# When TV shows break continuity: The Chuck Cunningham Syndrome **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207 "2010-05-12T19:14:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/121 "2012-08-11T16:07:29Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Well, duh. We had Ed Gein and Jeffy Dahmer and Liberace and Senator Joe McCarthy, not to mention the real-life haunted house that The Amityville Horror was based on, and the Beast of Bray Road, the Mangy Werewolf of Black River Falls… > > and Chuck Cunningham. > I think Mr. King should just call his upcoming novel “Cunningham”. It’s more dramatic than “Chuck”. Either way, you’ll never guess what reeeeeally happened…_bwah hah hah_! Wait, what? The Amityville Horror movie that was set in Amityville New York? Based on the supposed non-fiction book set in Amityville New York? Based on bogus but supposedly real events which occurred in Amityville New York? Long island? That one? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/122 "2012-08-11T18:41:43Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Barney Fife had three different middle ‘names’ in different episodes: Milton, P., and Oliver. As did Ethel Mertz on “I Love Lucy”. At different times she is called “Ethel Louise Mertz”. Ethel Roberta Mertz" or “Ethel Mae Mertz”. Her maiden name was Potter. “Stargate” had a bunch of changes when it became a TV show. In the movie they make a big deal when linguist Daniel Jackson is cunningly able to translate what some advisors thought ancient Eqyptian would sound like if it evolved over 2,000 years. In the series, everyone on every planet speaks English. No universal translators like “Star Trek” or “Farscape”. In the movie the planet Abydos in in the Kaliem Galaxy far away in the universe. In the series it is suddenly relatively close to earth. In “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”, his antagonists Milton Armitage and Chatsworth Osborne are cousins yet have the same mother. William Schallert was both his high school and college English teacher (plausible, I suppose) but Jean Byron played mathematics teachers with two different names. In “Combat” in the pilot “Sixth of June”. Pierre Jalbert plays Cajun soldier Paul "Caddy"Cadron. In the rest of the series he is Paul “Caje” LeMay, with two different service numbers and the ability to out ski crack German troops in the mountains of Normandy (which Jalbert, a top skier from Canada, told them Normandy didn’t have but the producers wanted a ski scene, shot at Squaw Valley. Not sure how a man from New Orleans learns to ski ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/123 "2012-08-12T05:05:59Z")
**King of Queens** Kerri had a sister in the early episodes. **Family Guy** Joe had a son in the early episodes. It wasn’t until years later, we found out in a not so climatic way, that he died in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/124 "2012-08-12T05:30:00Z")
> [@MsChilePepper](#): > > Klinger mentions his mother’s Lebanese maiden name at some point (it started with an A) so one assumes his father was of Germanic descent. Abodeelee. As for Hawkeye’s “Mom & Sis” remark, my theory was that he had a sister die in infancy, & was referring to his father visiting a graveyard, but maybe that’s a little morbid. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/125 "2012-08-12T14:57:12Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > **King of Queens** Kerri had a sister in the early episodes. > **Family Guy** Joe had a son in the early episodes. It wasn’t until years later, we found out in a not so climatic way, that he died in Iraq. He got better. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/126 "2012-08-12T15:11:52Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > **King of Queens** Kerri had a sister in the early episodes. Doug had a sister, (played by Ricki Lake) who guest starred in several episodes and then disappeared, never to be mentioned again. The Heffernan’s also had a dog, (played by a beagle) who guest starred in several episodes and then disappeared, never to be mentioned again. Doug had a best friend, (played by Ray Romano’s less talented little brother) who guest starred in several episodes and then disappeared, never to be mentioned again. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/127 "2012-08-12T22:42:57Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > In the original “Addams Family,” Fester was Morticia’s uncle. In the feature films, he became Gomez’s brother. Also, on the show, Grandmama was Gomez’s mother, in the movies she was Morticia’s mother. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/128 "2012-08-12T22:47:27Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Also, on the show, Grandmama was Gomez’s mother, in the movies she was Morticia’s mother. Huh. Yeah, I never really thought about that one, but Morticia’s mother was actually played several times on the show by Margaret Hamilton (who was originally offered the role of Grandmama, actually, but turned it down). ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/129 "2012-08-13T02:10:01Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Ah, OK. I guess I need to watch the entire series again. > > Oh well. Being forced to watch Arrested Development again? Proof that every crisis is also an opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/130 "2012-08-13T03:55:38Z")
During _M_A_S_H’s\* long run, at least two different actresses played bar owner, Rosie. One played her as sort of a stereotypical Korean woman, the other Rosie sounded and acted like she was from Chicago. Dennis Franz played two different characters on _Hill Street Blues_: guest star as corrupt Detective Sal Beneddeto, and later as regular cast member as sleazy Lt. Norman Buntz. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/131 "2012-08-13T14:31:31Z")
