20 Hours in America: Part I - S4-E1
Continuity mistake: Bruno and C.J. sit down in a meeting and are talking about women voters. When the shot is on Bruno, we can see C.J. is holding a black folder that is partially open. When the shot goes to her, though, she has her hands on the folder, which is opened on the table.
Continuity mistake: Newly hired Assistant White House Counsel Joe Quincy is looking over his new "office". He's told it is the office traditionally given to newly hired lawyers, and is known as the "Steampipe Trunk Distribution Venue". In prior episodes, Ainsley Hayes, the previous Assistant White House Counsel, was also given this office, but this space is significantly altered in size from the earlier appearances. Essentially, the length of the space has been cut in half and the intervening wall with door is gone. Yet the room is not newly remodeled. It's a basement space with old pipes and walls, etc. The makers simply shrank the set without explanation. (00:06:30)
Continuity mistake: Early in the show, Toby, Sam, and C.J. are at a conference table, talking about a concession speech. C.J. is holding a mug and scratching her hand, but as she turns and says "ooh, Mr. Lyman", her mug is suddenly sitting on the table. In the next shot, as she is talking to Josh, her hand is around the mug. None of these changes happen in natural time.
Continuity mistake: When Josh, Joe, and Donna are in Josh's office talking about the NASA report, Josh's pen is in his left side of the shirt pocket. When the camera cuts to them walking out of his office the pen is on the right side.
Evidence of Things Not Seen - S4-E20
Continuity mistake: In the closing minute, when C.J. Is trying to stand the egg on its end, the camera pans to the clock for DC, and it reads 12:00. But as she sits at the table, her watch reads 7:15. Then, in the next camera shot, zooming in onto the egg, you can see that C.J.'s watch reads 7:25.
Debate Camp - S4-E5
Continuity mistake: In season one, CJ's office was right next to Josh's office, but from season two on, it was at the opposite end of a long walkway that runs between several glass cubicles (one of which Donna uses). The later location for CJ was the press room for season one. The differences are not furniture, etc, but wall and door locations have been revised. This season four episode features a flashback where Donna visits the White House prior to Bartlet's inauguration, and she is led to her future cubicle. In this scene, we see the floorplan is not the earlier version, but the newer version. While the between-season changes can be excused as 'remodeling' that took place off-screen, this episode's arrangement can't make sense. (00:09:20)
20 Hours in America: Part I - S4-E1
Factual error: The President is campaigning in Indiana and Josh, Toby, and Donna get stranded there around noon - but the shadows are quite long and it is obviously not noon in real time, but perhaps mid to late afternoon.
Twenty Five - S4-E23
Other mistake: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Fitzwallace tells Bartlet that he wants to attack targets in Qumar. The first he mentions is "the Bahji C3I" which he explains is "Communications, Command, Control and Intelligence." The explanation shows the actor John Amos flubbed his line and should have said "the Bahji 3CI", as in "C.C.C.I" or "Triple-C I." This is common governmental and military abbreviation jargon, much as the show often uses "D-triple-C" to mean the D.C.C.C. (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee). (00:16:50)
Suggested correction: C3I is similar to C2, pronounced "C two" and commonly used in military to refer to command and control.
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)
College Kids - S4-E3
Character mistake: At the Rock the Vote rally at the Cambridge MA House of Blues, CJ Craig claims that 18-24 year olds are 33% of the population but only 7% of the votes. This is false: per the 2000 Census, which tracks population based on 5-year age cohorts, all persons 15-24 totals only 14% of the population. From that we could estimate the 18-24 population in 2000 as no more than 10%. See http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t9/tables/tab01.pdf It is possible they meant all persons 24 and under, who make up approximately 35% of the population.
Continuity mistake: When Josh is recapping his conversation with Jack to Donna, as he is walking towards the coffee pot he his putting a pen in his shirt pocket. When they turn to walk back to his office the pen has disappeared. (00:24:50 - 00:25:50)
Continuity mistake: When Donna and Amy are talking about 'getting' Josh, there's a cut from Amy rearranging the beer bottles on the table to a close-up of Donna standing a distance behind her. When this happens, a beer bottle is suddenly in Amy's hand with her holding it to her mouth. (00:36:30)
Factual error: In the first shot after the recap, the overlay text reads "United States Capitol/Sunday/Inauguration Day". During this episode and the one that follows there is an inauguration day celebration and President Bartlet makes his inauguration speech. Historically, however, when inauguration day falls on a Sunday the celebrations and speeches are scheduled for the next day, a Monday. The president is still sworn in on inauguration day (March 4th until 1933, January 20th after that), but all other activities are moved back one day. The inauguration date has only fallen on a Sunday 6 times since 1798, and only twice since the current inauguration date was set, so it is understandable that this arcane but important bit of scheduling tradition was missed by the show's researchers. (00:00:45)
