"Just one more thing...": Rewatching Columbo

[Chris2]

I remember reading a column about the 1990s Columbos where the critic pointed out that the villains weren’t up to par with the 70s episode. The earlier episodes had villains played by actors with impressive resumes: Dick Van Dyke, Patrick McGoohan, Gene Barry, etc. And for this one we have the guy from “General Hospital”?

 

[Angela Channing]

I remember reading a column about the 1990s Columbos where the critic pointed out that the villains weren’t up to par with the 70s episode. The earlier episodes had villains played by actors with impressive resumes: Dick Van Dyke, Patrick McGoohan, Gene Barry, etc. And for this one we have the guy from “General Hospital”?

I agree with that. Although Faye Dunnaway, William Shatner, George Hamilton, Patrick McGoohan, George Wendt, Rip Torn and others played murderers in the revival series, overall the number of big names they had in significant roles was much less. There are several of the 1990s episodes that I've watched when I've thought it would have been so much better if a higher profile actor played a lead role. In Columbo Cries Wolf, imagine how much more interesting it would have been had someone like Tim Robbins had played the murderer.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I've looked at that website on the past and I've often not agreed with their ratings either. For example, they rate The Bye Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case as their favourite whereas I think it's only a middle ranking episode and they consider How To Dial a Murder as one of their worst but I really like that episode.

It just goes to show how personal our likes and dislike can be.

Yes, and I like that there's not one mind around the great and the not so great. If someone's finding things to enjoy in an episode I didn't like, it gives me food for thought and allows me to see the good things about it.

I remember reading a column about the 1990s Columbos where the critic pointed out that the villains weren’t up to par with the 70s episode. The earlier episodes had villains played by actors with impressive resumes: Dick Van Dyke, Patrick McGoohan, Gene Barry, etc. And for this one we have the guy from “General Hospital”?

Great point, and I'd agree with that as well.

There are several of the 1990s episodes that I've watched when I've thought it would have been so much better if a higher profile actor played a lead role. In Columbo Cries Wolf, imagine how much more interesting it would have been had someone like Tim Robbins had played the murderer.

Yes, that could have made it a very different experience.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Agenda For Murder

We’re back in some very familiar territory here. The political backdrop strongly evokes Candidate For Crime from back in 1973, while - most importantly - the killer is played by none other than Patrick McGoohan. Last seen as Nelson Brenner in Identity Crisis, and probably best remembered as Colonel Lyle Rumford in 1974’s By Dawn’s Early Light. Mr McG also takes directing duties here so it must be pointed out that - somewhat less favourably - his last connection with the series was directing the infamous Last Salute To The Commodore. Naturally, I was interested to see which end of that spectrum this episode would land.

Reassuringly, the first act set a very high bar. The motive is clear, the murder scheme nicely written and these opening twenty minutes are full of atmosphere. There’s nothing overly showy or attention-grabbing. Just honest to goodness story.

As in By Dawn’s Early Light, we spend a lot of time with McGoohan as he wordlessly prepares his murder scheme. Watching him tearing two pieces of kitchen foil from his kitchen, opening a bullet or breaking open a cigar creates an air of anticipation about where he’s going with it. It’s just fascinating to watch his attention to detail.

Of the recurring Columbo killers, McGoohan is the most impressive when it comes to getting deep into his characterisations. I could watch each of his episodes back-to-back and still struggle to recognise them as the same actor, so very different is he in each. Every facet of his character seems incredibly well-studied and ingrained. And he certainly looks different. In his portrayal of Oscar Finch I was strongly reminded of Alan Napier (best known to me as Alfred in the Batman TV series), which added an avuncular familiarity to his character. There was also a bit of the Donald Sutherland to him, which added a slightly sinister undertone.

His delivery is everything as he comes out with a series of acid drops designed to put down Columbo as the episode progresses. My favourite came towards the episode’s end as he gravely reminded the Lieutenant while shaking his head sadly: "All you have is a looooad of unsubstan-seee-aa-ted, circumstantial, popp-eeee-cock”.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Agenda For Murder

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Perhaps responding to Patrick McGoohan, Peter Falk’s Columbo is as endearing as he’s been in the new series. It’s a more restrained performance than I feel we’ve seen in recent episodes. There’s a welcome intensity and a balance of typically quirky Columbo moments and flashes of seriousness at times when he’s delivering warnings or on the verge of catching his prey. As Finch looks set to wriggle off the hook, there’s an air of genuine deflation and defeat to Columbo which brings meaning to the episode.

