The West Wing
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The Lame Duck Congress - S2-E6

Visible crew/equipment: At the end of the episode there is a camera visible in the oval office. After President Bartlet and Toby leave the office an attendant enters to turn off the lamps in the oval office. The scene widens as the lamps are turned off such that the audience can see the entire darkened room. The production equipment, a camera on tripod, and even a crewmember's leg are visible between the penultimate and final lamps being turned off. (00:41:50)

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The Portland Trip - S2-E7

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)

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A Proportional Response - S1-E3

Continuity mistake: When Leo asks Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Fitzwallace about the optics of hiring Charlie, a black man, to carry the president's bags, Fitzwallace's ribbons on his Navy uniform are upside-down. This mistake is very visible because he has two ribbons on the bottom when there should always be three. On his way out the door, there is one shot where Fitzwallace's ribbons have been fixed, but then as he walks out the door his ribbons are upside-down again. (00:25:50 - 00:27:10)

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Evidence of Things Not Seen - S4-E20

Continuity mistake: Will Bailey is wearing a military uniform for the only time in the show (as it is revealed he is a reservist Lieutenant in the USAF). On his uniform shirt there are three medal ribbons-bars. Those ribbon-bars (worn in the correct order from left to right) are as follows: 1. The Air Force Organisational Excellence Award Ribbon 2. The National Defence Service Medal Ribbon 3. The Air Force Training Ribbon. After the shooting incident outside the Press Briefing Room (where gunshots hit one of the windows), Lt. Will Bailey can be seen wearing his three ribbon-bars (incorrect) in the reverse order. Then following on in the two subsequent scenes Will's medal ribbons-bars are back in the correct order. (00:08:05 - 00:16:15)

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Transition - S7-E19

Continuity mistake: Josh comes back from his trip to visit Sam. He walks in the door and lets his bags drop on the floor. He collapses on the couch with his arms spread wide. Immediately, there's a knock at the door and he opens his eyes. When the angle changes towards the door showing him going to get up, his arms are now crossed above and behind his head resting on the couch arm. (00:12:45)

Election Day (Part 1) - S7-E16

Continuity mistake: When Bruno and Bob are poring over exit polls, they mention that Santos seems to be leading in North Dakota, and comment that it is a state that hasn't gone Democratic in forty years. While that is true in the real world, in the fictional West Wing world, it is stated in Season 4 that Bartlet won the Dakotas in his landslide reelection.

marathon69

More mistakes in The West Wing

Pilot - S1-E1

Laurie: Tell your friend POTUS he's got a funny name, and he should learn how to ride a bicycle.
Sam Seaborn: I would, but he's not my friend, he's my boss. And it's not his name, it's his title.
Laurie: POTUS?
Sam Seaborn: President of the United States.

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Trivia: Martin Sheen also played the President in the mini series "Kennedy" and in another character's vision in 1983's The Dead Zone.

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In Excelsis Deo - S1-E10

Question: This is as good a place to ask as any. In various US TV shows (including this one, and this episode), someone says "I could care less", when they always seem to mean "I couldn't care less", ie. they have no interest in what's going on. Surely if they COULD care less that means they actually care a reasonable amount? Is there any logic to this, or is it just a really annoying innate lack of sense?

Jon Sandys

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.

Answer: It's an endlessly annoying dropped negative, and it's been a common colloquialism for far too long. I believe it comes from an original (and now omitted and merely implied) "As if" preceding the statement. "As if I could care less." (Meaning "As if it were possible that I could care even less than I do.") But there's really no way to know.

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