Topic: Examples of TV shows addressing their own errors/goofs/continuity errors

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Probably we should just take it as read that sci-fi shows have loads of these

One day, after Chibnall's reign of terror is over, there will almost certainly be a scene in Doctor Who where someone - probably The Master - says to the Doctor, "All that Timeless Child stuff I told you about? Yeah, total bollocks, mate."

And then they'll just move on.

But that will be an example of retconning, as opposed to addressing a continuity fuck-up in a clever in-universe way. So it's irrelevant. Sorry. I'm bored.

[Magnum Valentino]

You tell em Mothman!

[jofo]

Probably a load in the TV series Community. This one sprung to mind first is when Frankie Dart can't get the wifi fixed for the school. She explains that eveytime she phones the "I.T lady" there is just a droning nosie and her ears bleed. This is becuase Padget Brewster played the bit part of the I.T lady in a previous episode.

that reminds me..wheres that thread on why american dont have proper names, I have one to add.

[Thomas]

It's not an error, but when Peep Show couldn't get the actor for Jamie to reprise his role, they replaced him at the last minute with the incredibly similar Barney. This is 'lampshaded' by Mark and Jez who quizzically sneer 'Barney?' as if they've never heard of him.


Jamie


Barney?

I reckon they'd have gotten away with it as a simple recast.

[olliebean]

One day, after Chibnall's reign of terror is over, there will almost certainly be a scene in Doctor Who where someone - probably The Master - says to the Doctor, "All that Timeless Child stuff I told you about? Yeah, total bollocks, mate."

And then they'll just move on.

But that will be an example of retconning, as opposed to addressing a continuity fuck-up in a clever in-universe way. So it's irrelevant. Sorry. I'm bored.

On the subject of Chibnall, I guess his inclusion of the Morbius Doctors in The Timeless Children counts as addressing a continuity error? (Albeit at the expense of trashing the entire continuity of the show, so not such a clever way of doing it.)

[The Ombudsman]

I watched a talk I think between Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci recently where they talked about keeping track of Alans life over the years. Apparently that's why in the book there are some years marked as just "Nothing happened of note in this period". There were a few but I can't recall too many of them, I think Alan had a first wife or something early on that would be a contradiction to something in the book (university period?). They talked about getting an archivist to map Alans life to ensure as much as possible the character was 'true' (for want of a better word).

The one thing I hated about Alpha Pappa was when Michael jumped off the pier and in the end scenes it was noted he was never seen again. I do hope he pops up again some time, perhaps having undertaken some old army manoeuvres to ensure survival.

[Magnum Valentino]

Alan's wife dies and returns from the grace in the Christmas episode of On The Hour, even though his work on On The Hour is "canon".

Just want to leap back in here and say this sort of thing doesn't bother me in the way nerds on TV are bothered by it. If anything I get a mini rush of satisfaction just for noticing it

Another one I just caught was that Saul Goodman has a certificate from the University of American Samoa, which Saul Goodman was never awarded - James Morgan McGill was.

[An tSaoi]

Did they ever explain the line about "whacking Bin Laden wasn't this hard"? Apparently that episode was supposed to be set before the whole Seal Team Six incident, but the writers lost count of the fictional passage of time.

[Gulftastic]

Acknowledging a daft decision early in the show's run, Ross in one of the last Coffee Friends eps said something like 'Remember when I owned a monkey? What was I thinking?'

[mothman]

You tell em Mothman!

Oh, god no - seriously, never ever listen to me.

[holyzombiejesus]

I watched a talk I think between Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci recently where they talked about keeping track of Alans life over the years. Apparently that's why in the book there are some years marked as just "Nothing happened of note in this period". There were a few but I can't recall too many of them, I think Alan had a first wife or something early on that would be a contradiction to something in the book (university period?). They talked about getting an archivist to map Alans life to ensure as much as possible the character was 'true' (for want of a better word).

The one thing I hated about Alpha Pappa was when Michael jumped off the pier and in the end scenes it was noted he was never seen again. I do hope he pops up again some time, perhaps having undertaken some old army manoeuvres to ensure survival.

They do have an archivist now and Coogan's said they have plans for Michael. I think the 'never being seen again' bit was just so they could say that the search for his body was called off after an hour (or whatever).

[Dead Soon]

Did they ever explain the line about "whacking Bin Laden wasn't this hard"? Apparently that episode was supposed to be set before the whole Seal Team Six incident, but the writers lost count of the fictional passage of time.

One word could restore the timeline integrity - ''whacking Bin Laden *isn't* this hard'', setting it deep into the decade long hunt.

