Where did the parents go? In the episode about the military academy hundreds of guests come for the Founder's Day event. Then the gun explodes and they leave. Life goes on at the academy as if it was any other day. Rumford cancelled all other celebration activities, true - so we can assume time for parents and cadets had been planned. But regardless of cancellation or not I would think that if the families travelled to the event they would have remained and at least spend some time with their cadets. In fact wouldn't Rumford want that - the cadets just witnessed a gross tragedy and would need to spend time with the families, if not for anything but comfort. What makes this even odder is that we then see the cadets drilling, running, as if nothing happened. Rumford cancels the special events so then the cadets go to a regular routine? Unlikely.

More odd is that everyone on campus is incredibly unaffected by the explosion. Personally, if I saw someone blown away in such a way I might not juggle apples during lunch, or be able to march very well. Essentially I would not be able to do much of anything except talk about the accident. We see no sadness, no solemnity after the chapel scene. Its all very odd, but still great TV.

Good Observations!

I've been taking advantage of this site below to view the cannon before & after. They did a good job blackening it and making one wheel look like it sunk into the platform:

http://columboscreenshots.blogspot.com/2014/04/columbo-28-by-dawns-early-light-1974_7656.html

But wouldn't the cannon and stand probably have sustained more damage? I mean, the explosion was bad enough to kill someone. Wouldn't the wheels have been blown off? I know they weren't going to totally destroy the Citadel's cannon and stand, so I'm light and forgiving in my criticism, but just wondering. Or... "observing" to keep in theme with the original post :smiley:

It does look like the same (doctored) cannon in the same location. Did they just use "Hollywood magic" (in South Carolina) to discolor the cannon? I'm doubting they replaced it, because it does look like the same gun. How did they get one wheel to drive itself into the platform? The platform doesn't look altered, in close-up photos that I'm sure they never thought would be seen.

It's funny that 50 years ago, producers certainly never thought we'd be freeze-framing and zooming in on "Frank Columbo" badges or Citadel Cannons, but still, I think the show has done a nice job on details, to authenticate themselves!