Name A 60's TV Story Cliche (1 Viewer)

[Jack P]

Acually on the Van Dyke show it wasn't years later they were wondering it, it was a flashback to when they thought there might be a switch after they came home from the hospital.

 

[Matt.Koz]

A personal favorite of mine, the vampire episode.

 

[Gary OS]

Any variation on Scrooge/A Christmas Carol where a person (of any age) has lost the Christmas spirit and regains it at the last moment. Another popular Christmas cliche is when a kid or family is waiting anxiously for dad to come home, which he does at the last minute. Or when someone wants to select the perfect gift and has a difficult time coming up with one.


Gary "even though there are only so many stories that can be written surrounding the holiday, I find that I enjoy them all" O.

 

[Vic Pardo]

Acually on the Van Dyke show it wasn't years later they were wondering it, it was a flashback to when they thought there might be a switch after they came home from the hospital.

Well, it has been 40-odd years since I've seen it. The punchline was that the other couple was black, which sure relieved Van Dyke and Moore. The black husband was Greg Morris, just a couple of years before "Mission: Impossible."

 

[David Deeb]

Ethel *was* an instigator in several early episodes like "Numerology" and "Be a Pal." She could be quite a troublemaker and Lucy was very gullible. Rather than being simply inconsistent, the characters evolved over time.

However, there's one episode that really rankles me with the inconsistency: When, in season four, each character has an annoying habit that get's on their spouse's nerves, they display a habit we have never EVER seen before (with a possible exception for Ethel, who eats noisily). Ricky taps his fingers on the table, Lucy stirs her coffee ad nauseum and Fred jangles his keys whenever he stands still. ONLY in this episode!

Sounds like an episode of Alice (man, that show was lame) where Vera tries to quit smoking. She was never seen smoking before, yet in this single episode she just can't stop.

 

[LeoA]

Acually on the Van Dyke show it wasn't years later they were wondering it, it was a flashback to when they thought there might be a switch after they came home from the hospital.

That one always entertains me. Not only because it's such a great episode, but I get a kick that they come home to a new house, all moved in and settled, that they weren't living at when she left to give birth. And not only did Rob get them all moved in between the time she went to give birth and before she came home, but Millie went and had Freddie after Laura left to give birth and was discharged and all back to normal by the time Laura and Richie came home.

Thankfully, great tv and accurate continuity don't necessarily have to go hand in hand. If anything, it adds to the entertainment watching these on DVD or Blu-Ray today to see the minor mistakes or the liberties they had to take out of necessity back then or because it benefited the story (Like reusing a good character actor for a different role).

 

[FrancisP]

Two characters getting handcuffed together and they lose the key.

 

[FrancisP]

Two characters getting handcuffed together and they lose the key.

Man teaches a woman to drive.

 

[Jack P]

That one always entertains me. Not only because it's such a great episode, but I get a kick that they come home to a new house, all moved in and settled, that they weren't living at when she left to give birth. And not only did Rob get them all moved in between the time she went to give birth and before she came home, but Millie went and had Freddie after Laura left to give birth and was discharged and all back to normal by the time Laura and Richie came home.

Thankfully, great tv and accurate continuity don't necessarily have to go hand in hand. If anything, it adds to the entertainment watching these on DVD or Blu-Ray today to see the minor mistakes or the liberties they had to take out of necessity back then or because it benefited the story (Like reusing a good character actor for a different role).

Notwithstanding those inconsistencies (along with the ever-changing name of Rob's old Army buddy Sol/Sam Pomeroy/Pomerantz), the Van Dyke Show was one of the stronger classic shows for maintaining a semblance of continuity. Compare it to "The Odd Couple" which I love but is the worst in this regard! (My favorite is how the narration said "Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return" yet all flashback episodes showed that Oscar and Blanche lived in the same apartment and that it was Blanche who left!)

 

[High C]

Sounds like an episode of Alice (man, that show was lame) where Vera tries to quit smoking. She was never seen smoking before, yet in this single episode she just can't stop.

Much more recently, How I Met Your Mother had a ridiculous ep in which EVERYONE in the cast suddenly had a smoking habit. Weak.

 

[High C]

Notwithstanding those inconsistencies (along with the ever-changing name of Rob's old Army buddy Sol/Sam Pomeroy/Pomerantz), the Van Dyke Show was one of the stronger classic shows for maintaining a semblance of continuity. Compare it to "The Odd Couple" which I love but is the worst in this regard! (My favorite is how the narration said "Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return" yet all flashback episodes showed that Oscar and Blanche lived in the same apartment and that it was Blanche who left!)

Yeah, that's one of my all-time favorites but the amount of different ways they had Oscar and Felix first meeting one another became mind-boggling!

 

[Richard V]

The badass troublemaker, social misfit, who attracts the impressionable boy, then "chickens out" of a fight, so the boy will not see him as a role model and follow in his footsteps.

 

[Jack P]

At some point, a Cockney voiced woman will do a take-off of the "Rain In Spain" bit from "My Fair Lady" to be accompanied by a variant response of "I think she's got it!"