Pregnancies last either a couple of months or over a year.
I get that continuity can be hard when you have a long movie series or TV show. But when movies and TV shows mess up their own timelines so badly that the audience notices…that’s when there’s a problem. Here are some of the worst:
NBC
1.
Haley’s pregnancy on One Tree Hill only lasts a few months.
The CW
Haley discovers she’s pregnant at the very end of Season 3 (a few episodes after the school shooting, which takes place in either January or March, according to Jimmy’s gravestone) and gives birth on graduation day (let’s assume that was June).
Even if the school shooting happened in January and Haley got pregnant after it, that’s only a 5-month-long pregnancy. If it happened in March, that’s a 3-month pregnancy. Maybe Haley just didn’t know she was pregnant/wasn’t showing those first four months…but it seems unlikely that BOTH she and Karen (who got pregnant at the same time) didn’t show or know they were pregnant for that long.
2.
In Revenge, Sammy is given to a 9-year-old Emily as a puppy. But then Jack still has him almost 20 years later and he seems perfectly healthy!
3.
On The Vampire Diaries, they seem to start senior year of high school twice.
The CW
The characters seem to start senior year in Season 3, Episode 6. But Christmas isn’t until over a season later, which means an entire season takes place in just three months. There’s also a big “return to school” episode in Season 4 that makes it seem like they’re starting their senior year again.
4.
And on Pretty Little Liars, two entire seasons seem to happen within two months.
Freeform
The Liars clearly begin senior year in Season 3, and in Episode 13, Halloween occurs. Except…Christmas of their senior year doesn’t happen until Season 5, Episode 13. (If you think you remember a Halloween episode from Season 4 indicating that another year had passed, that was actually the Ravenswood Founders Day celebration.) This means two entire seasons passed in two months.
5.
In Mamma Mia!, Donna’s diary says she slept with Sam first. But in the flashbacks in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, she sleeps with Sam after meeting Harry and Bill.
Universal Pictures
In Mamma Mia!, Donna’s diary states that she meets Sam, then Bill, then Harry. In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, she meets Harry, then Bill, then Sam, and then spends time with Bill again.
6.
Rachel is pregnant for over a year in Friends.
NBC
According to Insider, Rachel got pregnant prior to Monica and Chandler’s wedding on May 15. However, she’s pregnant for an entire season (which is usually a year in Friends), and it seems to be summertime when she gives birth, suggesting that she’s been pregnant for over a year.
7.
Also on Friends: Joey turns 31 before Rachel even turns 30, even though Joey was established from the start as the youngest of the group.
NBC
According to Insider, Joey says he’s 25 in Season 1, after Monica has established that she and Rachel are 26. However, in a later season, Rachel mentions that he’s 31, which is before we see her 30th birthday episode.
8.
Dumbledore appears decades older than the Jude Law version in a flashback from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Dumbledore visits Tom Riddle’s orphanage in 1937, just 10 years after the events of the second Fantastic Beasts film, where he’s played by Jude Law. As you can see above, it seems like a *bit* more than 10 years have passed.
9.
Obi-Wan Kenobi turns from a young thirtysomething into an old man over 19 years in Star Wars.
20th Century Fox
Luke is 19 in Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. We saw Obi-Wan deliver him in the third prequel — so the pictures above should be about 19 years apart. However, Ewan McGregor was only 34 when Episode III came out, and Obi-Wan appears to be in his 60s or 70s (he has white hair, people!!) in Episode IV.
10.
And Howard Stark barely seems to age over almost 30 years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel
Barring the change in actors, Howard Stark doesn’t really seem to age that much between 1942 (during Captain America: The First Avenger) and 1970 (during Avengers: Endgame, when Tony and Steve go back in time).
11.
And neither does Peggy Carter, as seen in the minimal difference between her in Captain America: The First Avenger and in the time travel scene in Avengers: Endgame.
Marvel
You can’t really make her out through the window, but from what you can see, she hardly looks any older than in 1942.
13.
Also in Friends, Joey becomes friends with the other characters when he moves into Chandler’s apartment in 1993 — however, he is later seen at Ross’s 1992 Thanksgiving in a flashback.
14.
In Les Misérables, Cosette is just a little kid in 1823, but nine years later she’s a fully grown adult.
15.
In Harry Potter, James and Lily appear to be middle-aged every time we see them (such as in the Mirror of Erised, in the photo book Hagrid gives Harry, and in the Forbidden Forest), despite having died at age 21.
Warner Bros. Pictures
I feel like everyone forgets how young Lily and James were. Even the actors for Sirius and Lupin were far older than they should’ve been — Sirius and Lupin should’ve been 34 in the third film.
16.
Almost directly after Jo and Alaric’s twins are born in The Vampire Diaries, there is a three-year time jump. However, after the time jump, the twins appear to be at least 6.
The CW
The actors playing them were at least 6.
17.
Kaitlin Cooper completely disappears after the first season of The O.C., only to return in Season 3 much older.
Fox
This is only a year in the show’s timeline (well, maybe two, but it’s hard to tell, as I’ll explain below).
18.
The main characters in The O.C. seem to have two junior years.
Fox
The gang appear to be juniors when the show starts, based on their ages, and there is clearly a summer between seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 seems to last a year, especially since it ends with a prom, and then Season 3 features a school kickoff carnival and college applications, suggesting that another summer has passed. So…they have two junior years???
19.
On The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Amy’s pregnancy seems to last only 6 months.
ABC Family
John is born Feb. 6, whereas Amy seems to be a few weeks along when she returns from Band Camp (where she had sex with Ricky) at the very end of August. This means she is only pregnant for 6 months.
20.
And in One Tree Hill, Peyton’s pregnancy doesn’t seem to last much longer than 6 weeks.
The CW
Julian and Brooke start dating right around when Peyton discovers she’s pregnant, and when they break up at the end of Season 6, Episode 19, it’s only been 6 weeks. This means that in the next four episodes (before she collapses and is brought to the hospital to give birth), 6 months must’ve passed. This is impossible, considering that Nathan is in the middle of his basketball season for the entire pregnancy.
21.
And finally, on The Vampire Diaries, it’s established that Damon is seven years older than Stefan. But in a flashback a few seasons later, he appears MUCH older than Stefan.
The CW
In the flashback, a thirtysomething Ian Somerhalder plays his younger self, while a MUCH younger actor plays younger Stefan. What is the truth?!
Now it’s your turn — what TV and movie timeline continuity errors bug the crap out of you? Let me know in the comments!