The energy between the two actors is electric. They’re fun to watch and there’s a sense that each challenges the other while secretly enjoying their interactions.

The broadest moment between the two comes when Columbo tells Finch one of the jokes that murder victim Frank Staplin was faxing to his wife (there’s a LOT of fax-talk in this episode with Columbo in particular marvelling at this new technology). As Columbo tells the joke, Finch glowers at him. At the end, there’s a long, silent beat as Finch continuers glaring and Columbo waits for the joke to “land”. Then Finch gives a loud, single, insincere “HA”. Then there’s another long beat before he begins (fake?) laughing hysterically.

It could be seen as overkill, but to me it wonderfully represents the balance of power shifting back and forth between them. Finch is humouring and mocking Columbo. Columbo simply waits patiently for the hysterics to stop before labouring his original point (why would a man commit suicide between two pages of jokes he was faxing to his wife?). Finch refuses to directly answer, gently taunting Columbo over what a dilemma he has before speeding off in his gorgeous 7-Series BMW.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Agenda For Murder

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It’s not just McGoohan with whom Falk has great chemistry. Denis Arndt as the slimy Congressman Mackey makes a great Columbo foil in his own right. One minute flashing his patronising grin at Columbo, the next raising his voice in warning as his patience ends. It’s fascinating to see him getting drawn into collusion with Finch through their shared “original sin” (the cause of the blackmail which prompted the murder). It’s a great role, and worlds apart from the lazy recent casting of secondary characters. At one point he even asks Columbo for his wife's name in order to send her his autograph. And Columbo responds "Mrs Columbo". Now we're really back on form, and the humour is genuinely funny once again.

Bruce Kirby is back as Sergeant Kramer. It’s a small role that almost goes under the radar due to his generosity of performance in allowing the other characters to do their things.

There’s also Anne Haney as Louise, the cigar-hating secretary who generously gives Columbo her spare aerosol of hard-to-find organic air freshener for Mrs Columbo. It looked for all the world like Glade to me, but perhaps that was hard to come by in 1990 Los Angeles. Anne is best known to me as the recast Polly in the infamously terrible Jaws The Revenge (a film for which I have a soft spot). It’s nice to see she still got work after that.

If I have one minor grievance with the episode, it’s the Gotcha. Not the way in which Columbo gains his evidence, which is clever and based in forensic evidence. It’s that one insert at the beginning of the episode which clearly showed Finch placing the half-nibbled cheese back onto the plate. To me, it telegraphed the Gotcha. I don’t know if this insert is McGoohan’s choice in direction or a dictate of others involved in production who felt it needed to be spelt out. Either way, for me it was a spoiler. Most viewers know this kind of insert is there to tell us something, and this particular close-up could only be telling us one thing. Perhaps it was less obvious three decades or so ago, but not much. Even in Seventies Columbo, clues have been placed with far more discretion and subtlety. Had the same action been shown as part of other actions, or in a longer shot it might have made the Gotcha more surprising while still giving the audience the chance to pick up on it. As it was, it was given everything but a neon arrow pointing at the teeth marks.

As I said, though. It’s a minor grievance. And it wasn’t the only clue. This episode has a lot going for it in terms of performances, writing and production values. There’s none of the silliness or gimmickry that has come to be a hallmark of this newer series and of all the episodes to date, this is one that could comfortably sit alongside classic Columbo without drawing many unfavourable comparisons. Indeed, it’s far better than a great deal of the Seventies episodes. I might even place this one somewhere in the bottom third of Premier League episodes. Which is quite an accolade given my feelings of the new series thus far.

Here’s hoping there will be other new Columbo episodes of this quality.

 

[Angela Channing]

this is one that could comfortably sit alongside classic Columbo without drawing many unfavourable comparisons. Indeed, it’s far better than a great deal of the Seventies episodes. I might even place this one somewhere in the bottom third of Premier League episodes. Which is quite an accolade given my feelings of the new series thus far.

