Episodes The Continuity Errors Thread

[phantagrae]

Someone pointed out an error from the last episode--when SHeldon and Amy are looking at the note she'd written with the new voicemail message--they apparently used two different takes to put that scene together because the note and Sheldon's dinner switch hands a couple of times.

[Anomaly]

I noticed another, while watching season 2 the other day.

 

When Penny asked Sheldon if Leonard had ever dated any non-braniacs (season 2 episode 1), Sheldon mentioned only one person... A girl with a P.H.D. in French Literature. Then, in the very next episode, when Leonard, Raj & Howard were going over all the people Leonard had dated, he only named two, Joyce Kim & Leslie Winkle. How did he forget one, when (apparently) he'd only ever dated three girls? Especially considering that he'd only known Joyce Kim for less than 12-hours when Sheldon chased her away, and Leslie Winkle (at that point) had only been a one-night stand. It would seem that this mystery girl with the French Lit P.H.D. was probably his longest lasting relationship. It's odd that Leonard had never mentioned her, even when the subject has come up.

[viddy9]

I noticed another, while watching season 2 the other day.

 

When Penny asked Sheldon if Leonard had ever dated any non-braniacs (season 2 episode 1), Sheldon mentioned only one person... A girl with a P.H.D. in French Literature. Then, in the very next episode, when Leonard, Raj & Howard were going over all the people Leonard had dated, he only named two, Joyce Kim & Leslie Winkle. How did he forget one, when (apparently) he'd only ever dated three girls? Especially considering that he'd only known Joyce Kim for less than 12-hours when Sheldon chased her away, and Leslie Winkle (at that point) had only been a one-night stand. It would seem that this mystery girl with the French Lit P.H.D. was probably his longest lasting relationship. It's odd that Leonard had never mentioned her, even when the subject has come up.

 

Yep, I also noticed that. It would have messed up their equation (y=27 days /(12 to the nth) )

Edited February 16, 2013 by viddy9

[rachelshamyfan]

Priya saying she and raj shared a room growing up, surely if their parents are rich and have servants then they must of had a house with separate bedrooms for the children!?

[The Lash]

Another....

 

in the physics bowl episode. the contest is for the physics bowl trophy itself, yet at the opening of the quiz, Dr Gabelhuaser welcomes everyone to "the preliminary round of the physiscs bowl" which would suggest an early round before the final

Edited February 26, 2013 by The Lash

[Anomaly]

Another....

 

in the physics bowl episode. the contest is for the physics bowl trophy itself, yet at the opening of the quiz, Dr Gabelhuaser welcomes everyone to "the preliminary round of the physiscs bowl" which would suggest an early round before the final

 

True.

 

It always bothered me that there was only one round... Never made sense.

[Kevin Brazee]

A few I have noticed.

1. When Penny locks herself out of her apartment the contents in the grocery bag she is holding changes. I think in one shot there is a bag of pretzels hanging out and in another shot there is not.

2. In one episode Sheldon went to the hospital to get tests done by Leonard's gf Stephanie. Also he went to get a CAT scan with Leonard's mom at the hospital. However in the episode with Howard's mom in the hospital Sheldon is extremely adverse to going to the hospital.

3. In the episode with Howard's mom in the hospital Howard says that he family is the history of heart disease. In the episode in which Bernadette gets her PHD and new job she says she is going to study premature ejaculation because its not like either of our families has a history of heart disease.

[Manon]

Raj cant talk in front of women yet in Season 4 The Love car episode when Sheldon goes to Rajs room and says he will have to sleep there because Penny is with leonard, Raj still goes to Leonards room and speaks to him even though Sheldon had said Penny was there

 

I have noticed that as well, however he might thought she was sleeping or didn't see her or just didn't think...

Anyway, there are a few moments when he talks in presence of girls without drinking... Can't find the exact moments yet but I will

 

 

True.

 

It always bothered me that there was only one round... Never made sense.

 

I have simply assumed that the tournament kept going on and they won (if they could beat Sheldon, they could beat everybody else)

 

 

Sheldon's character is very different in the pilot and in the other episodes, but as most of you say... it is because it is the pilot

However, Amy has experienced lots of changes in her personality in a short time if you watch her first episode...

