Columbo

[pharoahegypt]

Columbo worked well on that premise of hidden intellect, that often the suspect began to suss out, or simply refuse to believe he could have worked out their fiendish scheme. The guy who ran those military exercises for brainy students was totally perplexed when faced with the reality of Columbo having worked out his ruse so quickly.

As for the aversion to firearms, I remember one whole episode he had some pencil pusher chasing him around trying to get him to go to the range to update his firearms licence, only for Columbo to keep putting him off, even confessing to never having carried his gun during his whole homicide detective career.

[MaxJoker]

Originally Posted by Brecht

It's Peter Falk's charm that earned the series its reputation. A homicide detective with an aversion to fire arms. All he needs is some good thinking, a small portion of wit and patience. Most of the culprits aren't even angry at him once he's nailed them. What he gets from them is respect.

Charm , sublime acting and top class writing
No that wink wasn't a pun on his single eye

Haven't seen an episode in quite a time.
Mostly likely haven't seen them all.
Last one I did watch being kinda 90`s (?) ropey.
The villain was that chap who pretended to be an Indian in Short Circuit.
Uggggh , not good. Certainly how he eventually got caught

Originally Posted by Brecht

But it should have ended in the 80s at the latest.

Agreed

Those first seven seasons however were nine times out of ten excellent viewing.
One of my favourites was the drama queen jealous chess champion ,
who only got caught because he was deaf

[Brecht]

Originally Posted by MaxJoker

One of my favourites was the drama queen jealous chess champion, who only got caught because he was deaf

I caught that episode maybe two months ago on TV (or telly as you exotic islanders would say). Certainly among the better ones. That deaf chess grandmaster gets busted because of the garbage grinder. He pushed his rival into the grinder but didn't hear the grinder turning itself off automatically because his hearing aid didn't work. Great episode but the ending was a little odd. Columbo draws a plausible conclusion, namely that the man was murdered and the murderer deaf, but he'd still have a problem proving his theory.

[MaxJoker]

Originally Posted by Brecht

but he'd still have a problem proving his theory.

Well if you want to bring one hundred percent realism into the show Mate naturally a hefty slice of the episodes would implode

1) One of the coolest



2) One of the oddest



3) One of the most bleeding unconvincing

[Brecht]

The one with Johnny Cash may not be among the best but I loved it. Particularly the scene in which Columbo notices the difference between the versions of the same song. Johnny Cash tells Columbo that he has a good hearing and he responds with saying "I'm Italian, you know" or something along these lines.

"I saw the light, I saw the light...."

[MaxJoker]

Originally Posted by Brecht

The one with Johnny Cash may not be among the best but I loved it.

Originally Posted by Brecht

Particularly the scene in which Columbo notices the difference between the versions of the same song. Johnny Cash tells Columbo that he has a good hearing and he responds with saying "I'm Italian, you know" or something along these lines.

What I liked most (Nope isn't one of the best) about Swan Song is how Johnny Cash`s character is sort of onto Columbo`s bumbling act from nearly the beginning.
Argh , yet still allows his own nerves / doubts get the better of him and implicates himself

Originally Posted by Brecht

"I saw the light, I saw the light...."

Praise the lord

[FrankDobe]

Columbo was different than every other detective show before or since in that the viewer knew at the start of the show who the killer was. other cop shows, you had to wait until the end. the fun was watching Columbo sort through the clues to solve the case.

I agree with MaxJoker in his assessment of Patrick McGoohan ( see him in Braveheart as Longshanks for more laughs) but Nicole Williamson who played Merlin in Excalibur was brilliant in the Columbo episode "How to Dial a Murder" season 7 episode 4. The killer programs his 2 Dobermans Laurel and Hardy to commit a murder. Great twist at the end as usual.

[Nobody1]

The best Columbo in my opinion appeared in the very first episode, Prescription: Murder. The caricature-like features of the figure were not yet as evolved as in the coming seasons. This columbo was far more credible in my eyes than anything that followed later on. Columbo showed a frightening bite, which should have been retained as a psychological constant of the show. One outstanding example of this is a particularly oppressive scene between Peter Falk and Kathrin Justice. Justice plays Joan Hudson, a woman who is under suspicion of covering the actual culprit. Columbo assures her in a very convincing way that he will continue to keep her in mind.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...a40dd78d45.jpg

[Greenman]

The episode which featured Jack Cassidy as a magician - his name was The Great Santini but his manager discovered he had been an ex SS Officer called Stefan Mueller. He gives Columbo the run-around until he discovers how he killed his victim, the aforementioned manager, yet continued to be performing an illusion at the time.

[MaxJoker]

Originally Posted by Greenman

The episode which featured Jack Cassidy as a magician - his name was The Great Santini but his manager discovered he had been an ex SS Officer called Stefan Mueller. He gives Columbo the run-around until he discovers how he killed his victim, the aforementioned manager, yet continued to be performing an illusion at the time.

The first time I saw it became overjoyed for a split second when he made that sheet of paper containing the proof of his true past burst into flames.
Bah , trust Columbo to have teased him with a copy



Cassidy was excellent in Murder by the book (1971) and Publish or Perish (1974)
Weird it was two sort of similar stories.
Well we learned from them both he`s the sort of writing partner you should never disappoint or publisher you should piss off.



Let alone attempt to blackmail