9 Times TV Shows Failed To Hide The Passage Of Time
5. Portia De Rossi's Changed Appearance Ruined The Continuity - Arrested Development
There was a massive seven-year gap between the third and fourth seasons of Arrested Development, and when season four finally premiered on Netflix, many fans noted the significantly "different" appearance of Lindsay Bluth actress Portia de Rossi.
Many speculated that de Rossi had undergone plastic surgery or received botox prior to shooting - but we're not here to judge, you do you Portia.
The point is that this created a noticeable continuity issue during season four given that it kicks off almost immediately after season three and is also extremely flashback-heavy.
As such, Lindsay's appearance is massively different between the end of season three and the start of season four, where scenes take place literally minutes apart. Also, whenever she's required to appear in a flashback set during the first three seasons, it makes for an undeniably awkward fit.
The change was significant enough that some fans even assumed de Rossi had been replaced with another actress, while others were simply confused by how different she looked.
While a bad wig also clearly didn't help things at all, it was straight-up impossible to buy the illusion that we were seeing Lindsay from many years ago during these scenes. Not the end of the world for a gleefully meta show like Arrested Development, but still pretty distracting.