Leicaman

A Deadly State of Mind - S4-E6

Plot hole: Collier damages a post with his car as he leaves the driveway. His car would certainly have been damaged. The storyline is not long enough for Collier to have his car repaired. Columbo knows about the damaged post, but he never looks into how the damage occurred and never looks at Collier's car, which would have been incriminating.

Leicaman

A Deadly State of Mind - S4-E6

Plot hole: Collier's relationship with Nadia Donner is wildly improper, and her husband knows about it. It seems unlikely that nothing was done about it.

Leicaman

Playback - S4-E5

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.

Leicaman

Playback - S4-E5

Audio problem: Van Wick says he'll rewind the tape for Columbo. We hear the tape rewinding before he gets to the video room.

Leicaman

Troubled Waters - S4-E4

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.

Leicaman

Troubled Waters - S4-E4

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."

Leicaman

Troubled Waters - S4-E4

Other mistake: The captain and the doctor play very fast and loose with medical records privacy, letting Columbo see them and discussing them.

Leicaman

Troubled Waters - S4-E4

Plot hole: After Danziger fires the revolver into the mattress, Columbo compares that slug with the murder slug. He puts them both on a narrow railing. It is noticeably windy, and ships often roll with waves. Columbo would not risk losing both pieces of evidence.

Leicaman

Troubled Waters - S4-E4

Factual error: The nurse is smoking a cigarette in the sick bay. By 1975, when the show was recorded, that would not happen.

Leicaman

Troubled Waters - S4-E4

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.

Leicaman

By Dawn's Early Light - S4-E3

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).

Leicaman

An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1

Plot hole: When Columbo finds Stafford's street shoes in his locker, they are tied. How did Janus get his shoes off without untying them? If Janus did untie them, why did he retie them before putting them in the locker? And why didn't Columbo wonder why someone would take off his shoes and tie them before putting them away?

Leicaman

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.

Leicaman

Swan Song - S3-E7

Audio problem: Columbo walks down the steps into Tommy Brown's (Johnny Cash's) house to ask him some questions. He's on a gold-coloured carpet, but his shoes make sounds as if he were on a hard floor. Later, when he leaves, his feet don't make the sounds.

Leicaman

Swan Song - S3-E7

Character mistake: Tommy Brown (Johnny Cash) broke his left leg. Throughout the show, he uses his crutch and then his cane on the left side. It should be on the right (opposite) side.

Leicaman

Swan Song - S3-E7

Factual error: Columbo asks to borrow Colonel Mayehoff's phone. He dials only six numbers, not the proper seven.

Leicaman

The Greenhouse Jungle - S2-E2

Other mistake: When Columbo is examining the crashed Jaguar, we see silvery tape around the opening where the smashed headlight had been. The tape shouldn't be there.

Leicaman

The Greenhouse Jungle - S2-E2

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.

Leicaman

Short Fuse - S1-E7

Plot hole: We are told several times that the road to the mountain house is very narrow and difficult to negotiate. How did the very large crane get there so quickly to lift the bodies after the crash?

Leicaman

Double Exposure - S3-E4

Character mistake: After Columbo disturbs Dr. Kepple and his ball goes in the rough, Kepple says they are playing for rather high stakes. He picks up his ball, looks at it, and places it back on the ground. In a high stakes game, that would be cheating, and the other players would not have tolerated it.

Leicaman