History Headscratchers / SeventhHeaven

Why couldn't Lucy just tell Matt that Sarah and Jenn changed their destination and ask him to drive her to the burger place instead of dropping her off at the pizza place for Sarah/Jenn to pick her up/drive her there? What was the point of dropping her off at the pizza place only to be picked up by different drivers to go to a different place?

She forsakes going to college during both Season 05 (which starts at the September after her High School graduation, with her 18 years old) and Season 06. Beginning Season 07, she abruptly moves away to be a flight attendant in Florida; since she had already had been a flight attendant, to her liking, for some time, and these episodes are set in September/October in which it is too late anyway to enroll in the current college year, we can assume that she didn't go to college during Season 07 either. Which leaves Seasons 08, 09 and 10--three years--to graduate in New York. This is too short of a time; graduating college takes four full-time years, and she seems to have still worked as a flight attendant (with the extremely hectic work schedule that entails) once she starts living in New York, that alone would not leave her time to go to college--not to mention she also had a baby in the meantime.

* Aside from Eric wanting to help his younger sister Julie recover from her alcoholism, there's absolutely no justification for having her detox at the family home. In RealLife, alcohol detoxing at home is [[http://americanaddictioncenters.org/withdrawal-timelines-treatments/alcohol-benzos-at-home/ never recommended]], something that Eric should've known since he claimed to know more knowledge about drug rehabilitation that some of the doctors at the hospital (which, in itself, is a terrible assumption, since he's a ''minister''). The episode itself partially shows the consequences of trying to detox an alcoholic at home, and Eric briefly reconsiders taking her to the hospital (which would be the logical choice), but is discouraged by Julie herself - despite the fact she obviously isn't medically trained to make that opinion.

* The highly {{Anvilicious}} episode "Smoking" features [[StrawLoser straw smoker]] Betty, who is shown to be a rude and inconsiderate {{Jerkass}} who is only defined by her smoking trait. She goes on a date with Ben, and when the answer machine to her house doesn't pick up, she immediately assumes a possible burglar (which doesn't make sense, but one problem at a time). Ben, Betty, and Kevin (who went along with the two) arrive at the house, and discover that it has been burned to the ground, with the firefighters informing the trio that a cigarette set the blaze. This brings up multiple questions: [[ArtisticLicensePhysics How did the]] ''[[ArtisticLicensePhysics entire house]]'' [[ArtisticLicensePhysics burn down in the span of about an hour?]] How did the firefighters figure out the cause of the fire when the whole house is reduced to ashes? More importantly, how did they find out so fast? How did the firefighter know of Ben, Betty, and Kevin's connection to the house, since they clearly just arrived? Why is the front door standing without support? This entire episode, however, seems to avert logic in order to give us the {{Anvilicious}} Aesop that smoking is bad.
* In the episode about Annie's mother's funeral, Annie is furious at both her father and Eric for basically abandoning her on the occasion. Her father literally just doesn't come to the funeral, while Eric spends a large portion of the day counseling a couple who are having marriage issues; I don't remember the exact details but something about their marriage not being as legally binding as they'd originally thought. Annie gets pissed at her various relatives a lot in the series, but this was one of the times where it seemed legitimately warranted. The end of the show focused on this married couple renewing their vows, with the wife even wearing a dress Eric borrowed ''from Annie's closet''. I can understand why the show would be trying to give the impression that 'life goes on' and 'we should keep living' and whatnot, but I really thought Annie deserved one hell of an apology from her husband.

* Why does everyone in Glenoak seem to be extremely conservative? For example, whenever a teenage girl gets pregnant, marriage to the baby's father seems to be the ''only'' option for her now (even though in RealLife, she could just either get an abortion or give the baby up for adoption, but of course, RuleOfDrama applies to this show), even though this would ''very'' damaging to her. Plus, abortion and birth control are never or barely mentioned, men and women can't live together unless if they are intending to get married or are related (never as friends), while most of the characters seem to attend church on a weekly basis. Also, there's no sense of diversity when it comes to religious beliefs (the show does introduce [[TokenMinority token religious people]] though their only function seemed to be to [[LongLostUncleAesop show up once to deliver an]] [[{{Anvilicious}} not-so-unsubtle aesop about religious intolerance, or to remind viewers that Glenoak is religiously diverse]]). Once again, that wouldn't be realistic, mostly because secular views have been increasing since the second half of the 20th century. Then again, it is a small town...
** One example is when Cecilia's parents decide to get married, having delayed their previous one because of their daughter's birth. Marriage is treated like the only option in this case, and while Cecilia's parents do love each other, that doesn't apply in every case.
** [[FridgeBrilliance Obviously, Glenoak is]] [[EverytownAmerica your run-of-the-mill conservative small town]]
** Or maybe ''7th Heaven'' [[PanderingToTheBase is a '50s fantasy tailor-made for Christian viewers]].

