Continuity Errors: Starts With the House Layout and Just Gets Worse

[mmecorday]

I watched the episode "Nice And Easy" (aka "Blanche's Niece Lucy is a Real Floozy") this morning. Lucy hooks up with a vice cop named Ed. Blanche, Rose and Dorothy go to Ed's apartment to get Lucy. How did Blanche know where Ed lived? It's not like when Lucy was leaving she yelled out his address. Also, that yellow big shirt Lucy wears is atrocious!

[Mabinogia]

41 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

How did Blanche know where Ed lived?

I just assume Blanche knows the address of every man in Miami. Especially the ones in uniform. haha

[MoistestCake]

On 14/03/2016 at 5:34 PM, camom said:

In one episode, Blanche talks about that being the house where she raised her children, but in another episode she tells about going downstairs to wake the nanny.  I wondered how her children felt when she gave the other women partial title to her home.  

In the episode where George's son turns up from Texas, he said that he discovered that his mother was getting child support from the address of Blanche's House. So assuming this son is a similar age to his other kids Blanche and George must have been at this address back then. But that doesn't help explain Blanche going down the stairs to call the governess... 

[Mabinogia]

10 hours ago, MoistestCake said:

But that doesn't help explain Blanche going down the stairs to call the governess... 

Maybe the governess lived in a cellar we don't know about. lol Maybe it used to be a grand two level home but after a terrible hurricane destroyed that house, they rebuilt a much smaller home, since they were empty nesters now and the second floor seemed excessive. lol

[leFay]

In the episode where Uncle Angelo is visiting and Stan & Dorothy have to pretend they're still married, Dorothy is telling Angelo that her son Michael plays for the Boston Philharmonic... but a few episodes later when Michael announces he's marrying Lorraine, he says she's the singer in the band he plays in... what a demotion!

[WhoaWhoKnew]

2 minutes ago, leFay said:

In the episode where Uncle Angelo is visiting and Stan & Dorothy have to pretend they're still married, Dorothy is telling Angelo that her son Michael plays for the Boston Philharmonic... but a few episodes later when Michael announces he's marrying Lorraine, he says she's the singer in the band he plays in... what a demotion!

Did we ever hear about Lorraine and the baby again?

[leFay]

18 hours ago, WhoaWhoKnew said:

Did we ever hear about Lorraine and the baby again?

Only briefly in the episode where Lorraine throws him out, as in, "Lorraine threw me out"... no mention of the baby...

[MoistestCake]

I'm watching the episode where Stan proposes to Dorothy and puts the ring in a potato which is scolding hot. Why did she not use a Zborni that is the thing that made him rich? 

Edited June 12, 2018 by MoistestCake

[OhSarah69]

Regarding Blanche and the house...I could be wrong, but I don't think I ever heard Blanche say that she raised her children in this house.  I recall her saying something like "this is where I lived with my husband".  I always imagined that George and Blanche moved from Atlanta to Florida when they became empty-nesters (no pun intended!) and lived there for some time together before George died.  It does not come across to me as a family home where you would have raised 4 rambunctious kids (and there would be no room for a governess).  Anyone else get that feeling?  Also does anyone else wonder why they never used that back part of the living room where the fireplace was?  Sheesh, what a waste of space.  And oh Lord, don't get me started on the bathroom situation.  First Blanche is the only one with an ensuite, then they all have one.  Then there's that episode where they replace the toilet in that big blue bathroom which no one ever uses and which is never seen or heard from again (kind of like Dorothy's chronic fatigue syndrome and Blanche's pacemaker).  And then when Sophia marries Max, Dorothy is  using some mystery shower somewhere in the house and Max walks in not knowing she's in the shower.  Whose bathroom was that?? 

Edited June 12, 2018 by OhSarah69

[schnauzergirl]

Another comment about the house.  Sorry I can't remember the episode -- maybe the garage sale one --  but Blanche says that her kids stored their things in the attic and never came back for them.  Clearly, the house they're living in now doesn't have an attic, so we have another continuity error to add to the list.  

