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

[Angela Channing]

Definitely. It's funny we were talking about Robert Culp's screen-time being so low and wondering if it was because of budget. Was George cheaper, I wonder. Or were they saving the pennies in order to pay for him?

I may be wrong but I think these episodes were commissioned on a case by case basis rather than previously when a network would have given the green light for a complete series. Columbo Goes To College seems to be the first not to be part of a series but a stand alone episode which suggests that they may have been beginning to lose a bit of faith in the franchise. The budget for these remaining episodes may have been agreed based on expected audience figures and what advertising revenue it would generate and if the previous series didn't get the ratings they expected, prompting them not to agree another series, it follows that they wouldn't want to spend money that they weren't confident they could recoup in advertisement sales. However, it was a strong episode so it may have pulled in a large audience so they were able to agree a bigger budget for Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous To Your Health. I'm just speculating here but whatever the reason, getting George Hamilton was well worth the extra cash from a entertainment point of view, if not a commercial one.

It could also be as you suggested and they agreed a budget for 2 or 3 episodes and they saved cash on the previous episode by limiting Robert Culp's involvement so they would have more left to pay for George Hamilton.

Oh - that sounds very promising indeed.

The episode wasn't as good as this one but I loved the clue that caught the murderer.

 

[Angela Channing]

The “skin flick” original sin of Anders was a nice touch (Holly Does Houston being a sledgehammer nod to Debbie Does Dallas).

Just one more thing, what's Debbie Does Dallas? Is that a film in your collection? You seem familiar with it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I may be wrong but I think these episodes were commissioned on a case by case basis rather than previously when a network would have given the green light for a complete series. Columbo Goes To College seems to be the first not to be part of a series but a stand alone episode which suggests that they may have been beginning to lose a bit of faith in the franchise. The budget for these remaining episodes may have been agreed based on expected audience figures and what advertising revenue it would generate and if the previous series didn't get the ratings they expected, prompting them not to agree another series, it follows that they wouldn't want to spend money that they weren't confident they could recoup in advertisement sales. However, it was a strong episode so it may have pulled in a large audience so they were able to agree a bigger budget for Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous To Your Health. I'm just speculating here but whatever the reason, getting George Hamilton was well worth the extra cash from a entertainment point of view, if not a commercial one.

Yes, that all seems to fit in so I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's the reason behind it. Whatever the case, I'm really glad they stretched the budget enough to have a name for Columbo to go up against.

Just one more thing, what's Debbie Does Dallas? Is that a film in your collection? You seem familiar with it.

Oh gosh, no. It's not in my collection and I've never seen it. It's a well-known porn film from the late Seventies.

I'm familiar with the title. It's one of those I think I've taken in by osmosis from references in pop culture such as sitcoms (similar to Deep Throat - - another Seventies porn flick). But at the same time I couldn't tell you why it seems to be so much more famous or notorious than the zillions of other porn films of the era.

 

[Angela Channing]

Yes, that all seems to fit in so I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's the reason behind it. Whatever the case, I'm really glad they stretched the budget enough to have a name for Columbo to go up against.




Oh gosh, no. It's not in my collection and I've never seen it. It's a well-known porn film from the late Seventies.

I'm familiar with the title. It's one of those I think I've taken in by osmosis from references in pop culture such as sitcoms (similar to Deep Throat - - another Seventies porn flick). But at the same time I couldn't tell you why it seems to be so much more famous or notorious than the zillions of other porn films of the era.

Sorry Mel, I was pulling your leg. I have heard about Debbie Does Dallas before, the priest at my local church offered to lend me his copy.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Columbo And The Murder Of A Rock Star

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It’s a relief that this is the penultimate time Columbo will be name-checked in the title. The only remaining example is the very final episode. I’ve probably already made it plain that I just don’t like these titles, which are too cluttered and cheesy. Not only does it sound like the title of a children’s book, it’s also superfluous considering it appears onscreen right after the Columbo title. Why not just Murder Of A Rock Star?

