As an avid TV fan, its often frustrating to see potentially great shows ruined by lazy scriptwriting, planning or development. Of course, theres no such thing as a perfect television show, and while a show may not be to my personal taste, Id always respect other peoples right to enjoy it. Some flaws, however, make you wonder whether or not the scriptwriters actually care about the world theyre creating. Flaws like...
5. Inconsistency
The main offenders are shows with large writing teams, presumably because not everyone remembers all the details that other scriptwriters have mentioned. I can forgive some slight lapses although really, is it that hard to remember a characters age? Some shows, however, seem to change their mind about things like a characters personality and their religious and political views on a weekly basis. The worst culprit Ive ever encountered is
Glee.
This list mentions some of the more obvious inconsistencies, and its a hefty 9000 words long. I dont know how a
Glee writer sets out to write a four week character arc, but I imagine it would go something like this.
Week 1: Female character has a heart of gold. Gives generously to charity. Flirts with Will SchuesterWeek 2: Character treats the rest of the cast terribly. Flirts with Will Schuester.Week 3: Character reverts to treating everyone well, but suddenly has a long term drinking problem. Flirts with Will Schuester.Week 4: Character starts a lesbian relationship. Now, personally I find it permissible if theres a minor continuity error between Season 1 and Season 46 of
Dr Who, but when even casual viewers cant help noting the inconsistencies of a TV show, one really has to wonder how much effort the scriptwriting team is putting into their work.
How to Fix It: Hire a continuity editor. Its that simple. The internet is full of people (such as myself) who spend their free time picking apart these inconsistencies, so hire one to make sure these mistakes dont keep happening.