# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/161 "2012-08-15T16:38:42Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > Yes to Abydos. I assume the writers realized that might be too far? > > However, as to the other, IIRC, they do have him translate for a couple of episodes or I thought they at least shorthand his learning to talk the language? But I do know they knowingly dropped it because they wanted to get on with it and not have every new planet require the lines about the language, customs, etc. That’s what I’ve heard as well. The producers made a conscious decision to not worry about language barriers, unless said language barriers were a plot point. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/162 "2012-08-15T18:25:08Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > “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.i A few more: in the movie Daniel’s future wife is Sha’uri and pronounced “shah-uri”. In the TV show she is Sha’re and it’s pronounced “shahray”. In the movie he’s Jack O’Neil. In the show he’s Jack O’Neill. This is lampshaded by the character saying it’s spelt with two L’s, not like the “other Colonel, that guy has no sense of humor.” At first Teal’c is “from Chulak”. Later he’s from a city called Chulak on some planet. ---
**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 15, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/163 "2012-08-15T19:55:08Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > A few more: in the movie Daniel’s future wife is Sha’uri and pronounced “shah-uri”. In the TV show she is Sha’re and it’s pronounced “shahray”. > > In the movie he’s Jack O’Neil. In the show he’s Jack O’Neill. This is lampshaded by the character saying it’s spelt with two L’s, not like the “other Colonel, that guy has no sense of humor.” > > At first Teal’c is “from Chulak”. Later he’s from a city called Chulak on some planet. And let’s not forget: In season 1: episode 1, we got to see her boobs (Full frontal really) after that episode, not a single boob was seen ever again. ☹ ---
**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 15, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/164 "2012-08-15T21:10:02Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > Although that wouldn’t explain the episode where Hawkeye receives a (comically oversized) sweater that his sister knitted for him. It could have been a close female cousin or friend.. (I’m not arguing that it is not, in fact a continuity error, & fully realize that I’ve spent too much time thinking about this) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/165 "2012-08-15T21:50:35Z")
My opinion is that each season of M_A_S\*H exists within its own universe. That’s the only way to explain all the holiday episodes and the fact that one episode had Col. Potter there for the entirety of 1951 when his introduction said he arrived in '52. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/166 "2012-08-15T22:30:25Z")
Yeah, that would have been the 1951 pennant race ep. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/167 "2012-08-16T16:33:07Z")
> [@goonhead](#): > > In a first season Simpsons episode called “Krusty Gets Busted”, Krusty the Clown has been accused of robbing the Quik-E-Mart, and reveals in court that he can’t read or write. However, in the season five episode “Lisa Vs. Malibu Stacy”, Lisa is in a studio getting ready to record sayings for a new “Lisa Lionheart” doll when Krusty bursts in, interrupting the session and reading through a group of notecards with Krusty doll sayings on them. I’ve never verified whether Krusty is revealed to have learned to read between these two episodes, so I’ve wondered if it was a case of continuity error. Krusty did try to learn to read. But they varied in how well that went. The most glaring break was in an episode where they show an old black and white Krusty clip where he reads an important news bulletin live on the air. How could the son of a Rabbi who could read Hebrew as a child not know how to read English? (Brain damage from ???) But this is a show where the family meet both then First Lady Barbara Bush (in the White House bathtub!) and current First Lady Michelle Obama without anyone getting older. In flashbacks, teenager Homer was too busy listening to music to pay attention to the moon landing and was a toddler at Woodstock the next month. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/168 "2012-08-16T17:32:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > But this is a show where the family meet both then First Lady Barbara Bush (in the White House bathtub!) and current First Lady Michelle Obama without anyone getting older. In flashbacks, teenager Homer was too busy listening to music to pay attention to the moon landing and was a toddler at Woodstock the next month. Etc. The Simpsons uses a Marvel Universe style floating timeline. Homer is always 40ish in the present day, which means in flashbacks he is continually moving forward in time. The last big Homer flashing back as a young adult episode had Marge and Homer living in the 90s (“That 90’s Show”). ---
**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 16, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207/169 "2012-08-16T20:38:28Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > The Simpsons uses a Marvel Universe style floating timeline. Homer is always 40ish in the present day, which means in flashbacks he is continually moving forward in time. The last big Homer flashing back as a young adult episode had Marge and Homer living in the 90s (“That 90’s Show”). For a great story about the “Floating timeline” check out Kim Newman’s story “Coastal City” available on his website [Coastal City | The Kim Newman Web Site](http://johnnyalucard.com/fiction/online-fiction/coastal-city/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-tv-shows-break-continuity-the-chuck-cunningham-syndrome/539207.md?page=8)