** Becomes FridgeBrilliance (likely unintentional on the part of the show runners) when you know that some areas do have sex education programs that basically boil down to "just be abstinent because all birth control fails most of the time, take our word for it." These areas tend to have ''much higher'' rates of teen pregnancy than areas with more balanced and comprehensive sex education. Many teens are likely to have sex no matter how often they're told not to, but if they're simultaneously led to believe that all birth control methods just flat-out don't work...

** Becomes FridgeBrilliance (likely unintentional on the part of the show runners) when you know that some areas do have sex education programs that basically boil down to "just be abstinent because all birth control fails most of the time." The kicker? These areas tend to have ''much higher'' rates of teen pregnancy than areas with more balanced and comprehensive sex education. Many teens are likely to have sex no matter how often they're told not to, but if they're simultaneously led to believe that all birth control methods just flat-out don't work...

** Can't agree the above assumption holds up. E.g., "Aunt Julie" is established to be an alcoholic in season 1, and four years later in season 5, when Mary's drinking a beer in Julie's house, Julies BerserkButton about this is apparently hit because she makes it a point that she identifies herself a recovering alcoholic, and is strongly opposed to the presence of ''any'' alcohol in her house. Also, what about Mary's "fall from grace", which was pretty much dragged out over about a season-and-a-half?

** Frankie explicitly told that her mother ''would'' babysit when Frankie worked at the pizzeria, but only for that and ''not'' for other occasions; specifically not for social or recreational occasions. When Frankie later says her mother doesn't babysit ''anymore'', she means her mother now has stopped babysitting completely (during Frankie's work too now) [[note]]IIRC, when Frankie "dumps" her baby with Mary at Julie's house, Frankie is saying she needs to because she has to work[/note]].

* How can a town the size of Glenoak [[note]]As mentioned in other Headscratchers here, Glenoak seems to be so small that everyone knows everyone.[[/note]] have not only its own: hospital, college, multiple high schools (there's at least one public one and one private one, seeing as Ruthie is the only one sent to the latter), and most inexplicably of all, its ''own airport'' - that has direct flights to Buffalo, NY which is itself not the biggest city, and is apparently busy enough for airline attendants to be stationed in?

* On the flipside of the above-mentioned things Glenoak should be too small for, it ''lacks'' some things you would expect. E.g. a teenage girl who cuts herself, is sent on Eric's recommendation to get psychiatric treatment for that all the way on the other end of the country. You'd certainly think Glenoak has psychiatrists, including ones specialized for teenagers or to treat this specific problem.
* Why does everyone in Glenoak seem to be extremely conservative? For example, whenever a teenaged girl gets pregnant, marriage to the baby's father seems to be the ''only'' option for her now (even though in RealLife, she could just either get an abortion or give the baby up for adoption, but of course, RuleOfDrama applies to this show), even though this would ''very'' damaging to her. Plus, abortion and birth control are never or barely mentioned, men and women can't live together unless if they are intending to get married or are related (never as friends), while most of the characters seem to attend church on a weekly basis. Also, there's no sense of diversity when it comes to religious beliefs (the show does introduce [[TokenMinority token religious people]] though their only function seemed to be to [[LongLostUncleAesop show up once to deliver an]] [[{{Anvilicious}} not-so-unsubtle aesop about religious intolerance, or to remind viewers that Glenoak is religiously diverse]]). Once again, that wouldn't be realistic, mostly because secular views have been increasing since the second half of the 20th century. Then again, it is a small town...

** Because Eric Camden's job was portrayed as basically a social-worker-but-then-again-a-religious-as-opposed-to-secular-version-of-that. Heck, for a show considered to be "notoriously Christian", if you think about it, actually only a tiny amount of his job portrayal involves him delivering sermons etc., and 95% of it seems to be to function as what comes down to a social worker. The Glenoak Police Department consulted him frequently in a way a RealLife police department, would consult an ''actual'' social worker.

* There is a disturbing amount of pregnant teenagers on this show, more than most shows would have. In the United States, the teen pregnancy rate peaked in the '50s and has been declining ever since with the introduction of condoms and birth control, and the legalization of abortion. How come there appeared to be a shortage of condoms or morning-after pills, or anything like that? What about a sex education class in school? Actually, the word "birth control" is never used, as is "abortion" (not surprising, considering the show's super-clean Christian image).

