Character mistake: Twice, Brenner refers to the T-33 aircraft as the Silver Star. The name of the T-33 was the Shooting Star.
Other mistake: In the dart scene, Columbo needed 66 to win, he missed his first two darts so only has one dart left, he hit the 25 or bullseye which is 50 but somehow wins.
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."
Continuity mistake: Close to the end when Colombo is talking to Patrick Kinsley he is holding up the bag with the cigar-end; the bag is upside down. In the next shot from behind the bag is the right way.
Sex and the Married Detective - S8-E3
Continuity mistake: When Dr Allenby is getting dressed for the first time as the lady in black she puts on a camisole under garment with a high v-neck neckline. In the next scene she is wearing a deep v black jacket but there is no sign of the camisole underneath.
Continuity mistake: Columbo stops Mr. Finch on the road after following him from Biltmore hotel; as Columbo is speaking with him, the cigar in Columbo's hand is always in Finch's shot, even after we see Columbo place his hand on the roof. Plus after we see him put his hand down, the cigar ash keeps going from 1" to nothing. (01:44:20)
Butterfly in Shades of Grey - S12-E2
Other mistake: Fielding Chase and Lieutenant Columbo are on a road in the mountains above Malibu and Chase's car will not start. He tries unsuccessfully to call the Automobile Club on his mobile phone. He tells Columbo the phone number is "555-4411" but each time he tries to call, he presses nine digits.
Butterfly in Shades of Grey - S12-E2
Continuity mistake: From his estate, Fielding Chase looks toward his front gate and sees smoke coming from the engine of Columbo's car. When we see Columbo standing atop the car and yelling for Chase to open the gate, there is no smoke.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Undercover - S12-E3
Continuity mistake: When Krutch speaks to Columbo on the phone about 40 minutes into the show, his voice sounds like he has a cold. Earlier and later in the show, his voice doesn't sound like that.
Character mistake: Columbo talks to the cardiologist. The doctor gives him information about his patient, Mr. Williamson. Columbo has no warrant, so the doctor is violating privilege. He wouldn't give that information to Columbo.
Dead Weight - S1-E4
Other mistake: Columbo goes into a diner and has a bowl of chili. The cook asks if he wants his coffee black. Later he asks if he wants cream and sugar in his coffee.
Other mistake: When Rosanna's body is brought to the ship's medical room, the doctor confirms that there are no bruises on the body, but she had been forcibly slapped in the face earlier that day by Mr Danzinger (Robert Vaughn). The slap was hard enough to knock her over therefore a bruise should be visible, even through make-up.
Plot hole: The cruise ship is sailing from LA to Mazatlan in Mexico. Looking at a map, the ship will hug the west coast on its journey therefore is never far away from land. The murder takes place on the first evening of the cruise only a few hours after setting sail by which time they won't be far from San Diego. Why didn't the captain order the ship into San Diego or another suitable harbour and let the police take over the investigation?
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.
Continuity mistake: When Columbo meets Goldie for the first time she is having a massage. She then proceeds to dress by tying a dressing gown with a bow at the front. In the next shot the dressing gown is open with the tie at the back.
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.
KeyZOid
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."
KeyZOid