What are the biggest series plotholes or inconsistences

[TMC]

For example, there was an episode ("Cardinal Sin" from the fifth season) where Tony and Angela go to an "old timers" St. Louis Cardinals reunion, and Tony hooks up with an old groupie of his, Betty. The inconsistency lies within the past notion that Tony's late wife and Samantha's mother, Marie, was still alive when he was playing in the major leagues.

In the pilot episode, as Mona is reciting Tony's life story to Angela, it's within reason to believe that Marie died shortly after Tony's baseball career ending injury. So is "Cardinal Sin" essentially suggesting that Tony cheated on his wife with this red headed groupie during his playing career?

Bare in mind that there was also an episode where Tony reacted in disgust when he found out that Mona cheated on Angela's father. And there was another episode where Tony believed that Marie had cheated on him with a portrait artist.

[TMC]

Inconsistencies

• Angela can't sing?
• Angela hasn't been in therapy before?
• Angela knows nothing about billiards?
• Angela's expensive painting
• Did Tony cheat on Marie?
• Exteriors of Ridgemont College and Wells Junior College
• Grover goes to doggie heaven?
• Jonathan can't go to the city?
• Mark and Pam Harper lose a daughter and gain a son
• Mona and Reed Hamilton
• Nanna pays a visit
• Tony confesses his feelings to Angela
• Tony's baseball convention in St. Louis, Missouri
• Tony's fear of swimming
• Samantha learns about modeling for the first time, three times
• Samantha's birthday
• Samantha's popularity
• What is the name of Angela's doctor?

['80sSitcoms]

No, no, Tony never cheated on Marie! lalalalala! (covers hands over ears) lol

And yes, the biggest one to me is "Angela Can't Sing?"

To me, that is the most glaring one of all.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

No, no, Tony never cheated on Marie! lalalalala! (covers hands over ears) lol

And yes, the biggest one to me is "Angela Can't Sing?"

To me, that is the most glaring one of all.

Tony suddenly being afraid of water and unable to swim is a big one considering that we had previously seen him surfing in the ocean with no problems when the Bowers and the Micellis went to California for Angela's ex-husband's wedding. And of course, the later episode had to be from the "Billy season". It did however give us a pre-Star Trek Jeri Ryan as a lifeguard, so that's at least a plus.



But still, one of the big complaints about the later seasons of Who's the Boss? is that Tony's character became less of a macho, athletic, upbeat, blue collar guy from Brooklyn and instead, became a wimpy, whiney, emasculated, yuppie. And the suddenly telling us that he can't swim and is afraid of water goes hand in hand with that sentiment.

['80sSitcoms]

Oh wow, I never thought about the swimming one.

[TMC]

The "Way We Was" episode, which goes further into the backstory of the pilot of how and why Tony and Sam left Brooklyn in favor of Tony taking a job as Angela's live-in housekeeper in Connecticut. It's a very ambitious concept as long as you ignore several discrepancies between the flashback and the actual first episode such as the kids (Alyssa Milano and Danny Pintauro) being visibly older or the fact that Tony in the pilot rang Angela's doorbell instead of knocking. To give some perspective, the pilot for Who's the Boss? was said to have been shot sometime in November 1983. The series proper wouldn't begin until September 1984 and the "Way We Was" episode was first broadcast in January 1987.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Oh wow, I never thought about the swimming one.

The cynical part in me, says that the whole thing was really an excuse on Tony Danza's part to show people that he was still in great shape and still had his six pack for a middle aged man.

This is a minor inconsistency, but how come Angela in the "Hit the Road Chad" episode doesn't recognize Ray Charles right away? What I mean is that Angela has obviously heard of the name Ray Charles but when Ray Charles is in her presence, Angela can't put the name together with the face until Mona pointed it out.

I assume that it was actually consistent with Angela's character. I mean, it can't be that surprising that a presumably rich, elitist, yuppie and "unhip", rigid white woman from the Connecticut suburbs like Angela Bower wouldn't know who Ray Charles was or any form of remotely "cool" forms of popular culture.

But then when Mona informs Angela that Ray Charles, the musician is in their office, Angela finally puts two and two together. At first, Angela seemed to view Ray as a hapless old blind man, who just wandered into her office.

[TMC]

The episode ("A Farewell to Nick") where Tony's father in law dies, how does Tony right away believe that he's actually dead? I know that James Coco died in real life but keep in mind that when we first meet Nick, he hides and lies to Tony about the fact that he has to go to prison. There's even a point in the episode where he emphatically tells Tony that he's not going to die. So what's not to say that a con man like Nick Milano is once again playing "the boy who cried wolf"?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Oh wow, I never thought about the swimming one.

He's also seen swimming in the ocean while on vacation in Mexico in the "Angela Gets Fired" episode from the start of Season 3.