Corrected entry: The title card tells us it's 12/23 sometime in the morning. Sam mentions he's going to Bermuda in 27 hours (so noonish on 12/24?). Later that day CJ asks if Sam and Josh are doing anything, "tonight?" Sam acts guilty and CJ offers to cook them dinner. Sam says he's leaving for Bermuda that night, which is not in the 27-hour time period previously mentioned. The next day, marked 12/24, Sam is in full black suit hanging around the White House. Granted, the flight could be leaving around noon and it may be only 9am. But no further mention is made of Bermuda.
johnrosa
13th Jul 2007
The West Wing (1999)
14th Jun 2006
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: CJ is awakened at 03:45 Eastern time by Kate telling her about the British plane being shot down. This would have been 08:45 GMT and 12:15 Tehran time, so the Iranian Air Force must be pretty stupid shooting down a commercial airline in the middle of the day thinking it was a US spy plane. Plus when the radio transmissions come through to the President and Marbury we get told the Iranians can shoot the plane down at 02:33 GMT which would be 21:33 Eastern. So all the times between the US, the UK and Iran are pretty screwed, or Bartlett's administration isn't on the ball.
Correction: Regarding the suggestion that the Iranians would be 'stupid' to mistake a commercial jet for a spy plane (and thus it's a "movie mistake"), I submit that the US Navy shot down an Iranian passenger jet, thinking it was an F-14 Tomcat, in 1988 at about 10:35am local time (nearly the middle of the day)- proof that 'stupid' things can and do happen. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655.
11th Mar 2005
The West Wing (1999)
Evidence of Things Not Seen - S4-E20
Corrected entry: When CJ Cregg is balancing the egg in the final scene, the clock on the wall says midnight, which in the show it is, but her wristwatch shows 7.20.
Correction: Wristwatch batteries go dead and people forget to wind watches, too.
14th May 2008
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: President Bartlett prides himself on his elocution and knowledge of trivia. However, as he escorts Abbey toward the party, he goes on about a vintage from the Willa-mette Valley. One would think he would know that Willamette is pronounced "Will-a-mette", with the emphasis on the second vowel.
Correction: The President has been shown to make mistakes, even when 'showing off' intellectually. This isn't the first time, and a minor gaffe in a private conversation. If this type of thing happened in a diplomatic situation and went un-noticed, it would be a 'mistake', but as is, it's merely a human trait.
12th Dec 2003
The West Wing (1999)
The Stackhouse Filibuster - S2-E17
Corrected entry: When Josh is at his computer in front of a part-written e-mail, as Donna asks "what are you doing?" he taps a few keys, at most 10, and two new paragraphs appear on the screen. Can't just be pasting text from elsewhere, as that would involve fewer keypresses.
Correction: Not if he is copying, pasting and then doing a minor edit.
30th Jan 2006
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: At the end of this episode the narrator of the documentary claims that C.J. Cregg is the only woman in history to serve two full terms as White House Press Secretary. In later episodes C.J. is promoted to Chief of Staff; not serving a full eight years as Press Secretary.
Correction: The narrator only says "two terms", never "two full terms". Her first term was served in full, her second term partially served (perhaps 2/3 of it).
17th Feb 2005
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: During the funeral they only show 4 people. There should be at least one more. The Arlington Ladies are a group of volunteers dedicated to insuring that no soldier is buried alone. Each branch of the military has its own group that represents them. You can find more on them at www.arlingtoncemetery.net.
4th May 2008
The West Wing (1999)
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part I - S2-E1
Corrected entry: Josh is rushed to GW hospital with a collapsed lung and ruptured pulmonary artery. However, when Toby finds him at the shooting scene, Josh is holding his left abdomen, and the bullet, being fired from the building across the street, would have ranged downward, far from the pulmonary artery.
Correction: Bullets travel, deflect and even splinter. Example: The bullet can have struck the sidewalk, bounced upward, hitting him in the abdomen and traveling up under the ribcage, piercing his lung and cutting the artery.
14th Jun 2004
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: Political consultant Mandy Hampton disappeared completely with absolutely no explanation between the first and second seasons. She was in the last episode of the first season and not in the first episode of the second (which took place only a few minutes later) and no one ever explained where she went.
Correction: Her departure is not explicitly explained to the viewer, but the fact that the show's characters are not similarly confused suggests they are aware of when and why she left, and have moved on. The actress' departure as well as the choice to not specifically explain it 'in-show' were both intentional, and are not mistakes. (Humorously, the writers could easily have killed her with the season-ending shooting, nice and smooth)
13th May 2004
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: In this episode the President says he has been married to Abby for 32 years. But later in the first season he says that she was dating someone else 30 years ago.
Correction: It is a natural (and not necessarily consistent) human trait to simply 'round off' numbers in conversation. I tell people I'm with my wife 25 years, even tho it's actually 22.5 now. My hour drive to work is really between 50 and 55 minutes. Merely a character choice.
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Correction: The title card indicates 7:30am. Time passes without being marked, but the President meets with a large group of small school children (which we can assume isn't at 7:30am, but perhaps as early as 9am). Still later, Sam mentions to his assistant that he's going to be in Bermuda in 27 hours. Assuming that is around 10am, 27 hours is 1PM on 12/24. Later, Sam tells CJ he's leaving for Bermuda "tonight" but he's lying (poorly) to cover his visit with Josh to Laurie. The next morning (and we've established he's there 7:30am the previous day), Sam is in the office while CJ is heard telling reporters that today is a "half day". The episode ends still early that morning. Thus, Sam is putting in a couple of hours work on the 24th, then leaving for the airport in time for a less-than-two-hour flight that arrives in Bermuda in the early afternoon. No mistake.
johnrosa