[ShadowSixx]

On 6/9/2018 at 4:17 PM, leFay said:

In the episode where Uncle Angelo is visiting and Stan & Dorothy have to pretend they're still married, Dorothy is telling Angelo that her son Michael plays for the Boston Philharmonic... but a few episodes later when Michael announces he's marrying Lorraine, he says she's the singer in the band he plays in... what a demotion!

This is the same guy who quit a band because he had to wear a tie. He probably quit the philharmonic for having to wear a suit. Rose wasn't too far off the mark when she called him a loser. Mean for her to say it but it wasn't like she was lying. 

[mythoughtis]

5 hours ago, ShadowSixx said:

This is the same guy who quit a band because he had to wear a tie. He probably quit the philharmonic for having to wear a suit. Rose wasn't too far off the mark when she called him a loser. Mean for her to say it but it wasn't like she was lying. 

I’d guess that Dorothy lied to Angelo similarly to pretending to still be married to Stan.  Michaels’ musical talents didn’t run towards orchestra. More like rock/pop bands.  

[Ria]

On 6/18/2018 at 12:44 PM, ShadowSixx said:

This is the same guy who quit a band because he had to wear a tie. He probably quit the philharmonic for having to wear a suit. Rose wasn't too far off the mark when she called him a loser. Mean for her to say it but it wasn't like she was lying. 

Maybe the never seen 40 year old Michael played in the Boston Philharmonic and 23 year old Michael played in a band. ;)

[MoistestCake]

In the episode where Sophia goes to Sicily (on a donkey) she wants to apologise to Guido for dumping him at the alter. She's reminded of Guido after going thru Dorothy's box. But Guido was a main point of the plot 6 episodes before (That's for Me to Know), when Dorothy found Sophia's box. How come she didn't remember she vowed to make amends to him in that episode? 

Also, if Sophia's note about making amends to Guido was in Dorothy's box of photos and such, how come Dorothy had no clue about Guido and Sophia's marriage or even his existence? Maybe she didn't read it as it was in an envelope, but that's unlikely as it was Dorothy's person belongings... 

Edited June 26, 2018 by MoistestCake

[leFay]

On 6/8/2018 at 1:32 AM, MoistestCake said:

In the episode where George's son turns up from Texas, he said that he discovered that his mother was getting child support from the address of Blanche's House. So assuming this son is a similar age to his other kids Blanche and George must have been at this address back then. But that doesn't help explain Blanche going down the stairs to call the governess... 

I just saw that episode last night. David tells Blanche that the child support his mother received was from a bank in Miami and that he got the house address from his mother's "old book"... so if it's an old address book and his child support came from Miami, it does seem like they lived in Florida while raising their own children... 

The bathroom thing is really confusing the daylights out of me.  I saw the episode where Sophia moves in with that old guy, Malcolm and she tells the maid that in her old place, the bathroom was across the hall. Then I saw the episode where Rose was being tested for AIDS and Dorothy asks Sophia why she used her bathroom and Sophia replies that she didn't want to use her own because Rose used it... So we have Dorothy, Sophia and Blanche (with a giant tub, mind you) with a bathroom, one across the hall from Sophia's room- does Rose have one? And if Rose has one, why would she use Sophia's? And if she doesn't have one, then she still wouldn't need to use Sophia's if there was one in the hall... 

I think I've just twisted my head into a pretzel...

[scarynikki12]

I always tell myself that they lived in Atlanta and the house was their vacation home. Then Blanche moved there when George died and sold the Atlanta house. 

[MoistestCake]

On 27/06/2018 at 5:45 PM, leFay said:

The bathroom thing is really confusing the daylights out of me. 

And out of all of us... 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

On 6/27/2018 at 2:26 PM, scarynikki12 said:

I always tell myself that they lived in Atlanta and the house was their vacation home. Then Blanche moved there when George died and sold the Atlanta house. 

