Columbo (1971)

5 continuity mistakes in season 3

★★★★☆

(34 votes)

Starring: Peter Falk

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

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Track show

Lovely But Lethal - S3-E1

Continuity mistake: Viveca's beauty mark switches cheeks several times between shots while she talks to her assistant. (00:07:45)

Jean G

Lovely But Lethal - S3-E1

Continuity mistake: Dr. Murcheson is not wearing gloves when he scrapes the women's faces. Then he goes into another room and removes a gray glove from his left hand.

Leicaman

Candidate for Crime - S3-E3

Continuity mistake: During his poolside talk with Nelson Hayward, Columbo carries a large cardboard box under one arm. His coat tail is hanging straight at his side in the master shot, but when it cuts to another angle, the coat is draped over more than half of the box. (01:15:00)

Jean G

Lovely But Lethal - S3-E1

Continuity mistake: Just before Viveca murders Martin Sheen, she scribbles an amount on magazine-her nailpolish is red. Seconds later after the murder with the microscope, Vera's nailpolish is a completely different color, mauve.

Double Exposure - S3-E4

Continuity mistake: Just before the end we see a slide of Columbo looking at the lamp, but in the next shot of Columbo the slide is reversed.

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Mistakes

The Most Crucial Game - S2-E3

Factual error: Probably an in joke - the wheels of the "airliner" shown landing at LA international airport are those of a B52 bomber. They are very distinctive and look nothing like those on any airliner ever made.

PEDAUNT

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Quotes

Columbo: Oh, I didn't come to ask any more questions. I came to arrest you.

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Trivia

A Deadly State of Mind - S4-E6

Trivia: Unusually enough for a television show devoted to a homicide detective and the way he unravels the plans of cunning murderers, the fact is that Columbo has nothing to do in this episode. Doctor Collier is seriously assaulted by Carl Donner who then goes on to violently attack his wife. Use of deadly force to prevent such an attack is allowed in the United States. Collier does not commit murder; he doesn't even commit a crime. You'd think such a hightly educated man would know enough to keep his head, call the police and explain what had happened. He wouldn't even be charged.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Collier would have lost his licence to practice medicine as a result of his having a sexual relationship with a patient, and his killing the woman's husband - justified or not - would have made this much worse. For a start, the lucrative book deal he is about to sign would certainly have been cancelled. He stands to lose everything. Of course he is going to try to cover it up by any means possible, including committing another murder.

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Questions

Any Old Port in a Storm - S3-E2

Question: As a homicide detective, why would Columbo have been present at an apparent drowning incident?

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

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