Continuity mistake: When Doug, Toby, and Sam are talking to the President about how to handle the attempted repeal of the estate tax, they mention several times that it will be the President's first veto, and that it is something that he has never done before. However, in episode four of season two, "In This White House", in the scene where Sam is debating Ainsley Hayes on Capital Beat, the moderator asks why the President's education bill is different from the Republican proposed bill "which the President vetoed." So, the veto of the estate tax repeal was not the president's first.
Continuity mistake: Toby, Sam, and Amy are sitting at a table talking - Amy's eyeglasses are on the table in front of her - when Toby asks Charlie what's on the TV, the shot shows her glasses have rotated 180 degrees and her arms have noticeably changed position.
Continuity mistake: Toby and Leo are in Leo's office talking about the friendly fire incident - Leo's glasses are sitting on his desk in front of him. He then picks them up and moves them to the far left. A couple of shots later, he picks them up from the right and puts them on.
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.
Factual error: In the scene when Leo tells president Bartlett that he is attending the concert, they refer to the Icelandic ambassador as a man. Leo says his name is Vigdis Olafsdottir, when is fact it is a woman's name that means Vigdis daughter of Olaf. During the concert the ambassador is portrayed by a man. They "borrowed" this name from Tom Clancy's novel Red Storm Rising, by the way.
Factual error: When the NSA, Dr. McNally, lists the Haitian order of battle, she indicates that their troops have 2 Bradleys with 120mm cannon. The Bradley is equipped with is a 25mm chain gun.
Continuity mistake: During the beginning before the opening credits, C.J. is briefing the press corps on the bus. In the outside shot of the bus, C.J. has her left arm resting on a rail, towards the door. When the shot changes to inside, C.J. has her right arm on a rail towards the driver. (00:01:15)
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 Margaret goes into Leo's office to announce the arrival of Gianelli, he puts his glasses down on a bare portion of the desk. The next shot from behind him shows the glasses lying on top of books/papers. He'd had no time to move them. (00:15:40)
Bartlet's Third State of the Union - S2-E13
Audio problem: During the blackout, Donna and Josh sit together. The scene begins with the camera looking out the window, panning right to reveal Donna as we hear her finish saying, "You know what I'm surprised about?". But her mouth isn't moving at all until she begins her next sentence, and it's visible when we're hearing "about". (00:36:00)
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part II - S2-E2
Other mistake: When Toby tells Sam to "Go back to the office", the subtitles add "Let's", suggesting both are going, but only Sam leaves.
Continuity mistake: As Jed and Leo pass through a doorway, the left door is open toward the camera while the right door is opened away. But as the camera angle shifts, the left is opened the same as the right. (00:03:25)
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.
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.
NSF Thurmont - S6-E1
Continuity mistake: Leo enters the situation room and is told the "planes are on the deck". He watches a video feed as a plane is launched from the USS Lincoln. The S3-B Viking is seen approaching one camera (single vertical tail fin, wing-mounted engines), then from another angle, we see an F-14 Tomcat lifting off (dual tails and fuselage-mounted engines) and moving away from camera. This is supposed to be live video, and it isn't possible two different jets are launching from the same carrier at the same exact moment, so it can only be a bad choice of stock footage by the show's makers. (00:38:55)
Continuity mistake: When Jed yells for the late Mrs. Landingham, and she arrives, shots from behind her show her hair blowing significantly due to the outside door being open to the storm, but shots of her from the front show her hair relatively calm. (00:35:25)
Continuity mistake: Josh is getting coffee and talking to another guy about a Shakespeare production Bartlet is supposed to attend. When he goes to the coffee machine, his backpack is over his shoulder and the strap is near his collar but not covering it. When he walks away from the coffee machine, most of his collar is covered and quite dishevelled from the backpack strap. At no time did Josh adjust the backpack.
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: After President Bartlett sits down (while speaking to CJ and the staff) he removes his glasses. The shot then changes to one from his back where he's wearing glasses. When the angle changes to the original, he's not wearing his glasses again. (00:06:30)
Continuity mistake: In the Sunday Morning segment, at a White House meeting, a grey-haired woman is sitting at the table with her hand on her bottle of water - the next shot shows her hand several inches away, with no time for the change.
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.