I like this theory.  It also helps explain why the kids all had southern accents.  They wouldn't have had they grown up in Miami.  Yeap.  Going to go with your vacation home theory.

[mythoughtis]

The episode where Miles’ daughter comes to visit is on. Miles, who later  confessed to being in witness protection. Miles, who when being moved to another location told Rose she could never see her family again if she went with him.  I guess those rules didn’t apply to his daughter? 

[mmecorday]

That's why I hate the twist that Miles was in the Witness Protection Program.

[Blakeston]

On 6/29/2018 at 11:40 AM, BlancheDevoreaux said:

I like this theory.  It also helps explain why the kids all had southern accents.  They wouldn't have had they grown up in Miami.  Yeap.  Going to go with your vacation home theory.

We only met one of her kids (Rebecca), right?

The vacation home theory still makes the most sense, though.

[link417]

6 hours ago, Blakeston said:

We only met one of her kids (Rebecca), right?

The vacation home theory still makes the most sense, though.

Janet had an overdone Southern accent, just like her mama. ?

Sarah: “I miss sexy Grandma.”

Janet: “I’m sure a lotta people do, darlin’. I’m sure a LOTTA people do.”

[Snow Apple]

I know we talk about Dorothy's children's ages but I keep catching things that doesn't make sense. In the episode with the psychologist, Stan asked Sophia if she ever loved him and she said when they both saw Michael after he was born, implying he was the first born. But Dorothy came right out and said Michael was in his 20's in the Lorraine episode. So what happened to the child who should be 40?

[Ria]

4 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

I know we talk about Dorothy's children's ages but I keep catching things that doesn't make sense. In the episode with the psychologist, Stan asked Sophia if she ever loved him and she said when they both saw Michael after he was born, implying he was the first born. But Dorothy came right out and said Michael was in his 20's in the Lorraine episode. So what happened to the child who should be 40?

We’ve all been wondering that for over 30 years. ;) That is the single most glaring continuity error in the whole show because Dorothy getting pregnant as a high school senior and getting divorced 38 years later was a crucial part of Dorothy’s backstory and repeated over and over throughout the series. 

[mythoughtis]

The episode when the heat goes out.  All 4 women in bed together and freezing with the electric blanket on. Google says the average low temp in January is 59.  How many of you turn the thermostat down to mid sixties at night?  There is no reason why the heat going out in Miami would be a catastrophe. 

[Bastet]

I also live in a climate that doesn't get cold by much of the world's standards - Los Angeles - and my thermostat is turned off overnight (well, because it has to be set at something, it's at 50, and since it never gets that cold, it is effectively turned off), because I see no point in heating the house when the cat and I are under the covers.  So I agree that unless they were having a seriously freakish cold snap, the interior temperature with a broken furnace should not have dipped so low that everyone had to pile into Sophia's bed because she was the only one with an electric blanket; just pull up the covers, maybe throw on an afghan, and feel warm soon without needing to endure being sandwiched between a shit ton of people. 

And I know they're old, but only Sophia is the old-old that seems to always be cold.  While well through menopause and its hot flash phase, most women their age I know are still warmer than the rest of us. 

(This bed sharing craziness did happen before Rose managed to stick the AC onto the on position - which really isn't possible, and at worst, just kill that breaker - and thus make it truly cold, right?)

[WhitneyWhit]

So I was watching "Miles to Go" the other night and I thought about something I never had before: what happens to the students that Miles taught at the University? He's not a professor, so wouldn't the credits those students earned in his class be invalid, and render their degrees invalid, as well?

[scarynikki12]

I would assume that their credits were still valid since they did take the classes.  I don't think the credentials of the professor have any bearing on the grades and credits of the students.  They're separate things.  I had a professor get fired just before our final exam and the department head decided to offer us a deal: if we wanted to take the final he'd oversee it himself but, if we were satisfied with our grade at that point in the course he would mark it down and let us skip the final.  I know a few of my classmates did still take the final but most of us skipped it.  Our professor's status had no bearing on the credit we received so I'd assume the same would be true for Miles' students.  Plus I assume the FBI had it covered. 

