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tv shows with poor continuity

I can remember seeing the early episodes with a different Floyd, but what I was thinking of was the difference in his personality before and after Howard McNear's stroke. McNear played Floyd to be more cranky at times before the stroke, but after it his mobility was more limited, but his personality actually seemed more laid back.
 
M*A*S*H
In the first episode Hawkeye wrote a letter to his dad and mentioned his mother and sister.
Later in the series the sister disapeared, and after that his mother had died years before.

I wish it was that easy to get rid of family that you dont like!
 
Regarding the Big Valley; yes there was a younger brother. I believe he was off to college most of the time and made just frequent appearances.

As to Superman; I did forget about that episode where he returns to Earth after colliding with an asteroid and, without explanation, changes into Clark Kent.

Andy Griffith: When the show aired in 1960 former "Father Knows Best" co-star Eleanor Donahue was a member of the cast playing "Ellie" the drug store owner. Donahue's character and Andy were becoming very close, then suddenly she disappears a year later with no explanation. Anyone have any idea what happened?
 
I think producer Aaron Ruben decided that Andy and
Ellie had no chemistry so Elinor Donahue was let go.
I disagree with him; I vastly prefer her to Helen Crump.
Ellie would let Andy know when he was wrong; Helen
sometimes acted like a spoiled child, IMO, but usually
went along with him.
 
bpatrick said:
I think producer Aaron Ruben decided that Andy and
Ellie had no chemistry so Elinor Donahue was let go.
I disagree with him; I vastly prefer her to Helen Crump.
Ellie would let Andy know when he was wrong; Helen
sometimes acted like a spoiled child, IMO, but usually
went along with him.

I too wondered what happened to Elinor Donahue after her one-year stint on the Andy Griffith Show. I also agree with your observation that "Ellie" was far better suited for "Andy" than Helen Crump.

But what role Aaron Ruben played in Donahue's departure raises another question. When Griffith moved on to play Ben Matlock, did you notice the constant change in the number of co-stars on that program? It seemed that after each season there was an entire cast change, with the exception of Griffith. I mention this because I read somewhere that Andy Griffith was not the easiest person to get along with, and I wonder if Griffith had any say in the departures of both his co-stars on Matlock and Elinor Donahue from his earlier show?
 
If the information about Elinor Donahue at wikipedia is
correct, Andy (and Aaron Ruben) did make the decision
to let her go, supposedly because neither man felt there
was any "romantic chemistry" between Andy and Ellie.
It appears that no one asked Ms. Donahue for her opinion.

As to cast turnover, there really wasn't that much on
"The Andy Griffith Show." Don Knotts and Jim Nabors left,
of course, and there was some turnover in Andy's girlfriends
(nobody's mentioned Joanna Moore as Peggy McMillan, the
county nurse), as well as several additions in the color years
(namely Jack Dodson and Paul Hartman), but not the wholesale
turnovers characteristic of "Matlock."
 
anotherguy said:
I can remember seeing the early episodes with a different Floyd, but what I was thinking of was the difference in his personality before and after Howard McNear's stroke. McNear played Floyd to be more cranky at times before the stroke, but after it his mobility was more limited, but his personality actually seemed more laid back.

His stroke also left him with that slightly slurred, spacey, sing-songy kind of speech pattern that, ironically, became one of the most endearing and remembered aspects of his character. (And one that was frequently lampooned -- Eugene Levy's impersonation on SCTV was near flawless!). :D

Yeah, about his mobility -- Griffith said that after the stroke, McNear was always filmed either seated or, when shown standing to cut hair, he was actually leaning against an unseen bracing device in back of him to help support his weight.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
When Griffith moved on to play Ben Matlock, did you notice the constant change in the number of co-stars on that program? It seemed that after each season there was an entire cast change, with the exception of Griffith. I mention this because I read somewhere that Andy Griffith was not the easiest person to get along with...

Griffith may or may not have been easy to work with, but to those he liked, he was very loyal. I understand he really went to bat to get Jim Nabors his own series, even threatening to walk off his own show if the network execs balked. And years later, when Don Knotts' vision and health were starting to fade, and he couldn't get parts, Griffith threw him the bone of a recurring, if small role on "Matlock." He may have done it out of pity, but Knotts showed that he still had some acting chops left, and it was great to see the two of them them reunited, albeit as different characters.
 
