20 Hours in America: Part I - S4-E1
Factual error: This show is supposed to take place in September, but the height of the corn and the complete lack of foliage change (even in early September there would be a little red or orange in the trees) make it look much more like June.
20 Hours in America: Part I - S4-E1
Continuity mistake: Bruno and C.J. sit down in a meeting and are talking about women voters. When the shot is on Bruno, we can see C.J. is holding a black folder that is partially open. When the shot goes to her, though, she has her hands on the folder, which is opened on the table.
20 Hours in America: Part I - S4-E1
Factual error: The President is campaigning in Indiana and Josh, Toby, and Donna get stranded there around noon - but the shadows are quite long and it is obviously not noon in real time, but perhaps mid to late afternoon.
College Kids - S4-E3
Character mistake: At the Rock the Vote rally at the Cambridge MA House of Blues, CJ Craig claims that 18-24 year olds are 33% of the population but only 7% of the votes. This is false: per the 2000 Census, which tracks population based on 5-year age cohorts, all persons 15-24 totals only 14% of the population. From that we could estimate the 18-24 population in 2000 as no more than 10%. See http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t9/tables/tab01.pdf It is possible they meant all persons 24 and under, who make up approximately 35% of the population.
The Red Mass - S4-E4
Continuity mistake: Near the beginning of the show, Josh is talking about baseball while looking at some stapled political papers - the top one is folded back over the second one. As Donna asks "what is it?", the first page is falling free and Josh is only holding the second one, but he had no time to adjust them.
Debate Camp - S4-E5
Continuity mistake: In season one, CJ's office was right next to Josh's office, but from season two on, it was at the opposite end of a long walkway that runs between several glass cubicles (one of which Donna uses). The later location for CJ was the press room for season one. The differences are not furniture, etc, but wall and door locations have been revised. This season four episode features a flashback where Donna visits the White House prior to Bartlet's inauguration, and she is led to her future cubicle. In this scene, we see the floorplan is not the earlier version, but the newer version. While the between-season changes can be excused as 'remodeling' that took place off-screen, this episode's arrangement can't make sense. (00:09:20)
Continuity mistake: Sam is at the bar with Will Bailey. Will picks up his glass and tips it up to his mouth. The next shot from the other side shows him tipping it up to his mouth again.
Continuity mistake: Early in the show, Toby, Sam, and C.J. are at a conference table, talking about a concession speech. C.J. is holding a mug and scratching her hand, but as she turns and says "ooh, Mr. Lyman", her mug is suddenly sitting on the table. In the next shot, as she is talking to Josh, her hand is around the mug. None of these changes happen in natural time.
Continuity mistake: While Sam and Donna are listening to a TV report that Sam may be heading for Congress, the woman behind him has a phone receiver to her ear, with both hands on the phone. The shot changes and suddenly her right arm is down by her side, but in the next shot it is back in the first position.
Continuity mistake: While Amy is talking to Toby, the piece of shrimp in her hand gets larger and the level of champagne in her glass does down, even though she never drinks from it.
Continuity mistake: When Josh is recapping his conversation with Jack to Donna, as he is walking towards the coffee pot he his putting a pen in his shirt pocket. When they turn to walk back to his office the pen has disappeared. (00:24:50 - 00:25:50)
Continuity mistake: Josh is wishing Donna a Happy Thanksgiving - he is eating something out of his hand and has a blue book tucked under his arm, which flips from front to back from one shot to the next. When he starts talking to the Trekkie, it flips back again.
Continuity mistake: Bartlet agrees to have a photo op with a goat and says "let's do it right now" - as C.J. turns to her assistant, we can see the Pres is already half way down the hall, even though this would be impossible in real time.
Continuity mistake: When Donna is in Josh's office, picking up folders, she puts a blue one on top of the pile; the next split-second shot from behind her shows a brown folder on top of the pile - then she places a blue one on top of that.
Other mistake: CJ is in Dayton, Ohio visiting her father. She is in the middle of her high school reunion speech when Toby calls from the West Wing. It is light in D.C. outside Toby's office window, but CJ is giving her speech at night when it's dark out.
Factual error: In the first shot after the recap, the overlay text reads "United States Capitol/Sunday/Inauguration Day". During this episode and the one that follows there is an inauguration day celebration and President Bartlet makes his inauguration speech. Historically, however, when inauguration day falls on a Sunday the celebrations and speeches are scheduled for the next day, a Monday. The president is still sworn in on inauguration day (March 4th until 1933, January 20th after that), but all other activities are moved back one day. The inauguration date has only fallen on a Sunday 6 times since 1798, and only twice since the current inauguration date was set, so it is understandable that this arcane but important bit of scheduling tradition was missed by the show's researchers. (00:00:45)
Factual error: In this episode, it is Inauguration Day in January. In the previous episode, when CJ is visiting her father in Dayton, Ohio, it is February, according to CJ (when she complains that it will be too cold to go fishing with her father).
Inauguration: Over There - S4-E15
Continuity mistake: When the guys arrive outside Donna's building, Josh wears a tux and a long black coat with a white scarf. After Josh says, "The buzzer's not working", a few quick camera cuts occur, and as he says "Nah, I know women-" and turns, the scarf is missing. It is back as the cameras cut again and he says, "I know what they like." (00:33:30)
Inauguration: Over There - S4-E15
Continuity mistake: Bartlett is in the executive office in the residence watching four TVs at once. He hears a line in the black and white movie, a second later he rewinds it to hear the line again - he rewinds way too much and for too long, but once he stops the tape, it plays the line he wanted to hear again right away. He went too far back (for visual effect) than what in reality it would have taken.
Character mistake: Will's tax demonstration to his volunteer staffers is incorrect. He applies the various tax rates to the entirety of each salary range. The person who makes $150K and is in the 36% rate...in his example he has them paying 36% on their entire salary, not just the portion of it that puts them ahead of the next lower tax rate. If the tax rate jumped to 70% at income of $1M, and a person earned $1,050,000, they wouldn't be paying the 70% rate on all $1,050,000 of their income, only the last $50,000 of it. Will's example makes it look like they would be.
Chosen answer: A really annoying innate lack of sense. My friends and family say the same thing all the time, and I'm endlessly trying to correct them. I think people just don't know any better and (ironically) couldn't care less that they're speaking incorrectly.