[schnauzergirl]

OK, so Miles was an accountant involved with the mob, turns state's evidence, goes into the Witness Protection Program, and becomes a college English professor.  I don't think so.  Unless, of course, the entire college faculty was made up of WPP people or it was a fly-by-night school.

[Madding crowd]

I’ve commented on this before. In addition to actually knowing the subject matter, Miles would be required to publish work and likely participate in campus activities which could result in his picture appearing in the paper. Not the ideal placement for someone in hiding. 

[HoboClayton]

God, I love how much this show is still talked about. It's so much fun to over analyze . They never would have bred minks. Blanche flips over her tuna quiche, but in an earlier says she hates tuna. Also how stupid stoles are and how no one wears them anymore.. Then later she asked to borrow it to wear. Dorothy saying Stan pretty much raped her and was totally unaware. Then, it was so bad, she wasn't even sure they had sex until 9 months  . Was Rose really allergic to cats? 

[Mabinogia]

Back when the show was made they could get away with these continuity issues because it was rare to have TV shows on VHS, they didn't really do TV show marathons (Seriously, GG is on every night when I get home for about three hours and about 5-6 hours on weekends) and people didn't have DVRs. So the odds of the eps being seen back to back were almost non-existent. I wonder if they watch now and cringe at all the many, many inconsistencies they thought no one would ever notice. It is fun to spot them though. They don't much bother me because I understand that things were different when the show was made so I mostly find them funny. Dorothy has a gambling problem one ep but it's never mentioned again. Rose is suddenly addicted to pills and has been for a while but it's never been mentioned until that one "very special episode". Dorothy and Stan's extremely inconsistent back story. Oye. 

[schnauzergirl]

I understand the inconsistencies and having seen every episode so many times I enjoy spotting them.  This probably has been mentioned before, but exactly who slept in the bedroom on the right?  Blanche is in there when she finds out she's not pregnant, but going through menopause, then Dorothy and Jack are in that room for the Trudy episode.  There are probably other instances and who know why this popped into my head this morning?  Also, there are three bedroom doors, but four bedrooms.  OK, back to real life. 

[Ria]

On 8/16/2018 at 7:46 AM, Mabinogia said:

Back when the show was made they could get away with these continuity issues because it was rare to have TV shows on VHS, they didn't really do TV show marathons (Seriously, GG is on every night when I get home for about three hours and about 5-6 hours on weekends) and people didn't have DVRs. So the odds of the eps being seen back to back were almost non-existent. I wonder if they watch now and cringe at all the many, many inconsistencies they thought no one would ever notice. It is fun to spot them though. They don't much bother me because I understand that things were different when the show was made so I mostly find them funny. Dorothy has a gambling problem one ep but it's never mentioned again. Rose is suddenly addicted to pills and has been for a while but it's never been mentioned until that one "very special episode". Dorothy and Stan's extremely inconsistent back story. Oye. 

People actually did record on VCRs back then. And reruns were half the programming on TV during the day. Remember Blanche and Rose even watched an I Love Lucy marathon in one episode. I grew up in the late sixties and watched I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show every day and those shows had been cancelled years earlier. So the writers were certainly aware people would be watching the episodes over and over (although maybe not 30 years later!). The one thing they couldn’t predict is Internet forums. They never imagined fans chatting about the show for years afterward and pointing out the most irritating inconsistencies and stupid moments. 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Ria

[Snow Apple]

I agree the internet made things a whole new ballgame. I've certainly learned stuff I never noticed before. Not just on this show but many others.

Back then, who were you suppose to discuss and snark with? Now we can have fun with  worldwide fans.

[Bort]

36 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Back then, who were you suppose to discuss and snark with?

