Oh !Go for it. I'd be interested to know which episodes are disliked and why they are. The one you named is a good example of a poor episode. I watched it , didn't like it , thought Columbo pointing a gun was ludicrous and forgot everything else about it. One of the later ones I did enjoy starred the always entertaining Patrick McGoohan as Oscar Finch , high powered attorney and good friends with the presidential hopeful wit an eye on a very lucrative future.. His ' perfect ' murder of a potential whistle-blower goes awry of course once Columbo enters the ( crime ) scene.
One of the main problems with the 1990s episodes was the length. Most of the 70s episodes are 90 minutes. The 1990s episodes are all two hours long, and are padded.
My five favorite episodes (from the original 1970s run: "Murder Under Glass" with Louis Jourdan "A Friend In Deed" with Richard Kiley "Any Old Port In a Storm" with Donald Pleasence. "The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case" with Theodore Bikel "By Dawn's Early Light" with Patrick McGoohan My five least favorite ( again from the 1970s) are: "Forgotten Lady" with Janet Leigh "Last Salute for the Commodore" with Robert Vaughn "Double Shock" with Martin Landau "Mind Over Mayhem" with Jose Ferrer "The Conspirators" with Clive Revill I don't care much for "Dagger of the Mind' with Richard Basehart and Honor Blackman, either.
For worst ever I nominate "Sex and the Married Detective," with Lindsay Crouse as a sex therapist who gives sex counseling on the radio. When she discovers her own man is unfaithful she becomes unhinged and kills him. WTF? Idiotic premise, bad casting (Crouse is a good actress but totally miscast as Columbo's foil). It's hard for me to even watch the latter episodes because the 80s music is so obnoxious. I did enjoy "Columbo Goes to College" in which two too-clever-by-half twits detonate a car bomb by remote control.
All the 1989-2003 episodes were around 90 minutes (minus commercials), like most television movies then. Columbo generally works better with an approximate 75-minute running time with one or two exceptions...
Agree with most of your less favourite choices but I like ' Dagger of the Mind'.Part comedy-part mystery with Basehart chewing up the scenery. I also enjoy episodes where Columbo happens to be in the right place at the wrong time.
I watched "Dagger" a few months ago and I like it better than I used to. I think the main problem I have with it is I have never cared much for Richard Basehart.
We I did watch a bit of it again and forgot about the awful intro with Columbo chasing about looking for a bit of paper in waste bins ad a house maid following him about. Awful! I still liked the storyline and Crouse playing the cheated on lover and the incidental music still rung my bell decades on.
I like all the ones with Patrick McGoohan ("Agenda For Murder" being my favorite), along with "Murder By The Book" with Jack Cassidy and "Negative Reaction" with Dick Van Dyke. Been planning to rewatch the entire series soon...
There's just something about Basehart that I've never liked. Even as a kid I couldn"t watch Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea.
Yes it was Janet Leigh in the episode "Forgotten Lady." She did the crime, but was diagnosed with a deadly affliction. Columbo did not arrest her. So - Sunset Boulevard has more than one address. HudsonDuster
Are you sure you aren’t thinking of Columbo And The Murder Of A Rock Star? There is a scene like that and it’s kinda dumb, but a great episode with Dabne Coleman.
Possibly, as I recorded the film a very long time ago and maybe that daft scene preceded the start of Sex and the Married Detective and not part of the episide, a possible recording glitch, no idea. I was puzzled at this when I decided to watch my recording after so long. Thanks for replying.
I am now watching Fade Into Murder and looks good with William Shatner. We have a TV channel 5USA and lots of Columbo on there. After this one it's Grand Deceptions.
I've recorded Grand Deceptions and enjoyed the first two of the trio. Patrick McGoohan was brilliant with having the answers to Columbo and could have swiped the smile of McGoohan's face as he defended himself so cleverly trying to outwit the Shabby Detective.
Doh, and the court had ordered Universal TV to pay the estates of Levinson & Link $71 million dollars in back residuals (after having been cheated of them for almost 50 years), but now a judge has ordered a completely new trial because of technical issues... Judge tosses $71-million verdict against NBC Universal over 'Columbo' profits I'm positive that Universal hates the possibility that all the producers of their old 1960s/1970s/1980s shows will come after them for money based on the same charges.
"Friend" is probably my favorite episode I'm probably alone in this but I don't think McGoohan was a good Columbo murderer. He's too cold. The right balance is struck by Robert Culp, who is supercool at first but slowly cracks . I like "Forgotten Lady" And "Double Shock" has a great gimmick There are several '70s turkeys, notably the Trish Van Devere and the one with Eddie Albert-Suzanne Pleshette
I actually feel that way McGoohan as well, I don't care much for any of the other episodes he's in. His final one, as the mortician, is just downright bizarre. I'm sort of neutral on "Make Me a Perfect Murder" with Trish Van Devere, but the episode "Dead Weight" is a little too implausible in some ways. Pleshette's character is a bit too naive and trusting. Also, do you really believe a woman who looks like Suzanne Pleshette would have any difficulty finding a date?