the eighth season, the show's opening credits sequence, which displays morphing images of the main characters over the years, features images of both Goranson and Chalke in the role of Becky"
Yes - that morphing opening credit sequence was cute - and also featuring Roseanne herself morphing from pre-plastic surgery to post plastic surgery.
Yes - that morphing opening credit sequence was cute - and also featuring Roseanne herself morphing from pre-plastic surgery to post plastic surgery.
bpatrick said:
I think Wilma's maiden name went from "Pebble" to "Slaghoople" after the birth of Pebbles, to avoid confusion, sort of.
Now, Betty... in the flashback episode circa 1964 explaining how Fred and Barney met Wilma and Betty, Wilma adresses Betty at one point as "Betty Jean McBricker". Much later, on "The Flintstone Kids", little Betty's name has been shortened to "Bricker", while Wilma's remains "Slaghoople".
And wasn't Mr. Slate's original surname "Gravel"?
ixnay
Some Flintstones trivia from IMDB:
-Pebbles was born at the Rockville Hospital on February 22, 10,000 B.C. at 8:00pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.
-Fred Flintstone's boss's name is sometimes Mr. Rockhead and sometimes Mr. Slate.
-This series was responsible for a number of American TV firsts. It was the first animated series in which a lead character became pregnant. It was also the first American animated series to feature a "story arc" - namely the numerous episodes regarding Wilma's ongoing pregnancy, followed by Pebbles's birth, followed by numerous episodes featuring Fred adjusting to his role as a new father. Prior to this arc, episodes of The Flintstones were interchangeable stand-alone stories.
-Betty's maiden name was McBricken
-Wilma's maiden name changed. One episode has the Flintstones and Rubbles reminiscing back to when the girls first met the guys. While working at the Honeyrock Hotel as teenagers, Betty greets Wilma's mother as "Mrs. Slaghoople". In a different episode, the circus comes to town and Fred becomes paranoid that Wilma wants him dead. The circus knife-thrower named Rodney Whetstone is an old boyfriend of Wilma's and calls her "Wilma Pebble".
-Although animated, it was the first show to show a couple sleeping in the same bed.
And this from Wikipedia:
-Wilma's maiden name has been a source of dispute. Several early episodes in the original series clearly stated Wilma's maiden name was "Pebble." In the episode "The Entertainer" (P-44), Wilma's old friend Greta Gravel remembers her as "Wilma Pebble". Again, in "Dial S for Suspicion" (P-74), one of Wilma's old boyfriends Rodney Whetstone calls her "Wilma Pebble."
-However, later episodes and spinoffs also firmly state her maiden name was indeed "Slaghoople," based upon the name of Wilma's mother in the original series, Pearl Slaghoople. Flintstones' writer Earl Kress explained the discrepancy as such: "t's just as simple as (Hanna-Barbera) not caring about the continuity."
It could be possible that Mrs. Slaghoople may have been married to a Mr. Pebble before and gave birth to Wilma, and then later Wilma's mother could have either divorced or be widowed and have remarried a Mr. Slaghoople, who could have died or left her.
-Pebbles was born at the Rockville Hospital on February 22, 10,000 B.C. at 8:00pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.
-Fred Flintstone's boss's name is sometimes Mr. Rockhead and sometimes Mr. Slate.
-This series was responsible for a number of American TV firsts. It was the first animated series in which a lead character became pregnant. It was also the first American animated series to feature a "story arc" - namely the numerous episodes regarding Wilma's ongoing pregnancy, followed by Pebbles's birth, followed by numerous episodes featuring Fred adjusting to his role as a new father. Prior to this arc, episodes of The Flintstones were interchangeable stand-alone stories.
-Betty's maiden name was McBricken
-Wilma's maiden name changed. One episode has the Flintstones and Rubbles reminiscing back to when the girls first met the guys. While working at the Honeyrock Hotel as teenagers, Betty greets Wilma's mother as "Mrs. Slaghoople". In a different episode, the circus comes to town and Fred becomes paranoid that Wilma wants him dead. The circus knife-thrower named Rodney Whetstone is an old boyfriend of Wilma's and calls her "Wilma Pebble".
-Although animated, it was the first show to show a couple sleeping in the same bed.