Usually people at work. That's where the term "watercooler shows" came from -- people would stand around the water cooler on breaks and talk about their favorite shows.

[Snow Apple]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

Usually people at work. That's where the term "watercooler shows" came from -- people would stand around the water cooler on breaks and talk about their favorite shows.

True. But only with the coworkers who are interested. I was still in high school back then and had no friends, even if I could find someone who didn't pretend to be too cool for The Girls. LOL

[mmecorday]

I watched the one about Big Daddy's first visit this morning. He tells Blanche he sold Twin Oaks so that he could embark on an ill-fated singing career. Really? And when his singing career didn't quite pan out, did he buy back the property and all of its contents, including a hollowed out Bible for hiding whisky and a music box that plays "Stardust?"

[mythoughtis]

4 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I watched the one about Big Daddy's first visit this morning. He tells Blanche he sold Twin Oaks so that he could embark on an ill-fated singing career. Really? And when his singing career didn't quite pan out, did he buy back the property and all of its contents, including a hollowed out Bible for hiding whisky and a music box that plays "Stardust?"

Had to have since Blanche went there for the funeral. Maybe even did it a second time since he probably lost it in the divorce of that ill suited 2nd wife. 

Edited August 21, 2018 by mythoughtis

[mmecorday]

Argh! I hate when Uncle Angelo visits! His character is annoying AF and his backstory doesn't make any sense. When he confesses that he's not actually a priest, he says that he promised his mother on her death bed that he would become a man of the cloth. We already know that Sophia's mother was well into her 90s when she died. Then Angelo says that he would have become a priest, but he met some floozy and ended up spending the next 72 years with her. Math was certainly not the writers' strong suit.

[Snow Apple]

It was ridiculous. Didn't anyone in the family go watch Angelo graduate (or whatever the word for priests is). Or hear a sermon or ask him to officiate a wedding or baptism? How many siblings do they have since "four in a bed meant half your family was on vacation." I'm sure there were some family left in Sicily.

[schnauzergirl]

3 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

It was ridiculous. Didn't anyone in the family go watch Angelo graduate (or whatever the word for priests is). Or hear a sermon or ask him to officiate a wedding or baptism? How many siblings do they have since "four in a bed meant half your family was on vacation." I'm sure there were some family left in Sicily.

Agreed, yet during one of the Aunt Angela episodes, it's said she and Sophia are the only family left.  I know when the show was first aired viewers didn't pay such close attention to these kind of details, but it's still sloppy and, in my view, unprofessional.  There were a ton of writers and scripts had to be churned out, but come on ... this is big time show business.  End of rant and back to my book.

Edited August 30, 2018 by schnauzergirl

[MoistestCake]

5 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

It was ridiculous. Didn't anyone in the family go watch Angelo graduate (or whatever the word for priests is). Or hear a sermon or ask him to officiate a wedding or baptism? How many siblings do they have since "four in a bed meant half your family was on vacation." I'm sure there were some family left in Sicily.

If he was married 72 years (instead of being a priest) and Dorothy and Stan for 38 years, he was married before them, so did he attend their wedding pretending to be a priest? Or did he not go? (which by GG logic makes more sense, as no family turns up for any major events such as Dorothy's wedding or Phil's funeral). 

 

There's a bit where he says that Sophia said Dorothy and Stan wouldn't last (if I remember correctly) which sounds to me like he was at the wedding, but it's not definitive and I guess travelling from Italy to NYC in the 50s was quite tricky. 

[Bastet]

Yes, he was at the wedding.  When Angelo arrives, he tells Dorothy she looks more beautiful now than she did on her wedding day.  That could just refer to having been sent a wedding photo, but prior to that, when Sophia cops to why she's making Dorothy's favorite dinner and inviting Stan over, Sophia says, "Remember my brother Angelo?  He was at your wedding." 

