Continuity Gaffes & Ridiculous Censorship-“Really Frosts My Cookies”

[GHScorpiosRule]

I didn’t see a thread for this and since it happens across the seasons and randomly, and we still discuss the classic episodes and seasons where this happens, I figured it deserves its own thread!

Firet, our precinct went through bumps before settling as the 27th precinct early in season two. But then it was tagged as the 33-again-from the first season in season three! I think it was in “Censure” though I’m not positive.

So we have the 15 and 31 that were designated as the “dirty” precincts. Though after “Manhood” we never saw the captain again.

And the censoring!!! The inconsistencies still drive me batty! I’ve noticed that unless the episode deals specifically with racism or a hate crime, ethnic slurs and the N-word are bleeped. Like, what? Even mild words like “crapper” are bleeped!

[ML89]

I think you're right that it's "Censure," or maybe it's even later, that still has the 33rd, but I can't remember which one. It's on a "dun dun" timestamp screen. I know there are addresses that can't exist as well. Also, they seem to solve crimes up and down Manhattan, considering they're in the Upper West Side one day and down at Battery Park the next, although I think there was something about how homicides are worked, that it isn't confined to the precinct?

A friend wrote a fanfic set around "Aftershock" and said that based on the dates, Claire is still alive after she's dead! I'm betting that if someone checked them all, many characters are still there after they leave.

The dialogue censoring on WE is crazy (which would probably be censored!).

Lennie is a cop far longer than he should be - considering that he graduated with the cop killed in the New Conn robbery (White Rabbit) and that's in '69 - but there's another wonky bit in that with the name they use on the safety deposit box and the timing. Logan says he was at anti war protests and I think he was too young for that (I think Noth wasn't, maybe, but isn't Logan is canonically younger?). (Then again, I think all TV writers failed basic math or were absent the day they taught how to figure time, because Lewis in the Inspector Morse series is now a rookie cop way earlier than he should be after the last Endeavour, and The X-Files was absolutely notorious for not figuring travel times correctly. And XF is in the same universe as L&O, due to Munch. As an aside, I swear I read that Noth was talked about as taking over from Mulder in season 8 - which begs the question as to whether that would have been as Logan).

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 minutes ago, ML89 said:

New Conn robbery (White Rabbit) and that's in '69 - but there's another wonky bit in that with the name they use on the safety deposit box and the timing. Logan says he was at anti war protests and I think he was too young for that (I think Noth wasn't, maybe, but isn't Logan is canonically younger?).

I think Mike was being sarcastic/making a joke--Noth and Logan are the same age, and Mike would have been in his middle school years then! Or, it was a continuity gaff! Dun-Dun!

[wknt3]

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I didn’t see a thread for this and since it happens across the seasons and randomly, and we still discuss the classic episodes and seasons where this happens, I figured it deserves its own thread!

Firet, our precinct went through bumps before settling as the 27th precinct early in season two. But then it was tagged as the 33-again-from the first season in season three! I think it was in “Censure” though I’m not positive.

So we have the 15 and 31 that were designated as the “dirty” precincts. Though after “Manhood” we never saw the captain again.

And the censoring!!! The inconsistencies still drive me batty! I’ve noticed that unless the episode deals specifically with racism or a hate crime, ethnic slurs and the N-word are bleeped. Like, what? Even mild words like “crapper” are bleeped!

I know I'm a broken record here, but since TNT stopped airing the series I honestly don't believe anyone airing the series has given much thought to the content. Even networks that theoretically should care like Sundance. The syndicated cuts with censoring designed so that the episode can air at 6pm in Omaha without drawing too many complaints leave more time to air Medicare commercials and happened to be easily available when digital subchannels started proliferating so that is what is aired.

I believe that the 15th became the favorite "dirty" precinct partly as a wink towards the competition at NYPD Blue. Don't have any citation, but I do remember that when Lt. Fancy got pulled over by a racist cop they wer from the 2-7...
 

2 hours ago, ML89 said:

I think you're right that it's "Censure," or maybe it's even later, that still has the 33rd, but I can't remember which one. It's on a "dun dun" timestamp screen. I know there are addresses that can't exist as well. Also, they seem to solve crimes up and down Manhattan, considering they're in the Upper West Side one day and down at Battery Park the next, although I think there was something about how homicides are worked, that it isn't confined to the precinct?

