Lucy Thinks Ricky is Trying to Murder Her - S1-E1
Visible crew/equipment: When Ricky walks over to the table while he is on the phone with Jerry, a camera is briefly visible on the right hand side of the screen. (00:08:15)
Revealing mistake: When Ricky brings home the psychiatrist, in all the long shots of the living room from the time Ethel walks around the coffee table toward Fred, we can see that all four coffee table legs have been propped up on stone blocks.
Continuity mistake: While Lucy is at Ethel's apartment nervous about leaving the baby with Ricky she's wearing v-strap pumps, then she heads back to her apartment to get her coat and bag, but when Lucy walks into her apartment she's wearing ankle strap pumps instead. (00:16:00)
Continuity mistake: When Lucy handcuffs herself to Ricky we see the style of handcuffs as they phone the locksmith, but when they're both in the bedroom their handcuffs are entirely different, then their handcuffs revert to the original style when the locksmith shows up. Additionally, when Lucy cuffs Ricky's wrist note the direction of the locking bar around Ricky's wrist, but the next morning when the locksmith is with them, the locking bar is around Ricky's wrist the opposite way, which is quite impossible. (00:06:45)
Pregnant Women Are Unpredictable - S2-E16
Trivia: When Lucy's reading the book about infant care, she's holding a baby doll wearing a bonnet in order to learn how to bathe and diaper a baby, and the doll she's using is not just any prop. It's actually one of the show's endorsed products named the "I Love Lucy Baby" doll, which were sold in stores.
Revealing mistake: Look closely at the Ricardos' new Pontiac convertible. There is no glass within the windshield frame.
Deliberate mistake: In episode "Redecorating" Lucy wins new furniture, then in the next episode "Ricky Loses His Voice" the new furniture's delivered to the apartment, and the new couch has two normal and identical seat cushions. Starting in the next episode "Lucy is Enceinte" until the episode "Lucy Wants New Furniture", in some scenes the couch has the identical short cushions, however, in other scenes one of its seat cushions (depending on the episode, it's either left or right) is much higher than the other. For example, in "Lucy Hires a Maid" the higher seat cushion's on left side while Lucy waits for her lunch, then after Ethel urges Lucy to fire the maid the short cushion's on the left. The uneven cushions are usually seen in scenes with either Desi or another male actor, who sit on the side of the couch which has the higher seat cushion. There are even scenes where both of the seat cushions are the higher ones, such as in "Lucy's Last Birthday."
Never Do Business With Friends - S2-E32
Continuity mistake: In Lucy and Ricky's apartment there are six shutters between the kitchen and living room, a set of three open to the left and three open to the right, but after the washing machine falls off the porch, when Mrs. Trumble's nephew thinks they're all crazy he runs through the back door and we see a set of four shutters on one side. Also note the round knobs are at the bottom corners, when they should be higher up at the center. (The prop shutters that we see through the doorway during the porch's "exterior" shots are identical to the seven shutters that were in apartment 4A, before the Ricardos moved downstairs). (00:22:10 - 00:24:25)
Hollywood Anniversary - S4-E24
Visible crew/equipment: After Lucy rushes out with the newspaper to tell Ethel about all the movie stars coming to the party, when Lucy returns to the suite and closes the door, we can see the arm of a crew member and a board with "DPI" (Desilu Productions Inc) on it, at the bottom right side of the screen, and a bit of equipment at the top right corner. (00:15:00)
Visible crew/equipment: After Ricky and Juanita's song rehearsal, when they both join Fred and Ethel at the side table and talk about doing an afternoon performance, the shadow of the moving overhead boom and mic is visible on the wall and curtain, behind Fred and Ethel. (00:17:50)
The Great Train Robbery - S5-E5
Revealing mistake: When Ricky and Lucy find their train compartment, while they stand outside their door talking we can see the actor playing the porter peeking out of the next compartment's door waiting for his cue, and in a few moments he opens the door just as Lucy approaches. (00:02:20)
Visible crew/equipment: When Lucy and Mrs. Littlefield bring out the soup and then salad, at the start of the shots just as they leave the kitchen, the shadow of another camera can be seen on the edge of the set's "wall" at the right side of the screen. (00:20:25)
Cuban Pals - S1-E28
Visible crew/equipment: Right after Lucy phones for a cab the doorbell rings, and when she opens the door for Fred the cabbie, the shadow of the moving boom and mic appear on the kitchen door. (00:17:20)
Visible crew/equipment: While Ethel and Lucy are trying to frighten Mr. Beecher so he'll leave the apartment, when Lucy blows up the balloon the reflections of all the overhead set lights are visible on the balloon. (00:23:00)
Tennessee Ernie Visits - S3-E27
Continuity mistake: When Fred and Ethel leave to get the rollaway bed, note the two L-shape actor's marks on the carpet where Ernie had placed his small suitcase and then sat, earlier in the scene. (00:08:50)
Visible crew/equipment: During the scenes in the living room after wig-wearing Lucy comes home in a huff about Ricky, an actor's mark is visible on the carpet at the fireplace, and there's a T-mark on the carpet between the couch and desk.
Visible crew/equipment: When Lucy tells Ricky, Fred, and Ethel that she made a carbon copy of the novel they just burned in the fireplace, the actors' tape marks are visible on the carpet when Lucy says, "Pardon me," in the wideshot. Then later, when Ricky, Fred, and Ethel walk in while Lucy's typing up her sequel, they stand at tape marks again. (00:11:05)
Visible crew/equipment: While Lucy starts taking notes about Ethel, Fred walks in and soon asks, "What's going on this booby hatch," then just as Lucy rushes back to the desk, we can see the end of the set wall and there's some kind of partition in front of the kitchen set. (00:02:35)
Ricky's Hawaiian Vacation - S3-E21
Continuity mistake: When Ricky has five seconds left on Freddie Fillmore's show, in the wideshot Ricky starts singing "Let's have another piece of" and he's holding the paper with his right hand while snapping the fingers of his left, but it cuts to Ricky's closeup and the paper's now in his left hand while he's snapping the fingers of his right hand. (00:24:40)
Continuity mistake: At the end of Ricky's song "Lady of Spain" when he sings the verse "all that my eyes are revealing, Lady of Spain", in this wideshot we see Lucy in front of the balcony doors facing forward raising her arms, then in the next side closeup Lucy's still facing forward and a flag has suddenly appeared behind her on the balcony door. (00:21:50)
Answer: There is no reason. It's a just a silly plot device, typical of the era. Women characters were often portrayed as making uninformed assumptions or decisions.
raywest ★