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NitPicks - By Season
Season 1
101   102   103    104   105   106    107   108   109    110   111
112   113   114    115   116   117    118   119   120    121   122
101
The flipping phone
When Judy hands the phone to Lily to encourage her to call Jake to take the kids so that Lily can go on her second date, as the scene cuts from Judy to Lily, the Judy is seen holding the phone alternately face up then face down.

Palm trees in Chicago A palm tree is reflected in the window over Max's café. -- Westscot1212

102
What was that noise?
Lily explains, "About life, about what we're looking for." As she says "looking for," you can clearly hear a door slam!
Surely this was a blooper; otherwise Lily, who didn't want to "do this in a living room, thanks to you," would have stopped talking and asked Rick, "Who else is here?" -- Kyblue52
103
 
 
104
When did they tell her?
In the Pilot, Rick says that Karen went and got the kids and then they told them together that they were getting separated. In one of her interviews, Jessie says that she was having coffee with Rick when Karen came in and then they told her.

Does Eli know Judy?
There is a mistake in the DVD; in the write up for Episode 4 on the cover of disc One. It says: "Eli decides to hide what he learns when he stumbles on Rick and Lily making love in Judy's apartment." We all know of course that it was at Rick's apartment. -- Dowilly

Spiders scary, blood not
[Jessie's fear of a spider] in LAOS, seemed all the more improbable in TBD, as Jessie confided that she had to pick up the injured rabbit when her dad was too squeamish. -- LaChefski
105
When did they tell her?
In the Pilot, Rick says that Karen went and got the kids and then they told them together that they were getting separated. In one of her interviews, Jessie says that she was having coffee with Rick when Karen came in and then they told her.

What are Smegeffites?
Are Rick and Jessie quoting from a piece of classic literature, such as Beowulf, or is this a children's story (maybe "Whose Forest Is This?" that Nancy and Ethan wrote in thirtysomething) or is it something they've made up?

Spiders scary, blood not
[Jessie's fear of a spider] in LAOS, seemed all the more improbable in TBD, as Jessie confided that she had to pick up the injured rabbit when her dad was too squeamish. -- LaChefski
106
 
 
107
 
 
108
 
 
109
 
 
110
 
 
111
 
 
112
 
 
113
 
 
114
 
 
115

Twice as nice When Rick/Lily are at the seafood restaurant, she takes her scarf off twice. -- Westscot1212

116
 
 
117
Lend or lent?
As Phil lies in his hospital bed, he desperately tries to tell Lily something but it is unclear whether he is instructing her to "lend Jake" $100,000 or whether he has already "lent Jake" the money. The money is not mentioned again and the script [Green Pages (5th revision) Jan 25/00] is also unclear:

Lily now sits alone by Phil's bedside. After a moment, he raises his arm and tries to speak.

Lily: "Daddy, what? Do you need something?"

He gestures a "writing" motion. Lily hurriedly finds pen and paper by the bedside.

Lily: "Do you want me to call the nurse--? Are you in pain? Hold on...I'm just getting you the paper."

She puts the pen in Phil's left hand and holds the pad for him while he scribbles laboriously. A scrawl emerges: "I lend Jake 100,000."

Lily: (reading it) --"lend Jake...a hundred--" (incredulous).

Dad, are you crazy? You're not supposed to be worrying about these things now--!

Phil shakes his head in frustration.

When Phil is watching the History Channel, the logo bug in the lower right hand corner is way too large. -- Adam Bomb 1701
118
The wrong hand
In the goodbye scene between Aaron and Barbara, as the camera flips between the two, we see that when the camera is facing Aaron, he's rubbing his face with his left hand, but when the camera is behind Aaron (facing Barbara), he's rubbing his face with his right hand.
119
Karen's Office
This is now smaller than in previous episodes. It is narrower.

Different Coops
In "Sneaky Feelings", Coop is tall with straight hair. In this episode, Coop is shorter with curly hair.
120
 
 
121
 
 
122
A cup of mud
In "A Door, About To Open," there is a moment that grossed me out. Rick takes pencils out of a coffee cup, opens the bottle of liquor (scotch, I think) he just got from Miles, and pours a drink for himself, WITHOUT washing the cup first. I know Rick was down in the dumps then, but couldn't he have made a trip to the washroom to clean the cup out? Who knows what could have been growing in that cup? -- AdamBomb1701
Season 2
201   202   203    204   205   206    207   208   209    210   211
212   213   214    215   216   217    218   219   220    221   222
201
Jessie's grade
What is the real reason why Jessie suddenly jumps from 7th to 9th grade?

Alone
How come Jessie has absolutely no friends at school now?

Eli AWOL?
No Eli sightings in the hallways of the High School. Only Grace and friends. Also, no mention of by Rick or Karen for Eli to "look out for his sister".

Which Grandma?
Zoe's grandma brought a sculpture back from Africa for them. Is this from Barbara or Jake's mom?
Which Fairbanks is that?
Jake said that Susan Fairbanks tipped him off about the critic from the Trib. Is there a real Susan Fairbanks?
202
Where did all the money come from?
 