Roseanne did have an episode when she told Dan “David’s not even his real name. Darlene just calls him that cause she likes it.” However, his own mother (played in one episode by Sally Kellerman) called him David too. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/132 "2012-08-13T15:08:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They killed Kenny! You bastards! > > (yeah, well, _someone_ had to say it) Although this has been “fixed” by Matt and Trey. In season…4? 5? Somewhere around there, Kenny is upset that his mom is pregnant, because he doesn’t want the baby to get more attention than him. In typical Kenny fashion, he dies. When the baby is born, his parents name him “Kenny” in honor of the Kenny who just died. They then say something like, “This feels like the fiftieth time this has happened.” and the mom goes, “Fifty two.” (that being the actual number of times Kenny had died up to that point (guessing on the number.)) Now, that was just meant as a funny little “one-off” joke. Then, a couple seasons ago, there was the “Coon and Friends”/Cthulu three-episode arc, wherein it’s revealed that Kenny is “Mysterion” the super-hero, who has the power of not being able to die. He says he’s died countless times, and every time, he just wakes up in his bed the next morning as if nothing happened, and no one remembers that he died. He said this in the first or second of those episodes, so before the third one aired, some people were wondering how that fit in with the previous scene of each Kenny just being a “new” Kenny that his mom gave birth to. Well, at the end of the third installment we see that he awakes in his bed the next day because his mom becomes instantly pregnant after he dies, and gives birth, and he grows up to his full size almost immediately. All this happens because his parents messed around with an ancient cult related to the worship of Cthulu. So they basically tied up _most_ of the loose ends related to Kenny dieing and reappearing. The biggest problem is why in that earlier episode the mom got pregnant _before_ he died, but she just got pregnant for real, and then once Kenny died, it _turned into_ the magical Kenny birth. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/133 "2012-08-13T15:55:51Z")
Wilma Flintstone’s maiden name was both Pebble and Slaghoople in different episodes. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/134 "2012-08-13T16:49:58Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Wilma Flintstone’s maiden name was both Pebble and Slaghoople in different episodes. And her mother was Mrs. Flagstone. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/135 "2012-08-14T05:44:59Z")
Albert Rosenfeld on Twin Peaks. Started out like this: “I have seen some slipshod backwater burgs, but the place takes the cake. What are we waiting for? Christmas? We’ve got work to do dammit! They’re putting this girl in the ground tomorrow and we’ve wasted half the day traveling out here to the middle of nowhere.” “Please Cooper, I do not suffer fools gladly and fools with badges never. I want no interference from this hulking boob, is that clear? Oh yeah, well I’ve had about enough of morons and half wits, dolts, dunces, dullards and dumbbells … and you, you chowder-head yokel, you blithering hayseed — you’ve had enough of me?” “You might practice walking without dragging your knuckles on the floor. Heh heh heh.” But then abruptly switched to this: “While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchet-man in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I’ll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely: revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method… is love. I love you Sheriff Truman.” Went from abrasive and insulting to sweet and saintly on a dime. Lynch did that on purpose as part of his general methodology of throwing stuff at odd angles with no explanation. Keeps people guessing. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/136 "2012-08-14T09:52:27Z")
Yeah Radar in the first season of MASH. In the first season Radar was a schemer and conniver who was mailing home a jeep one piece at a time. He smoked and drank, ogled women etc. Later he was turned into a very naive little boy. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/137 "2012-08-14T13:06:22Z")
On one episode of The Big Bang Theory, Leonard threatens to get a cat to the consternation of Sheldon, who was apparently allergic to cats. In a later episode Sheldon gets a whole room full of cats after breaking up with Amy Farrah Fowler. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/138 "2012-08-14T13:19:29Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > He got better. Actually, he deserted. He was reported as blown up by terrorists, but his body was never identified. Then he turned up at home for Thanksgiving dinner. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/139 "2012-08-14T13:48:15Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > As for Hawkeye’s “Mom & Sis” remark, my theory was that he had a sister die in infancy, & was referring to his father visiting a graveyard, but maybe that’s a little morbid. Although that wouldn’t explain the episode where Hawkeye receives a (comically oversized) sweater that his sister knitted for him. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/140 "2012-08-14T14:11:36Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Being forced to watch Arrested Development again? Proof that every crisis is also an opportunity. And then maybe notice the actual examples of CCS, such as the two different actors playing Marta and Ann (who?). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207.md?page=8)