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<blockquote data-quote="Angela Channing" data-source="post: 283938" data-attributes="member: 33">I really like this review, not least because it broadly reflects my feelings about this episode. What I like about Grand Deceptions is that it follows a traditional Columbo format and didn&#039;t have too many gimmicks or forced comedy that sometimes crept into the newer episodes. This was only the second time I had seen Robert Foxworth in another show after Falcon Crest finished (the other was a guest role in Cagney &amp; Lacey) so I remember looking forward to how he would fair as a murderer and the actor who played Falcon Crest&#039;s Douglas Channing also had a supporting role. I always find Mr Foxworth not to be a particularly charismatic actor but this wasn&#039;t a problem as his persona fitted well with the straight and formal character he played here. This episode had lots of good elements, the murder was interesting enough as was the gotcha but the interactions between Columbo and the murderer never set the screen alight and for it&#039;s what made the episode feel a bit flat. Overall, I think it&#039;s a solid and entertaining episode but it never breaks out of being more than mediocre.Oh, and they had to have a gimmicky ending with the Columbo figure on the battlefield. It&#039;s like they just can&#039;t help themselves from doing things like this which doesn&#039;t help the show and in fact just trivialises it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Angela Channing, post: 283938, member: 33"] I really like this review, not least because it broadly reflects my feelings about this episode. What I like about [I]Grand Deceptions[/I] is that it follows a traditional Columbo format and didn't have too many gimmicks or forced comedy that sometimes crept into the newer episodes. This was only the second time I had seen Robert Foxworth in another show after [I]Falcon Crest[/I] finished (the other was a guest role in [I]Cagney & Lacey[/I]) so I remember looking forward to how he would fair as a murderer and the actor who played [I]Falcon Crest's[/I] Douglas Channing also had a supporting role. I always find Mr Foxworth not to be a particularly charismatic actor but this wasn't a problem as his persona fitted well with the straight and formal character he played here. This episode had lots of good elements, the murder was interesting enough as was the gotcha but the interactions between Columbo and the murderer never set the screen alight and for it's what made the episode feel a bit flat. Overall, I think it's a solid and entertaining episode but it never breaks out of being more than mediocre. Oh, and they had to have a gimmicky ending with the Columbo figure on the battlefield. It's like they just can't help themselves from doing things like this which doesn't help the show and in fact just trivialises it. [/QUOTE]

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