Columbo - S/D

Killing someone halfway between him faxing a bunch of jokes to his wife and then claiming it was suicide = dud.

HOOORAH FOR BERGERAC!

Or even, Diagnosis Moider starring Dick van Dyke!

I'd love to see a Columbo / Law & Order crossover when the DA in the second half sits there going "You call this evidence? This fine upstanding proffessional member of the community confessed, to you, when you were on your own in his office after persistent badgering him with just one question? Get out of here. And brush your hair."

but what stories really stand out?
I especially like the one where Donald Pleasance plays a vintner. But they're all good.

And is this the best detective telly ever or what?
Yes. It is.

(This is cruel to IB whom I don't hate at all, but still - what a put-down.)

Sarah - What are yr feelings abt Shoestring?

Best Columbo - the one w/ William Shatner, wherein Shatner has the world's first and biggest video recorder (the whole episode revolves around it)!

CAGNEY AND LACEY!

Bloody hell yeah! There is a bloke from Cagney and Lacey lined up for the husband list (if only I cd remember his name, perhaps I need another day off work to watch it so I can remember).

Cannon! Wasn't that the show w/William Conrad?

I loved Shoestring. 1979-80, BBC1 - dishy Trevor Eve is a mentally unstable computer op who gets fired after smashing up a hooj mainframe-type thing, and *somehow* ends up as Radio Bristol's 'Private Ear', solving foax call-in probs (this is years before Midnight Caller or whatever it was) in a quirky lovable aw-shucks-down-on-his-luck kinda way. It effectively spawned Bergerac, as the show's creator, Robert Banks Stewart, was allowed to do whatever he bloody liked once Eve quit after two series - so he came up with a neato reason to spend a financially advantageous chunk of each subsequent year in Jersey (NB to googling screenwriter: I am joshing; I'm sure you weren't hanging out with Jim and Liza anyhow).

Shoestring did have a daytime run on the Beeb last year.

Now hooked by (slightly rubbish) Waking The Dead because of looming Eve presence. No shots yet of yer man eating chips in a Cortina though. Shame.

Anyway, I remember one nicely written episode by Stephen "The A-Team" J. Cannell, starring (yep)...Robert Culp as the murderer. Culp was a scientist who murders a guy by inserting a thirst-inducing subliminal message into a film, getting the guy into the lobby where he shoots him (while the other people are inside watching the film).

Has anybody caught Law & Order: Criminal Intent? Vincent D'Onofrio is totally classic in that...very Columbo-ish.

The Shat as Ward Fowler as Detective Lucerne!

'Let. Us. Assoooomm, Looootenant - and I'mspeakingasDetectiveLucerneherenotasWardFowler' etc.

The one with Roddy McDowell as Galen as the murderer with the exploding cigars is also tops, as is the abovementioned Faster, Fido, Kill, Kill!

And wasn't one written by Mickey Spillane?

Man so enjoying the Johnny Cash EP right now. Love that he never gets angry w/him (probably playing off against a perception of Cash as a 'hellraiser' is my guess).

Netflix finally has the full lineup of series episodes up.

columbo = they are ALL THE SAME STORY!! (= "i wd rather confess than put up with this absurd little fellow for the rest of my life")

― mark s (mark s), Monday, September 9, 2002 11:32 AM (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

truthbomb!

That one story rules though

The salient thing about Columbo is that the basic premises entertained. It may have been the same story each time, but that's like going into a few dozen houses at Christmas and exclaiming, they are ALL THE SAME TREE!!

Girlfriend and I were watching these on Netflix a lot, loved season 1, kinda burned out though (or maybe just got our rhythm thrown by the extra-long season 2 opener, with John Cassavetes as the orchestra conductor). Should pick it back up though, Falk is just great. Love the vision of class here: the murderers lose to Columbo not because his method is so foolproof but because they're rich and underestimate this working-class schmoe who knows how to play up his schmoe signifiers. Also interesting how so many of the millionaire killers are old-school scions of wealthy families - dissipated dilettantes and socialites, or people after the inheritance of same. Nobody's ever a stockholder or arbitrageur. Columbo's effective because he's able to get access to these people (hard to really picture now) and everything about his mannerisms short-circuits their codes of conduct, leaves them struggling for the correct way to brush him off, which only tips their hands more thoroughly. Feel like that world has kind of disappeared... the singular personifications of wealth vs. the corporate system as a whole.

