mdwalker

Night of the Coyote - S9-E6

Factual error: Celestial navigation can determine one's position on the earth's surface to within about one mile, not precise enough to give the location of a buried treasure. It also requires more than a sextant. It requires tables published in a nautical almanac (which is updated each year), charts on which to plot lines of position, and an accurate chronometer that is set to the precise time at the Prime Meridian (Greenwich Mean Time).

mdwalker

The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case - S6-E3

Factual error: A "silencer" (properly called a "suppressor") does not muffle a gunshot to a whisper. An unsuppressed gunshot is about 160 dB, equivalent to a jet airliner taking off, but a suppressed gunshot still registers about 100 dB, equivalent to a power lawn mower. Also, a suppressor on a revolver is totally useless, because most of the noise comes from the gap between the front of the cylinder and the rear of the barrel.

mdwalker

Factual error: When Blackthorne is on Rodrigues' ship, Rodrigues offers him grog. But grog was only invented in 1740, by British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon, whose nickname was "Old Grog" because of his preference for coats made of grogram cloth.

mdwalker

Who Killed J.B. Fletcher? - S7-E14

Factual error: Bremerton, Washington is not a hick town as depicted in this episode (it is the home of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, a US Navy installation that employs 14,000 people) and the people there do not have southern accents.

mdwalker

Dead Letter - S6-E6

Factual error: Unlike the Connie Kowalski character in this episode, real insurance investigators are not trained in arson investigation. Insurance investigators search for evidence of fraud relating to insurance claims. Arson investigators are professional firefighters who have had extensive additional training in arson investigation.

mdwalker

Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble - S5-E13

Factual error: The only instances of "witchcraft" or "witch trials" in America were in Salem, Massachusetts. There were none in Maine or anywhere else. The Salem witch trials spanned 15 months, from February, 1692 to May 1693. Over 200 people were accused of witchcraft, but only 30 were found guilty. Of the 30, 14 women and 5 men were executed by hanging and one man, Giles Corey, was executed by "pressing." Another five died in jail, but none were burned at the stake, which was a punishment unique to Europe.

mdwalker

The Most Dangerous Match - S2-E7

Factual error: Clayton tells Columbo that he had purchased a new transistor for his hearing aid. Hearing aids - even the old types in use in the 1970's - do not have any user-replaceable parts. The only thing that can be replaced is the battery.

mdwalker

Fire in the Hull, the Gipper's Bombshell and Electric Tricycle - S15-E9

Factual error: It is stated that exhibits in the Pima Air and Space Museum include a 1964 F/A-18 Super Hornet used by the Blue Angels. The FA-18 Hornet did not enter service until 1983, and the Super Hornet did not enter service until 1999.

mdwalker

Now You See Him - S5-E5

Factual error: Santini murders Jerome using a revolver with a silencer. Although this is one of the oldest Hollywood tropes, a silencer (properly called a suppressor) does not reduce a gunshot to a whisper; it only cuts the noise to about 110 dB, which is still very loud. In addition, suppressors do not work at all on revolvers, because most of the noise is generated in the gap between the cylinder and the barrel.

mdwalker

Forgotten Lady - S5-E1

Factual error: All LAPD officers must re-qualify with their weapons multiple times a year. If indeed Columbo could not "hit the target," as he says to another detective, he would never have made it through the police academy, much less have become a detective and have been promoted to sergeant and eventually to lieutenant.

mdwalker

Forgotten Lady - S5-E1

Factual error: Columbo gives another detective $5 to go to the gun range for him. Technically, that is a bribe and it would cost both Columbo and the other detective their badges.

mdwalker

The Witch's Curse - S8-E12

Factual error: "Witches" were burned at the stake in Europe, but not in America. In America, they were hanged.

mdwalker

Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, Forney, who is an enlisted man (a chief petty officer), replies to an officer's orders with, "very well, sir." Officers say "very well" to enlisted personnel, but for an enlisted man to say "very well" to an officer is a serious breach of naval etiquette.

mdwalker

Factual error: After checking the damage caused by the explosion, Gary Collins tells Dean Martin he's going to cut off the passenger oxygen, but that is something he could not do. Each passenger oxygen mask is part of an individual self-contained unit that uses a chemical reaction to generate oxygen. The reaction is initiated when a passenger pulls down on the mask, and once started, it cannot be stopped, but continues for 10 to 14 minutes.

mdwalker

Factual error: The Marines that arrive at the landing site are said to be from El Toro, but El Toro was a Marine Corps Air Station; it would not have had the infantry, artillery, and armored units that arrive at the site.

mdwalker

The Case of the Hesitant Hostess - S1-E29

Factual error: Supposedly, heroin is being smuggled into the country in secret compartments in women's purses, but the quantity of heroin that could be concealed in such a way would be so small as to be very unprofitable for the smugglers.

mdwalker

Factual error: When Clay Spencer and his brothers begin work on his dream house, they mix and pour the concrete for the foundation, then immediately begin putting up the framing. The concrete would have to cure for at least two weeks before the framing could be started.

mdwalker

Factual error: During the attack on Pearl Harbor, the destroyer Cassidy's aft 5-inch guns are moving, but they never fire.

mdwalker

Troubled Waters - S4-E4

Factual error: Several times, the revolver used to murder the singer is referred to as a "Weatherby" or "British Weatherby." Weatherby is an American manufacturer of rifles and shotguns; they do not make handguns. The revolver used is a Webley, which is of British manufacture.

mdwalker

Factual error: When Rodriguez is in his cabin with Blackthorne after having been saved by Yabu, he tells Blackthorne, "There's a bottle of grog over there." Grog was only invented, as it were, in 1740 by British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon, whose nickname was "Old Grog" because he wore a cloak of grogram cloth.

mdwalker