Here’s hoping there will be other new Columbo episodes of this quality.

I'm glad you liked this one because I think it's great. One of the reasons why it works so will is that it feels very much like a classic Columbo episode from the 1970s and it follows the Columbo formula almost to the letter:

• meticulously planned murder
• charismatic killer
• high profile actor playing murderer
• great performances from the the leads and the supporting cast
• strong rapport between Columbo and the murderer
• clever gotcha

There are no gimmicks, no bad filler scenes, no forced humour scenes, just a straight forward telling of the story like some of the great episodes from the classic era and the appearance of Sgt Kramer adds to this nostalgic feel. Columbo also stomps all over the crime scene and moves things around, picks up the gun and generally compromises any subsequent forensic examination just like he did in the early episodes.

My favourite Patrick McGoohan episode is By Dawn's Early Light but I think this might be my favourite of his Columbo performances. He is so good in this and the strong chemistry he had with Peter Falk meant the latter gave one of his best performances of the New Columbo era. Apparently they were great friends in real life and the interactions between their two characters benefitted from their mutual respect and the ease they had with each other.

I wasn't so fond of the scene when they laugh hysterically at what was a lame joke and I felt it went on just a bit too long, however, I never before considered @Mel O'Drama's take on it that the murderer was humouring and mocking Columbo and when viewed like that it does make a bit more sense.

Although I previously called the gotcha "clever", like @Mel O'Drama said it was slightly telegraphed which kind of made the final reveal less impactful. I liked that it wasn't followed by a confession by Patrick McGoohan's character, he was too shrewd for that and it would have spoilt the ending. I thought it was done well in how he acknowledged Columbo's deductions without doing what I call "the Scooby Doo moment" when the killer completely capitulates.

I totally agree this episode ranks highly alongside some of the good episodes from the 1970s.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

it follows the Columbo formula almost to the letter:

• meticulously planned murder
• charismatic killer
• high profile actor playing murderer
• great performances from the the leads and the supporting cast
• strong rapport between Columbo and the murderer
• clever gotcha

There are no gimmicks, no bad filler scenes, no forced humour scenes, just a straight forward telling of the story like some of the great episodes from the classic era and the appearance of Sgt Kramer adds to this nostalgic feel. Columbo also stomps all over the crime scene and moves things around, picks up the gun and generally compromises any subsequent forensic examination just like he did in the early episodes.

Yes to all of the above. It's really everything I'd want from a Columbo episode and a nice example of how following the formula well can really benefit the series.

It's a really clever episode but it does so in a nicely understated way, without loudly telling us how clever it is.

I wasn't so fond of the scene when they laugh hysterically at what was a lame joke and I felt it went on just a bit too long, however, I never before considered @Mel O'Drama's take on it that the murderer was humouring and mocking Columbo and when viewed like that it does make a bit more sense.

Oh great. I'm glad I've (hopefully) helped you enjoy that scene a little bit more.

Although I previously called the gotcha "clever", like @Mel O'Drama said it was slightly telegraphed which kind of made the final reveal less impactful. I liked that it wasn't followed by a confession by Patrick McGoohan's character, he was too shrewd for that and it would have spoilt the ending. I thought it was done well in how he acknowledged Columbo's deductions without doing what I call "the Scooby Doo moment" when the killer completely capitulates.

Yes, I agree. It was pretty airtight, and I liked that the writing held back. For Finch to start telling all would have been an injustice to the character and it's good that was recognised.

I also really appreciated the intense seriousness of that Gotcha scene which was a great moment for both actors and Once they were in that side room was no goofing around on Columbo's part and so it was reminiscent of the old episodes where he'd tell the killer he was there to arrest them and you'd suddenly see the deadly serious detective hiding beneath the smiling, rumpled, bumbling exterior.

 

[Angela Channing]

Yes to all of the above. It's really everything I'd want from a Columbo episode and a nice example of how following the formula well can really benefit the series.

The only thing missing was that he could have taken the cheese out of one of his trademark brown paper bag from which he often reveals the gotcha.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The only thing missing was that he could have taken the cheese out of one of his trademark brown paper bag from which he often reveals the gotcha.