[St_Eddie]

Whacking off Bin Laden was easy to do, if you were Bin Laden himself and in bed with a stonking great tower betwixt your legs.

[Sonny_Jim]

Red Dwarf must of had loads, but the one I remember is at the start of series 3, with the big Star Wars text scroll that you had to pause to read.  It explains why Listers two twins aren't around and why Kryten looks and acts differently.

What's it called when they do a big 'fuck you' to the audience?  Ewing getting out the shower is the famous one, but I remember being extremely displeased about the opening of the final series of Oz.  They spent the end of the last series tying up all the ends for Tobias Beecher, he gets out of prison but UH OH it's just a fucking dream or some shit.  I'm still angry about it 20 years later.

[Magnum Valentino]

Didn't Oz have at least one instance of an actual supernatural event, as well?

[An tSaoi]

One word could restore the timeline integrity - ''whacking Bin Laden *isn't* this hard'', setting it deep into the decade long hunt.

Apparently the fan theory is that the nazi character thinks that Bin Laden was already killed, so the ensuing Seal Team Six raid would be a fake. But that's fans for you.

[mjwilson]

I don't know if this counts but new Doctor Who has a bit of a thing of coming up with in-story explanations for why actors are playing a different part. So Freema's first character is revealed to be Martha's cousin, the Doctor took on Peter Capaldi's face because he was inspired the character from Fires of Pompeii, and there's some nonsense about Eve Myles' character from Torchwood being related to her character from Doctor Who.

There's no need! You just liked the actor so you gave them another job. It's fine.

[BeardFaceMan]

Didn't Oz have at least one instance of an actual supernatural event, as well?

Yeah, when Luke Perry got bricked up in the wall and died he then appeared in the cell of the biker bloke out of Biohazard as a vision or some shit. Still not sure if that's the stupidest thing to happen either. Great show, though.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Wasn't Adebesi haunted as well or something?

No more daft than the ageing drugs tbf.

[DrGreggles]

Didn't Oz have at least one instance of an actual supernatural event, as well?

The musical episode?

[stonkers]

Like when Paul Heyman said Brock Lesnar only lost his first UFC fight because he had diverticulitis, but in scripted drama or comedy.

Off topic but there's a sequence in one of the Triple H / Brock Lesnar matches where Triple H fucks Brock up with punches to the stomach that makes no sense at all unless you know about Brock's diverticulitis.

[Magnum Valentino]

Looking back on the last 10 years (maybe more, since however long Twitter has been a thing normal people are aware of) of WWE programming will be baffling in the future as it'll be filled with so many instances of ephemeral pop culture being referenced with reverence in an attempt to maintain relevance and contemporary appeal.

This is especially noticeable on commentary. At least they used to look like old out of touch men uncomfortably promoting Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver and Skittles. The worst thing is seeing them try to discuss something like Twilight New Moon or mentioning the new Code Orange album like it's relevant to the wrestling match you're watching, stealth promotion. Big part of why I ended up stopping watching.

Just get Rod Serling on screen, talking about how class it is to smoke these fags. Advertising doesn't need to trick me, either I'm gonna want something or not.

So yeah, diverticulitis.

Actually, there are instances of this thread's concept in wrestling too, given that performers frequently change names and characters. Someone asked swamp Jesus Bray Wyatt whatever happened to the rookie bruiser Husky Harris in attempt to belittle him by referencing his older, shittier gimmick, and he replied "he needed me and I needed a vessel". I loved Bray Wyatt in those days.

[BeardFaceMan]

If you want to do wrestling then the recent exploding ring fuck up in AEW counts. Spent all that time hyping it, had an amazing and brutal match with lots of explosions going off, had a guy come out to protect his friend from the big explosion at the end and what did we get? Protection from a couple of sparklers and a puff of smoke. So that was a big fuck up, but they pulled it around and managed to make it into a piece of the story afterwards saying that one of the wrestlers had an anxiety attack which is why he looked like he's been poleaxed by a five years olds first bonfire night display. I think they went with one of the wrestlers designing the ring to fuck up on purpose too.

But yeah, wrestling is littered with things like this. Someone saying to Kofi Kingston "Didn't you used to have an accent?" after he started speaking with his normal American accent instead of the Jamaican one he'd been using since he started.

[Egyptian Feast]

Speaking of Oz, remember when they were giving prisoners an aging drug and Cyril O'Reilly suddenly turned into an old man? They dropped the plot between episodes and next time we saw Cyril he was back to normal, but I can't remember if they explained what had happened briefly or just ignored it and moved on.

EDIT: Missed this, sorry!

No more daft than the ageing drugs tbf.