Watch . . . and Learn!
Issue #9, February 1991

It's that time again . . . time to point out some more inconsistencies which the writers have let slip over the years!  Thanks to some of our incredibly observant members, we have quite a few more to share with you and inspire you to grab your VCR remotes, zoom back and say, "Oh yeah!  That is weird!"

So come with us now to those days of yesteryear, when for instance Balki and Larry made their unforgettable journey to Las Vegas and Larry caught the gambling bug (as did his Uncle Pete before him).  It took Balki (and a hand mirror) to bring Larry back to his senses, and when he came around he started bombarding himself with guilt for falling victim to the family disease.  Balki was quick to point out that Larry was not a compulsive gambler and that when Balki wanted to buy a lottery ticket Larry had told him not to waste his money.  But then some two seasons later Balki was standing in the newspaper office when Lydia entered, raving about how she'd just won the lottery . . . and Balki didn't know what the lottery was!  How quickly he forgets!

There is one aspect of the boys' apartment that could drive you insane if you think about it too much, and that is the question of windows.  Just how many windows do they have???  Check it out!  We are all familiar with the living room and kitchen windows (and the fire escape which keeps jumping from one to the other) but in the one scene filmed in Larry's bedroom . . . there was a window.  And the bathroom window can clearly be seen from the living room.  And Balki's bedroom, clear on the opposite side, also had a window in it!  That's windows on three sides, and the apartment from the outside is in the middle of the building!  Just to drive you even crazier, we have never seen the imaginary "fourth wall' . . . but remember when Larry and Balki shared the sofabed that night and Balki pointed out that the light coming through the curtains had a tiny hole in them and the beam of light would burn a hole in someone's forehead in the morning?  He's pointing to the fourth wall!  (Granted this was in the second season when they were in a different building but they were still in the middle of the building then).  Okay, folks, yes . . . it appears to be true . . . they are completely surrounded by windows!

It was established in the episode Almost Live in Chicago that Miss Lydia has a terrible fear of cameras . .  that if she even sees a video camera she will go into hysterics!  It was even mentioned in the following episode, Home Movies.  The fear was instilled in her as a child (after a bad experience dancing on a TV show).  So then why was she trying so hard to win a part in the Chronicle's television commercial the season before?

This season has already had its share of inconsistencies.  One of the largest, and most recent, ones involved Myposian ways of curing colds.  When most of Chicago came down with colds (except Balki, who bulked up on pig spleen), Balki once again became determined to cure Larry's as he did in the second season episode Ladies and Germs.  However, no mention was made of that earlier episode at all!  Larry even ran around saying there was no known cure for the common cold, even though he'd tried and been cured with fish parts and herbs before!

One of the show's most touching moments was sort of tarnished by a small inconsistency.  It happened when Larry proposed to Jennifer and mentioned how he knew he loved her from the first moment he saw her in the health club.  We applaud the writers for trying to be sweet with this memory, however it wasn't exactly correct.  The first time Larry even saw Jennifer was in the Ritz Discount Store when she came to have Balki sign his health club membership form, ad it was obvious to see in that scene that Larry was in love to stay.  It seems he would have remembered this more accurately.

When Balki offered to babysit his neighbor's little girl, Tess, in one of the first episodes from the sixth season, Tess turned out to be a little terror who continually pulled pranks and got into trouble.  At the end of the episode, she sets Larry up to dump water on his face from upstairs.  Larry leans out the window to say hello to her but is soon drenched.  The question is, where was Tess?  Don't Jennifer and Mary Anne live upstairs?  And there's no more floors above the girls!  Maybe Tess was on the roof.  Hmmmmmm.

More inconsistencies are in the future!

Continue on to the next Watch . . . and Learn!