Ha ha. Yes - that would have been the icing on the cake.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Rest In Peace, Mrs. Columbo

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There’s lots to like about this episode, but there’s also a yin and yang element where each good point comes with a “but”.

For a start, the opening murder plan is given some breathing room, yet the murder itself was uncharacteristically graphic with the use of squibs to show the bullets hitting. Oh, and the murder didn’t open things. We’d just

There are some nice Columboisms throughout and Peter Falk gives a nice solid performance, full of warmth. For what I think is the first time in the revival, Columbo visits a regular favourite diner to indulge in chilli and crackers, though even this comes with a Nineties twist that the chilli is terrible as the regular chef has changed.

The supporting cast is terrific. Ian McShane is as charmingly roguish as ever. My favourite supporting role of the episode comes from Roscoe Lee Brown in an all-too-brief appearance as the killer’s former psychiatrist who warns Columbo of the danger he faces. There’s a wonderful rapport between Brown and Falk and it becomes one of the episode’s finest moments. What a shame he wasn’t given more screen time as it could have made for a surefire winner.

Helen Shaver as killer Vivian Dimitri is less captivating. She’s watchable enough in a workaday kind of way (and my goodness, doesn't she look like Michelle Pfeiffer from certain angles). But the presentation of her character’s unbalanced infatuation with Columbo and his wife just doesn’t work for me. The plot, character and motive would be a great fit in an old episode of Hart To Hart (didn’t they actually have an episode just like this?), but it’s just not Columbo.

There’s a balance between pretty, sunny scenery and some more moody moments, however this is also where the episode completely trips itself up. Because it’s all built on a lie. An elaborate, expensive, unnecessary lie. And worse still... one that failed to surprise.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Rest In Peace, Mrs. Columbo

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Any Columbo episode worth its salt hinges on the Gotcha, and there’s a feeling that, in addition to Columbo himself, writer Peter S. Fischer has gone all out with the aim of giving us a Gotcha that will really thrill. But for me it feels like too much of a cheat.

There’s the business about Mrs Columbo being killed with the poisoned marmalade. As if that’s not a stretch to begin with, it turns out Mrs Columbo isn’t dead after all. And even though I knew that was coming (did anyone not?), it couldn’t help feeling like a confirmation that much of what I’d just watched had been a waste of time. Goodness knows how I’d have felt had I bought into the idea that Mrs Columbo was dead.

And that’s the point. All signs seem to point to it being a real death. It's written as though the viewer is expected to buy into this lie. We’ve watched Columbo grieving. We watched his shock as he received the news about his wife. And his surprise as he found out his wife was poisoned. And we watched him react to the poison he had supposedly just consumed himself. So apparently, in addition to being a gifted detective, we’re asked to believe that Columbo is also a gifted actor. This simple, straight-down-the-line man, who gets self-conscious when asked to do something slightly outside his comfort zone has given the performance of a lifetime. All for the sake of gaining a confession, when they already had all the evidence they needed with the jar of marmalade.

Then there are practical questions. Who on earth paid for that funeral service and the grand-looking coffin? Did the LAPD really fork out thousands of dollars simply to confirm something they already knew? Why would Columbo take a mentally ill killer to the home of a subordinate? This is a woman who has nursed a grudge for years and gone all out to get her revenge. Can you imagine the problems this knowledge could cause, if not now then when she's released from her institutionalisation? It’s obscene and completely unbelievable.

Rest In Peace… is not a terrible episode. As I’ve already mentioned, its biggest crime is that it ultimately feels like a good episode of a fluffy Aaron Spelling produced crime mystery series.

To a 21st Century viewer the twists can be seen from a mile away, which has the end result of making the episode feel clunky and unintelligent. I might feel very differently if the episode were structured just a little differently.

Part of the reason Columbo is so timelessly good is because there’s transparency. The cards are on the table with the viewers. This one fails because it attempts to dupe and surprise the audience. And the more I've reflected on this, the more it feels like a betrayal of its viewers possibly making that final reveal, despite the episode's many good points, a jump the shark moment.

 

[Angela Channing]

Again another great review of a Columbo episode.

The plot, character and motive would be a great fit in an old episode of Hart To Hart (didn’t they actually have an episode just like this?), but it’s just not Columbo.

