Found Child - S7-E7
Factual error: The episode opens with Hoss discovering a wrecked wagon with three dead adults. He spots a Raggety Ann doll and realises that a child may be nearby. Raggety Ann dolls weren't invented until 1915, at least 48 years after the shows time frame.
Audio problem: At a party at the Ponderosa, several couples are dancing to the music of a three-piece band. When the music stops, the sound of applause is heard but nobody is clapping.
Suggested correction: You can't sere everybody in the room. Some people out of view are clapping.
Factual error: "Bonanza" is set in the 1880s. In this episode, Little Joe and a friend discover a site where a man and his wife and daughters were attacked by Apaches. A Raggedy Ann doll is among the rubble. Johnny Gruelle did not create the Raggedy Ann character until 1915.
Continuity mistake: When Ben comes in the house he's carrying his coat. When he passes Adam he doesn't have it. When he goes into Hoss' room he's got it in his hand again.
The Rescue - S2-E23
Continuity mistake: When Ben is shot at he falls on his right side. When the shooter goes to check it out he's on his left.
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.
Five Sundowns to Sunup - S7-E12
Other mistake: The Lassiter brothers have kidnapped a judge and a posse is searching for them. One of the men says they should quit for the day because "it's almost sundown." Judging by the shadows of the men, their horses and nearby trees, the time appears to be around 1 PM.
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)
Continuity mistake: A flashback episode set in the 1840s opens with Ben Cartwright as a first mate aboard a clipper ship. Rear-screen projection shows an ocean and a grey overcast sky. In a shot of the crew on the rigging and in the crow's nest, the sky is deep blue with a few white clouds.
Factual error: In a flashback episode set in the 1840s, Ben Cartwright and his former Captain are operating a ship's chandler business. A competitor accuses them of running a "flea market." That term is a translation of the French "marché aux puces" and did not enter the English language until 1922.
Factual error: Joe Cartwright gives a Raggedy Ann doll to a young woman named Annie. "Bonanza" is set in the late 1860s. The Raggedy Ann character was created by Johnny Gruelle in 1915.
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."
Continuity mistake: The sheriff of Morris Flats suspects Adam of being a bandit and puts him in jail. The window of Adam's cell has four vertical bars, but when the "knight" comes to talk to Adam from outside the cell window, the window has five vertical bars.
Continuity mistake: Laura Dayton is at a party at the Ponderosa but leaves and goes outside because she has a headache. Ben Cartwright's brother Will comes out and says he'll take her home via horse and buggy. It is night and the sky is dark, but when they reach Laura's house, it appears to be early evening. The sky is much lighter and the trees are casting long shadows on the ground.
Other mistake: Outside the Pine City marshal's office is a painted backdrop depicting some two-story blue-and-white buildings. The same backdrop is seen from the Virginia City saloon. It also appears in another town in the episode "The Legacy."
Continuity mistake: Adam and Joe are restraining Hoss while Ben gives him a ladleful of a thick white tonic for "spring fever." Joe has his right arm around Hoss' neck and is holding Hoss' mouth open with his left hand. As Hoss takes the tonic, a glob of it spills onto his left cheek. In the immediate close-up, the glob has vanished.
The Legacy - S5-E11
Other mistake: Adam stops at the Wild Horse Saloon in a nearby town, seeking information about a man who he mistakenly thinks has killed Ben. Outside the saloon is a painted backdrop depicting some two-story buildings. It is the same backdrop seen from the saloon in Virginia City.
Factual error: This episode is set in 1861. A little girl, Peggy Dayton, has a Raggedy Ann doll. Johnny Gruelle did not create the Raggedy Ann character until 1915.
The Guilty - S3-E23
Continuity mistake: Ben Cartwright agrees to meet a man at the land office at 9:00 the following morning but when Ben arrives at the office the next day, the time on the wall clock is 5:47. In a scene that takes place a few minutes later, the clock still says 5:47.
The Unwritten Commandment - S7-E28
Factual error: Wayne Newton sang "Scarlet Ribbons." "Scarlet Ribbons" wasn't written until 1949. The TV show Bonanza was set in the 1860s.
