Editorial Mistakes in Television Shows (1 Viewer)

[kemcha]

Anyone notice any errors in the DVD releases of television shows that the show editors forgot to fix?

I happened to notice a big one in the M*A*S*H television series. Margaret Houlihan mentions in an episode in one of the earlier seasons of the television series that her father had passed away. Yet, later on in the series, her father is very much alive and shows up in "Father's Day," an episode of Season 9.

 

[Neil Brock]

When it comes to continuity on shows that were done in the 50s, 60s and 70s, there basically was none. You had different writers and different producers over the course of a series and no one paid any attention to details. It's a common problem and if you take any show and a fan who knows that show well enough, they could point out dozens of those mistakes. Heck, the last 2-part Fugitive has a massive amount of continuity errors that don't match previous things mentioned in the series.

 

[Jack P]

And another reason why people didn't pay attention to continuity in those days was because that was the era when people didn't have a chance to rewind and rewatch shows over and over on home video recordings. They saw the episode once, maybe a second time in a summer rerun and then that was it, and the average person wouldn't remember the main details a couple years later.

 

[Corey3rd]

Fraizer makes no sense based on what he said about his family on Cheers.

 

[TV_Fan]

Originally Posted by Corey3rd

Fraizer makes no sense based on what he said about his family on Cheers.

They did address that though in the Frasier episode in which Ted Danson guest starred.

 

[kemcha]

I think the problem with Frasier's appearance on Cheers was the fact that the studio had no idea they would spin "Frasier" as its own series, thus, that made for many continuity errors when his father was introduced in the first episode of Frasier.

Personally, I have throughly enjoyed the series and have watched the entire series several times. I just didn't care for the finale episode. It just seemed to drag on for way too long.

 

[LeoA]

Another M*A*S*H one that I discovered the other day as I started rewatching the series comes on the very first episode. The doctors want to help send a Korean kid to the states to the medical school Hawkeye attended, and need to raise money for his tuition and trip, so they're going to raffle off a weekend pass with a nurse. Hawkeye, as they're going over what the kid will need money for, says that room and board won't be a problem because he can just stay with his parents.

Later in the series, his mother had supposedly passed away during his childhood.

Of course, most of season 1 of M*A*S*H is different from the rest of the show anyways. Radar's personality completely changes (Drinks and smokes cigars when Colonel Blake is out of his office, isn't innocent and naive, the friendship between him and the doctors wasn't quite established and they insult him behind his back sometimes, etc.). Most of the other characters change quite a bit after season 1 as well.

Usually, most of this stuff doesn't bother me. The only ones that bug me are located in The Dick Van Dyke Show and in a couple of Peanuts tv specials and movies. In The Dick Van Dyke Show, when Laura is pregnant and about to give birth, one of the flashback episodes have them in a different house before moving in to the house we see them in throughout the series, with their neighbor Millie also pregnant with her own son. That's when Laura goes to the hospital to give birth.

Later, there's another flashback episode about them bringing Ritchie home from the hosptial after being born. They now live in the house they lived in during the show (Rob moved in I guess when Laura was giving birth at the hospital, lol) and Millie isn't looking 9 months pregnant like she was when Laura left for the hospital. That annoyed me a bit. Perhaps the set they used for their earlier house wasn't available and they had no choice, so I'm willing to let that one go, but why is Millie suddenly not pregnant herself with her son Freddie? That just shows an unusual lack of attention from the show's writers and producers that thankfully rarely surfaces throughout 5 excellent seasons.

And in the Peanuts, the second movie titled Snoopy Come Home is fondly remembered by most fans and filled in much of the story of Snoopy's early life and how Charlie Brown came to have Snoopy as his dog.

Then, in the 1990s, they pretty much butcher that in everyway possible in Snoopy's Reunion. Other than Snoopy still being named Snoopy, having been adapted and returned by a girl named Lila, and being born at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, it's completely changed. They made no attempt get it to match the movie for unknown reasons, and myself and many fans find it tough to enjoy what was otherwise a well done tv special as a result.