[Ria]

Didn’t he say he went to Dorothy’s sweet sixteen party as well? Even though Dorothy herself wasn’t invited to her own party. Did he leave his wife back in Italy when he visited New York? What a weird family. Angelo has a secret life and a wife no one knows about, Angela and Sophia don’t talk for 30 years. Sophia doesn’t talk to Phil’s wife and Gloria calls only once a year. While Angela moves back to Sicily and lives with a goat. 

Edited August 31, 2018 by Ria

[Mrs. Hanson]

I just caught an error and forgive me if it has been brought up before:  The garage sale is going on, a customer wants to buy the Elvis Presley salt and pepper shakers.  Blanches balks, and says she saw the King walking through the Graceland Gift Shop.    He could not have, as Graceland did not open to the public for tours until 1982 and Elvis died in 1977.

Yes I am both a Golden Girls Geek AND an Elvis Geek.  So there.

On 8/19/2018 at 5:40 PM, Snow Apple said:

I was still in high school back then and had no friends, even if I could find someone who didn't pretend to be too cool for The Girls. LOL

 Snow Apple - when I was in college I knew GG was going to be huge in reruns when we would go to some guy's dorm to pick them up to out and......have bible study.  The guys would be "QUIET!  THE GOLDEN GIRLS ARE ON!!!"  When you are attracting young 19-21 yr old guys for a show aimed at older women.....you have a a hit.

[Bastet]

9 minutes ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

I just caught an error and forgive me if it has been brought up before:  The garage sale is going on, a customer wants to buy the Elvis Presley salt and pepper shakers.  Blanches balks, and says she saw the King walking through the Graceland Gift Shop.    He could not have, as Graceland did not open to the public for tours until 1982 and Elvis died in 1977.

That's just an Elvis's ghost joke.  There has never been a shortage of nutters claiming either Elvis is really alive, or his ghost is wandering around Graceland, so pretty much every time a TV character mentions Elvis, there will be reference a sighting (and it's about a 50/50 split whether it will be of Ghost Elvis of Faked-Death Alive Elvis).

[Mrs. Hanson]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

That's just an Elvis's ghost joke.  There has never been a shortage of nutters claiming either Elvis is really alive, or his ghost is wandering around Graceland, so pretty much every time a TV character mentions Elvis, there will be reference a sighting (and it's about a 50/50 split whether it will be of Ghost Elvis of Faked-Death Alive Elvis).

I hear you, but Blanch did say "I saw Elvis himself" so I believe it was written that Elvis was walking through the gift shop.  She wanted to increase the value of the shakers!   Again, I am sure the writers never thought people would be still be so in love with this show so many many years later!!

[babyhouseman]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

That's just an Elvis's ghost joke.  There has never been a shortage of nutters claiming either Elvis is really alive, or his ghost is wandering around Graceland, so pretty much every time a TV character mentions Elvis, there will be reference a sighting (and it's about a 50/50 split whether it will be of Ghost Elvis of Faked-Death Alive Elvis).

In the eighties,, tabloids were always going on about Elvis being spotted. So during the GG era, it was a huge joke. 

[Blakeston]

On 8/21/2018 at 11:09 AM, mmecorday said:

I watched the one about Big Daddy's first visit this morning. He tells Blanche he sold Twin Oaks so that he could embark on an ill-fated singing career. Really? And when his singing career didn't quite pan out, did he buy back the property and all of its contents, including a hollowed out Bible for hiding whisky and a music box that plays "Stardust?"

The ending of that episode has always rubbed me the wrong way.

So Big Daddy has decided that he loves singing, and so he's going to pursue it, even though he knows he's terrible at it - and Blanche realizes that she was a fool to question him. That would all be fine, except that he sold his family's beloved estate, which was completely unnecessary, and completely out of character for him.

If the property is legally his, and he's of sound mind, he's free to sell it for whatever stupid reason he wants. But was he really of sound mind? That behavior is incredibly out there, and his family would be entirely justified in asking him to see a neurologist. Blanche should have been less patronizing, but she was right to be worried.