While watching I didn’t recognise Dabney Coleman, but I’ve since realised he’s best known to me from Tootsie and Nine To Five, leading me to suspect he specialises in playing blustery sexist slavedrivers. He’s certainly perfectly unlikeable as Hugh Creighton in this instalment. That comes across strongly not just in the murder, but when Columbo finds him in court, faking a coughing attack during his opponent’s closing argument, then noisily pouring and slurping water each time the opposing counsel attempts to regain his footing (all very Ally McBeal). It’s irritating and frustrating but - because it's supposed to be annoying - enjoyably so (unlike Coleman's loud gum chewing in his previous Columbo appearance back in 1973's Double Shock, which was just downright infuriating). It's an effective way of showing us that he’ll do anything to win, no matter how unfair. And it's even more ruthless when you consider this display is all part of a bigger act, because by this time he’s already murdered and is waiting for the news to be “broken” to him.

The murder played out really well. The drug injected into the champagne bottle felt familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen something similar in an earlier episode (which isn’t a criticism. It helped this scheme feel reassuringly old-school). For the first part of the scheme I thought he was going to kill both with poison and attempt to make it look like murder-suicide. But it turned out to be far cleverer than that as the injected drug wasn’t intended to kill either of them. He simply wanted to drug her bed-mate so he could kill Marcy with his bare (well, gloved) hands.

The Antabuse in Marcy’s tea was the cleverest part, albeit risky as if she had drunk any more alcohol she could presumably have become seriously ill. But I suppose since he was going to murder her anyway that wasn’t too big a concern.

There’s also that moment in the morgue as he identifies the body of the woman he’s killed. When told her neck is broken, he takes hold of her head with both hands and moves it from side to side, which feels incredibly creepy and threatening.

There are shades grey to his character, though. Despite the meticulously planned murder and frame-up he is, his own way, a victim in this scenario. Not only is his partner conducting a thrice-weekly affair under his nose, she blackmails him when he tries to end the relationship. And it doesn’t end after the murder. Then he’s blackmailed by his associate (Mrs Peter Falk in yet another role) for her own gain. You have to feel for him at least a little.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Columbo And The Murder Of A Rock Star​

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The relationship between Columbo and Creighton was watchable enough. Disappointingly, considering the strong opening, I didn’t find it to be the strongest rapport I’ve seen. All the same, Creighton having influence, power and arrogance it did feel genuinely challenging for Columbo.

In good casting news, Steven Gilborn is back as George. I also found Sondra Currie very watchable as Sergeant Hubach, who watched Columbo’s rigorous checks with amusement.

After this it gets a bit patchy. Shera Danese is fine in her role but I aways find this kind of nepotism distracting and a little irritating (rumour has it she'd wanted to play the victim, but Peter Falk vetoed it as he didn't want her doing love scenes with a good looking young man). Speaking of distracting, there’s Little Richard’s appearance as himself. The kindest thing I can say about his acting is that it was mercifully brief. And while she looked the part, I also thought Deborah Rose’s performance as Creighton’s battle-axe of a housekeeper was a bit am-dram with all that huffing and sighing and shrugging and frowning.

The Gotcha, too, was a bit of a mixed bag. The star on the champagne cork was plausible, but seemed very sloppy for someone like Creighton. It’s a similar story with the berries from parking beneath the trees. Even if that is the only street in that part of town that has these trees, all they show is that Creighton’s car was probably on that street at some point. It’s all highly circumstantial.

But it’s the business with the speed camera that was just too much for me, fun as it was to see Columbo’s breaking the speed limit in his little Peugeot as part of his experiment (since he had permission, this isn’t his most reckless action this episode. That dubious honour goes to the $175 bottle of champagne he bought with taxpayers’ money in order to look at the cork. Though to be fair, that’s nothing compared with previous expenses such as Mrs Columbo’s funeral). But the very idea of Creighton’s associate driving his car at speed while wearing a printed out mask of his face is just laughably silly. It would probably be silly for Scooby Doo. Has this series really come to this? And even this evidence with the shadow under the nose feels like grasping at some tenuous straws.

As you’ll probably guess, my feelings about the episode are rather mixed. The solid opening act set the bar high and raised my expectations. Up to a point I was very satisfied, and found this a very watchable instalment, until the wheels came off at the end. I’d have happily overlooked some fairly minor flaws in casting if the writing around the Gotcha had been more restrained and sophisticated.