This summaries how I felt about this episode. It's not bad but it just wasn't Columbo. If they are going to play with the usual formula of the show they need to keep enough elements of how the show normally is so it doesn't feel entirely alien. I don't think they did that on this occasion.

I felt this episode more than any other was written considering how it would play on TV with commercial breaks. Constantly returning to the funeral with Columbo getting soaked in the rain and a voice over leading to a flashback to tell some of the story was clearly a re-introduction to the show after an ad break. I found this format annoying and it felt more like a structure to facilitate selling soap powder and toilet roll than to entertain the audience.

The title Rest In Peace Mrs Columbo also seemed to be chosen to look eye catching in a TV listing magazine or on a trailer for the show. Gives everyone the impression that she had died so we have to tune in to see what happened to her and maybe we would finally find out more who she was but it was all a cheat on the audience. It was like the TV equivalent of clickbait.

My other bug bear with the funeral was why were all these people at the funeral when at best they only had a peripheral connection with Columbo and more likely never knew the couple at all.

My favourite supporting role of the episode comes from Roscoe Lee Brown in an all-too-brief appearance as the killer’s former psychiatrist who warns Columbo of the danger he faces. There’s a wonderful rapport between Brown and Falk and it becomes one of the episode’s finest moments. What a shame he wasn’t given more screen time as it could have made for a surefire winner.

Yes and wouldn't he have made an interesting murderer in a episode? You can imagine him having a Adrian Carsini type rapport with Columbo.

Then there are practical questions. Who on earth paid for that funeral service and the grand-looking coffin? Did the LAPD really fork out thousands of dollars simply to confirm something they already knew? Why would Columbo take a mentally ill killer to the home of a subordinate? This is a woman who has nursed a grudge for years and gone all out to get her revenge. Can you imagine the problems this knowledge could cause, if not now then when she's released from her institutionalisation? It’s obscene and completely unbelievable.

All very good point s. I can forgive plot hole if it leads to making a show more entertaining or interesting but here it did neither and was just another cause for irritation.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I felt this episode more than any other was written considering how it would play on TV with commercial breaks. Constantly returning to the funeral with Columbo getting soaked in the rain and a voice over leading to a flashback to tell some of the story was clearly a re-introduction to the show after an ad break. I found this format annoying and it felt more like a structure to facilitate selling soap powder and toilet roll than to entertain the audience.

Yes, I agree. I thought it felt like an attempt to be flashy and clever, and I also couldn't help wondering if the plot's shortcomings would have been even more exposed if the story had been told in the traditional linear way.

The title Rest In Peace Mrs Columbo also seemed to be chosen to look eye catching in a TV listing magazine or on a trailer for the show. Gives everyone the impression that she had died so we have to tune in to see what happened to her and maybe we would finally find out more who she was but it was all a cheat on the audience. It was like the TV equivalent of clickbait.

That's a great point and I feel the same way.

My other bug bear with the funeral was why were all these people at the funeral when at best they only had a peripheral connection with Columbo and more likely never knew the couple at all.

Yes. It's that convenient episodic thing. I found myself trying to fill in the gaps, assuming that Columbo had asked them all to come along as part of his investigation, but it really just felt a bit lazy, especially with Columbo mentioning how busy his wife is with her social calendar of church groups and whatnot.

Yes and wouldn't he have made an interesting murderer in a episode? You can imagine him having a Adrian Carsini type rapport with Columbo.

Definitely. I'd like to have seen that. Not only does he have great screen chemistry with Peter Falk, he also has the perfect balance of gravitas and likeability that makes for a really enjoyable antagonist for Columbo.

I can forgive plot hole if it leads to making a show more entertaining or interesting but here it did neither and was just another cause for irritation.

Absolutely. I've had to accept that Columbo's methods are unorthodox and there's often a little suspension of disbelief with the Gotchas. As you said, though, since it didn't entertain or interest I found myself sighing under my breath as I watched.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Uneasy Lies The Crown

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One of the wittier episode titles, even if it’s a bit of a groaner. From the title I’d have expected it to be a spiritual successor to A Case Of Immunity. Instead it’s an episode about a killer dentist!

If I drew similarities to any earlier episode, it’s A Stitch In Time, which had a similar scheme to murder the victim through a slow acting method some time after a fairly routine medical procedure.

