Here's one that Phil Farrand would probably file under "Continuity & Production Problems:" in the early Matlock episode "The Author," Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith) questions Mary Ann Newton (Audra Lindley), the author of the steamy, semi-fictional novel Secret Confessions, hated by everyone in the small town of Hastings and presumed to be the intended target of a murder that claimed the life of the town preacher.
Matlock has come to believe that the preacher, himself an aspiring author rejected by several publishing houses, is the true author of Secret Confessions, and that Mary Ann wanted him dead so the truth of the book's authorship never came out. Since the preacher was killed in Mary Ann's house, it was natural for everyone to assume that the killer meant the bullet for Mary Ann. However, Mary Ann is much more concerned with asserting her authorship of the book than with asserting her innocence (or guilt) in the murder of the preacher.
As Margaret repeats her claim to authorship of Secret Confessions over and over again, the camera pulls back to emphasize her smallness and aloneness in the vast courtroom. But where did the judge go? For that matter, where did Ben go? Ben's absence from the shot is easier to justify; we can just say he went back to his chair next to his client. I suppose we could chalk the judge's absence from the shot to artistic license: Mary Ann is suddenly as literally alone as she was figuratively. But I have to seriously wonder if anyone thought about calling the actor playing the judge back to the set for that shot.
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