Third Watch had some.
The engine company was first Engine 57 and it later became Squad 55.
Another bit of continuity problem was with filming locations. Since the show filmed all over the city, it wound up having a bit of geographical logic problems, especially given the show was set "uptown" and the firehouse and police station exteriors were filmed in Long Island City.
 
bpatrick said:
If the information about Elinor Donahue at wikipedia is
correct, Andy (and Aaron Ruben) did make the decision
to let her go, supposedly because neither man felt there
was any "romantic chemistry" between Andy and Ellie.
It appears that no one asked Ms. Donahue for her opinion.

I kind of figured that Donahue was either fired or quit. In this case I wasn't sure the reason, but now it appears that "Miss Ellie" got the boot from good old "Sheriff Andy."
While not being an avid fan of the Andy Griffith Show, although I thought Don Knotts was fantastic as Barney Fife, I did think that Elinor Donahue made a nice addition to the cast. It's a shame that Griffith and Ruben didn't share the same believe. Keeping the character of "Ellie Walker "could have resulted in many more interesting story lines. Kind of a shame that didn't happen, but then again, as the saying goes, "That's Show Business!"
 
I know I Love Lucy was already mentioned but when it came to poor continuity, can't forget Lucy's second show..The Lucy Show !!!

When the The Lucy Show changed its setting from Danfield, Conn to California there were some big differences.

Danfield: Lucy was a college graduate. In fact Lucy, Vivian and her daugher Chris went on a visit to Lucy's old college.
California: Lucy was a high school dropout.

Danfield: Lucy's son was named Jerry
California: In one episode, Lucy calls her son "Jimmy"

Danfield: Lucy had a variety of jobs from newspaper reporter to secretary to writing parking tickets
California: In one show Lucy says that working for Mr. Mooney was the first job she had since her husband's death.

also in one California episode, Lucy says she is working part time for the bank while on another episode, she is working full time.

From what I read about, Lucy's third show ( Here's Lucy ) had continuity problems as well.
 
I just found this thread,
You all have too much time on your hands to notice these things that could not happen in real life.
Well for every show except 24 or one episode of MASH you have days go by in just a one minute break.
Well Boys And Girls, THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE EITHER!!

So There!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;) :eek: ::)
 
I know I've slept since then, but wasn't Lucy a different charachter between shows 2 and 3...as opposed to the same charachter moved to a new location?
 
There was "I Love Lucy." (Lucy Ricardo)

"The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show," which was basically the "I Love Lucy" show in an hour fomat each week built around a guest star. This had lots of continuity issues from the "I Love Lucy" show, especially the first show guest starring "Ann Sothern."

Then you have "The Lucy Show," (Lucy Carmichael) which was one show but was really two shows, when she was in Danfield NY, then when the show moved location to Los Angeles, CA, most of the continuity was lost and it really became a new show.

Then you had "Here's Lucy," (Lucy Carter), which was an entire new show. Lucille Ball had sold DesiLu during the last year and wanted to have a new show directly under control, which was Lucille Ball productions which was a subsidary of the company Gulf+Western which bought DesiLu.

That show not only had continuity errors but script problems because the writers seemed to forget that on this show Gale Gordon who played Harrison Cater, her employer/brother-in-law, was her relative. The writers would often screw that up by failing to realize relatives of Lucy's kids from her late husband were ALSO relatives of Harrison Carter

But that is more poor writing than continuity


The reason people get confused is basically though the location and premise was different Lucy was always based on the shame "Lucy" character created by Jess Oppenheimer, for the "I Love Lucy" show. In fact he sued and won money, saying Lucy Carmichael and Lucy Carter were in fact the same character as Lucy Ricardo, just thinly disguised. (his original contract entitled him to a percentage of the "I Love Lucy" show and characters created.)

Trivia, Lucille Ball had a superstition and thought the letter "AR" we lucky that is why her characters were ricARdo, cARmichael, cARter. Lucy herself when asked why she thought that because she was BALL, she replied, "But I didn't become successful till I became lucy ARnaz.
 
The Doris Day Show had loads and loads of continuity problems all through its 5 year run.