 

[Angela Channing]

Another great review @Mel O'Drama and I agree with almost everything you have said with one exception, I actually liked the clue with the shadow under the nose. The mask wearing to provide an alibi for the murderer was just pure ridiculous over the top hokum that was more in keeping with a soap opera than an episode of Columbo but the observation of the position of the shadow was such a clever clue that I can almost forgive the ludicrous circumstances that created it.

I thought Dabney Coleman (what a great name that it) did a good job as the murderer although his interactions with Columbo were functional rather than sparkling but that was consistent with the no nonsense legal manner of his character.

Shera Danese is fine in her role but I aways find this kind of nepotism distracting and a little irritating

Totally. To have her in one or two episodes is ok but she features way too much. If they wanted her in so many episodes they should have used her as a recurring character but having her playing different roles just emphasises that she's only there because she's married to Peter Falk rather than because she is bringing something special to every character she plays.

Speaking of distracting, there’s Little Richard’s appearance as himself. The kindest thing I can say about his acting is that it was mercifully brief.

Just awful. Didn't see the point of his cameo other than adding a well known name to the cast.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I agree with almost everything you have said with one exception, I actually liked the clue with the shadow under the nose. The mask wearing to provide an alibi for the murderer was just pure ridiculous over the top hokum that was more in keeping with a soap opera than an episode of Columbo but the observation of the position of the shadow was such a clever clue that I can almost forgive the ludicrous circumstances that created it.

For me it was a really good episode which was tarnished by the paper mask revelation, so I envy you being able to get past that and enjoy the admittedly great detective work.

I did think the Columbo mask behind the wheel of his car (worn by Sergeant Hubach to help Columbo show how it was done) looked incredibly creepy in the torchlight.

I thought Dabney Coleman (what a great name that it) did a good job as the murderer although his interactions with Columbo were functional rather than sparkling but that was consistent with the no nonsense legal manner of his character.

Yes, that about sums it up for me as well.

If they wanted her in so many episodes they should have used her as a recurring character but having her playing different roles just emphasises that she's only there because she's married to Peter Falk rather than because she is bringing something special to every character she plays.

Absolutely. She's certainly not a great character actress. For me, the advantage she has is that she's not particularly memorable in any of her episodes and doesn't make a lasting impression. If it wasn't for spotting her name and recognising the connection with Peter Falk she'd probably go under my radar altogether which allows her to get away with her repeat appearances.

Just awful. Didn't see the point of his cameo other than adding a well known name to the cast.

I've assumed he and Peter Falk were pally and one talked the other into it just for the hell of it. It's the only explanation that makes sense of it in my head.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Death Hits The Jackpot

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I thought it an unusual change for the episode to spend a significant amount of time with the victim before we even met the killer. In fact if I didn’t know better I’d have assumed lottery winner Freddy was to be our killer. That's by no means a complaint. I'm always glad when time is taken to set up the story and characters.

It’s a relief that Freddy wasn’t our killer. Gary Kroeger was watchable, but I always prefer Columbo going up against someone with some life experience. There’s something about trendy young people that makes things feel less timeless. Both Freddy and his soon-to-be-ex-wife both looked and felt so very early Nineties in their dress, styling and manner. And that’s not really what Columbo’s about.

Along with the wife, Freddy came with a whole cast of young trendies displaying varying degrees of wackiness, and yet fairly consistent in their tedium. It almost felt like a backdoor pilot for a sitcom spinoff. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out the creators of Friends had based some of their sitcom on Freddy’s gang. It’s all there, from singing along to a guitar, to the ditzy blonde girl who reads auras to the pet chimpanzee.

Freddy’s almost-ex-wife Nancy had a nice reveal of her true nature after appearing at first to be an ordinary girl, she had her dramatic arrival at the scene of the murder, staring at Freddy’s murderer before marching up and snogging him, telling us that the two were in cahoots. Jamie Rose excelled at the spurned wife, and was decent enough in the shop exchanges with Columbo, but (with apologies to @Angela Channing, since I know Jamie was in Falcon Crest) I had a problem with the way she played her “evil” moments very broadly. The blatant graveside flirting with Leon is an example of this. There’s also a terrible scene where she’s on the phone to Leon, telling him about the sob story she’d told Columbo and acting out the fake crying she’d done. It almost invites the viewer to boo and hiss. Granted, the character is meant to have been drinking, but it was all very arch and more what I’d expect of a daytime soap than Columbo.

