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.
Continuity mistake: When Raymond brings the doctor his milk and pill, the tray with the milk and pill are already on the bedside table.
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.
Factual error: Rakman Habib's driver's license shows that he lives in "Beverly Hills CA 91605." That is the ZIP code for North Hollywood, not Beverly Hills.
Character mistake: A valet tells Columbo that automobiles belonging to Sauri embassy personnel are repaired at a service station two blocks away. Later, when Columbo is speaking with Hassan Salah, he says, "I know your cars are taken to a service station three blocks away."
Factual error: Columbo asks for a red wine. His host orders a Beaujolais but the butler brings a Bordeaux. Beaujolais is from Burgundy, not Bordeaux. (01:18:40)
Factual error: The murder is solved based on the time the Chinese pulled out of the Olympics. (The episode was from 1975, so it must be the 1976 Olympics.) The Chinese never pulled out of the Olympics or threatened to do so. Taiwan was kicked out of the Olympics by Canada, but Columbo mentions that it was Peking, that is, Communist China.
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: Twice, Brenner refers to the T-33 aircraft as the Silver Star. The name of the T-33 was the Shooting Star.
Continuity mistake: Columbo tells Montoya he has to be back in Los Angeles on Monday. Then he tells Sanchez he has to be there on Tuesday.
Continuity mistake: At the cafe when Columbo talks with the police officer his cigar is in his hand in the back shots but disappears in the front shots.
Visible crew/equipment: The Great Santini makes a vase of flowers appear on a table. Before he holds up a cloth to conceal the vase as it appears, the tips of the flowers can be seen beyond the far edge of the table. As he pulls the cloth away, there is a quick glimpse of the hand of the crew member who put the flowers on the table. (00:11:00)
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.
Last Salute to the Commodore - S5-E6
Character mistake: After Commodore Otis Swanson is murdered, Columbo goes to the Swanson Shipyard to speak with the Commodore's nephew, Swanny Swanson. Columbo calls him "Mr. Swenson."
Answer: Columbo deduces that the first blow must have been to the front of the head, the force causing the victim to fall backwards and hit the back of his head hard on the ground.
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