* Aside from Eric wanting to help his younger sister Julie recover from her alcoholism, there's absolutely no justification for having her detox at the family home. In RealLife, alcohol detoxing at home is [[http://americanaddictioncenters.org/withdrawal-timelines-treatments/alcohol-benzos-at-home/ never recommended]], something that Eric should've known since he claimed to know more knowledge about drug rehabilitation that some of the doctors at the hospital (which, in itself, is a terrible assumption, since he's a ''minister''). The episode itself partially shows the consequences of trying to detox an alcoholic at home, and Eric briefly reconsiders taking her to the hospital (which would be the logical choice), though is discouraged by Julie herself - despite the fact she obviously isn't medically trained to make that opinion.

** However, that could chocked up to Eric's mother deciding to stay in Binghamton while her husband was stationed somewhere else, and while that doesn't occur that much, it still could happen.
* The highly {{Anvilicious}} episode "Smoking" features [[StrawLoser straw smoker]] Betty, who is shown to be a rude and inconsiderate {{Jerkass}} who is only defined by her smoking trait. She goes on a date with Ben, and when the answer machine to her house doesn't pick up, she immediately assumes a possible burglar (which doesn't make sense, but one problem at a time). Ben, Betty, and Kevin (who went along with the two) arrive at the house, and discover that it has been burned to the ground, with the firefighters informing the trio that a cigarette set the blaze. This brings up multiple questions: [[ArtisticLicensePhysics How did the]] ''[[ArtisticLicensePhysics entire house]]'' [[ArtisticLicensePhysics burn down in the span of about an hour?]] How did the firefighters figure out the cause of the fire when the whole house is reduced to ashes? More importantly, how did they find out so fast? How did the firefighter know of Ben, Betty, and Kevin's connection to the house, since they clearly just arrived? Why is the front door standing without support? This entire episode, however, seems to avert logic in order to give us the {{Anvilicious}} Aesop that smoking is bad.

* The highly {{Anvilicious}} episode "Smoking" features [[StrawLoser straw smoker]] Betty, who is shown to be a rude and inconsiderate {{Jerkass}} who is only defined by her smoking trait. She goes on a date with Ben, and when the answer machine to her house doesn't pick up, she immediately assumes a possible burglar (which doesn't make sense, but one problem at a time). Ben, Betty, and Kevin (who went along with the two) arrive at the house, and discover that it has been burned to the ground, with the firefighters informing the trio that a cigarette set the blaze. This brings up multiple questions: [[ArtisticLicensePhysics How did the ''entire house'' burn down in the span of about an hour?]] How did the firefighters figure out the cause of the fire when the whole house is reduced to ashes? More importantly, how did they find out so fast? How did the firefighter know of Ben, Betty, and Kevin's connection to the house, since they clearly just arrived? Why is the front door standing without support? This entire episode, however, seems to avert logic in order to give us the {{Anvilicious}} Aesop that smoking is bad.

** However, that could chocked up to Eric's mother deciding to stay in Binghamton while her husband was stationed somewhere else, and while that doesn't occur that much, it still could happen.

* Aside from Eric wanting to help his younger sister Julie recover from her alcoholism, there's absolutely no justification for having her detox at the family home. In RealLife, alcohol detoxing at home is [[http://americanaddictioncenters.org/withdrawal-timelines-treatments/alcohol-benzos-at-home/ never recommended]], something that Eric should've known since he claimed to know more knowledge about drug rehabilitation that some of the doctors at the hospital (which, in itself, is a terrible assumption, since he's a ''minister''). The episode itself partially shows the consequences of trying to detox an alcoholic at home, and Eric briefly reconsiders taking her to the hospital (which would be the logical choice), though is discouraged by Julie herself - despite the fact she obviously isn't medically trained to make that opinion.

* There's one episode where the entire town gossips about Mary's departure, and the Camdens in general. Why? The Camdens aren't the most interesting people in the world, and most people in RealLife would just ignore their problems because they have their own, and growing up in a small town, most people would just mention it and then go on with their own lives.

* In one episode, Mary's friend Frankie stated that her mother wouldn't babysit her baby daughter because of her TeenPregnancy with said child. However, in the following episode, she says to Mary that her mother won't babysit anymore after her arrest for marijuana possession. Was Frankie lying, or simply doublespeaking?

* In numerous episodes, it appears that whenever a member of the Camden family (more likely than not, Eric) suggests that a troubled person get help or do something they ask them to do, they do it. It seems as if the Camdens have a way with words in which no one will refuse to make an offer. I mean, the show depicts them as a good family, but no one is ''that'' susceptible to other people's suggestions. Prime example: when Eric asks Mary's ex-boss of the whereabouts of Mary's friends, Johnny and Frankie (the former being the owner's nephew), the man is instantly worried and ''shuts down the pizza shop, instead of let's say, asking someone else to watch the shop while he was gone''. Also goes under FridgeLogic.