Something Hurt, Something Wild - S8-E1
Plot hole: Laurie Ferguson is outside the Ponderosa ranch with Joe Cartwright. In an attempt to frame him for sexually assaulting her, she begins screaming. She emits six loud piercing screams before the scene shifts to Ben, Hoss and her father and brother inside the home. It is not until her seventh scream that the four men look up and start to run outside.
Visible crew/equipment: Ben and Hoss, on horseback, are driving a herd of horses down a trail that leads back to the Ponderosa. In a close-up of the two men, the tire tracks of the camera vehicle which is in front of them can be seen on the trail behind them.
Other mistake: A crowd of men is awaiting the arrival of saloon singer Dolly Bantree. When the stage pulls up, she exits carrying a small bag. Hoss offers to carry her luggage and then is dismayed when the stage pulls away and he sees 20 more bags stacked in the street. The 20 bags were not atop the stage, nor would there have been room for them inside the stage.
Continuity mistake: Joe and his friend load four barrels into the buckboard, but when his friend arrives in town there are only two. When it arrives back at friend's cabin, there are four barrels again. (00:27:00 - 00:28:00)
Continuity mistake: When Ben heard the gunshots and mounts his horse and rides towards the gunshots he is not carrying a rifle nor is there one on his horse, but when he returns to The Way Station being chased by the Indians he is carrying a rifle.
Visible crew/equipment: Boom mic is visible at the top of the screen as Hoss is about to give water to the gold thief they found nearly dead in the desert. (00:42:50 - 00:43:30)
Character mistake: Jamison Filmore reminds a steamboat captain that they were in prison together in "Cell 241." Five minutes later, he says they shared "214."
Revealing mistake: Jack Albertson's character is taking pictures of The Cartwrights and ranch hands. The video camera moves across the front of the prop camera as Albertson pushes and holds the button to take a picture. The shutter on the camera never opens and isn't open until he releases the button. In those days the shutter had to stay open an elongated time to enable the light to infiltrate the negative. People had to stay still during this time.
Character mistake: When Hoss takes Timmy for a horseback ride, after they both dismount by the lake, Hoss calls Timmy by his real name Johnny (Whitaker) and not Timmy.
Revealing mistake: Joe and Eddie are in a corral in a big valley, taking turns trying to tame a horse known as Hammerhead. In the long shots, obviously using stunt doubles atop the horse, Hammerhead is bucking and running. The close-ups of Joe and Eddie show them only from the waist up and they are not moving forward. They are simply bouncing up and down. In addition, the close-ups show only blue sky and not the surrounding hills.
Continuity mistake: The schoolhouse has two windows, one on either side of the door. From inside, the view out the windows is of a grove of pine trees. This is obviously a painted backdrop. When the students exit the schoolroom, the nearest tree is a large white-limbed tree with no leaves.
Other mistake: Calvin Dorcas enters the Ponderosa home and slumps into a chair. Ben asks, "What happened to you?" Calvin explains that he fell into the river while searching for his granddaughter. However, his clothes and his hair are completely dry.
Mrs. Wharton and the Lesser Breeds - S10-E17
Other mistake: Candy is fighting with two of Billy Buckner's men outside their mountain cabin. It is obvious that artificial lighting was used because each man casts two shadows.
Revealing mistake: The courthouse sits above a mine shaft. Blasting in the mine causes a portion of the courthouse to collapse. Fallen bricks, lumber and other debris trap Ben and four others in the vault room beneath the main floor. The shaking of the vault room was obviously simulated by the cameraman shaking the camera back and forth. The table, chair, books, file box and other objects in the room do not move.
Visible crew/equipment: Sam enters the livery stable to confront two men who attacked his son. The next scene, filmed from inside the stable, shows Hoss opening the livery stable door and entering. Two crew members, one wearing a blue T-shirt and white shorts, are visible in the distance. They are standing by what appears to be the framework of a building under construction.
Factual error: About half-way through the show, Joe Cartwright states 47 people received The Medal of Honor in the Civil War. In reality there were 1522 recipients of The Medal in the Civil War. While an honor to receive, it wasn't held to quite the same level as in WWI and beyond.
Continuity mistake: Ben Cartwright and a man named Gunny are driving a team of six horses and a wagon in a race with two other men with a six-horse team and wagon. The winner will get a contract to transport mail. During a part of the race which goes through a dense forest of 40-foot-tall pine trees, a close-up of Ben and Gunny shows only blue sky and no trees.
Continuity mistake: Hoss Cartwright's hair is medium brown in the scenes which take place at the Ponderosa, but in all other scenes his hair is a very dark brown, almost black.
The Lady and the Mark - S11-E18
Continuity mistake: A young woman named Charity is fishing from the shore of a lake. The water is a deep blue color and there are no rocks. When she gets a bite, the close-up shows a fish flopping amid several rocks in shallow blue-green water.
A Matter of Circumstance - S11-E28
Continuity mistake: It is obvious that a wind machine was used in the opening scene. Dust, straw and leaves are blowing across the Ponderosa and trees in the foreground are swaying but the trees in the background are motionless. Two minutes later, a shot of a cloud-filled sky and a flash of lightning is shown and rain starts falling. In the next shot, Joe is inside the barn and sunlight is streaming through the windows even though rain is falling. Joe's horse then gets spooked by a lightning bolt and knocks Joe to the ground. The horse tramples him several times but when Joe is finally able to get up, the back of his shirt and pants are completely clean.