Naturally, Uneasy Lies The Crown throws in the obligatory soapy love triangle as motive. The revival series certainly has more of this kind of thing - at least it certainly shows us more of this kind of thing, which is not a change for the better. Did the indulgent profile shots of the cheating lovers tonguing one another add anything to the story? I think not. But hey: it’s the Nineties.

Speaking of Nineties, the aesthetic of the episode is - to my eyes - one of the more unpleasantly Nineties, with lots of bland, washed-out muted colours, double-breasted suits and trendy chrome adorning nightclubs.

The writing, though, feels very much like it’s in harmony with earlier Columbo, albeit not any specific episode (even though there were fragments here and there that evoked certain earlier events).

There were a couple of moments I could have lived without. As a comedic little moment, I’ll take Columbo faffing about with his cherry light if I must. But the business with the drink vending machine that he couldn’t stop felt like pure filler.

Mostly, though, the pacing worked well. There was a nice twenty four minute opening act (in PAL time), during which the well thought out scheme was put into effect. And I thought it was a particularly clever one. As it turns out, Steven Bochco had lifted this story from a 1977 episode of McMillan & Wife which he’d co-written (and in which Larry Hagman played the sneaky dentist). And while that’s a tad disappointing, it perhaps goes to show that the writing is king. A strong story is a strong story, and this episode surprised me with being a compelling watch when there was no real reason to think this was going to be anything other than a standard revival episode.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Uneasy Lies The Crown​

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There are some familiar faces here, though I must confess I wish some hadn’t been.

In good news, there’s the one who looks like Julianne Moore and who replaced Linda Hamilton in Beauty And The Beast. Jo Anderson gives a nice reading here as the cheating-but-vulnerable wife. And there’s Neal McVane from Dynasty (or C.C. Capwell from Santa Barbara) as the dentist’s father-in-law who can’t wait to push the younger man out of his practice and out of his daughter’s life. Again, it’s a nice, weighty performance. His grinning vengefulness made me think he’d have been a good fit for a Columbo killer.

But there’s also the bizarre addition of some old has-beens. There’s the replacement Darrin from Bewitched, a baseball player who really should stick to sports and an actress from… McMillan & Wife. Their presence as poker playing witnesses to the killer’s whereabouts was fine until Columbo interviewed them and it became apparent they were playing themselves. Then it became jarringly distracting.

I’m on the fence with the actor playing the killer. He pretty much held his own. But there’s also a blandly generic Nineties-ness to him. He could have been Matthew Perry or Jack Wagner or any number of other brash, overpaid young actors of the time. I can see why he was chosen for this role. He has a bit of a young Robert Culp look to him. But perhaps the age of the series and its star by this point went against him. His relative youth made it feel a little uneven and there was never any doubt that Columbo was going to outwit him. All the same, he did a nice enough job. And he certainly had the smug and smarmy thing down to a fine art.

The Gotcha was another that stretched credulity to its limit, what with Columbo outright lying in order elicit a confession, and the killer confessing at the very moment Columbo’s bluff would have been called had he continued. It also relied on some very convenient conversations, such as the sneezing waiter’s time-release coated medication. But for me - because the episode was so well-plotted overall it stayed the right side of the line and I liked the idea of Columbo out-bluffing the seasoned poker player.

Again, this is far from the best the series has to offer, but I think it’s a decent enough entry that stands alongside some of the Seventies episodes. In fact, of all the revival episodes so far I’d say this is a contender for my second favourite instalment after Agenda For Murder.

 

[Angela Channing]

Uneasy Lies The Crown is the most recent episode of Columbo that I've seen, I caught it on the channel 5 USA last year, so I have quite a good memory of it. While watching, it was bugging me where I had seen the murderer before so I visited IMBD to see what else he's been in but that didn't really help and I'm still not sure why he looked so familiar. He played Elle Wood's father in Legally Blonde so maybe I remembered him from that but it was a small insignificant role so I not sure if that was it. Then it suddenly hit me, I remembered him from this episode of Columbo when I had previously seen it!