There are some inconsistency in Sheldon's stories of his father...

It is quite difficult to figure out the characters' age as well... they seem to never have a birthday (except Leonard once)

 

In the Time Machine's episode, Leonard says he is going to sell everything to "Larry" at the comic book store... later, Stuart appears as somebody they know for a long time

 

In the pilot, Penny goes right away take a shower and she has different clothes on after... even though she never went to get some in her apartment 

 

Also, in the second episode, the boys go in the hall to talk to Penny and when they want to get back to their apartment the door is lock. However, in many episodes people go in and out of the apartment and it is never locked

 

In the episode where Howard's mother goes to the hospital, Leonard fetches Penny and Sheldon in the laundry room and they just leave their stuff there... it is even more bothering me that Sheldon hesitates and put everything in the dryer, close the doors but doesn't start the dryer

 

It is said quite a few times than scientist don't win a lot of money... However, they have lots of things and Sheldon seem to be incredibly loaded

 

The boys are always wearing tons of clothes, Penny on the other hand often have short sleeves and very short shirt... Bernadette and Amy usually have a small sweater

The boy must be very cold, or the girls very hot

 

 

All I can think of for the moment!

[Dave]

In season 1, episode 16 "The Peanut Reaction" Penny specifically asks Leonard if he is coming to the Cheesecake Factory for his birthday.  She mentions she knows his birthday from when she did his horoscope.

However, in season 9. episode 9 "The Platonic Permutation" Leonard is upset because Penny doesn't know the date of his birthday.

[JohnPhD]

I don't know if these are all "errors" because it seems if the creators think of a good joke or plot twist yjey just don't care if it contradicts something that went before.  Just now in 909 Penny said she'd never stayed friends with any of her exes, so Sheldon can say something like "I'm sure you and Leonard will pull it off". But in fact Penny and Leonard were exes for a time in an early bseason. Priya sure noticed they were still friends.

A pretty big discontinuity is surely Dr Stephanie. I don't remember any break-up scene with Leonard, she just wasn't around any more.

[Stephen Hawking]

On 2/1/2013 at 10:38 PM, Moonbase said:

There is a shot from over Howard's shoulder looking into Penny's apartment. The picture is hanging on what is the "fourth wall" of Penny's apartment.

So, it's on a different wall, to where it originally was, which was on the wall, to the right of, and in line with, the door.

Also, wouldn't the fourth wall (the one opposite the door) be the kitchen wall, where the sink, stove and microwave are?

A kitchen is hardly the place, to hang a $3,000 painting.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Stephen Hawking

[Stephen Hawking]

On 5/12/2013 at 4:16 AM, Manon said:

It is said quite a few times than scientist don't win a lot of money... However, they have lots of things and Sheldon seem to be incredibly loaded

All I can think of for the moment!

I think Sheldon is just very careful with his money. After all, his expenses account for only 46.9% of his after-tax income.

Of course, this raises the question, if he has so much left each month, why can't he afford to live alone?

On 5/12/2013 at 4:16 AM, Manon said:

The boy must be very cold, or the girls very hot

I think it's that the girls are very hot.  

On 12/18/2015 at 8:37 PM, JohnPhD said:

But in fact Penny and Leonard were exes for a time in an early season.

Penny also seemed to still be friends with Zack, to the point that, in Alien Parasite, she introduced him to Amy and Bernadette.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Stephen Hawking

[Stephen Hawking]

In Closure Alternative, after Amy leaves, Sheldon reruns the various activities.

First, he redoes the tic-tac-toe game, ending it with a sweep of his marker, drawing a slightly curved line, from the top left corner of the grid, to well below the bottom right corner.

He then blows out the candles on the birthday cake, plays with the Jack-In-The-Box, and plays the electric organ, while singing the National Anthem, before moving off topple the dominoes.

It's quite obvious that the tic-tac-toe grid behind him, while he is singing, is not the same, and diagonal line has shortened.

Another one is in Spock Remembrance, where Sheldon opens the box, to show them his Passport, napkin, etc.

