Recoil
Regular
I thought the debate was more about whether JMS changing his mind counted as an "error". If I announce that I'm going to spend the weekend in Miami, get as far as Lauderdale, suddenly hang a right and go to Tampa instead, is that an "error"? Did I screw up and "miss" Miami or did I change my target?
I say I changed my target YMMV.
Regards,
Joe
True. I think I want to nitpick this a bit more and see if it makes sense. What you described above I would classify as a mistake.
So if JMS changed his mind about how he wanted something done in the show is really a mistake or not...I'd say no, it isn't. He realized he wanted to do something better, changed his mind, and did it that way. It wasn't an accidental change, it was intentional, for the better of the story, and he did it on purpose. So I'd say that is NOT a mistake.
However, could that change effect the continuity of the show, to someone who doesn't read online, all of JMSs posts and comments? Yes! Perhaps continuity error isn't the right word, but a discrepancy in continuity would have been a better way to name this topic.
He can make an intentional change, but although intentional, it would have the effect of altering the continuity of the show as a result. Not an accidental mistake mind you, or even an error, but certainly causing a discrepancy in continuity.
I think a lot of the ones we discussed here were an example of that. There might be one or two true "oops" kind of mistakes in the show....but no one is perfect and to only have a couple of those in a show is outstanding.