The research I did wasn't wasted because that was how I found out about this:

As it turns out, Steven Bochco had lifted this story from a 1977 episode of McMillan & Wife which he’d co-written (and in which Larry Hagman played the sneaky dentist). And while that’s a tad disappointing, it perhaps goes to show that the writing is king. A strong story is a strong story, and this episode surprised me with being a compelling watch when there was no real reason to think this was going to be anything other than a standard revival episode.

What I read was that the episode was originally written for Columbo in the 1970s but Peter Falk didn't think the story was good enough and rejected it. Steven Bochco tweaked the script and turned it into an episode of McMillan. Standards weren't quite so high in the 1990s so they dusted off the script and filmed it as it was originally intended, as and episode of Columbo. I found the episode of McMillan online and it's fascinating to watch because it's almost identical and they made very few changes. Scenes that seemed like they weren't essential were in the original script so the poker scene was there and the coffee machine scene was there. Some of the dialogue was identical and all the characters' names were the same.

I also liked this episode of Columbo so I can't understand why it was rejected but Mind Over Mayhem and Last Salute To The Commodore were deemed to be good enough.

Columbo did his usual compromising of forensic evidence. When he inspects the car where the body was found, he get into it and holds the steering wheel and searches around while not wearing gloves. Any fingerprint or fibre examinations that were subsequently carried out would be worthless due to potential contamination. However, it was written in the 1970s when people were less aware of the value of forensics in crime scene examinations.

But there’s also the bizarre addition of some old has-beens. There’s the replacement Darrin from Bewitched, a baseball player who really should stick to sports and an actress from… McMillan & Wife. Their presence as poker playing witnesses to the killer’s whereabouts was fine until Columbo interviewed them and it became apparent they were playing themselves. Then it became jarringly distracting.

I knew Nancy Walker from McMillan & Wife and Dick Sargent from Bewtiched but who were the other 2 people, especially that annoying guy doing impressions who thought he was funnier than he actually was? The scene went on far too long and I couldn't help thinking if only that guy was the one who was murdered.

I’m on the fence with the actor playing the killer. He pretty much held his own.

I kind of liked him although if I was playing my fantasy casting with a bigger budget, Sean Penn would have been good in the role.

The Gotcha was another that stretched credulity to its limit, what with Columbo outright lying in order elicit a confession, and the killer confessing at the very moment Columbo’s bluff would have been called had he continued. It also relied on some very convenient conversations, such as the sneezing waiter’s time-release coated medication.

Columbo arrived at the dental surgery with his brown paper bag which is always a good sign but then he takes out a child's science kit. Why couldn't he have borrowed a pipette and some reagents from the forensic lab? Showing up with a toy just made him look ridiculous.

Again, this is far from the best the series has to offer, but I think it’s a decent enough entry that stands alongside some of the Seventies episodes. In fact, of all the revival episodes so far I’d say this is a contender for my second favourite instalment after Agenda For Murder.

It's definitely one of the better episodes of the reboot series.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Uneasy Lies The Crown is the most recent episode of Columbo that I've seen, I caught it on the channel 5 USA last year, so I have quite a good memory of it.

I've noticed that there's a channel that seems to show episodes of Columbo all day every day on a Sunday, which might be this one.

Then it suddenly hit me, I remembered him from this episode of Columbo when I had previously seen it!

I do wonder if that's the case with me when an actor seems familiar.

What I read was that the episode was originally written for Columbo in the 1970s but Peter Falk didn't think the story was good enough and rejected it. Steven Bochco tweaked the script and turned it into an episode of McMillan. Standards weren't quite so high in the 1990s so they dusted off the script and filmed it as it was originally intended, as and episode of Columbo.

Oh wow. So it's really come full circle then.

I found the episode of McMillan online and it's fascinating to watch because it's almost identical and they made very few changes. Scenes that seemed like they weren't essential were in the original script so the poker scene was there and the coffee machine scene was there. Some of the dialogue was identical and all the characters' names were the same.

That's incredible (and incredibly blatant). That really should be a huge strike against the episode, but I think the fact that it was so identical without the Nineties flourishes is what made it work. It kept things simple and it kept to the formula.

I'm quite intrigued by McMillan & Wife anyway, so hope to watch it at some point. There doesn't seem to be a UK edition still in print, but I'm sure if I keep my eyes peeled I might spot a decent copy or import.

