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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 282542" data-attributes="member: 23">Make Me A Perfect Murder continued... The relationship between Columbo and Kay is interesting. For a start, she uses her sexuality at times, telling him he’s attractive in his way or giving him a massage to relieve his tension (not even Robert Culp attempted this one). It’s difficult to gauge his internal response to it. He seems appreciative, but it doesn’t seem to slow down his pursuit by much. She goes from praising his intellect to being vulnerable in front of him to presenting her argument to simply trying to avoid him. We also see insights into Kay’s humanity. From visiting the humble home where she was raised - now derelict - to seeing her friendship with Lainie Kazan’s fragile character and the way Kay handles her. On paper it’s superfluous to the story, but these scenes really help as it feels she’s fleshed out and developed as a character. It’s not all great news in terms of story additions, though. This is the longest episode of the season, but in my mind would probably have been better served if it were a little shorter. A few scenes feel like very blatant padding. Most notably a scene before a commercial break that has several minutes of Columbo pressing buttons in a studio and watching graphics dance on numerous screens is nothing short of excruciating. Similarly, there’s a scene in which Columbo appears on screens talking to Kay through the camera and each shot of him has a different effect. Perhaps it’s telling about the series at this point that anything which gives Peter Falk too much airtime now seems like a bad thing. I also didn't like that Columbo appeared right at the top of the episode.  I can only imagine that someone, somewhere wasn't happy that there were twenty plus minutes of story before Falk arrived on screen. In the opening scene, Columbo's bad driving caused him to collide with police cars. Again! On this occasion they were giving high speed chase, causing him to have a damaged neck for the remainder of the episode. Personally, I feel this early appearance was to the detriment of the episode. He had a really nice introduction to Kay, lying on a sofa with smoke puffing up from the magazine in front of his face. This really should have been his first appearance of the episode.The supporting cast is great. As well as Lainie, there’s Ron Rifkin (best known to me from my recently rewatched The Trials Of Rosie O’Neill, he was also a good friend of Murder By The Book’s Barbara Colby). There’s also Bruce Kirby as the irritated TV repairman who gives us a nice interlude when Columbo and Dog drop in on him late at night. My favourite supporting player is projectionist Walter Mearhead, played by James McEachin. He lets it all wash over him and spends his time working on model ships. Unlike his lazy predecessor Roger White, Walter has no interest in blackmail. With nothing to hide, Walt brings out interesting facets in both Kay and Columbo, who both respond to him with what seems to be a genuine appreciation of his healthy outlook on the world. He’s the perfect sidekick. I’m not sure how I’d rank this one. When it’s good, it’s terrific. But some of the padding is also quite dire. It would probably go somewhere in the lower echelons of the Premier League.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?