Now back to my height issue. It all began with the first season of 24 when Vicellous Reon Shannon was cast as President David Palmer's son. Palmer, played by Dennis Haysbert (the Allstate Insurance guy), is 6'4 1/2". His son, while an exact age was never given, was portrayed as a man in his early 20s, full grown, and looked to be about 5'8". Have you ever in the history of your life met someone that much shorter than their parent of the same gender? First of all, I don't think I've ever met an adult in my life who is indeed shorter than their respective parent, and if I have, it certainly hasn't been by 8 1/2 inches. After seeing this discrepancy, I've polled many people on the topic, and even people whose voices got a little higher with their answer, "Well, I'm not taller than my dad. Maybe the same height." Still not shorter.
I couldn't pay attention to any scene with Palmer's son in it because all I did was dwell on the inexplicable height difference. An easily fixed solution? Yes. Is Shannon that great of an actor that he couldn't easily be replaced by another young black man who happens to be closer in height to Haysbert? Have you ever heard of him until now?
Ironically, the only person I can think of who is actually shorter than their parent is Kiefer Sutherland, nearly by the same difference as Shannon and Haysbert. It's quite strange. I wonder how short Kiefer's mom is or was. Still doesn't excuse the discontinuity of the casting of Palmer's son. The Sutherlands are probably one in a million, and 24 already cast an amazon man as Jack Bauer's dad so they used up their one genetic anomaly with that.
Since then, I've been conditioned to notice this error in casting. Past shows like Home Improvement made the mistake of not checking with the parents of Jonathon Taylor Thomas or just not thinking the show would stay on as long for the youngest son to reach full height. The oldest and youngest sons on the show stood nearly a foot taller than JTT. I never really watched that show anyway. It was just something to make fun of if that topic was ever brought up.
Most recently, in the show Modern Family, the oldest daughter played by Sarah Hyland is only 5'2". I truly thought she was like 13 years old until I saw the episode where she gets her driver's license and decided to look her up. She is seriously 19 years old. If the show lasts several seasons(which I hope it will because it's hysterical), how will they explain the foot height difference among her, her siblings and the two tall actors cast to play her parents. It's bothersome. I believe the harmonious unlikely concept of the show more than I believe that 2 tall parents could spawn a daughter that short.
But now having to pick a show that's on at the actual time I want to watch T.V., I'm finding myself watching shows I normally would have skipped or at least only half watched, like Law & Order: Criminal Intent. They have now a new actress, Saffron Burrows, playing Det. Zach Nichol's (Jeff Goldblum's) partner Detective Serena Stevens. Her American accent is terrible so I obviously knew she was British (another pet peeve... Really? No American actress in all of Hollywood was better than a Brit playing an American). I actually don't mind Burrows that much in this role, though, so maybe she really was the best actress for the job. What bothers me is that her background is as a detective from Chicago. Ha. I'm from Chicago, and I've never heard a cop talk like her. Maybe she should go watch the Fugitive a hundred times and study up on those detectives in that movie (they're not real actors, they ARE actually Chicago cops). An easily fixed solution to this error in continuity besides changing where she's from: Nichols says, "You're from Chicago? You don't sound like it." Stevens answers, "My parents are British." Boom! 2 lines and the show moves on. They spend more time on suspense music than they would need to fix this error in her accent.
Finally, a major error in detail that has stuck in my mind for several years is from "That 70s Show". It was the episode when they all go to visit different colleges in Wisconsin, and they mention the Marquette Golden Eagles. Marquette didn't acquire the Golden Eagles mascot until 1994. Up until then, they were the Warriors.
You don't think the height difference actually happens in real life families? My mother was about 5'7, and my father 6 ft. They had four children. My brother, I, and my sister are all about the same height. 5'10 for my brother and I, and my sister is at 5'7, 5'8. My oldest brother however stands tall at little bit over 5 ft. My oldest brother and I take after my mothers face features and mannerisms. My brother and sister on the other hand take after my father. There is no doubt that we all have the same mother and father yet one of us is just much much shorter then the others. It's not written in stone. Just because your parents are of certain height does not mean you will be as well.
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