Her comeuppance, too, was played far too broadly. Screaming “I’m gonna get ya” repeatedly as she’s dragged away looked like it was great fun for the actress, but playing it for comic effect is none too satisfying for the audience who want to see some real consequences. I suspect the writing didn’t help. It felt a bit like later years Dallas where nothing really mattered and a combination of writing and casting led to people not really understanding the show they were creating.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Death Hits The Jackpot


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Despite his extensive filmography, I mostly associate Rip Torn with his brief recurring role in Will & Grace as Lionel Banks who lusted after Karen with memorable lines like “I admire your integrity. Would you care to step inside, take your clothes off and discuss it further?”

Despite his eccentricities, I found Leon Lemarr one of the more sinister murderers because of his connection to the victim (he was the loving uncle in whom Freddy confided) and the fact that Freddy was a relative innocent who not only trusted his uncle but even offered him 10% of his $30,000,000.00 win out of gratitude. Freddy’s only real "sin "was trying to conceal his win from his estranged wife before the divorce which, considering she was secretly shagging his uncle, seems sensible really.

There’s also the murder itself. For one thing, Leon delivered the blow when Freddy’s back was turned, amping up his treachery. There’s also the slightly icky nature of him stripping his unconscious nephew naked to place him in the bath. And finally, the fact that when Freddy regained consciousness on being placed in the water, Leon held his head down until he drowned. The cold-bloodedness of this one would put it on a shortlist of the most brutal Columbo murders.

Rip made a nice Columbo adversary. Leon showed different sides to his personality to almost everyone with whom he interacted: the kindly, supportive uncle; the generous host; the devoted husband; the complicit lover, which affected his relationship with Columbo. There was kind of a little dance as Leon decided which facet of his personality would most effectively deal with Columbo in each situation.

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[Mel O'Drama]

Death Hits The Jackpot


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It was wonderful to see Betsy Palmer’s name in the credits, and I greatly looked forward to seeing her appearance. I was a little disappointed that her role felt very tertiary to being with, and only seemed to fade away into something smaller as the story progressed. Since the story seemed intent on giving a whole soap operatic sub-plot/motive for the killer then it would have been good to see Leon’s wife get in on the action, and Betsy is certainly equipped in the acting department to make this kind of thing work. As an aside, I think Betsy would have made a nice Columbo killer. A bit like Friday The 13th in reverse.

The lighter moments worked OK. Columbo inadvertently making bids at the auction while trying to get Leon’s attention raised a smile, though this episode in general felt like one of Peter Falk’s broader and, since it’s already plain that Columbo is bumbling, moments like this threatened to make him look entirely clueless.

The Gotcha felt like a homage to a true classic from two decades earlier: 1971’s Suitable For Framing. I didn’t see it coming until Columbo showed the blow-up of the fingerprints. It then registered with me that the fingerprints would be the chimp’s just seconds before Columbo revealed it, so I was able to enjoy Lionel’s confused reaction for a few moments before Columbo lowered the boom.

At the start of the episode, I felt sure that the chimp would somehow clue Columbo in to the murders, but once Columbo had visited the crime scene it seemed less likely. Even with the photos - which all clearly had to do with the chimp’s attraction towards shiny objects - I didn’t fully get it. I loved that the episode was able to surprise me, while still having paved the way so well that it I was completely convinced.

While not a true classic, this had enough elements of the best of Columbo to allow me to invest and enjoy.

 

[Angela Channing]

Death Hits The Jackpot is one of the better episodes of New Columbo. It makes a big difference when the murderer is an engaging character that you can either like or hate. I really like Rip Torn as an actor (he was in one of my favourite sitcoms: The Larry Sanders Show) and the character he played here was a fascinating mix of terror, greed, humour, strength and cunning. I liked the twist that he was having an affair with the Jamie Rose character which I didn't expect.

