X

Update alerts | Exclude type?

Columbo (1971) - 14 mistakes in entire show

Add actor/director information

Mistakes
Submit

Season: Whole show  1  2  3  5  12  All

Death Lends a Hand (season 1, episode 3)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: During his lunch with Brimmer, Columbo's wine and water glasses switch places several times.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Suitable for Framing (season 1, episode 5)

⇑
⇓

Character mistake: Art expert Dale Kingston describes Goya as 'the penultimate artist'. "Penultimate" has nothing to do with greatness or artistry, it means second to last. In this context the word is completely meaningless.

Edit

Short Fuse (season 1, episode 7)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: When Buckner's car leaves the chemical plant, it's a stretch limo with three bench seats. When it explodes on the mountain road a few scenes later, it's only a two-seat limo. (Buckner, who was initially in the distant rear seat, is suddenly close enough to reach up and take the cigar box the chauffeur hands him from the front seat. The entire middle section of the limo has disappeared.)

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time
⇑
⇓

Continuity: As Roger helps Columbo remove the pink Silly-String from his hair, the amount and configuration of the string differs radically with each change of camera angle.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Blueprint for Murder (season 1, episode 8)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: When Columbo confronts Markham in the lecture hall and helps him erase the chalk board, most of the word "architecture" remains, visible over Columbo's shoulder. In the next shot, it disappears.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Étude in Black (season 2, episode 1)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: When Columbo questions her about the carnations, Janice Benedict's sweater is either off her shoulders or covering them completely, depending on the shot.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Double Shock (season 2, episode 8)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: Columbo stands in the doorway of Lisa's balcony while he questions her, and her gold drapery catches and hangs over his right shoulder, where it remains in all the close-ups. When the shot cuts, the drapery is no longer caught on his shoulder, but is safely folded against the wall behind him.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Lovely But Lethal (season 3, episode 1)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: Viveca's beauty mark switches cheeks several times between shots while she talks to her assistant.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Any Old Port in a Storm (season 3, episode 2)

⇑
⇓

Audio problem: Pay phones always dropped your coin into an internal cash box when you finished your call. In the bar, Columbo makes two calls, and after the first, we hear the coin drop as it should. When he finishes the second call, we should hear that coin fall, too, but it doesn't.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Candidate for Crime (season 3, episode 3)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: During his poolside talk with Stone, Columbo carries a large cardboard box under one arm. His coat tail is hanging straight at his side in the master shot, but when it cuts to another angle, the coat is draped over more than half of the box.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Publish or Perish (season 3, episode 5)

⇑
⇓

Character mistake: Riley pays hired killer Eddie off with a wad of bills which he says totals a thousand dollars. But just the top note in the cash roll he hands Eddie is a $1000 bill - so obviously, it's more than a thousand dollars.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

A Friend in Deed (season 3, episode 8)

⇑
⇓

Revealing: In the opening scenes, it's pretty clear that the "corpse" in the bright red dress is breathing.

Edit Submitted by Jean G Time

Forgotten Lady (season 5, episode 1)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: When Raymond brings the doctor his milk and pill, the tray with the milk and pill are already on the bedside table.

Edit

Undercover (season 12, episode 3)

⇑
⇓

Continuity: Columbo ushers Krutch and Susan into an office for questioning. When he closes the door, the venetian blinds on it change from straight to misaligned and back again between shots.

Edit Submitted by Jean G