Columbo did his usual compromising of forensic evidence. When he inspects the car where the body was found, he get into it and holds the steering wheel and searches around while not wearing gloves. Any fingerprint or fibre examinations that were subsequently carried out would be worthless due to potential contamination. However, it was written in the 1970s when people were less aware of the value of forensics in crime scene examinations.

Oh yes. I think he even does a bit of that in the episodes written in the Nineties. I like to think he's avoided most of his training on forensics like he did his firearms test or car inspection. Probably because he was hot on someone's trail and didn't want to take time away from the field to sit in a classroom.

who were the other 2 people, especially that annoying guy doing impressions who thought he was funnier than he actually was?

The other two people are billed as Ron Cey and Victor Bevine. Ron Cey was apparently in the LA Dodgers baseball team, so the terrible impressionist must have been actor Victor Bevine. According to IMDb he was in four episodes of The Trials of Rosie O'Neill which I watched very recently, but for the life of me I can't remember his character.

if I was playing my fantasy casting with a bigger budget, Sean Penn would have been good in the role.

That's a nice bit of fantasy casting. I can see that working really well.

Columbo arrived at the dental surgery with his brown paper bag which is always a good sign but then he takes out a child's science kit. Why couldn't he have borrowed a pipette and some reagents from the forensic lab? Showing up with a toy just made him look ridiculous.

Yes. It seemed like an attempt to give him a childlike quirk, but he has that anyway. The brown paper bag would have been enough.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Murder In Malibu

​

Jackson Gillis has Columbo writing credits going back to Season One’s Suitable For Framing. Unfortunately, he also seems to have a somewhat patchy record. Among other episodes, he was responsible for Short Fuse, Dagger Of The Mind, Requiem For A Falling Star, Lovely But Lethal and Troubled Waters. His last credited episode before this one was Last Salute To The Commodore. A red flag if ever there was one.

This episode feels like it continues in that “almost but not quite vein”. Once again a promising premise is let down by a sloppy execution.

Something felt off with this one from the beginning, with the “mysterious” angle of not showing “Theresa” when she phoned to call things off with Wayne. And with not showing the murder in full, but Wayne shooting Theresa whose body was already on the ground.

There’s the twist and double-twist. Wayne killed her. No, he didn’t because she was already dead. Yes, he did because he killed her using two different weapons. It’s all very postmodern and Nineties: foreshadowing one of the killers in Scream getting taken in by the police mid-film in order to be taken off the list of suspects. But at the same time it’s all so unnecessary here. To the point of tedium.

But most importantly, we the audience were excluded from the killer's "clever" little secret. Which just isn't on.

I like a mystery as much as the next person. But not in Columbo, whose USP is that we're given the chance to gain a kind of rapport with the killer (and their victim) and to see their point of view before Columbo comes bumbling onto their horizon.

Apart from not being what this series about, the addition of a mystery feels like a sign of poor writing. It’s as though the mystery is there to add interest because the story itself isn’t clever enough to stand on its own merits. And if I re-edit this episode in my head to remove the mystery and play things out in a linear way, that’s true. What we’re left with is an incredibly dull episode. Even the title is generic and uninspired.

Brenda Vaccaro is always good value, here playing her usual bolshy bigmouth type. But even she seems less sparkly than usual here. Perhaps she might have made an interesting killer. As it is, Andrew Stevens is serviceable. He’s certainly convincing as the tennis bum living off an older, wealthier woman. But as a foil for Columbo he's strictly amateur. The bright spot is perhaps Floyd Levine as Lieutenant Schultz, but he's given very little to do (appropriately, otherwise he'd be stealing Columbo's thunder).

The Gotcha was very unsatisfying as well. The label on the knickers was on the wrong side. So what? Who hasn’t dressed hurriedly and later realised their underwear was back to front or inside out or whatever? It’s all very tenuous.

With some significant tweaks and a shorter running time, there’s no reason this couldn’t have been a decent episode. But it simply wasn’t.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Oh! Just one more thing...



It's from here on that the season numbering gets a little confusing. It seems to be generally agreed that the next few episodes are Season Ten, but sources seem to disagree on the length of that season. And I'm really unclear about how many seasons there actually are, where the seasons end and where the specials begin.