It's complicated as the real-life NYPD keeps adjusting their approach and shifting responsibilities between precinct detective squads and specialized units based on the Patrol Boroughs and who takes the lead on which cases when. In the beginning it seemed to be more of a precinct squad that even dealt with some serious non-homicide crimes. It migrated to more of Manhattan North Homicide before eventually seeming to range over just about all of Manhattan from Harlem to Wall Street.

[wknt3]

13 hours ago, ML89 said:

And XF is in the same universe as L&O, due to Munch.

Not necessarily. My personal theory is that Munch has the ability to travel between different universes. It explains how he appears in series that seem to be completely incompatible and also why he is both a little bit "off" and surprisingly sensitive at times. If you were aware last Tuesday you were felt and talking to a giant alphabet letter you would probably be the same way, wouldn't you?

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 hours ago, wknt3 said:

I know I'm a broken record here, but since TNT stopped airing the series I honestly don't believe anyone airing the series has given much thought to the content. Even networks that theoretically should care like Sundance. The syndicated cuts with censoring designed so that the episode can air at 6pm in Omaha without drawing too many complaints leave more time to air Medicare commercials and happened to be easily available when digital subchannels started proliferating so that is what is aired.

Eh?

Then there's the other gaff I remember laughing about in "Censure" with the "Dun-Dun" tag. When Claire is meeting with her attorney to discuss her hearing, the show had it as "Jill Kincaid" instead of Claire Kincaid.

[wknt3]

On 10/17/2023 at 4:40 PM, ML89 said:

I think you're right that it's "Censure," or maybe it's even later, that still has the 33rd, but I can't remember which one. It's on a "dun dun" timestamp screen. I know there are addresses that can't exist as well. Also, they seem to solve crimes up and down Manhattan, considering they're in the Upper West Side one day and down at Battery Park the next, although I think there was something about how homicides are worked, that it isn't confined to the precinct?

 

22 hours ago, wknt3 said:

It's complicated as the real-life NYPD keeps adjusting their approach and shifting responsibilities between precinct detective squads and specialized units based on the Patrol Boroughs and who takes the lead on which cases when. In the beginning it seemed to be more of a precinct squad that even dealt with some serious non-homicide crimes. It migrated to more of Manhattan North Homicide before eventually seeming to range over just about all of Manhattan from Harlem to Wall Street.

And actually it the geography gets even weirder as I was just thinking about something I thought I remembered and looked it up (unfortunately I do not have @Xeliou66's encylopedic recall of episodes and their content)

From "Publish and Perish" via https://tvshowtranscripts.ourboard.org/viewtopic.php?f=1392&t=54406

Quote

Falco?
Nick.
You're Joe Fontana.
Yeah, right.
Yeah, sorry about your partner.
How's he doing?
Well, he's on the mend, thanks.
Brooklyn North? They keep you guys busy out there.
Yeah, I figure a few weeks, Manhattan South Homicide, like a paid vacation.

So apparently at that point they were thinking of the squad as Manhattan South Homicide even though more of the cases and the precinct house itself were in Manhattan North Patrol Borough!
 

[Xeliou66]

The censorship is completely random and bonkers - words that are bleeped in some episodes are left uncensored in others, amongst other oddities. And they censor the oddest stuff, and twice the censorship affects understanding of the plot that I can recall which is inexcusable - one is in Carrier when they censor “bareback” - the guy told the girls he was infecting “it’s better bareback”, and the other is in Fools For Love when they censor “douche” when ME Rodgers explains the killer used a douche to get rid of evidence. Those examples of censorship are inexcusable, and other times they censor minor stuff like the “crapper” example the OP gave or the line about the guy getting a chubby.

As for continuity, original L&O usually has very strong continuity - the worst example of a continuity error in L&O IMO is Cragen’s line about having a 14 year old kid in Bad Faith, when it was established when he was a regular and even more explicitly established later that he had no children. That was really weird. The continuity was usually very strong, even for minor stuff like the characters families. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Not sure if this was a continuity gaffe or if the writers just changed their minds and it was too late to fix? Or maybe I'm just not understanding just what happened in "Kill the Girls and Make Them Die" from season one.

Ben asks Paul to go to Elise Brody, who was Ned's victim from college and to bring her to New York as a witness? But she tells Paul no; then changes her mind and comes to New York with her husband.

