Hall Monitor / Harold's Bar Mitzvah - S2-E15
Continuity mistake: Hall Monitor: In the cafeteria, when Gerald throws his detention slips on the floor, Phoebe gives him another slip. Phoebe is first behind the railing, but in the next shot, she is in front of the railing. In the following shot, she is behind the railing again. (00:08:26)
Timberly Loves Arnold / Eugene, Eugene! - S5-E22
Continuity mistake: Eugene, Eugene!: The hat Lila wears with her Betty costume has a yellow crown with a green ribbon around it. However, when Arnold sings, "Nice Guys Finish Last," as he sings, "Take his money, grab his honey," the crown of her hat is entirely green. (00:17:00)
Runaway Float / Partners - S2-E20
Continuity mistake: Runaway Float: The big beeper float constantly changes appearance during the parade. Some examples: The sign saying "Let's Go Downtown" on the front changes to "Let' Go Downtown" in one shot. The sign saying "Let's Go Downtown" on the back is missing in one shot. The orange base is sometimes blue. The blue city design around the base sometimes isn't there, and it even changes colour. (00:08:17)
Runaway Float / Partners - S2-E20
Continuity mistake: Runaway Float: When Arnold reaches the parade float on the bike, Iggy's shirt is incorrectly coloured green instead of purple. It's also green when the float rides past Mayor Dixie. (00:09:45)
Helga's Locket / Sid and Germs - S5-E7
Continuity mistake: Helga's Locket: When Abner takes the locket from Helga at the end, Helga chases after him. In the next shot, they are shown running past the basement window of the boarding house, but that's impossible because they started running away from the basement window in the previous shot. (00:11:42)
Helga's Locket / Sid and Germs - S5-E7
Continuity mistake: Helga's Locket: After Helga leaves the boarding house through the basement window at the end, when it shows a close-up shot of the locket in her hands, Helga's sleeves are way longer than they should be. (00:11:37)
Helga's Locket / Sid and Germs - S5-E7
Continuity mistake: Helga's Locket: When Arnold and Grandpa are in the basement trying to pry open the locket, the tools on the workbench constantly rearrange themselves in various shots. (00:10:06)
Helga's Locket / Sid and Germs - S5-E7
Continuity mistake: Helga's Locket: When Arnold is cutting a photo of Grandma in his room, there is nothing on his computer screen. Then, when Arnold starts to leave his room, a photo of Lila appears on the screen. (00:05:48)
Timberly Loves Arnold / Eugene, Eugene! - S5-E22
Continuity mistake: Timberly Loves Arnold: When Arnold, Lila, and Timberly are in the field together after the baseball game, Lila helps Arnold up and looks at her watch, which she wasn't wearing previously. Then, when Lila starts walking Timberly home, her watch has vanished from her wrist. (00:06:35)
Continuity mistake: Ms. Perfect: When Lila and her father are eating dinner, Lila's spoon is in her can of beans in one shot. When the angle changes and her father says, "You sure are quiet tonight," her spoon disappears from the can of beans, then reappears in the next shot. (00:19:05)
Continuity mistake: Helga makes Arnold sit in a plate of chocolate pudding as a prank, leaving a huge chocolate pudding stain on the back of his shirt. Then, when Arnold picks up the gift box from Grandpa and returns to the cafeteria, the chocolate pudding is gone from his shirt but reappears later on when Arnold and Helga are at Slausen's Ice Cream. (00:12:37)
Operation Ruthless/The Vacant Lot - S1-E7
Continuity mistake: Operation Ruthless: When the Cheese Festival is first shown, Arnold and Gerald are standing at the bumper car ride, but in the next shot, they are suddenly standing in a different location, which seems to be at the green building from the beginning of the episode. (00:03:12)
Love and Cheese / Weighing Harold - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Love and Cheese: When the sign for the Built-To-Hurl is first shown, it is spelled with a hyphen between "To" and "Hurl." When the sign is shown again, that hyphen is missing, then reappears a moment later. (00:07:19)
Abner Come Home / The Sewer King - S1-E16
Continuity mistake: Abner Come Home: Some of the objects and other things in the Sunset Arms backyard disappear, reappear, change, or move around in various shots. (00:11:27)
Curly Snaps / Pre-Teen Scream - S3-E6
Continuity mistake: Pre-Teen Scream: When Phoebe shows up at Helga's house to pick her up for the concert, Phoebe is wearing a red outfit with a red scrunchie in her hair. Thereafter, for the rest of the episode, her red scrunchie changes to her normal yellow one in some shots. (00:15:46)
Downtown as Fruits / Eugene's Bike - S1-E1
Continuity mistake: Downtown as Fruits: After Arnold and Gerald arrive at the school, it cuts to Helga crying about her play being ruined. When Phoebe taps her, her left arm is coming from the side of her cheese costume, but when the angle changes, it's coming from the front of her costume. (00:10:43)
Continuity mistake: Ms. Perfect: When Lila goes to Patty's locker, the books she is holding constantly change. First, she is holding two books, then three, then the red book is suddenly on top, then the red book disappears and the rectangle on the brown book changes to white, then it goes back to yellow and the blue book gets replaced by the red one, and finally, the blue book reappears (she is also suddenly not holding the locker handle, and the way she holds the books changes). (00:15:48)
Continuity mistake: Ms. Perfect: When Patty opens her locker and the jello falls on her, her head is raised above the floor, and there is no jello on her head. In the next shot, her head is on the floor, and there is jello on her head. (00:16:24)
Love and Cheese / Weighing Harold - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Love and Cheese: At the end, Arnold says to Lila that he will walk her home. In the next shot, a janitor suddenly appears behind them. (00:11:40)
Helga's Masquerade / Mr. Green Runs - S5-E2
Continuity mistake: Helga's Masquerade: When Helga and Lila are at Slausen's Ice Cream, after Helga asks Lila how she can learn to act so nice to people, she grabs her milkshake with her left hand. A shot later, she is now holding it with her right hand, and a spoon appears in her left hand. (00:03:30)
Answer: The show is based in present day times. Plus most cars aren't old fashtioned, I recall seeing a limo and not to mention a cherry picker, etc.