# What inconsistancies in TV bug you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771 "2004-04-24T05:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/1 "2004-04-24T05:14:44Z")
I tend to overanylize technical stuff in tv and movies. Watching a Roseanne rerun tonight I noticed the cut-away shot shows a street sign that shows 3rd avenue and Delaware St. Yet the Conner’s live at 714 Delaware St. Why the hell show an intersection 4 blocks away? **Coldfire** was right, I need to get out of the house more often. Anything you’ve noticed that made you say, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/2 "2004-04-24T05:39:07Z")
I always try and picture how buildings are constructed based on the layouts of the sets. On many shows the layouts don’t work or would result in very odd looking buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/3 "2004-04-24T05:39:43Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > I tend to overanylize technical stuff in tv and movies. Watching a Roseanne rerun tonight I noticed the cut-away shot shows a street sign that shows 3rd avenue and Delaware St. Yet the Conner’s live at 714 Delaware St. Why the hell show an intersection 4 blocks away? > > **Coldfire** was right, I need to get out of the house more often. > > Anything you’ve noticed that made you say, huh? How do you know that the intersection is four blocks away? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/4 "2004-04-24T05:58:32Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > How do you know that the intersection is four blocks away? Thier addy is 714 Delaware St. That puts them in the “700 block” between 7th and 8th Aves. Does Texas have a different numbering system? At least in the midwest, 7th Ave to 3rd Ave would be 4 streets. Or are you whooshing me by meaning .4 miles? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/5 "2004-04-24T06:05:51Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > I always try and picture how buildings are constructed based on the layouts of the sets. On many shows the layouts don’t work or would result in very odd looking buildings. That reminded me of another one. Actually the first time I noticed these hiccups in tv. This was over a decade ago. Think back to _The Cosby Show._ When they had an outside shot, it always showed a New York brownstone, directly connected to the right by another house. On inside shots, with the front door on the right, you’d be looking at the direction of the house next door. (The stairs going up were also there.) Just past the stairs was a window, facing the direction of that connected house. Any daytime shot clearly showed sunshine coming through. I want to say you could see at least an outline of a tree, but won’t testify to it. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/6 "2004-04-24T06:38:05Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Thier addy is 714 Delaware St. That puts them in the “700 block” between 7th and 8th Aves. Does Texas have a different numbering system? At least in the midwest, 7th Ave to 3rd Ave would be 4 streets. Or are you whooshing me by meaning .4 miles? That makes sense. I’ve never lived anywhere that had numbered streets. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/7 "2004-04-24T06:45:48Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > That makes sense. I’ve never lived anywhere that had numbered streets. I figured that had to be it. This might help. Think of your home address. Start walking left or right and you’ll see the numbers going up or down. If you live at 14xx Elm Dr. you’d be on the 1400 block of Elm. If you go right the next intersection might be Elm and Juniper. Go left and it may be Elm and Maple. Being in the 1400 block, Juniper or Maple will be “14th” with the other being 13th or 15th depending on which direction the numbers go up or down. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/8 "2004-04-24T07:32:25Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > I figured that had to be it. This might help. Think of your home address. Start walking left or right and you’ll see the numbers going up or down. If you live at 14xx Elm Dr. you’d be on the 1400 block of Elm. If you go right the next intersection might be Elm and Juniper. Go left and it may be Elm and Maple. > > Being in the 1400 block, Juniper or Maple will be “14th” with the other being 13th or 15th depending on which direction the numbers go up or down. That would make sense, and I have no doubt that it’s done that way in many or even most places. It does not, however, work that way on my street. I live near the end of a long road, which doesn’t actually intersect with any others so much as it curves at each end to become perpendicular to itself. The house numbers go up as you progress further in, but inconsistently. Starting at the curve, you have 1200, 1208, 1216, 1224 up through 1248, then it jumps to 1300, 1308, 1316, etc. No intersections at the jump to the next 100, though it happens after 48 throughout the development. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/9 "2004-04-24T08:11:47Z")
> [@Number Six](#): > > That would make sense, and I have no doubt that it’s done that way in many or even most places. > > It does not, however, work that way on my street. I live near the end of a long road, which doesn’t actually intersect with any others so much as it curves at each end to become perpendicular to itself. The house numbers go up as you progress further in, but inconsistently. Starting at the curve, you have 1200, 1208, 1216, 1224 up through 1248, then it jumps to 1300, 1308, 1316, etc. No intersections at the jump to the next 100, though it happens after 48 throughout the development. You actually got it without knowing. From 1248 to 1300 is the line. Meaning the property line between the two would be 13th Ave/St if there was one. Walking directly N or S in the city from that point would put you right around 1248 on the next street you found. ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/10 "2004-04-24T08:16:58Z")
