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.
Steven Lee
18th Mar 2025
Columbo (1971)
9th Apr 2021
Columbo (1971)
Dead Weight - S1-E4
Other mistake: Columbia calls Helen Stewart from a pay phone. He dials only six numbers, not seven.
20th Jul 2020
Columbo (1971)
Character mistake: Piloting a helicopter, Leslie ends a radio conversation by saying "Over and out." "Over" means "I'm done talking; please respond." "Out" means "I'm done talking and I'm ending this communication." An experienced pilot would never say "Over and out." They are two different terms.
5th Apr 2020
Columbo (1971)
Other mistake: Over a public address system, Cahill tells his staff to quit working on their World War III scenarios until "after lunch." He immediately returns to his office and the wall clock shows the time as 4:30.
10th Jan 2020
Columbo (1971)
Character mistake: This episode opens with James Ferris typing the final chapter of a mystery novel. He is using all-capital letters, No professional writer would do that.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: It's not meant to be all capital letters, but block letters. Just look at the title card and credits in the opening - they're block letters too.
9th Oct 2019
Columbo (1971)
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."
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