Character mistake: When at the golf course, the golf pro says that the club Columbo has in his hand is a #1 wood. When they're outside, it's obvious that it is more like a #3 wood.
Factual error: Columbo is sent to investigate the murder of a man near the Santa Monica Pier. Santa Monica has its own police department. The LAPD has no jurisdiction there.
Character mistake: Columbo lies on Mrs. Van Wick's bed to demonstrate that she wouldn't be able to see the toy clown if the door was closed. He has his shoes on and puts them on the bedspread and never apologises for doing so. I don't think Columbo would be so inconsiderate.
Other mistake: In the cabin, Mrs. Danziger says he can pick up a pair of golf gloves in Acapulco. Golf gloves are normally sold as singles, not pairs. Very few people wear two golf gloves except in quite cold weather.
Character mistake: The crew of the ship is British. Most of them refer to Columbo as "Leftenant," but the doctor switches between "Leftenant" and "Lootenant."
Other mistake: The captain and the doctor play very fast and loose with medical records privacy, letting Columbo see them and discussing them.
Factual error: The nurse is smoking a cigarette in the sick bay. By 1975, when the show was recorded, that would not happen.
Factual error: The nurse brings Danziger a sedative and takes his blood pressure. She has her stethoscope in her ears backwards. A qualified nurse would not make that mistake. When she comes in after the murder to do it again, she has the stethoscope in correctly.
Audio problem: The clock striking wakes Columbo, and he gets out of bed. We see that he is barefoot. He takes a few steps in the barrack room, and we hear the sound he would make if he were wearing shoes. Then the sound gets louder and has an echo when we see him outdoors on the parade ground (in shoes).
An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1
Visible crew/equipment: When Janus parks his car at the health spa's service entrance, the reflection of filming equipment, including a large spotlight and the location's 9-bank array lighting, is visible on the car's surface. Then Janus lets himself in with his master key. (00:10:30)
An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1
Visible crew/equipment: While Columbo (wearing gym clothes) is in the deceased's office, he questions Janus about the barbell and other facts in the case. When Columbo walks toward the door, the overhead moving boom mic casts a shadow on the wall at the top of the screen. (01:21:40)
An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1
Visible crew/equipment: At Tricon, Columbo calls and leaves a message on Lewis Lacey's answering machine, then he heads to the elevator and grabs his cigar. When it cuts to Ruth Stafford at the piano, as she walks toward the door a T-mark is visible on the floor; then it's visible in following shots as well. (01:00:00)
An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1
Visible crew/equipment: After Columbo follows Janus from the beach back to the house, Janus asks the detective why he's there asking questions. Then, when Janus walks into his house, the boom mic is visible over the open door (and through the top window curtain); as Columbo follows him inside, the overhead boom mic is now visible through the curtain over the door as it pulls away. (00:47:30)
An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1
Visible crew/equipment: At the start, while Milo Janus is in Gene Stafford's office, Janus tells him, "Calm down, stress is bad for your blood pressure," and there's a visible T-mark on the carpet where Gene stands. When Gene walks back to his chair, another tape mark is visible on the carpet near the door. (00:03:20)
An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1
Other mistake: It is made clear that the barbell weighs 180 pounds. When we see Janus put it across the neck of Mr. Stafford, he moves it easily, as if it weighs perhaps 30 pounds. Although we know that Janus is very strong, no one could move 180 pounds that easily.
Murder with Too Many Notes - S13-E4
Visible crew/equipment: When Columbo accompanies Sidney Ritter downstairs to see the elevator that goes to the roof, they are alone, but as Ritter says, "I can't think what use this could be to you," the abdomen (with hand in pocket) of a crew member, wearing a blue shirt and brown pants, is visible at the right side of the screen. (01:07:10)
Continuity mistake: When Columbo is talking with a cadet, Columbo says that he was in the army. Later, when the Colonel mentions 2200 hours, Columbo asks him what time that is. If Columbo had been in the army, he certainly would have known that 2200 hours is 10:00 PM.
Continuity mistake: Columbo wears a tuxedo the entire episode. Hours after his nephew's wedding ceremony, when Columbo's at the police station investigating the bride's abduction, his bow tie is hanging loosely around his neck. Shortly after, as he and the other detectives rush to the photography studio, the bow is now properly tied. This situation was too dire to bother redoing it, nor does Columbo ever worry about his appearance.
Continuity mistake: There are several views of Uncle Jarvis in his (beautiful) Bentley S2 Continental from the front. We see the inside rear-view mirror, and it is correct. When we see him spot the police behind him through the mirror, it is a different mirror and not the correct one for that car.
Answer: "Apparent" drowning answers your question - things are not always as they seem. Drowning could be accidental, but it could also be a murder in disguise. Moreover, the actual cause of death has not yet been determined - accident, suicide, murder, or natural cause (e.g, heart attack while swimming). Columbo would be there to investigate if anything looks unusual for it to be a mere drowning or if there is evidence or suspicion of something else.
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This was just on TMZ.com's "Aaron Carter Dead at 34" (11/05/2022): "Law enforcement sources tell TMZ... homicide detectives have been dispatched to the scene but we have no information or evidence of foul play. It's standard operating procedure for homicide detectives to investigate such [drowning] death scenes."
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