There’s also the murder itself. For one thing, Leon delivered the blow when Freddy’s back was turned, amping up his treachery. There’s also the slightly icky nature of him stripping his unconscious nephew naked to place him in the bath. And finally, the fact that when Freddy regained consciousness on being placed in the water, Leon held his head down until he drowned. The cold-bloodedness of this one would put it on a shortlist of the most brutal Columbo murders.

I really liked this murder. It wasn't one of great meticulously planned ones that you think is near perfect but the horrifying way in which he drowns his nephew is memorable. You're right to say its one on the most brutal Columbo murders.

Jamie Rose excelled at the spurned wife, and was decent enough in the shop exchanges with Columbo, but (with apologies to @Angela Channing, since I know Jamie was in Falcon Crest) I had a problem with the way she played her “evil” moments very broadly. The blatant graveside flirting with Leon is an example of this. There’s also a terrible scene where she’s on the phone to Leon, telling him about the sob story she’d told Columbo and acting out the fake crying she’d done. It almost invites the viewer to boo and hiss. Granted, the character is meant to have been drinking, but it was all very arch and more what I’d expect of a daytime soap than Columbo.

I agree. There was a kind of pantomime feel to her he performance and at times it seemed so theatrical and hammy that I wondered if she was deliberately trying to appear unnatural and over the top.

Rip made a nice Columbo adversary. Leon showed different sides to his personality to almost everyone with whom he interacted: the kindly, supportive uncle; the generous host; the devoted husband; the complicit lover, which affected his relationship with Columbo. There was kind of a little dance as Leon decided which facet of his personality would most effectively deal with Columbo in each situation.

I thought Rip Torn was great in this and he sometimes seemed to have a touch of humour about him (a bit like Peter Falk) even when playing a serious scene and I though there was good chemistry between them. Rip Torn always has a strong scene presence and a likeable personality that I just loved watching him.

The Gotcha felt like a homage to a true classic from two decades earlier: 1971’s Suitable For Framing. I didn’t see it coming until Columbo showed the blow-up of the fingerprints. It then registered with me that the fingerprints would be the chimp’s just seconds before Columbo revealed it, so I was able to enjoy Lionel’s confused reaction for a few moments before Columbo lowered the boom.

Another clever gotcha which I also never saw coming. It was so in keeping with Leon's character that he would take down Jamie Rose's character rather than see her get away with the money.

I think it's a really solid episode, it has flaws but I still rate it highly amongst the 1990s episodes.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I really like Rip Torn as an actor (he was in one of my favourite sitcoms: The Larry Sanders Show)

Another series I haven't yet discovered!

the character he played here was a fascinating mix of terror, greed, humour, strength and cunning

Yes, he certainly had a memorable combination that made him stand out among Columbo killers.

I really liked this murder. It wasn't one of great meticulously planned ones that you think is near perfect but the horrifying way in which he drowns his nephew is memorable.

Yes. It's a testament of my investment that I didn't really stop to think about how clunky the murder was in a number of ways, certainly compared with some of the more creative and clever ones on this series.

There was a kind of pantomime feel to her he performance and at times it seemed so theatrical and hammy that I wondered if she was deliberately trying to appear unnatural and over the top.

I couldn't quite work out what it was all about and wondered if she was trying to convey some kind of sociopathy or even a split personality. Whatever it was, I don't think it worked.

I thought Rip Torn was great in this and he sometimes seemed to have a touch of humour about him (a bit like Peter Falk) even when playing a serious scene and I though there was good chemistry between them. Rip Torn always has a strong scene presence and a likeable personality that I just loved watching him.

I can imagine both Rip and Peter like a good laugh, and I'd guess the set was great fun as they were filming this one.

I think it's a really solid episode, it has flaws but I still rate it highly amongst the 1990s episodes.

Absolutely. Of all the revival episodes so far this is a Top Five.

 

[Angela Channing]

Another series I haven't yet discovered!

It was never given a decent slot in TV schedules. It used to be screened on BBC 2 after Newsnight on Friday so about 11.15pm. I only became aware of it when I was on holiday in Jamaica where it was broadcast in prime time and I became a big fan which prompted me to watch it when it came to the UK. The show's format is the behind the scenes and front of camera of a TV chat show and Peter Falk was a guest interviewee on one of the shows.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

It was never given a decent slot in TV schedules. It used to be screened on BBC 2 after Newsnight on Friday so about 11.15pm.