And this from Wikipedia:
-Wilma's maiden name has been a source of dispute. Several early episodes in the original series clearly stated Wilma's maiden name was "Pebble." In the episode "The Entertainer" (P-44), Wilma's old friend Greta Gravel remembers her as "Wilma Pebble". Again, in "Dial S for Suspicion" (P-74), one of Wilma's old boyfriends Rodney Whetstone calls her "Wilma Pebble."
-However, later episodes and spinoffs also firmly state her maiden name was indeed "Slaghoople," based upon the name of Wilma's mother in the original series, Pearl Slaghoople. Flintstones' writer Earl Kress explained the discrepancy as such: "t's just as simple as (Hanna-Barbera) not caring about the continuity."
It could be possible that Mrs. Slaghoople may have been married to a Mr. Pebble before and gave birth to Wilma, and then later Wilma's mother could have either divorced or be widowed and have remarried a Mr. Slaghoople, who could have died or left her.
I'm surprised no one mentioned "The Lucy Show," once the show moved from New York to Los Angeles the whole concept of continuity fell apart. Pretty much every "Lucy Show," was a show into itself.
We see Lucy losing her kids, calling her kid the wrong name, being a high school drop out (while in the New York version she went to a college reunion). Indeed in a two parter Carol Burnett and her become flight attendents the next episode Lucy is back working for Mr Mooney with no mention of what happened. It's pretty much like each show was independent to itself.
"Here's Lucy" wasn't much better, we'd find Harrison Carter go to a college reunion and three episodes later he'd be at another reunion. Even if "I Love Lucy," the apartment number was changed from 3B to 3D to accomoodate the joke where Lucy can say she appeared in "3-D." Lucille Ball was never one to sacrifice continuity for a good joke.
On "Step By Step," the new born child Lillian also rapidly aged.
A continuity error transending two shows was Rhoda, who on "Mary Tyler Moore" had a sister Debbie (who got married) and a twice mentioned brother, who later were never seen on her own spin off.
What I hate most is the fact that in the old days before the Internet it was reasonable that continuity in scripts would not be exact because of the number of shows and the lack of availablity of scripts. But as my favourite show "The Simpsons," they do this and toss it off with a line where Lisa says "When you do so many shows you're bound to repeat yourself." Which is a slap in the face of fans who know anyone with access to Google can get a complete plot summary. There is no need to repeat plots in today's world except for lazy writers. (But that's not continuity). Of course since the Simpsons don't age continuity can't hold. Although it's interesting Apu's kids got older but Maggie didn't.
Dick Van Dyke also had problems with flashback stories and houses and friends etc. Of course you can write that off to the flashbacks being not as they REALLY happened but as how people remembered they happened.
We see Lucy losing her kids, calling her kid the wrong name, being a high school drop out (while in the New York version she went to a college reunion). Indeed in a two parter Carol Burnett and her become flight attendents the next episode Lucy is back working for Mr Mooney with no mention of what happened. It's pretty much like each show was independent to itself.
"Here's Lucy" wasn't much better, we'd find Harrison Carter go to a college reunion and three episodes later he'd be at another reunion. Even if "I Love Lucy," the apartment number was changed from 3B to 3D to accomoodate the joke where Lucy can say she appeared in "3-D." Lucille Ball was never one to sacrifice continuity for a good joke.
On "Step By Step," the new born child Lillian also rapidly aged.
A continuity error transending two shows was Rhoda, who on "Mary Tyler Moore" had a sister Debbie (who got married) and a twice mentioned brother, who later were never seen on her own spin off.
What I hate most is the fact that in the old days before the Internet it was reasonable that continuity in scripts would not be exact because of the number of shows and the lack of availablity of scripts. But as my favourite show "The Simpsons," they do this and toss it off with a line where Lisa says "When you do so many shows you're bound to repeat yourself." Which is a slap in the face of fans who know anyone with access to Google can get a complete plot summary. There is no need to repeat plots in today's world except for lazy writers. (But that's not continuity). Of course since the Simpsons don't age continuity can't hold. Although it's interesting Apu's kids got older but Maggie didn't.
Dick Van Dyke also had problems with flashback stories and houses and friends etc. Of course you can write that off to the flashbacks being not as they REALLY happened but as how people remembered they happened.
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