When the show first started, Doris lived on a farm with her two sons, her father, a housekeeper and a farmhand. Then the changes began:

Fran Ryan was replaced by Naomi Stevens in the middle of the 1st season. The housekeeper and farmhand left after the 1st season.

Then in the 2nd season, Doris commuted back and forth from the farm to San Francisco to work at Today's World magazine as a secretary. Rose Marie and McLean Stevenson joined the cast. Doris's dad and two sons remained but Denver Pyle left the show after season 2.

In season 3, Doris and her two sons moved to San Francisco and lived in an apartment above the Italian resteruant. Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell played her landlords and then more changes came.

In season 4, Rose Marie, McLean Stevenson, Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell all left the show and then the biggest change of all was when her two sons left and the premise became that Doris was a swinging single woman and that her two sons didn't exist. Doris was now promoted to managing editor of Today's World magazine with John Dehner now playing her boss and Jackie Joseph now playing her secretary.

Maybe someone might shed some light why all the changes through all 5 seasons of that show. Perhaps Doris and Terry Melcher (Doris's real life son and executive producer of the show) had something to do with the changes and they were hard to get along with.
 
Braves2005 said:
The Doris Day Show had loads and loads of continuity problems all through its 5 year run.

When the show first started, Doris lived on a farm with her two sons, her father, a housekeeper and a farmhand. Then the changes began:

Fran Ryan was replaced by Naomi Stevens in the middle of the 1st season. The housekeeper and farmhand left after the 1st season.

Then in the 2nd season, Doris commuted back and forth from the farm to San Francisco to work at Today's World magazine as a secretary. Rose Marie and McLean Stevenson joined the cast. Doris's dad and two sons remained but Denver Pyle left the show after season 2.

In season 3, Doris and her two sons moved to San Francisco and lived in an apartment above the Italian resteruant. Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell played her landlords and then more changes came.

In season 4, Rose Marie, McLean Stevenson, Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell all left the show and then the biggest change of all was when her two sons left and the premise became that Doris was a swinging single woman and that her two sons didn't exist. Doris was now promoted to managing editor of Today's World magazine with John Dehner now playing her boss and Jackie Joseph now playing her secretary.

Maybe someone might shed some light why all the changes through all 5 seasons of that show. Perhaps Doris and Terry Melcher (Doris's real life son and executive producer of the show) had something to do with the changes and they were hard to get along with.

Que Sera Sera
 
Mark said:
There was "I Love Lucy." (Lucy Ricardo)Then you had "Here's Lucy," (Lucy Carter), which was an entire new show. Lucille Ball had sold DesiLu during the last year and wanted to have a new show directly under control, which was Lucille Ball productions which was a subsidary of the company Gulf+Western which bought DesiLu.

I think Lucille Ball Productions was an independent company, set up after G+W's purchase of Desilu. It should also be known that, while the early episodes of "Here's Lucy" were filmed on what was now part of Paramount's studios, later episodes were filmed at Universal. Had G+W owned Lucille Ball, all episodes would've been filmed at Paramount.
 
"Desparate Housewives" is having some continuity problems that came to light just this week. On this past Sunday's episode, Mike was talking to Orson about needing a prescription filled for pain medication because his shoulder was still hurting from being ran over by some "Idiot" last year and Orson asking " So, they haven't caught the guy yet?" Yet Mike confronted Orson last year about Mike knowing that it was Orson that ran him over and threw Orson off the parking garage at the hospital.
 
On the Rockford Files, when James would go out on the road in his Pontiac Firebird, his car suddenly went from single headlights to double headlights. I'm sure the producers would edit in the stock footage as needed. However, they didn't pay attention to the different year models and Rockford would switch to a different year model in the same "chase" scenes.
 
Here's another "Superman" question: In the
episode "The Big Freeze," in which Superman
is lured into a chamber and is hit with -2000
degrees of cold, numbing his powers, how can
that be? He's supposed to be invulnerable
to everything but Kryptonite. Then, when he
goes into the fire, it would figure that, without
his powers, he'd be burned to a crisp but he
comes out with his powers intact and not a
scratch on him.

On another occasion, in "Through The Time
Barrier," he can't break the time barrier and
get out of the Stone Age. All of us who grew
up on Superman comic books know he can
break the time barrier by flying faster than the
speed of light. So what gives?

And how can he become radioactive, to be
cured by a "counteracting shock" of lightning?
 
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