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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Angela Channing" data-source="post: 282905" data-attributes="member: 33">Unlike the original run of Columbo, I've only seen episodes of the reboot series once, or in a few cases twice, so my memory of them isn't anywhere near as good so I won't be able to comment on them to the same extent as I have been able to previously. However, I still look forward to reading [USER=23]@Mel O'Drama[/USER] excellent reviews of them and I'm sure they will jog my memory of some of the shows.I do remember this episode reasonably well. I thought Anthony Andrews made a good job of playing the murderer in what I thought would have been a great role for Jack Cassidy in the original run of the series.This is a really good point. As much as I like Anthony Andrews in this, his interactions with Columbo were not particularly memorable and this, as you say, they are a key part of episodes of Colombo and when they work well they can make even an average episode seems much better than it otherwise would.I agree. You could tell from the outset it was going to be very different, even the typeface of the titles was very different (a move to a serif typeface from the sans serif one of the 1970s). I thought taking a new approach was a good move as TV had moved on since the previous episode of Columbo was broadcast so I didn't mind the new vibe I was getting from this new episode. However......this is also true which felt like a strange choice as TV in the 1980s and 90s was more fast paced and had shorter scenes.Two of the longest scenes that I can remember is when Anthony Andrews is doing his hammy psychic stuff and when Columbo (equally hammy) does an almost exact replica of one of those scenes. They were so long I think could have gone to my kitchen, cooked dinner and got back before either was over. However, I did like those scenes. The over the top acting was in keeping with the nonsense that Anthony Andrews' character was trying to get people to believe and similarly when Columbo was trying to show it was all an act.I can't imagine the Magic Circle was happy with how this episode revealed how a popular magic trick is done and several times I've subsequently seen magicians on shows like Britain's Got Talent do variations of this trick and I immediately know how it is done.The ending was a load of poppycock. There was no way Columbo would have known that the murderer would have attempted to kill him and he wouldn't have risked his life on a hunch. The series was always best when it was rooted in believability and this was far from that. It was however memorable and as an entertaining piece of TV is did kind of work.Columbo wrapping things up by shooting the prop gun that said "bang" was the kind of slightly humorous, slightly stagey conclusion that is more typical of a modern show than something you would see in the 1970s but I had to remind myself this isn't original Columbo but an updated version so I have to accept that there will be moments like this which seem a little ridiculous but they create a TV moment. This idea was taken even further in a future episode, so if you didn't like this, you ain't seen nothing yet!Well, I had to say something about it. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />Two episodes spring to mind (and there maybe more) which I think are as good as many in the original run of episodes. Both had a very different feel to the 1970s episodes and were much more in keeping with a 1990s series but in their own way had most of what you could want from a classic episode of Columbo but brought up to date. As I type this, I can think of another one, so that makes at least three!By the way, great review [USER=23]@Mel O'Drama[/USER].</blockquote>

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