Gee, I dunno. It's just this theory I had - but you've had a very long day, it can wait. I'm sorry.

Often they don't confess though, they are often found out in the most ludcrous manner, or sometimes its downright nasty. The EP where he frames the murderer's son (he confesses because he is "a strange little fellow" who is unpredictable), for example.

Sat afternoons watching these, having a 20 min nap and still knowing you haven't missed much (you know who did it) as oposed to some other crime show where you'd miss a plot point that might be key in working it out is a pleasure for me. But I also like bcz it is such an anti-crime show. Morse, or Holmes, you get bored by it.

re: class. yeah its an excellent point. He also works much harder than other police officers. A few times where he orders chilli and doesn't eat it => sign of a lower middle class thing "well if I work harder than poeple who are supposedly smarter than me" type guff.

Also note his interactions with culture. One murderer he gets on a "he must be the one - there is no way anyone could like both country and classical music" tip, then where he visits the art gallery to ask questions and mistakes a radiator I think for an art object. He talks about his wife doing watercolours. Art -- one could say -- promotes attentiveness and a heightened awareness. But that isn't on Colombo's radar (unlike Morse where it is part of his make-up), its noise and a sideshow. He gets his killer by working hard. Somtimes he'll pick their version of culture or pretentiousness (learning about wine to trap Donald Pleasance), he shows he is thinking, or he'll pick up an enthusiasm, but with the end goal in mind. You never feel he has interests.

Above all Falk is just great to watch. Feel that a bit more after he passed away.

On the other hand, Columbo's inner life is basically kept a mystery by Columbo himself - the vague references to family and friends which he just made up on the spot. Sometimes he seems to know enough about the murderer's culture stuff to know what would annoy the shit out of them - like playing "Chopsticks" on the concert piano for Cassavetes, or bringing half-dead hardware store plants in to the orchid guy.

And yeah, they're not all confessions - actually I like it best when he really does lay out the case at the end and explain what tipped him off, how he got the guy, etc. The nasty ones are cool too. I love the one where he makes Roddy McDowell think they're trapped in a ski lift with a bomb that's about to go off.

Recently watched The Great Race, which stars Falk alongside Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, though unfortunately he's relegated to being Lemmon's "duh, okay boss" sidekick. But he wasn't famous yet, and actually Lemmon's talents aren't really exploited either. Always a pleasure to see him doing anything though, really. Growing up on The Princess Bride, I figured he was just some one-off guy that played the grandfather in that, and nothing else!

Falk was pretty much the only good thing in Wings of Desire.

He's allowed to be funny in the Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin vehicle Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)

http://thecitydesk.net/justonemorething/

Well that's my life down the bin ;-)

http://thecitydesk.net/justonemorething/2014/10/thats-a-lot-of-fruit-salad/

Agreeing with Carolita on the way the divorcee is written up although I think Columbo is really nicer in the final dialogue than what this panel is given credit for - its more like a "shutting yourself off is what you don't do! you're gonna be ok" even if the niece was probably made up.

I bet those are some sweet commentaries. I rarely buy movies/tv series, but i’m tempted.

Wow! I haven't bought a Blu-ray in years -- I think my last was a Doctor Who set in 2020 -- but that looks great. I'm surprised that the streaming services don't usually have commentaries or special features.

I would consider buying a Blu Ray player for this!
Let’s sort out Rockford Files too then I’m sold

Rockford Files got issued in a cheapie no-frills R1 Blu set years ago by cheapie no-frills R1 kings Mill Creek.

