Eight is Enough Messageboard

Questions about stuff being Out of Order

Visit The EiE Messagaboard to post and read new messages!
Subject: Duck Hunting
Name: Missy
Date: Wednesday, 14-Jul-1999 12:17:32
Message:
In yesterday's episode, "Women, Ducks, & the Domino Theory," I noticed that when Tom and David were talking about their family tradition of going duck hunting, Tom said that he always used to go with his father every year when growing up, which implies that they did this for a long time. In the episode a couple seasons later where the whole family goes to Hawaii, the story line is that Tom's father left the family when Tom was very young. I guess the writers didn't pay too much attention to details. (The two episodes were probably not written by the same writer, either.)
Subject: Birth Order
Name: Jessica Westphal
Date:
Message:
I was recently watching EIE (as I do every morning while getting ready for work) and heard Nicholas explain to someone that the phrase used to remember their names was something like "Dumb Martians Just Sit Numbly Eating Tangy Nectarines". Of course, as noted on your web site, this isn't the same phrase as used in the first episode. Did I imagine the second phrase?
Also, the first few seasons have the opening introducing the children in birth order from David to Nicholas. However, it seems that around the 3rd season, Susan and Joni switch birth order with one another in the opening. An editing mistake?
I'd appreciate your help!
Subject: Who's Older?
Name: ?
Date: Sunday, 27-Dec-98 22:59:07
Message:
I know that the phrase is dumb martians just sit nearby eating tender noodles, but i watched the show the other day when elizabeth was dating ernie and i could have sworn i heard tommy call liz his younger sister...and i know i did cause i remember thinking of how i always thought she was older...can anyone help???
    Replies...
    Name: ?
    Date: Monday, 28-Dec-98 08:38:39
    Message:
    I noticed the same thing. In the episode, "Lost Weekend", Tommy was younger and Elizabeth was older. Then on the episode, "Bradford vs. Bradford" last week, Tommy was suddenly the oldest. HA! I think the writers just change things according to the storyline and we(the audience) are not supposed to notice. I guess they don't realize that there are fans of the show out there that take note of EVERYTHING :-). It's kind of like on the show "Family Matters" when all of a sudden the Winslows no longer had a younger daughter. I guess the audience was supposed to forget she ever existed. I still haven't figured that one out.
    Replies...
    Name: D.T.
    Date: Monday, 28-Dec-98 13:26:31
    Message:
    Just like Happy Days. You all remember when Richie Cunningham had an older brother, right? After two episodes, he disappearred on the second floor, never heard from again, even after 11 seasons!
    Replies...
    Name: ?
    Date: Wednesday, 30-Dec-98 01:29:24
    Message:
    Actually he said it was weird for his best friend to be dating Elizabeth because she was his youngest sister, not younger sister. He was always over-protective of her, like in the party episode when she was drunk.
    Replies...
    Name: Exita
    Date: Friday, 08-Jan-99 23:15:29
    Message:
    I thought Tommy was older than Elizabeth in real life, I just read where Elizabeth was born in 1959 but most resources say 1962 does anyone know which it is? I also noticed that Tommy referred to Elizabeth as her younger sister, when we all know she graduated a year before him.
    Replies...
    Name:
    Date:
    Message:
Subject: Episodes Out Of Chronological Order?
Name: ?
Date: Tuesday, 05-Jan-99 17:05:46
Message:
Did anyone notice that today Elizabeth was a sixteen year old high school student and last week she was in college and Tommy was graduating from high school? Did PAX just mess up in the episode order? When Tommy posed for his pictures on the steps he was standing in front of Elizabeths graduation photo, so she must be older.
    Replies...
    Name: Gwynne
    Date: Tuesday, 05-Jan-99 23:34:07
    Message:
    Yes, they've gone backwards in the episode broadcast today, they already have shown this one, and watch the credits, Grant doesn't sing the theme song in the earlier episodes. I hope they won't continue to show these episodes they've already shown, I was getting into the more recent episodes.
    Replies...
    Name: ?
    Date: Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 16:47:55
    Message:
    They did it again today. Tom & Abby were planning the wedding, yesterday when Elizabeth went to the doctor they were already married.
    Replies...
    Name: Gwynne
    Date: Wednesday, 06-Jan-99 16:53:52
    Message:
    I know, I hate it, I wish they would go back to the episodes they were broadcasting before with Susan about to have her baby; I don't know what PAX TV is doing.
    Replies...
    Name: RMBenge@webtv.net
    Date: Friday, 08-Jan-99 22:54:23
    Message:
    I hope you watched on Thursday 1/7 and Friday 1/8 they continued with Susan having her baby. The network after the new year probably forgot which season was starting it's the fifth season. Remember last Friday it was Tommy's graduation that is the last episode of the fourth season.
    Replies...
    Name: Gwynne
    Date: Friday, 08-Jan-99 23:33:35
    Message:
    In the middle of Friday's episode, they had a scene in there about Barry, who Janet was working with in an episode not to long ago. It had nothing to do with Friday's episode. I wonder what happened there?
    Replies...
    Name: Susan
    Date: Saturday, 09-Jan-99 20:59:02
    Message:
    The original baby episode was 90 minutes long. The flashbacks were added when the show was syndicated. If you noticed the final scene where Susan brings the baby home, it was actually taken from a show later in the fifth season when Joan's father came to visit. In five minutes alone, Susan's hair went from red to blonde to red. The editors did a bad job on this one.
    Replies...
    Name: Katie
    Date: Friday, 08-Jan-99 16:36:33
    Message:
    Did anyone else notice that in the 2nd episode of"and baby makes nine" susans hair was its usual color and then for one scene in the end it was bleach blonde and then it turned back to its original color??? thats quite the editing mistake if you ask me!
    Replies...
    Name: Nathan
    Date: Saturday, 09-Jan-99 23:06:02
    Message:
    I actually know exactly what you're talking about and figured out the reason years back...... The scene during which they're opening presents and Abby runs after Tom shouting, "Granny!?" was clearly shot at the same time as the "And Baby Makes Nine" episode itself. However, I'm assuming they needed to pad it out a bit, so they included a scene from a later episode (the one when Joan's parent's come to visit and resent Abby) where the baby is brought home. By that point, Susan had dyed her hair. What's interesting is that Jeremy was already living w/ the Bradfords when the latter episode was filmed and they actually edited him out of the scene for the "And Baby Makes Nine" addition. You'll see that scene again in its original form when that Joan's parents episode airs. I tell ya....those "EIE" producers certainly didn't give the audience much credit!
    Replies...
    Name: d.t.
    Date: Sunday, 10-Jan-99 03:57:33
    Message:
    Hold on. I have an explanation for the added scenes.

