# Continuity Errors...Books, Movies, TV Shows...Everything is Fair Game! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731 "2002-09-26T17:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/41 "2002-09-29T16:49:14Z")
From **Glory** (an otherwise superior film): In the battle of James Island, just _when_ did the 54th fix bayonets? (Purists have complained that the assault on Battery Wagner actually came from the South; but I consider that artistic license–perhaps because the director wanted the regiment to be moving from left to right, but didn’t want to be shooting into the sun–rather than a continuity gaffe.) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/42 "2002-09-29T21:05:31Z")
While people argue back and forth about the length of Scully’s pregnacy, I found one from the **X-Files** recently, that I never heard a complaint about. The last episode of season Five features a 12-year-old boy named Gibson Praise. We know he’s 12 because a number of characters, including Jeffery Spender, try to dismiss Mulder’s claims by using the boy’s age as a point of their incredulity that he could have had a hit man after him. Then, in the first episode of season Eight they reintroduce the character- whom Scully describes as a “12-year-old boy,” the first time I caught that I consulted transcripts to check it, because I wondered if I’d misheard. I didn’t. So he remained 12 for two+ more years?? ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/43 "2002-09-29T23:15:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*Incidentally, since plnnr mentioned Steve McQueen’s “Bullitt,” how about that green VW Beetle that McQueen passes about half a dozen times, during a supposedly high-speed chase. \*\* It was 1968 in San Francisco. There probably really **was** a green VW Beetle on every block. 🙂 Eric ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/44 "2002-09-30T00:44:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SpazCat \* > \*\*There’s an infamous scene in [Girl in Gold Boots](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0174685) where one of the main characters suddenly appears in a diner with the other two. No break in the conversation at all, one second he’s not there, the next he’s teleported in. \*\* Hee, I remember seeing that on MST3K. Funny stuff. On the subject of Family Matters- the aunt and her son just kind of popped in and out of existance whenever they felt like it for a while before finally vanishing without a trace. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/45 "2002-09-30T00:51:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SpazCat \* > \*\*There’s an infamous scene in [Girl in Gold Boots](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0174685) where one of the main characters suddenly appears in a diner with the other two. No break in the conversation at all, one second he’s not there, the next he’s teleported in. \*\* Hee, I remember seeing that on MST3K. Funny stuff. On the subject of Family Matters- the aunt and her son just kind of popped in and out of existance whenever they felt like it for a while before finally vanishing without a trace. ---
**Author:** ![l1I235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@l1I235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l1I235)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/46 "2002-09-30T01:48:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bob Scene \* > \*\* > > Yeah? Well, at least my man Bart isn’t 13 years old and still crawling around on the floor sucking a pacifier, unlike certain sisters of his I could name! \*\* If I’m correct Bob, The Simpsons premired in 1987, and Maggie is supposed to be a bout 1 year old. So She’s really about 16! If the Simpsons were real, Bart would be 25 (b.1977, 10 in 1987), and Lisa would be 23 (b. 1979, 8 in 1987). Well, I suppose never aging makes the series run that much longer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/47 "2002-09-30T01:49:55Z")
I’ll admit it, I watched the first episode of the new “Family Affair”. In the previews for the next episode, the little boy of the twins was a completely different actor–blonde hair, smaller. (And looking a lot less like the little girl, IMHO.) Was the first episode shown a pilot, or was the first actor just unable to keep filming? Oh, and in “Star Trek: Voyager,” the quickly-aging kid was used with the character of Naomi. Their excuse was that she was half-[some quickly aging alien] and half-human. ---
**Author:** ![DeepPurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@DeepPurple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepPurple)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/48 "2002-09-30T03:01:43Z")
I’m watching Boomtown, a new NBC show, so SPOILERS!! SPOILER SPOILER one of the characters is telling a story, about Desert Storm, a buddy gets sniped & is hit, from a mile away. The bullet goes clean through his helmet. Uh, wouldn’t that be a Kevlar™ helmet? I don’t believe…from a mile away?.. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/49 "2002-09-30T08:24:38Z")
I’m surprised there aren’t more Star Trek gaffes being mentioned. My favorite isn’t really a continuity error per se, but it’s pretty funny: The Enterprise encounters a Romulan vessel, but even though a Romulan vessel had been shown on a previous episode, the image on the screen is that of a Klingon ship. A crew member says “Intelligence reports that the Romulans are now using Klingon design.” In other words, somebody in the stage crew stepped on the model and broke it. M_A_S\*H had tons of 'em. In an early episode, Hawkeye and Trapper put raw eggs in Frank’s helmet as a prank. On a later episode, the whole camp is in a frenzy because they got some fresh eggs. If eggs were that rare, would they be sticking them in people’s helmets? Also in an early episode, Hawkeye, Trapper, and Henry are swimming in a giant bathtub made out of corrugated metal. In a later episode, the whole camp almost comes to blows fighting over who gets to use a small mail-order bathtub. Seems like towards the last season they were really reaching for plot material. ---
**Author:** ![effac3d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@effac3d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/effac3d)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/50 "2002-09-30T13:42:47Z")
Ok i have a ST one. The design of the Klingons was completely revamped between the first series and the next generation. Were the ones seen in the first series just freaks or mutants? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/51 "2002-09-30T14:05:28Z")