Last year I watched through Ellery Queen, another series that Link and Levinson made in the 70s. The first 10 or so episodes all end with some "dying clue" revealing the murderer -- a concept that was made fun of in the first Sherlock Holmes story. Not surprisingly, the show only lasted one season. There's one episode about a murdered police witness that is a level of quality higher than any of the others. There's also one where Betty White did it. Worth a watch for those into un-serialized old detective shows.

https://scontent.fman1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/368632896_6690091751072318_6240273778573187035_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=UXpHP7cn4eAAX9MlPux&_nc_ht=scontent.fman1-1.fna&oh=00_AfCIk03pkXJRp2hbIOhznSs5bO4S-xzlyrZvlEnu6bCCgA&oe=64E6B6B4

Was that the Ellery Queen with Jim Hutton and David Wayne as his dad? Watched it during its original run. I remember not caring either way about the plot but liking those two characters. Did hate his enemy/rival who was like a stuffed shirt parent on The Little Rascals or something.

Gimmick of the Ellery Queen books was that about two thirds of the way through, they'd say, 'Dear readers, you have now been presented with all the clues necessary to solve this case' - it's been so long since I've seen one of the TV shows that I can't remember if they also had this 'clue break'.

Feel like I tried reading some of those but maybe they seemed only one or two steps above Encyclopedia Brown, who was already in my rear view mirror by that time.

We did get the Hardy Boys and (my favourite) Alfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators in the UK, but have never even heard of Encyclopaedia Brown before!

I remember enjoying a late Ellery Queen, The Player on the Other Side, that was actually written by Theodore Sturgeon. And Avram Davidson also ghosted a few of them, probably p dece too. The early novs, dating back to the 1920s, are tough going these days.

We did get the Hardy Boys and (my favourite) Alfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators in the UK, but have never even heard of Encyclopaedia Brown before!

"Except for viewers in Scotland, who have their own programme..."

Sorry Tom D, I could well be missing the gag here - but I'm talking about juvenile mystery books, not TV shows now? I've certainly seen 70s Three Investigators books in Glasgow charity shops since I've been up here (2006 on).

I don't think there was ever a Three Investigators TV show - I would've watched!

Oh right, I thought those were TV shows. "Hardy Boys" was definitely a TV show.

... plus a reference to the Armando Iannucci sketch, of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7scMC7YSDQ

Should note for UK viewers, 5USA is doing Columbo marathons every Sunday, love to have it on in the background as no need to pay close attention and not that many characters to keep up with.

Was that the Ellery Queen with Jim Hutton and David Wayne as his dad? Watched it during its original run. I remember not caring either way about the plot but liking those two characters. Did hate his enemy/rival who was like a stuffed shirt parent on The Little Rascals or something.

― Zing Harvest (Has Surely Come) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, August 20, 2023 1:23 PM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

David Wayne was the real star of the show, elevating it with more charm than any of the writing had. The radio host rival was decent in the pilot but becomes Flanderized into a pompous idiot soon afterward.

Gimmick of the Ellery Queen books was that about two thirds of the way through, they'd say, 'Dear readers, you have now been presented with all the clues necessary to solve this case' - it's been so long since I've seen one of the TV shows that I can't remember if they also had this 'clue break'.

― Ward Fowler, Sunday, August 20, 2023 1:27 PM (nine hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

They did, with Hutton looking directly into the camera! I liked that part. Cheesy fun.

Yes, I remember enjoying the Ellery Queen TV series as a kid, as it had the same light-hearted emphasis on puzzle-solving as ITV's 'Whodunnit'.

Always wondered why no-one revived the latter format, as - say - Pemberton & Shearsmith (who once referenced 'Whodunnit' in an episode of Inside No. 9) could have a field day misleading the studio panel and the TV audience with red herrings.

•• Due to unforeseen issues, we can no longer include all the new audio commentaries, essay and other extras we had produced for our upcoming Columbo: 1970s boxed set ••

Coming November 21st on Blu-ray!
COLUMBO: THE 1970s
SEASONS 1-7 pic.twitter.com/Y6lm1IYnj3

— KLStudioClassics (@KLStudioClassic) August 25, 2023

What, that’s crazy. I was looking forward to two commentaries by Amanda Reyes from the podcast “Made for TV Mayhem”

That IS nuts. Like throw us a bone, how exactly could something like that happen? I've seen the occasional bonus here and there promised for a release not come through, but literally all that extra stuff was why I wanted to buy the set in the first place!