Oh yikes. That would explain why I missed it. You were lucky to discover it on holiday and see what you were missing.

Both The Larry Sanders Show and It's Garry Shandling's Show ring bells with me, so I've certainly heard about them somewhere. It's even possible I've seen some of them. They sound like the kind of show that would have been on when I went through my Comedy Central watching phase in the mid-Nineties.

The show's format is the behind the scenes and front of camera of a TV chat show and Peter Falk was a guest interviewee on one of the shows.

So far, everything I'm hearing suggests I'd like it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

No Time To Die

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And the award for the most presciently Bondian title goes to…

Unfortunately, this instalment also garners the TV equivalent of a Razzie for being the least Columbo-ey Columbo episode. It seems to relish in breaking every rule in the Columbo rulebook. Let’s look at the evidence:

We meet Columbo early in the picture, which is the very least of the concerns, because Columbo is also at the wedding of his nephew, taking us further into Columbo’s private world (a Columbo no-no).

What’s more, as the episode progresses, we spend time at Columbo’s workplace, surrounded by his colleagues. And it’s not even the atmospheric office in which he was visited back in the Seventies, but a bright, soulless open plan affair. Not Columbo’s style at all. But even if it were, the point is it’s another layer of mystery removed from Columbo’s world outside of his interactions with suspected killers.

On the topic of locations, that’s something else missing from this episode. Columbo’s investigations usually take him bumbling into glamorous settings… sumptuously opulent homes that instil envy in the viewer as we take in their grandeur and incredible views over Los Angeles. That’s part of the appeal. Much of this episode takes place at night in darkened rooms - some of which are considerably less than salubrious. Columbo does visit the nice home of a photographer, but he does so in the dark giving us very little visual interest. Plus there were lots of second unit locations of Columbo’s Peugeot driving around LA. The only daylight locations I recall saw Columbo and his posse visiting used car lots which, frankly, could have been in the industrialised area of any old city.

The episode’s biggest crime is that there is no murder. There’s not even a fake murder. Instead, there’s a kidnap. And in Jessica Fletcher style the victim happens to be the bride at the wedding attended by Columbo (she’s his new niece-in-law). It’s incredibly twee.

And, crucially, there’s no protagonist/antagonist relationship with Columbo and his target. Indeed, there isn’t a single exchange between Columbo and the kidnapper. Not even one word.

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[Mel O'Drama]

No Time To Die



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With Columbo working as part of a team, heavily diluting his role in the episode we end up with multiple “narrators”, rather than seeing things through the perspective of either the killer or Columbo. We take time to see his nephew’s colleague visit a seedy sauna to obtain information, for example. And we spend a great deal of time with the kidnap victim, Melissa, and her captor, including prolonged scenes of her trying to escape while he’s out at work.

To be fair, there is an air of genuine threat at times, particularly early on when we only see hints of the captor himself, or see him backlit in the dark. There’s a particularly chilling scene where Melissa is in a darkened room and can hear various sounds from the next room, including a metallic scraping akin to a knife being sharpened. She keeps looking at the light under the door, and even though we know it’s coming, it’s unnerving when we see the light darken as the captor arrives at the other side.

Once Rudy Strassa comes into the light, however, we’re in daytime soap territory. His plan is to force her to marry him, for which he’s got her a dress (I wonder if he made it himself) and a room that’s a shrine to Melissa, including a slide show with hundreds of images of Melissa (she’s a model, albeit one who’s new to the business).

Perfunctory attempts to show Melissa as resourceful by using a fork and some condiments(!) to take the door off its hinges are terribly poorly written. She speaks aloud to nobody in order to let us know what she’s planning. And once her plans fail, she becomes the terrified maiden, in tears as Rudy monologues away. I kept seeing Kirby from Dynasty.

There are some familiar faces in the cast, which add enough interest to keep the viewer awake. There’s a cameo from Juliet Mills (Mrs Miles Colby… best known to me as the cross-dressing busty maiden from Carry On Jack). Patrick Swayze’s less famous brother plays his usual sneering bad guy.

