Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > Movie Talk
Reload this Page >

Continuity in TV Shows (particularly the Simpsons)

Community
Search
Movie Talk A Discussion area for everything movie related including films In The Theaters

Continuity in TV Shows (particularly the Simpsons)

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 05-14-03, 10:42 AM
  #1  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 8,756
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Continuity in TV Shows (particularly the Simpsons)

Does continuity in TV shows bother you? I'm thinking of the episode of the Simpsons this past Sunday (the repeat one) where Marge turns into a body builder.. Two things stood out.. One there was a line about bumper stickers on her car and they show the station wagon with a bunch of stickers.. but in every other episode there are none. The other was when her pearl necklace gets stolen and she gets upset and tells the crook not to let it tangle.. In a previous episode, we see a big ball of pearl necklace in a drawer that she unwraps and grabs another one... Anyone else notice stuff like this or do I just need to go back to work?
Old 05-14-03, 10:43 AM
  #2  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 8,756
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
whoops.. should've put this in TV Talk.. sorry mods.. can you move it or should i just repost it there?
Old 05-14-03, 10:48 AM
  #3  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Sitting on a beach, earning 20%
Posts: 9,917
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Remember the episode where Homer gets the job of the voice of Poochy, and lays into a nerd who nitpicks something incredibly inconsequential?

Old 05-14-03, 12:31 PM
  #4  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Formerly known as Groucho AND Bandoman/Death Moans, Iowa
Posts: 18,295
Received 372 Likes on 266 Posts
On the Simpsons, continuity is always secondary to humor. If it's funny, just laugh, don't spend time worrying about Bart eating butterscotch in one episode when we learned in an earlier episode that his two allergies are butterscotch and imitation butterscotch.
Old 05-14-03, 12:35 PM
  #5  
Moderator
 
Groucho's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 71,383
Received 122 Likes on 84 Posts
"The Simpsons" hasn't had continuity since the first episodes. Geography, character histories, etc are all flexible. Listen to some of the commentaries on the DVDs for more insight on this.
Old 05-14-03, 06:52 PM
  #6  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 14,201
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Ummm... this is the show where Bart has been in third grade for, like, ten years...
Old 05-15-03, 12:52 AM
  #7  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Texas
Posts: 7,763
Received 10 Likes on 3 Posts
The only real continuity in the Simpsons is character deaths. Other than that, it doesn't really exist.

Oh, Milhouse's parents got divorced, and they still are
Old 05-15-03, 01:10 AM
  #8  
DVD Talk Hero
 
GoldenJCJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Colorado
Posts: 27,335
Received 3,211 Likes on 2,071 Posts
When I see continuity errors on The Simpsons I don't really care that much. (maybe because it's a cartoon and I can let a little more slide). But when I see it in live action shows it makes me wonder if the writers, producers, creators, etc, even pay attention half the time.

Although I do get annoyed that the Simpsons moved into Homer's childhood home after Homer and Grampa burned it down
Old 05-15-03, 03:56 AM
  #9  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Chicago, only a stone's throw from Chicago (even if you throw like a girl)
Posts: 2,457
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Barney-->alcoholic--->recovering alcoholic--->alcoholic(?)
Old 05-15-03, 11:05 AM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Montreal
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yes, from the very start, the lack of continuity have often been openly adressed on the Simpsons.

I remember an early episode ending with Lisa and Bart were discusing how Homer liking Ned Flanders wouldn't last as the situation would be back to normal next week.


Then, there was also this episode where the Simpsons adopted a racing horse.

Marge : Mmmh! Should the Simpsons get a horse?

Comic book guy : Excuse me! I believe this familly already had a horse, and the expense forced Homer to work at the Kwik-E-Mart, with hilarious consequences.

Homer : Anybody care what this guy thinks?

Crowd : No!



On another topic but still appropriate for this thread :

Milhouse : We got to spread this stuff around! Let's put it on the Internet.

Bart : No - we have to reach people whose opinions actually matter.
Old 05-15-03, 11:11 AM
  #11  
Guest
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 847
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Continuity bothers me more in hour dramas or major motion pictures than it does in half hour comedies.

I mean does anyone remember when Kramer on Seinfeld was named Kessler and had a dog?
Old 05-15-03, 11:54 AM
  #12  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Chicago, only a stone's throw from Chicago (even if you throw like a girl)
Posts: 2,457
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally posted by Spooky

I mean does anyone remember when Kramer on Seinfeld was named Kessler and had a dog?
Or when Theo was actually Teddy and Sondra didn't exist on the Cosby Show.
Old 05-15-03, 12:13 PM
  #13  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,134
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
OR how about Uncle Jesse's last name change in Full House? I also think Saved by the Bell was ripe with incontinuity.
Old 05-15-03, 12:24 PM
  #14  
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Seinfeld had a cross-over with Mad About you, in which Paul Reiser was subletting his apartment to Kramer. A couple seasons later on Seinfeld, George & Susan are in bed watching Mad About You.
Old 05-15-03, 12:42 PM
  #15  
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 3,393
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Re: Continuity in TV Shows (particularly the Simpsons)

Originally posted by jbrotheim
Does continuity in TV shows bother you? I'm thinking of the episode of the Simpsons this past Sunday (the repeat one) where Marge turns into a body builder.. Two things stood out.. One there was a line about bumper stickers on her car and they show the station wagon with a bunch of stickers.. but in every other episode there are none. The other was when her pearl necklace gets stolen and she gets upset and tells the crook not to let it tangle.. In a previous episode, we see a big ball of pearl necklace in a drawer that she unwraps and grabs another one...
Whenever you notice anything like that, a wizard did it.
Old 05-15-03, 12:46 PM
  #16  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Chicago, only a stone's throw from Chicago (even if you throw like a girl)
Posts: 2,457
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Or how Harry morgan pretended to be a general in an early episode of Mash, and then pretended to be colonel Potter later on (for like 6 seaons), and NOBODY noticed.
Old 05-15-03, 12:54 PM
  #17  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Balanced on the Biggest Wave
Posts: 2,679
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Re: Re: Continuity in TV Shows (particularly the Simpsons)

Originally posted by TheMadMonk
Whenever you notice anything like that, a wizard did it.
"In epsode-"
"Wizard."
Old 05-15-03, 05:28 PM
  #18  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
There's more to Simpsons "continuity" than just deaths. For example, every time they show their basement, it has the giant Aztec ("No Maggie--Olmec") head that Mr. Burns gave them. And Ned still runs the Leftorium. And Apu is still married and still has octuplets. Etc. Etc. Of course, for every bit of continuity, there are a hundred other things they cheerfully ignore.
Old 05-15-03, 08:41 PM
  #19  
DVD Talk Legend
 
milo bloom's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Chicago suburbs
Posts: 18,303
Received 1,410 Likes on 1,033 Posts
Am I the only one that remembers when Homer sees himself walk past the living room window while he's inside on the couch?

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.