I was initially mildly lamenting the fact that I already owned the DVDs and couldn't really justify rebuying the series just for the commentaries but welp. Super weird stuff, though.

Transfers & packaging elements aside, they've lost the everything that separated this from being a Mill Creek-style budget release.

KL like “just one more thing…”

strange. people keep saying "probably a rights issue" but these were all-new commentaries, presumably commissioned by Kino-Lorber themselves

Weird

maybe they were just really shit lol

In a couple places, I've read it might be related to the current strikes. But that's just speculation.

ah I could believe that

Good news, shared in the BluRay forum:

All is not lost! I'm Jim Benson. When my writing partner Scott Skelton and I recently found out our months of exhaustive research, new interviews, and treasure trove of never-before-revealed facts we uncovered about Columbo were NOT going to appear on the new Blu-Ray release (due to a bizarre technicality) we were devastated. And so were the fans. How could all this amazing content be buried forever, never to see the light of day?

Which gave us an idea for just one more thing: What if we took all that incredible material, added even more that we couldn't fit in the commentaries, including behind-the-scenes photos, news clips, and more...and made it into the greatest TV book of all time? (Just like we did with our ultimate 800-page, nine pound, "Rod Serling's Night Gallery" hardcover coffee table book?)

By popular demand, we've decided to do it. You may not be able to listen to our content, but you WILL be able to read it, in The Ultimate Columbo book!

We did get the Hardy Boys and (my favourite) Alfred Hitchcock's Three Investigators in the UK, but have never even heard of Encyclopaedia Brown before!

― Ward Fowler

i was gratified to look up encyclopedia brown's sidekick, sally kimball, on wikipedia and find that one of the cites is to a work called _The Disappearing L: Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture_. probably my first lesbian crush!

due to a bizarre technicality

I really need to know more about what the fuck this technicality is! It's starting to approach a 'if you name it, a demon sucks your soul away' territory, just say what it is.

*sees softball coming over the plate, takes a swing*
Is a bizarre technicality similar to a bizarre gardening accident?

These episodes are on 5USA tomorrow - any favourites?

10:05 Murder In Malibu (1990)
12:00 Murder - a Self Portrait (1989)
13:55 Short Fuse (1972)
15:25 Murder Under Glass (1978)
17:00 Grand Deceptions (1989)
19:00 Murder, Smoke and Shadows (1989)

Murder Under Glass is pretty fun.

That's the Demme one? It is wonderfully dated, with the worst 1970s food you can imagine.

I wouldn't bother with the ones from 1989+.

I have been known to enjoy some of the later ones, though 70s are generally better of course.

Short Fuse has Roddy McDowall and an unusually tense climax.

Started watching this with our kid, first episode we watched was MURDER BY THE BOOK, directed by Spielberg (!) and really good twisty story with a particularly nasty villain played by Jack Cassidy. Also co-starring Barbara Colby as a lovelorn store owner who blackmails the bad guy in an ill-advised scheme.

Within a few years, and real life, those two guest stars would be tragically killed in a fire and unsolved homicide, respectively, Colby murdered in a random double murder (three episodes into her new supporting role on the first season of the sitcom Phyllis.)

*in real life

have also been watching this, but only selected episodes, the Columbophile blog a good curator

All of the original run is pretty good, I don’t remember a bum episode.

Pretty sure there isn't one.

"Old Fashioned Murder" is pretty weak. Conceit is that the murderer acts older than her age, but Columbo always had old villains so it isn't obvious.

there's an episode set in a "think tank", back when that didn't have crackpot political connotations, with a kid named steve spielberg as a tribute to their boy genius director.

The one where he goes to Jolly Old England is bad

Oh yeah, that one isn't good.

the columbo-goes-to-a-rave episode is exactly as good as you'd expect

i.e. at least 10 times better than the Morse goes to a rave episode

That's right

also just recently started watching this for the first time. it rules so hard. crazy that every episode is over an hour long

^^It was originally presented as part of a series of weekly TV Mystery Movies, rotating in a shared time slot with similar film-length episodic shows like McMillan & Wife with Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James, and McCloud with Dennis Weaver. That's why the seasons seem so short.