It seems as if seasons 1-3, only a few months pass by, then it's Christmas (since season 3 is the first time they did a Christmas show), and shortly after, Katie finally graduates high school at the end of season 3.

Julie was a year below Katie and stayed that way until season 4, when she was a senior in high school.

It wasn't clear what grade Sam was in both in seasons 1 and 2. She was mentioned to have been 12/13 in the first season. I'm guessing she was in
8th grade, and stayed that way until season 3, when she entered high school.


Once season 3 came about, things seemed easier with the schooling of the girls.



It's just weird how they didn't graduate Katie at the end of season 1 and Julie at the end of season 2, and it makes things much easier on fans when they think of seasons 1-3 as two or 3 months in the life of the Kanisky's gone by, maybe even having fans think Sam was a Freshman in high school already when the show began but a total goof. Seasons 1-2 and early 3 could be events that happen before Christmas, in the fall, then the rest of season 3 can be the new year that followed. Then it gets easier after Katie graduated.

Being that I have had no luck in starting any conversation by posting my own threads, I will see what I can to by responding to this one. I too have noticed the inconsistencies in the girl's ages. In the first season it was implied that Katie was a senior. In "Katie the Cheat" she was all set to take her college entrence exam. It was stated in that episode that, if she dose well, she can start college that fall. However, we did not see her graduate until too years later! Some people might think that because she was a little on the slow side, she could have been held back a couple of years! However, I think that, if this is what the creators of the show wanted us to think, they should have mentioned this reality in at least one episode. There were also inconsistencies in how old the girls were in relation to each other. Oh well!

With the ages and school years...

Season 1:

Katie mentioned Sam's age to the Chief when she stole the squad car. I think she said either 12 or 13.

Julie said she was a Junior at Lincoln High.

Katie was graduating Spring of 1982 and would be in college that fall.




Season 2:

I don't recall much about their ages this season.



Season 3:

Sam said Herbie was her age, 14.

Katie graduated high school class of 1984.



Season 4:

Sam was impressed she was 15 and a woman when Leopold showed up.

Julie turned 18.

Jonathan said he was on the waiting list the next semester for Ancient Greek (Wasn't he graduating with Julie around this time? Wouldn't he be done high school? They were in high school together. He didn't mention college once in that sentence, and he just said "next semester" so that could have meant he could have already been in college or they just wrote whatever they felt and didn't care when they wrote that.)



Season 5:

Jonathan went on the dig in Mexico and he wasn't in school. I believe he started off in school in the first few shows, then he just said he was accepted to go on the dig by a professor.



Season 6:

Sam turned 18.




There weren't many reference to the girls ages, they never showed them in school once, unlike other shows on at the time, they all showed the younger cast members in school (Diff'rent Strokes, Silver Spoons, The Facts Of Life, et.) GAB never once showed the girls in school. At least I don't recall it happening. Possibly they didn't want to build anymore sets. Plus with 3 girls, they might have needed to make more sets for different classes or keep changing things around for scenery. On Diff'rent Strokes, Arnold was always the one shown in school with Dudley, on Silver Spoons, Ricky and Alfonso, Punk Brewster, Punky and her friends. They were all in the same class together. The girls weren't, and maybe that's why they didn't want to show them in school since they were in all different grades. On Full House, this worked well, because they always showed the girls in school several episodes a season sometimes, on different sets and locations.

On "Different Stokes", it was usually Arnold who was shown in school. However, in the 84/85 season, I remember onc instance in which Willis was shown in school. This is the episode in which he was dating a girl who turned out to be a narcotics agent. We saw a couple of scenes of him in the hall. Also, when Kimberly first started public school, she wanted to join the swim team. We saw her in her bathing suit on the deck of the indoor pool. It was implied that this was part of the school.

With the ages and school years...

Season 1:

Katie mentioned Sam's age to the Chief when she stole the squad car. I think she said either 12 or 13.

Julie said she was a Junior at Lincoln High.

Katie was graduating Spring of 1982 and would be in college that fall.




Season 2:

I don't recall much about their ages this season.



Season 3:

Sam said Herbie was her age, 14.

Katie graduated high school class of 1984.



Season 4:

Sam was impressed she was 15 and a woman when Leopold showed up.

Julie turned 18.

Jonathan said he was on the waiting list the next semester for Ancient Greek (Wasn't he graduating with Julie around this time? Wouldn't he be done high school? They were in high school together. He didn't mention college once in that sentence, and he just said "next semester" so that could have meant he could have already been in college or they just wrote whatever they felt and didn't care when they wrote that.)



Season 5:

Jonathan went on the dig in Mexico and he wasn't in school. I believe he started off in school in the first few shows, then he just said he was accepted to go on the dig by a professor.



Season 6:

Sam turned 18.




There weren't many reference to the girls ages, they never showed them in school once, unlike other shows on at the time, they all showed the younger cast members in school (Diff'rent Strokes, Silver Spoons, The Facts Of Life, et.) GAB never once showed the girls in school. At least I don't recall it happening. Possibly they didn't want to build anymore sets. Plus with 3 girls, they might have needed to make more sets for different classes or keep changing things around for scenery. On Diff'rent Strokes, Arnold was always the one shown in school with Dudley, on Silver Spoons, Ricky and Alfonso, Punk Brewster, Punky and her friends. They were all in the same class together. The girls weren't, and maybe that's why they didn't want to show them in school since they were in all different grades. On Full House, this worked well, because they always showed the girls in school several episodes a season sometimes, on different sets and locations.

I never really payed much attention to the girls ages (TV never gets this right on any series I see).
I just knew that Katie was the oldest, Julie the middle girl and Samantha the youngest.
Any actual ages would have been confusing.
I guess this would add chaos to the production of the series.

I seem to remember a situation with Nell as well. She has a whole episode surrounding the death and funeral of her father only to talk about him still living a few episodes later in the season. If memory further serves, I think the level of inconsistent details continues at an alarming pace for a while. It can drive a person completely nuts when you see something and you are able to confirm that your suspicions are correct. Sigh...

I think that it is very appropriate that someone has recently brought up a thread that has to do with continuity errors. That is because, in an hour-and-a-half, TV Land will be showing a "Three's Company" episode that is part of a continuity error! The episode in question is called "Jack's Uncle". In this episode, Jack claims to be his uncle's only nephew. About two-and-a-half years later there is an episode in which Jack claims to have a brother! That is a clear inconsistency! One show that is chuck full of inconsistencies is the "Flintstones". A while back, I, in fact, started a thread on this page called "The Flintstones". This thread had to do with inconsistencies of schools of thought that were expressed on "Gimme a Break!". I think that I will raise that one to the top after I post this reply. See you in a minute!