Originally Posted by kemcha

Anyone notice any errors in the DVD releases of television shows that the show editors forgot to fix?

I happened to notice a big one in the M*A*S*H television series. Margaret Houlihan mentions in an episode in one of the earlier seasons of the television series that her father had passed away. Yet, later on in the series, her father is very much alive and shows up in "Father's Day," an episode of Season 9.

 

[kemcha]

I think the mistakes in episode one of MASH were unintended seeing as how Ho John was a recurring cast member for Season 1. If you notice, after the first episode, there is no further mention of him going to the United States.

 

[Jack P]

Originally Posted by LeoAmes
Usually, most of this stuff doesn't bother me. The only ones that bug me are located in The Dick Van Dyke Show and in a couple of Peanuts tv specials and movies. In The Dick Van Dyke Show, when Laura is pregnant and about to give birth, one of the flashback episodes have them in a different house before moving in to the house we see them in throughout the series, with their neighbor Millie also pregnant with her own son. That's when Laura goes to the hospital to give birth.

Later, there's another flashback episode about them bringing Ritchie home from the hosptial after being born. They now live in the house they lived in during the show (Rob moved in I guess when Laura was giving birth at the hospital, lol) and Millie isn't looking 9 months pregnant like she was when Laura left for the hospital. That annoyed me a bit. Perhaps the set they used for their earlier house wasn't available and they had no choice, so I'm willing to let that one go, but why is Millie suddenly not pregnant herself with her son Freddie? That just shows an unusual lack of attention from the show's writers and producers that thankfully rarely surfaces throughout 5 excellent seasons.

I can think of some others. Rob's best buddy in the army never had a consistent name because he was invariably Sol Pomeroy, Sol Pomerants, Sam Pomeroy and Sam Pomerantz! And while it's easy to understand the change from Marty Ingles who played Sol the first two times to Allan Melvin in later episodes (Once Ingles got his own series, "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster" it would have been impossible to get him back), why did we then suddenly have Henry Calvin in another episode in between???

Also, Mel Cooley's relationship to Alan Brady was initially established as Mel being married to Alan's sister, but by the last season it was Alan married to Mel's sister.

 

[Neil Brock]

Changing characters' history when they spin off into their own show is common. When Florida was Maude's maid, didn't she have a completely different backstory compared to when she got her own show?

Here's one I just thought of. In Rich Man Poor Man, when Tom hurts Falconetti's eye badly and they carry him out, it's one eye and later when he has on the patch, it's over the other eye.

 

[kemcha]

I think where the problem lies is that the writers are often to blame for it for not fleshing the characters out before the first episode airs. Networks/studios don't plan for a certain character to be in a spin-off series and that decision isn't often made until the very last season of the series and they determine that by looking at which character in that series is more popular among viewers.

Not all spinoffs are successful either. Just look at W.A.L.T.E.R. (MASH) and Joey (Friends), both of which either failed to get picked up as a television series and the other being canceled into its second season.

 

[Corey3rd]

and try to figure out how Oscar and Felix really met on the Odd Couple. producers didn't feel it was necessary to be that concerned with facts

 

[Jack P]

You can really have fun with all the inconsistencies in "The Odd Couple" (TV Land made a funny promo about it once). My favorite is to ask that if "Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return.....", how come in all the flashbacks to when Oscar and Blanche were married, they were living in *his* apartment?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

If you want to get into MASH, Well, remember the episode that took place over the course of 1951... the one where Winchester lost all the money because the Giants won the pennant?

If you take that episode as true, that means Potter had to have become CO at some point in late 1950 to be there for New Year's 1951. That also means BJ had grown his mustache by that time.

Why does that matter? Well, that means that seasons 1-6 took place between the beginning of the US's involvement in late June 1950, and say, November 1950.

That was a hell of a lot of stuff to happen in four months.