He lifts the lid, then the camera angle changes, and he lifts the lid again.

[phantagrae]

2 hours ago, Stephen Hawking said:

So, it's on a different wall, to where it originally was, which was on the wall, to the right of, and in line with, the door.

Also, wouldn't the fourth wall (the one opposite the door) be the kitchen wall, where the sink, stove and microwave are?

A kitchen is hardly the place, to hang a $3,000 painting.

The so-called "fourth wall" is the "wall" the audience is looking through.  In the apartments it's the wall their tvs are in front of, and the boys' desks.  Once in a while they'll show a solid wall behind the desks, for instance, like when they're using a pre-taped segment or sometimes a Skype session, looking over Sheldon or Leonard's shoulder at their computer screens.

In the case of the painting glimpse, we see that Penny and Amy hang it on that fourth wall at the end of the episode, probably so that the set dressers don't have to show it every week on the wall where Penny originally hung it.  They give us a little glimpse of continuity by showing it through the door in the wedding episode.  I don't know if the angle would have been perfect, but I think that was the intention.

[Stephen Hawking]

53 minutes ago, phantagrae said:

In the case of the painting glimpse, we see that Penny and Amy hang it on that fourth wall at the end of the episode, probably so that the set dressers don't have to show it every week on the wall where Penny originally hung it.

Judging from the views we get, from time to time, looking through the door, into the apartment past Penny, the view from the door, is of her kitchen area.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Stephen Hawking

[phantagrae]

Well, first off, even though that floor plan does seem to represent what we've seen of how the apartments look, that diagram is not official.  And secondly, the intention of that doorway scene was to give a glimpse of the painting hanging on the "fourth wall" where we had seen Penny and Amy hanging it.

 Since we never see that wall, it's a safe place to hang the painting so that it doesn't have to be in every episode.

And we know that they kind of play fast and loose with the logic of the apartment floor plans.

Edited December 20, 2015 by phantagrae

[Stephen Hawking]

4 hours ago, phantagrae said:

And we know that they kind of play fast and loose with the logic of the apartment floor plans.

I appreciate that, but, this is a thread about inconsistencies, and I believe this to be one.

I believe we've seen several scenes, which show the area around the kitchen, which should have shown, at least a glimpse of the painting, but didn't.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Stephen Hawking

[Stephen Hawking]

In The Dumpling Paradox (episode 1.07), Sheldon states that neither he, Leonard or Raj, can dance - "Okay, assuming we could dance, which we can’t, there are three of us and two of them."

In The Gothowitz Deviation (episode 3.03), Sheldon informs Penny, that he does not dance - "The math would suggest that in a few I’m a clown made of candy. But I don’t dance."

However, in The Agreement Dissection (episode 4.21), not only can Sheldon dance, but he has been able to do so since he was very young, and is "excellent" at it - "No, thank you, but for the record, I’m an excellent dancer. Proficient in the rumba, waltz and cha-cha."

ETA: Not actually a continuity error as such, but more of general question.

In The Fuzzy Boots Corollary (episode 1.03), they end up Salsa dancing, with Sheldon looking about the most awkward and least coordinated of the group.

While I understand Salsa dancing is different from the rumba, waltz and cha-cha, shouldn't his cotillion dance training make him more coordinated?

Edited December 20, 2015 by Stephen Hawking

[rachelshamyfan]

10 hours ago, Stephen Hawking said:

In The Dumpling Paradox (episode 1.07), Sheldon states that neither he, Leonard or Raj, can dance - "Okay, assuming we could dance, which we can’t, there are three of us and two of them."

In The Gothowitz Deviation (episode 3.03), Sheldon informs Penny, that he does not dance - "The math would suggest that in a few I’m a clown made of candy. But I don’t dance."

However, in The Agreement Dissection (episode 4.21), not only can Sheldon dance, but he has been able to do so since he was very young, and is "excellent" at it - "No, thank you, but for the record, I’m an excellent dancer. Proficient in the rumba, waltz and cha-cha."

ETA: Not actually a continuity error as such, but more of general question.

In The Fuzzy Boots Corollary (episode 1.03), they end up Salsa dancing, with Sheldon looking about the most awkward and least coordinated of the group.