In Return of the Jedi: C3PO becomes translator for Jabba the Hut. A bounty hunter brings in Chewbacca. (Yes, I know it’s really Leia, but that’s irrelevant) The bounty hunter speaks in his native language. C3PO translates it to English. Jabba responds in his native language. C3PO translates it to English. et cetera. There’s a few other times in the SW movies where an alien speaks in his native language to a human who responds in English, and they all understand each other. So somehow every native of the galaxy knows every possible language that could exist. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/52 "2002-09-30T17:08:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by effac3d \* > \*\* > The design of the Klingons was completely revamped between the first series and the next generation. > > Were the ones seen in the first series just freaks or mutants? \*\* This was explained in a DS9 episode, where they go back in time to the Trouble with Tribbles episode. Basically, Klingons don’t talk about it. Realistically? Bigger budget for the movies, which meant they had to continue the makeup for NG. I think the only “makeup” you’ll find in TOS is skin color and ears. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/53 "2002-09-30T18:00:38Z")
This goes back a long time. In the 1970s mini-series _Rich Man, Poor Man_, the bad guy wears an eye patch. Sometimes it’s on his left eye; sometimes it’s on his right eye. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/54 "2002-09-30T19:00:55Z")
As to the early Klingons, in an episode of DS9, Sisko, O’Brien, Worf, Bashir, Dax and Kira went back in time and “interacted” with the Enterprise crew during “The Trouble with Tribbles.” At one point Worf, O’Brien and Bashir are sitting in the bar on the space station when some Klingons walk in. Everybody looks at Worf. He sighs and says, “Yes, those are Klingons. We don’t like to talk about it.” Not an explanation, but a good line. The Odd Couple was one of the worst for continuity flaws. First, the apartment set was completely changed and then in later flashback episodes the second set was being used, so it wasn’t simply a case of Oscar and Felix moving to a larger place. The details of how they met were changed at least 3 times, and Howard Cosell appeared twice, and in both appearances he was treated as having never met Felix before. As to Family Matters, Judy was probably sucked into the same black hole as Chuck Cunningham, and the oldest son on My Three Sons. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/55 "2002-10-01T08:26:03Z")
On **Roseanne** , Dan’s mom appeared in the second season Thanksgiving episode. She was a competent, savvy real-estate agent. Later in the series, other characters make reference to her chronic mental illness, and offscreen, Dan has her committed. In the last season, she turns up as a loony, played by Debbie Reynolds. Not only is this offensive, it’s unnecessary. The show already had one post-menopausal witch: Bev! On **Murphy Brown** , they kept continuity of Avery, Murphy’s kid, fairly well. He was regularly referred to, and appeared. They did skip about two years in changing him from a toddler to a grade-schooler, but that’s forgivable. The error was replacing brunet Dylan Christopher with blond Haley Osment! Kids get darker as they get older, not lighter! Lisa Robin Kelly, who played Eric’s sister on **That '70s Show** , left because of substance abuse problems. But they still could have explained the character away. As for Seven on **MWC** , he did turn up again on a milk carton ;). On **The Brady Bunch** , when Greg started high school, he wanted his own room. He was allowed to turn Mike’s office into basically an opium den on the grounds that he couldn’t live in the attic because he was more than “two and a half feet tall.” Didn’t stop him from moving into the attic in the final season, though. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/56 "2002-10-01T18:10:52Z")
We noticed this recently while watching the first season of **Friends** on DVD. In the first few episodes, Joey/Chandler and Monica/Rachel’s apartment numbers are 4 and 5. Then in one episode they change to 19 & 20, then in later episodes back to 4 & 5. I believe they are now consistently 19 & 20. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/57 "2002-10-01T19:28:01Z")
Holy moly! I thought you were kidding about li’l Judy being a porn star, but it’s true! ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/58 "2002-10-01T20:28:38Z")
As long as MST3K movies are fair game, the best continuity error ever occurred in **Space Mutiny**. A character who is killed in one scene appears in the background of a subsequent scene. Prompting riffs along the line of “ok, look alive everybody…except you there.” ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/59 "2002-10-01T21:44:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > \*\*As long as MST3K movies are fair game, the best continuity error ever occurred in **Space Mutiny**. A character who is killed in one scene appears in the background of a subsequent scene. Prompting riffs along the line of “ok, look alive everybody…except you there.” \*\* Gah! I knew I forgot one. It was very nice of them to give that dead woman another chance though, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731/60 "2002-10-02T01:41:08Z")
In the **Jackal** Bruce Willis turns the gun on the gun dealer who made it, and the ammo feed belt falls out. The next time you see the weapon the ammo feed belt has been placed back in, while Willis is too far away and with no break in firing. This movie is a good point for a semi-rant (appropos the OP) for a common movie/TV howler, any action set in DC should not have: Palm Trees, vegetation-denuded semi-mountain hills or skyscrapers in the background. It is trully common to see something set in “Washington” with these things in the background. One to look for next Easter: in the **10 Commandments** , When Chuck is (finally) leading the Hebrews out of Egypt, the first scenes of the whole caravan, the camera catches what is clearly supposed to be a blind man. Look at his wrist - he is wearing a watch [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continuity-errors-books-movies-tv-shows-everything-is-fair-game/129731.md?page=2)