    The original airing of the Susan's birth episode ran 90 minutes on ABC, but in syndication, they have to have all episodes running one hour apiece. Problem: when you split up the 90-minute episode into syndication, you get a reverse time problem; instead of having to edit out 3-4 minutes for more commercial air time (gasp), they needed to find some footage to pad the two parts a bit in order to bring it up to about 45 minutes total time without the ads per hour.

    Hope that explains things better.

    Replies...
    Name: Nathan
    Date: Sunday, 10-Jan-99 13:09:07
    Message:
    How is that possible? If they were adding footage to a 90 min episode, it seems to me that they'd have to add a lot more than 1 60-90 second scene. Was there additional footage added besides the blond Susan scene?
    Replies...
    Name: Gwynne
    Date: Sunday, 10-Jan-99 13:28:10
    Message:
    Yea, when the put the scene in where Janet is talking to Barry on the phone which had nothing to do with the episode of Susan's baby, which was in an earlier episode when David got jealous of Janet working with Barry.
    Replies...
    Name: ?
    Date: Sunday, 10-Jan-99 17:57:10
    Message:
    All the flash backs, like when they were remembering the car accident and the wedding were added in.
    Replies...
    Name: Katie
    Date: Tuesday, 12-Jan-99 07:43:33
    Message:
    I noticed this too, I don't get to see the show much because I'm usually working, but the episode about David & Janet was aired during Christmas vacation when I was off, and I happened to be home early on Friday because of snow, and I noticed this scene from the other episode. I thought for a minute that they had switched episodes!
    Replies...
    Name: Katie
    Date: Wednesday, 13-Jan-99 16:15:34
    Message:
    Here is another: the wedding dress that abby wore when she married tom was not the same one she let janet borrow when she married david! they didnt even look alike at all!
Subject:
Name:
Date:
Message:
    Replies...
    Name:
    Message:


    Name:
    Message:
Subject:
Name:
Date:
Message:
    Replies...
    Name:
    Message:


    Name:
    Message:
Back to Forum Archives
Back to Main Eight is Enough Page