Continuity mistake: All of the children, even John and Olivia, seem to have reddish/auburn hair. Their natural hair colors are used in later seasons.
Continuity mistake: After Elizabeth tells her mother that nobody cares about her, while she sulks on the porch there's a wideshot of the girls playing catch with Holly, then as the camera is dollying out Holly's mother comes into view at the left and she's wearing a sweater, but in the next closeup the sweater has vanished. (00:32:40)
The Carnival - S1-E3
Continuity mistake: When Esther breaks her eyeglasses, in the closeup as John-Boy picks it up half of its right lens is gone, but in the wideshot as he hands the glasses to Olivia that lens is still intact. (00:03:20)
The Carnival - S1-E3
Continuity mistake: While John and Zeb are making the train arrangements with Sam, just as Zeb calls Homer an old priss Sam opens the clock dial's top hinged glass door in the wideshot, but in his next closeup that door is suddenly shut and it's the pendulum's bottom glass door which is now wide open. (00:29:55)
The Sinner - S1-E8
Continuity mistake: After Zeb and Matthew's visit to the Baldwin sisters, when the singing duo arrive at Godsey's store while everyone is watching, the man driving is wearing a different shirt than Zeb and is considerably younger. (00:35:05)
Continuity mistake: At the end the narrator states that they never see or hear from A.J. again; however, in Season 4 'The Abdication' is about A.J. coming back in connection with a movie for which he wrote the screen play.
The Reunion - S1-E14
Continuity mistake: After Emily Baldwin makes the lemonade toast, when it cuts to the Walton house John-Boy tells everyone to close their eyes. In Olivia's closeup we can see the wheeled metal legs of the washing machine base between her and Elizabeth, but it's not until three shots later that Ike and John bring the machine in from the porch. (00:47:00)
The Actress - S1-E16
Continuity mistake: When Ike buys a ticket from Zeb for Alvira's show Ike is standing near the front door, and in the next shot Ike is sitting beside Emily Baldwin chatting with her, but in the third shot Ben is just now showing Ike to his seat beside Emily. (00:38:45)
Continuity mistake: While Zeb and Cody are on their fishing outing we see that Zeb is wearing white long sleeve thermals under his grey/black shirt. When Reckless starts barking at the catfish, Zeb and Cody head into the water then both men fall in, and Zeb now has red long sleeves under his grey/black shirt, which is presumably a wet suit the older actor is wearing for this wet stunt. (00:18:20)
The Townie - S1-E24
Continuity mistake: When John-Boy goes to Sarah's house to pick her up for the double-feature picture show, he tells her mother good morning and we see the shadows being cast outside The House. Later, after the double feature, when John-Boy and Sarah get back to her house in the afternoon, all of the shadows are still being cast in precisely the same direction as that morning, which is impossible. Also, in Sarah's closeup after she gets out of the truck and when John-Boy rushes after her, the white fence's shadow is completely different than the previous and following wideshots. (00:02:00 - 00:08:35)
The Townie - S1-E24
Continuity mistake: When Sarah leaves with Ted in the LaSalle Coupe so they can get married, the mirror attached to the top of the windshield disappears and reappears in some shots during their drive. (00:36:10)
Continuity mistake: When Olivia asks John to go with them to Sunday services, in the wideshots Erin is sitting on the arm chair and Jim-Bob is rocking away in the rocking chair, but in the few shots facing John or Zeb we see the rocking chair and arm chair are empty. (00:04:10)
Continuity mistake: The Baldwin sisters buy Olivia a wooden wheelchair, and when Zeb brings it into the bedroom the camera tilts downward and we see Zeb's legs behind the chair. Later, after Mary Ellen and G.W. dance for Olivia it cuts to a closeup of the wheelchair, but it's actually the earlier shot because we still see Zeb's legs and he's not even in the room. (01:09:10 - 01:14:20)
Continuity mistake: Esther's wedding band is missing from her finger while she's sweeping and talking to Maryellen on the stairwell. But seconds later when she heads outside it's suddenly back on.
The Bequest - S2-E12
Continuity mistake: While Reverend Fordwick is speaking to the congregation at Sunday's service, in all three of Esther's closeups we see the girl who is wearing a blue dress and brown hat sitting behind Esther, but in other shots that girl is seated two rows in front of Esther and it's Jason and Ben who are seated behind their grandmother. (00:24:30)
Continuity mistake: When John-Boy finishes the roof repair he carries the ladder and places it beside the tree, then he notices the unlocked padlock on the garage door. In the closeup, the open lock is inserted through the latch facing the right, but in the wideshot the lock is inserted through the latch the opposite way. (00:25:25)
The Conflict - S3-E1
Continuity mistake: Boone Walton's truck license plate number is T98254. When Blake and the U.S. Marshals drive up for the final standoff, Blake's truck license plate number is also T98254. When John-Boy runs up to Blake's truck to confront him, his front license plate number has changed again to T79825 (same as earlier, when Blake unloaded explosives), which is also the same plate number that was on another man's truck near the start of the episode. Finally, when the shooting starts and Blake's truck swerves to a stop, the back plate number is T37982. (01:27:55)
The Search - S4-E15
Continuity mistake: When John borrows Vern's blue car to search for Olivia and the kids, its license plate number is "45-2678" in wide shots, but when John-Boy spots their truck at the side of the road John stops short, and the license plate number is "84-6209" in the closeup. (00:17:10 - 00:18:45)
The Secret - S4-E16
Continuity mistake: The view outside Johnboy's bedroom window is a tree within feet when no such tree exists in prior episodes. In fact, all the bedroom windows face the driveway.
The Secret - S4-E16
Continuity mistake: Jim-Bob's birth certificate reveals he was born January 13, 1923; however in Season 3 The Runaway Jim-Bob says his birthday was June 13, 1924. John-Boy was born just before when John was going off to WWI (1917-1918). If Jim-Bob was born at The Beginning of 1923, that would make him 5 years +/ - younger than John Boy. We know that Ben, Erin, Mary Ellen and Jason are all older than Jim-Bob.