While I understand Salsa dancing is different from the rumba, waltz and cha-cha, shouldn't his cotillion dance training make him more coordinated?

Look at his face concentrating!

 

 

 

[JohnPhD]

This isn't exactly a continuity error but it's been bugging me for a long time. When we first met Leonard and Sheldon, they were physicists who divided their time between their research and their "nerd lives" - comic books, star wars/trek, online games, ComicCon etc.  Then Leonard got a life with Penny, and later Sheldon got whatever you call his relationship with Amy. But they kept up their nerd lives. That's just not feasible - for them to put enough time into their research to keep up, something else would have to go to make room for their relationships. I realise that making this realistic wouldn't leave much of a show, but I wanted to mention it.

[Stephen Hawking]

12 hours ago, rachelshamyfan said:

Look at his face concentrating!

Exactly my point.

As an excellent dancer. Proficient in the rumba, waltz and cha-cha, surely he would be more relaxed than the others?

[meka3000]

On 12/21/2015 at 9:58 AM, JohnPhD said:

This isn't exactly a continuity error but it's been bugging me for a long time. When we first met Leonard and Sheldon, they were physicists who divided their time between their research and their "nerd lives" - comic books, star wars/trek, online games, ComicCon etc.  Then Leonard got a life with Penny, and later Sheldon got whatever you call his relationship with Amy. But they kept up their nerd lives. That's just not feasible - for them to put enough time into their research to keep up, something else would have to go to make room for their relationships. I realise that making this realistic wouldn't leave much of a show, but I wanted to mention it.

Eh, both of them have made comments throughout the years about certain aspects of their lives being decreased BECAUSE of their relationships.  The season 5 episode The Weekend Vortex is practically a hand wave of that geeky aspect of their lives being minimized.

Hell the season 8 episode The Focus Attenuation addresses this aspect as well: 

"Scene: The cafeteria.

Raj: Hey, I read that someone invented a way to convert your footsteps into electromagnetic energy so you can charge your cell phone while walking.

Leonard: We had that idea years ago. How come we never did anything with it?

Howard: Probably because we left the diagram of it in the restaurant, and none of us wanted to walk back.

Sheldon: I know the real reason you never made progress with that idea. You thought of it September 22nd, 2007. Two days later, Penny moved in, and so much blood rushed to your genitals, your brain became a ghost town.

Leonard: Penny is not the reason I didn’t pursue that idea.

Sheldon: Oh, really? Since meeting her, what have been your greatest accomplishments?

Raj: Easy. Sleeping with Penny.

Howard: Getting Penny to go back out with him after she dumped him.

Raj: Tricking Penny into getting engaged.

Howard: And a few weeks ago, he almost did a pull-up.

Leonard: I think someone owes me an apology.

Sheldon: Well, don’t feel bad. I think we’ve all been distracted since the girls entered our lives."

Edited December 23, 2015 by meka3000

[JohnPhD]

In 310 The Gorilla Experiment Penny said that in high school science she dissected a frog without throwing up while most of the class did. In 508 The Isolation Permutation when Amy illustrated her position in the trio to Bernadette and Penny by dissecting a brain, with herself as the tumour (best bit of writing for Amy ever IMO), it made Penny throw up.

[Einstein Von Brainstorm]

On 15 March 2016 at 0:40 PM, JohnPhD said:

In 310 The Gorilla Experiment Penny said that in high school science she dissected a frog without throwing up while most of the class did. In 508 The Isolation Permutation when Amy illustrated her position in the trio to Bernadette and Penny by dissecting a brain, with herself as the tumour (best bit of writing for Amy ever IMO), it made Penny throw up.

Why is that an error?

[JohnPhD]

In 909 The Platonic Permutation Penny didn't know Leonard's birthday. But back in 116 The Peanut Reaction before they were even together she arranged a surprise birthday party for Leonard. Also Penny is the sort of person who wants to know everyone's birthday. I'm not complaining, as it led to  L doing the Slutty Carrot dance, just pointing it out.

Edited March 25, 2016 by JohnPhD
punctuation