Dan Butler is a very familiar face Just a couple of weeks ago I watched him in The Silence Of The Lambs as Clarice’s geeky friend who helped with a key clue by identifying the Death’s-Head moth. He’d appeared in that film just the year before, presumably making him even more attractive to casting bods. He’s a very watchable actor, which is fortunate given the time we spend with him. It’s just a shame that he wasn’t part of a better episode.

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[Mel O'Drama]

No Time To Die



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This episode is historically interesting for having Thomas Calabro and Doug Savant sharing the screen just months before the Melrose Place Pilot aired. I wonder which they filmed first? Since Pilots tend to be shot a long time before the series goes to air, there’s a good chance they’d already worked on Melrose together before this Columbo, but I’d love to know for sure.

Doug Savant’s been on my radar since playing young Mack Mackenzie back in the Eighties. He’s a great actor and even by 1992 had played a variety of challenging roles, starting with that of a rape victim in Cagney & Lacey in his first TV role. He’s wasted here.

Thomas Calabro seems pretty perfect to play Columbo’s nephew, being not too dissimilar from a young Peter Falk in look and manner. Like Falk, he also has a stage background which gave him discipline, versatility and the ability to make the most of any role (again, just as well). But the familial tie-in just shouldn’t happen on Columbo and it’s difficult to see beyond this.

This episode, of course, comes with the caveat that it wasn’t written as a Columbo episode. It’s actually an adaption of an Ed McBain novel. But this is really small comfort to the viewer as we watch our beloved formula thrown out of the window and see Columbo sidelined.

Forgetting it’s a Columbo, this episode could be acceptable as one of those terrible movies of the week, aimed at being watched during the afternoon by viewers who are doing the ironing and are happy to find something that doesn’t require too much concentration. It hits all the predictable notes, right down to the perfectly timed rescue just before the bride is on the verge of saying “I do” at knifepoint. The kidnap victim’s husband blows the captor away with four or five bullets, and we can assume there will be no repercussions from this because… well, because the frame freezes, telling us it’s happily ever after. Never mind the loose ends or lack of closure. Since we spent so much time with Melissa's father wringing his hands and trying to keep the news from her mother due to the mother's mysterious illness (which seems to bear no relevance to the plot, but is presumably intended to add tension), we might at least go the whole hog and see them reunited. But, nope.

This could be compared with typical Seventies American schmaltzy TV. Like that Dallas episode where Bobby was kidnapped. Pick a vanilla instalment of pretty much any other generic, episodic police procedural, and you have this episode. How ironic that Nineties Columbo has become the very thing to which it was a refreshing antidote the first time round.

It’s pointless to even think about comparing this with any other episode. It simply isn’t Columbo.

 

[Angela Channing]

There was a cute scene in No Time To Die when Columbo is dancing at his nephew's wedding but that was the only thing I liked in this episode. I've seen this episode once and have no intention to watch it again for a very long time.

I don't mind when they break from the familiar Columbo formula as long as it's done to enhance the story telling but here I it just failed to engage me at all with the storyline.

But the familial tie-in just shouldn’t happen on Columbo and it’s difficult to see beyond this.

Yes, this was plain wrong. In Columbo we hear him talk about his family but we are not meant to see them. This just added to the feel that this wasn't Columbo but another show featuring a police officer played by Peter Falk.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

There was a cute scene in No Time To Die when Columbo is dancing at his nephew's wedding but that was the only thing I liked in this episode.

Even in this scene, Columbo was somewhat the object of ridicule with the younger people outwardly laughing at his Dad-dancing. Any disdain towards Columbo works best for me when it's internalised and you can read it on someone's face. In addition, I prefer it when people's reaction to him is one of weariness, even if they find him a little amusing at the same time. But that's what came of this being a social interaction rather than a professional one.

I don't mind when they break from the familiar Columbo formula as long as it's done to enhance the story telling but here I it just failed to engage me at all with the storyline.

Absolutely. There was nothing about this that felt original or clever. It all felt terribly generic and derivative.

This just added to the feel that this wasn't Columbo but another show featuring a police officer played by Peter Falk.

Yes. And an ensemble show at that, where Falk's character is hidden in amongst half a dozen key officers who all come with their own quirks and stories.