Jake the snake
Would Jake really be dumb enough to have his picture up in Judy's store, knowing that Grace and Lily might be there?

Liquor licence?
Since when did Judy get a liquor licence? In Illinois, isn't one required even for beer and wine?

Unjudgmental
As an editor, Christie should know that the word is nonjudgmental

203
-None-
204
-None-
205
-None-
206

Book?
When Rick was waking up, he said:
My Bed is Warm
My Pillow Deep
Today's the Day
I get to sleep

Lily replied that she "loved that book."
What was the book? -- Divorced_Again

207
-None-
208
-None-
209

What happened to the tangerine iMac?
Last season, Graces computer was a prominent item in her bedroom. Now Grace and Zoe are fighting over the old computer downstairs.

What is Lily signing?
Lily is signing legal papers with Judy. Is this to officially change the name of the store? Are they removing Lily's name as an owner?

Is the glass half full or . . .
Lily pours part of her drink into a glass. Cut to another shot. Back to Lily. Her glass is now full.

Now you see it, now you don't.
When Zoe is ranting about the new computer, a door is visible under the stairs in the foyer. In the last scene, the door is gone and the coat hooks are back.

Does Daddy have money?
Graham makes a comment to Christy about going to her daddy for money. She neither confirms nor denies it.

210

Redecoratin'
Judy's kitchen has completely changed since the first season.

Where's the hair?
When Carla and Eli are talking/arguing at Rick's apartment, Carla's hair keeps changing. Sometimes it's in front of her shoulder, sometimes behind and sometimes it's half and half.

211

 
 

212

 
 

213

 
 

214

Quick Change
From sleepy, pajama-clad Grace to fully dressed and made-up Grace appeared to take about 2 minutes. This transformation occurred during a very short conversation about white fish.

Hair trick
At home it was straight and messy, she said she would brush it at work - but curl it too? -- Tunneldiver

Is Rick cold?
Rick arrives before Grace leaves and still has his jacket on when they find out about the hostage situation.

Two cakes
Zoe makes a birthday cake for Jake and there is another homemade one at the restaurant.

Timeline
The hostage situation begins and is reported during Brunch. By the time Rick and Lily arrive on the scene, it is dark.
About the time it was just getting dark outside, Jake had a five o'clock shadow that disappeared later on. -- Angela

215

World's Fastest Reboot
When Karen is yelling at Saj that her computer is frozen again, his advice is "just reboot it." We can judge time by Rick's dialogue. We also get to see the computer screen a couple of times during this. It is clearly a Windows based system. We see it go into reboot, and then back to the application. 4 seconds. Fastest reboot in the world?

Taking Sides
At Rick's apartment, he sleeps on the left side of the bed. At Lily's house, he sleeps on the right side of the bed. Does this man always have to be the closest to the bathroom? -- Janarlen

When is a desk not a desk?
Okay, when Lily's "desk" was in the living room, it had drawers -- well, at least one. Remember, she retrieved the soccer book that Rick had given Grace? Well, now that it is up in her bedroom, it is just a table. Rick suggests getting rid of the desk and getting a table. Color me confused! -- Janarlen

216

 
 

217

Wardrobe? Wardrobe?
In the scene when Lily is on the phone with Jake, she glances over at Graham and the girl in the office he is flirting with is wearing the same black long sleeve sweater with light gray cuffs and neckline that Sela wore in a brief scene in Outside Hearts when she is speaking to Mrs. Brooks on the telephone discussing the argument she had had with Judy. -- Marco

Insurance?
Jake and Lily are arguing over who will pay for the damage to Lily's house caused by ice damming. Shouldn't that be covered by homeowner's insurance? -- AdamBomb1701

218

 
 

219

Boxes
In the opening sequence, the cereal boxes are laying on their sides, then standing, then back on their sides, then standing again.

I'm guessing that they needed the boxes standing so Rick could easily grab one to cover his enlargement problems, totally due to Lily's caresses! But then when Zoe comes in, the boxes would have blocked her face, so they were toppled over so she wouldn't be hidden. -- Divorced_Again

220

Who else?
"Among those indicted was Miles Drentell." Who else?

Where's Saj?
Karen has a new assistant, Carolyn. What happened to Saj?

Special Care
Miles Drentell is receiving cancer treatment in a hotel room. Are hospitals beneath him? -- AdamBomb1701

New Math
In episode 108, Rick says that his father was an engineer with the city for 30 years.   However, in episode 220, he says that his dad died at the age of 44. This means that he had to start as an engineer at the age of 14. -- Adam Bomb 1701

221

Magic sweater
At the conclusion, when Lily and Rick are looking at each other, Lily holds a sweater, packs it, then it's back in her arms again a moment later.
--Divorced_Again

Name game
Lily signs the divorce papers as Lily. As it is a legal document, shouldn't she use Elizabeth, her legal name? -- AdamBomb1701

222

Daisy, daisy
Will's daisy pulls a disappearing act then suddenly reappears, while Rick's daisy jumps from lapel to lapel. -- Westscot1212