After she tells Ben what Ned did, he then says he can't use her testimony. Whut? Then why tell Paul to bring her to New York so he could call her as a witness?

Then let's jump to season six, with the appearance of Pod!Paul. There's a line where he tells the jury how he worked in the DA's office for "seven years" so he knows how they act. Huh?

In season one, the unofficial pilot, had Max saying the "new guy" Paul had been in the office and Ben's right hand for eight months! So, at best, Paul was in the DA's office for three four years. Almost. Unless they were trying to say Paul was ADA for another Executive ADA? WhatEVERRRRRRR.

But I hate that Pod!Paul and Adam never shared a scene.

And while it's revealed in the deleted scene (so not really canon), Paul left to go work for a big law firm, so his line to Jack how Jack has unlimited resources and money to prosecute? Excuuuuse me? It's the other way around; because I didn't hear anywhere that he was a sole practitioner now.

[andromeda331]

7 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Not sure if this was a continuity gaffe or if the writers just changed their minds and it was too late to fix? Or maybe I'm just not understanding just what happened in "Kill the Girls and Make Them Die" from season one.

Ben asks Paul to go to Elise Brody, who was Ned's victim from college and to bring her to New York as a witness? But she tells Paul no; then changes her mind and comes to New York with her husband.

After she tells Ben what Ned did, he then says he can't use her testimony. Whut? Then why tell Paul to bring her to New York so he could call her as a witness?

I always wondered about that. Why put Elise through all that if they couldn't use her testimony. Poor Elise.

Quote

And while it's revealed in the deleted scene (so not really canon), Paul left to go work for a big law firm, so his line to Jack how Jack has unlimited resources and money to prosecute? Excuuuuse me? It's the other way around; because I didn't hear anywhere that he was a sole practitioner now.

That one made me laugh. Unlimited resources? Ah when has that ever been a thing? 

[cfinboston]

I don't know if this qualifies but I thought it was funny in "City Hall " when Lenny uses the phrase about hearing hoofbeats and thinking horses, not zebras. The phrase is used in "Prescription for Death" when Oster uses it and says it's an old "medical school" saying. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 10/31/2023 at 1:08 PM, cfinboston said:

I don't know if this qualifies but I thought it was funny in "City Hall " when Lenny uses the phrase about hearing hoofbeats and thinking horses, not zebras. The phrase is used in "Prescription for Death" when Oster uses it and says it's an old "medical school" saying. 

I don’t think so? Your example is more like the same comparisons used by different characters. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Another continuity gaffe--this time with Jamie*

When she returns in season 10's "Justice" there's no mention of how she and David are doing, or any of the other niceties. We do get Van Buren introducing her to Abbie.

Then, when she returns again in season 11's "School Daze" Jack suddenly remembers she's married; congratulates her, and acts as if they hadn't seen each other just a year prior!

*Do NOT get me started on the character assassination and no explanation as to why she left the judgeship from Trial by Jury in the renewed season of this show.

[ML89]

On 10/17/2023 at 12:57 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Firet, our precinct went through bumps before settling as the 27th precinct early in season two. But then it was tagged as the 33-again-from the first season in season three! I think it was in “Censure” though I’m not positive.

So I’m watching “Wedded Bliss” and Mike and Phil go visit a cop at another precinct - the 2-7!

[MarylandGirl]

On 11/7/2023 at 10:06 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Another continuity gaffe--this time with Jamie*

When she returns in season 10's "Justice" there's no mention of how she and David are doing, or any of the other niceties. We do get Van Buren introducing her to Abbie.

Then, when she returns again in season 11's "School Daze" Jack suddenly remembers she's married; congratulates her, and acts as if they hadn't seen each other just a year prior!

*Do NOT get me started on the character assassination and no explanation as to why she left the judgeship from Trial by Jury in the renewed season of this show.

Yes! I was just watching School Daze and had seen Justice recently, so I was confused. Like, wasn't she just there? I mean, a year ago (maybe more in show time), but Jack acted like he hadn't seen her since she'd left her job with him.

[GHScorpiosRule]

35 minutes ago, MarylandGirl said:

Yes! I was just watching School Daze and had seen Justice recently, so I was confused. Like, wasn't she just there? I mean, a year ago (maybe more in show time), but Jack acted like he hadn't seen her since she'd left her job with him.

Yup. Exactly.