Moving right along… The mention of the Cosby show made me think of a couple more inconsistencies in that show between early episodes and later ones. First was the addition of the eldest daughter (Sandra), after they had often spoken of their “four children.” And I’m also pretty sure that at least once we saw Cliff’s full name as “Clifford”, when it later years it was always Heathcliff. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/11 "2004-04-24T11:14:14Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Thier addy is 714 Delaware St. That puts them in the “700 block” between 7th and 8th Aves. Does Texas have a different numbering system? At least in the midwest, 7th Ave to 3rd Ave would be 4 streets. Or are you whooshing me by meaning .4 miles? I don’t know the numbering system in Texas, but living in NYC I wouldn’t assume that an address of 714 Delaware is between 7th and 8th Avenues. There are too many different numbering systems here for me to make any assumptions about other places. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/12 "2004-04-24T14:25:06Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > I always try and picture how buildings are constructed based on the layouts of the sets. On many shows the layouts don’t work or would result in very odd looking buildings. That’s what always bugs me. The outside establishing shot of TV houses _never_ matches the inside layout. Never. And it always drives me batshit. Yeah, I know it’s really anal, but I can’t help it. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/13 "2004-04-24T14:59:56Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Thier addy is 714 Delaware St. That puts them in the “700 block” between 7th and 8th Aves. Does Texas have a different numbering system? At least in the midwest, 7th Ave to 3rd Ave would be 4 streets. Or are you whooshing me by meaning .4 miles? They must live in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. In Regina, 714 Delaware St. is between 1st and 2nd Avenues. You could throw a rock from their house to the corner of 3rd and Delaware. Well, except that there is no Delaware Street in Regina. This is the pattern in the old, laid out on a grid part of town, not the twisty streeted suburbs. I live on 21 block which is between 13th and 14th Avenues. Makes sense, right? Wrong? Well that’s the way it is here. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/14 "2004-04-24T15:23:18Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t know the numbering system in Texas, but living in NYC I wouldn’t assume that an address of 714 Delaware is between 7th and 8th Avenues. There are too many different numbering systems here for me to make any assumptions about other places. Yeah, I hate to break this to you, **duffer** , but just because there’s a 3rd street doesn’t mean it’s the third street on the block. It could just be the 3rd street they built after Railroad Street, Main street, and Market street; or the 3rd street after they started running out of names. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/15 "2004-04-24T15:32:54Z")
What’s always bugged me are private detective shows and how much the cops let PIs get away with in them. Just a couple for instances: In Magnum PI, Thomas Magnum used to, on occasion, carry a 45. Problem there is, Hawaii does not allow ANYONE who is not a cop, judge or DA to carry a gun legally. Yet the cops are often shown allowing him to do it. Also, on most PI shows, the hero kills a bad guy about every three episodes or so…but they are never charged. Of course in clear-cut self defense shootings, it’s common that no charges would be filed. But when someone has killed as many people in the same city as some of these guys, SOME zealous DA with a hard-on for the guy will at least TRY to charge him, if only to complicate his life for a while until a judge or jury throws it out. Also, it would be inevitable that the relatives of one of the dead bad guys would eventually sue. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/16 "2004-04-24T19:48:19Z")
[Here’s a site](http://www.nitpickers.com/) fans of iTV and movie nconsistencies will enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/17 "2004-04-24T19:57:27Z")
As an aspiring anime freak, I have to add the blatant changes made from the original Japanese into the English dub. To me, any change from mere translation is too much. There’s no need to change names / relationships / ENTIRE PLOTS just so you can market the show to kids. Just because it’s animated doesn’t mean it’s a kid’s show. Thankfully, there are a few animes which are not so drastically changed. Hope that wasn’t too much of a rant. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/18 "2004-04-24T20:22:37Z")
On _M_A_S_H\* I hated the way Radar devolved from being the guy behind the scenes who actually ran the outfit in the early seasons, to the cutesy whiny boy who loved animals. Also, I know it was a different era of tv shows and so the 3 year Korean War lasted for a decade on TV, but I always hated how nobody in the 4077th ever had any memory of what had happened on prevous shows except for occasional references to Henry’s death and Trapper John and Radar’s transfers to stateside. They just pushed the reset button each week. I realize that I’m being overly harsh. Nobody on _Three’s Company_ or _Gilligan’s Island_ or _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ had any institutional memory either. It’s just that it really bugged me about _M_A_S_H.\* ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/19 "2004-04-24T21:12:26Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Thier addy is 714 Delaware St. That puts them in the “700 block” between 7th and 8th Aves. Does Texas have a different numbering system? At least in the midwest, 7th Ave to 3rd Ave would be 4 streets. Or are you whooshing me by meaning .4 miles? There are plenty of places in the US where the numbering has no relation to the cross street. For instance, in New York City, the Empire State Building is at 350 Fifth Avenue, even though it’s located at 34th Street (Manhattan cross streets, though, are numbered using a logical plan). The street I live on starts its numbering system at 2000; 2002 is right on the corner. So, ultimately, all it means is that the city where Roseanne lived didn’t choose to number its streets the same way you’re familiar with. It is not an error. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771/20 "2004-04-24T23:54:45Z")
My major bugbear is any scifi or fantasy show that shows off a fancy piece of tech/magic on episode, but never uses it again. I’m looking at you _ST:Voyager_! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-inconsistancies-in-tv-bug-you/241771.md?page=2)