It is also during that scene the Rick's wedding ring is on his right hand. -- Janarlen

Hairy Jacket
When Tiffany puts on her jacket in the kitchen, her hair is under the jacket. Although she doesn't touch it, her hair is suddenly outside the jacket. -- Kyblue

Season 3
301   302   303    304   305   306    307   308   309    310   311
312   313   314    315   216   317    318   319
301

How new is new? The other driver in the accident says he had a new car. Wrongo. It is a 1991-95 Ford Escort. -- AdamBomb1701

302

 
 

303

The Long Arm of the Sam
Sam's long arm reaches 2 chairs away to Judy to touch her hand, in the concluding scenes. If you watch, he couldn't have done that from where he was originally standing. --
Divorced_Again

304

Take out the Book?
as it's answered under Lit. Refs

.

Eli in the garage with a paint brush
Eli has paint on his shirt and says that the paint in his new garage apartment will be dry in 10 to 12 hours. For the rest of the season, the garage isn't painted.

Magic Money
Mr. Dimitri tries his dollar twice in the vending machine, puts it away and then a bottle of water falls out.

305

Super Speed
At the end of the first rehearsal scene, when Mr. Dimitri is reminding everyone to remember to take their new schedules with them, we see Jessie turning back while seated to look for her schedule. This cuts to her standing up and looking at her schedule without a pause or break in Mr. Dimitri's dialog.

306

 
 

307

Where's Zoe?
Lily tells Judy that Zoe is on a sleepover, but she answers the door to the plumber the next morning.

Is Lily psychic?
Lily told the plumber that there would be nine people for dinner before Sam and Judy were invited.

Color Wheel
When Rick finally left work to go home for Thanksgiving dinner, he was wearing a *white* shirt and black tie; but when he got home he was wearing a *dark brown* shirt and colored tie! -- mariooanda

308

Page Turning
When Grace showed the magazine to Eli, there was one picture, then when Eli had the magazine, it was on another page without him turning the page. -- Janarlen

309

Attic! Attic!
A few episodes ago, Jessie was hoping to move up in to the attic, but Eli said she'd have to wait fro him to move in to the garage after the paint had dried. In 'TL,' the walls of his 'bachelor pad' were still in the sheet rock/mudding phase. -- Westscot1212

Magic Drink
Mr. Dimitri (Eric Stoltz) was seen lowering a cup of champagne from his mouth. In the prior shot, he was not drinking anything. -- AdamBomb1701

310

 
 

311

Too cosy? Rick always claimed that after Jessie was born, he and Karen barely had sex. From the way he always talked about it, the marriage was basically dead. Yet he and her were sure cozy and lovey-dovey lying on the beach with Sam & Jeanine. -- Westscot1212

312

 
 

313

Mirror, mirror ...
Lily's Ford Explorer has no mirror mounted on the windshield, just the mounting button. (This is a common nitpick with many vehicles seen in movies and TV shows.) -- AdamBomb1701

314

Address
In "Gay/Straight Alliance," Mr. Dimitri posts his home address on the bulletin board. Since the murder of New York City teacher Jonathan Levin a few years ago at the hands of one of his students, I would think that teachers would be wary of publicizing their home addresses. -- AdamBomb1701

Cost of Hybrid
Mr. Dimitri is seen driving a hybrid gas/electric Honda. Although environmentally correct, aren't these cars very expensive, especially on a teacher's salary? -- AdamBomb1701

315

 
 

316

Zoe Teleportation
When the door bell rings, Zoe is right in the middle of doing her nails on the first floor of the house and says she therefore can't answer the door; yet, hardly two minutes later, while Miriam and Aaron are entering the house, Zoe is coming down the stairs from the second floor! -- mariooanda

317

The envelope please.
Grace goes to open an envelope regarding her story (she's alone in her room).  The envelope was already torn at the top near the stamp, making it easier for Grace to open. -- OnceAndAgainNow

318

Dealing with Bea Lily asks her mother, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, to live with her and her family. Two big nitpicks here:
1. Where will she find the room to put up Bea? The Manning/Sammler house seems overcrowded now, and there was a lot of trading off to arrive at Rick and Lily's current arrangement. Grace gave up her room so Bea could stay there. When she arrives permanently, there will be no room to breathe.
2. Shouldn't having Bea move in be decided on as a family? After all, everyone in the house, not just Lily, will be involved in her care. Lily should not have made that decision alone, as Bea will need more care as time passes. -- AdamBomb1701

319

Watch your hands
During the last scene with Rick and Lily, as they flip between a close-up of Rick & Lily's faces...Lily's hands are in a different place, changing between his face and his chest. -- ali3915

Magic power
Lily makes her tea without turning on the microwave. The light comes on when the door opens, and she programs it without pushing the Start button. The light remains off until the done beep sounds and she opens the door. -- justmekaren918, OnceAndAgainNow

Name It!
Did any one catch the name of the book the Billy is holding in his lap during the last B/W? -- Westscot1212


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Season 3 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319
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