The Operetta - S2-E3
Revealing mistake: Near the end when the repossession men are taking away the costumes and scenery, as they are removing Ricky's pants one of the chorus members can be seen waiting backstage for her cue to enter screaming.
Visible crew/equipment: While Ricky and Fred are trying to clean up the volcanic rice eruption, when Ricky slips on the floor the second time the front edge of the raised kitchen set's platform can be seen. (00:19:15)
Vacation from Marriage - S2-E6
Other mistake: The camera jostles badly when Lucy steps up on the board to cross the plank.
Continuity mistake: After everyone comes out of the judge's chambers, the door goes from open to shut repeatedly.
Continuity mistake: Here it's said by the Ricardos that Fred and Ethel have been married for 25 years. Problem is in Season 1's episode "The Girls Want To Go To the Nightclub" the Mertzes both say they've been married for 18 years.
Redecorating - S2-E8
Revealing mistake: At the end of the episode, when Ricky and Lucy walk into the bedroom to see the new wallpaper, look behind them when the bedroom door opens and you'll catch a glimpse of William Frawley - waiting for his cue - hiding behind a wall in the background before he ducks back out of sight.
Continuity mistake: While Lucy's taking a tally of who everyone's voting for, the writing on the posterboard changes in Lucy's closeups. (00:14:45)
Other mistake: When Ricky is eating out of the can of baked beans, the top of the label has tape hiding the brand name to prevent it from being seen (it looks like Van Camp's). (00:16:50)
Lucy Changes Her Mind - S2-E14
Visible crew/equipment: When Ricky begins to talk to Ethel about the night they all went out to dinner, it cuts to the start of his flashback and it's a closeup of Ricky sitting on the couch calling out to Lucy, and as the camera pulls back into a wideshot we see the shadow of the moving camera/equipment. (00:01:15)
Continuity mistake: When Ricky sings during the rehearsal, there's a pencil tucked behind his ear with its point facing the back of his head, but after Ricky's song is done and he moves the microphone stand, in the next shot when Lucy walks in the pencil point now faces the opposite way, though Ricky hasn't touched the pencil. (00:19:45)
Lucy's Showbiz Swan Song - S2-E17
Other mistake: While Lucy and Ethel are auditioning their act for Ricky at the club, just as Lucy spins around watch her hands as she very quickly pulls on the string at her waist, which causes her pantaloons to loosen and fall to the floor. (00:12:05)
Lucy Becomes A Sculptress - S2-E20
Visible crew/equipment: When Fred steps down from the table hunched over and dressed in his long johns, he walks over to the edge of the couch, and there's an L-shape actor's mark on the floor where he stops and cracks a joke about bowling. Then later, when the art critic tries to lift Lucy's head from the table, more tape marks are visible on the floor. (00:18:15)
Lucy Goes to the Hospital - S2-E21
Revealing mistake: When Ricky, Fred, and Ethel are rehearsing the hospital run, we can see the area to the left and right of the couch, as well as the back wall by the desk. The problem is the telephone cord doesn't actually lead anywhere, it's just coiled up under the couch and not connected to anything. When Lucy says it's time to go to the hospital, Ethel uses the phone to contact the doctor but gets a busy signal, which would be quite impossible. (00:09:55)
Visible crew/equipment: While Ethel's holding Little Ricky trying to soothe the baby, when it cuts to Fred just as he's walking into the bedroom, the sleeve of a crew member and a bit of camera/equipment can be seen at the right side of the screen. (00:03:30)
Other mistake: When Ricky comes home at 3:00 am, the toggle light switch is in the down position. Ricky places his hand over the switch plate and the room goes dark, but the toggle light switch is still in the same down position.
Continuity mistake: While tired Lucy is trying to open the card table's legs, she lays her head down then falls asleep, and when it cuts to Ethel and Fred walking in on our sleeping Lucy, there's writing on the table's underside which wasn't in the previous shot. (By the markings on the table it also looks as if the table has been turned on its adjacent side). (00:06:10)
Deliberate mistake: When Lucy makes Little Ricky cry instead of laugh, in the closeup we see the adorable real baby, but when Ricky walks away in the wideshot it's an obvious doll sitting in the crib. (00:01:25)
Visible crew/equipment: After Ricky and Juanita's song rehearsal, when they both join Fred and Ethel at the side table and talk about doing an afternoon performance, the shadow of the moving overhead boom and mic is visible on the wall and curtain, behind Fred and Ethel. (00:17:50)
Lucy Wants New Furniture - S2-E28
Continuity mistake: At the start of the episode, when Lucy puts the baby in the crib there's only one bumper pad and it's on Lucy and Ricky's side of the crib rails, but in the baby's closeup there's a bumper pad at the rails behind him - which is the opposite side of the crib. (00:00:45)
Lucy Wants New Furniture - S2-E28
Continuity mistake: After Lucy mentions the ad for a couch and coffee table, when she walks over to the desk note the shadow and lighting change on the back of the desk. (00:02:10)
Answer: There is no reason. It's a just a silly plot device, typical of the era. Women characters were often portrayed as making uninformed assumptions or decisions.
raywest ★