 

[DeWilson]

The problem with M*A*S*H is as the series went on, they started playing hard and fast with actual dates till the last few episodes of the series.

 

[kemcha]

The producers for the series actually ran into that particular problem when the series proved to be successful and they actually had to decide how to handle the series overall. Considering the fact that the Korean War (or Korean Conflict) began in June 1950 and didn't end until July 1953. While the MASH series takes place during this conflict (the first episode actually takes place after the United States became involved in the conflict) the television series became so successful that the producers had to stretch the series over 11 years despite the fact that the Korean Conflict lasted only three years.

Additionally, when Colonel Potter became the commander of the 4077th with the start of Season 4, he let's it know that he wants Hawkeye and B.J. to stay clean for the next 18 months (either this is an indication of the end of the conflict which the writers put in there by mistake or by way of Potter's retirement).

 

[PianoPlayer]

FATHER KNOWS BEST had its share, too.

In the very first episode, Margaret tells Jim that Betty is at a sorority meeting (which would indicate she's in college). Yet she's a junior in high school for the remainder of the first season, and a senior for the second season. (No college till season three). I realize episode 1 was actually a pilot show -- so maybe it's excusable.

But speaking of Betty and college -- at the beginning of season three she abandons the notion of going to her parents' alma mater (State University) and instead opts to attend Springfield Junior College. So why is she still living at home and attending college in season six? It's presumed she's now attending a university -- but where? State University is in another town and would have required her to move away.

Kathy celebrates her 9th birthday in the mid-first season episode "A Friend of Old George's." Yet a full five seasons later, in the middle of season six, she's said to be only 12 (in "Kathy's Big Deception").

Margaret drives the family car in season two ("Bad Influence"), and she mentions driving in other episodes too. Yet in season four there's an entire episode devoted to Jim teaching her how to drive for the first time ("Margaret Learns to Drive").

Depending on which scriptwriter wrote the episode, Kathy is either regarded as a poor student ("Proud Father" in season one), or a good one (Jim calls her "my part-time quiz kid" in season two's "The Big Test").

 

[Neil Brock]

In the first episode of The Cosby Show, Claire asks Cliff, why did we have four kids. He answers, because we didn't want five. However, 3 months later, Sandra shows up from college.

In the 4th season episode of Eight is Enough called, Semi-Centennial Bradford, Tom celebrates his 50th birthday. This aired on 1/23/80. 7 years later in the reunion movie, A Family Reunion, the family gathers to celebrate Tom's 50th birthday. Which I guess meant that he had oldest son, David, when he was 15. Van Patten was 59 when the reunion movie aired.

And of course the biggest mistake of all is the last episode of Happy Days when the Cunningham's toast to having raised 2 great children. I guess Chuck was disowned by the family.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Dynasty had a big boo-boo. In an early episode, Blake revealed that his late mother was named "Fallon," and in fact he named his daughter after her. Flash forward a few years and the mother's name had suddenly been changed to Ellen. Actually, Dynasty was fairly consistent despite its long run. They just had a bad habit of dropping certain unpopular storylines in mid-stream and forgetting about them.

Over in Family Matters, young Judy Winslow disappeared after Season 4...she was only 13 and they never did speak of her again. What unearthly crime could she have committed to cause her family to hate her so?? Only Chuck Cunningham may know...

 

[Jack P]

And of course the biggest mistake of all is the last episode of Happy Days when the Cunningham's toast to having raised 2 great children. I guess Chuck was disowned by the family.

I still maintain that one day, Chuck had this incredible feeling of "I don't belong here anymore!" and just disappeared to the same place the three astronauts in the TZ episode "And When The Sky Was Opened" were spirited to while the people they knew forgot they existed. (This place would explain the wherabouts of quite a few vanished TV characters! Think also of Eugene Barkley on "The Big Valley")

In the pilot episode of "All In The Family" its established that Archie's parents are still living but in short order its established they're long dead for many decades.