# Columbo - a few questions for discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 2, 2022, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074 "2022-01-02T07:34:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/121 "2023-03-15T17:10:13Z")
> [@Columbo - a few questions for discussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/45): > > Yes, I saw that too. Such a young age—very sad. The only other thing I know her from is The Beguiled, where she was one of the girls at the Confederate boarding school. As I said, she was cute (she looked a lot like a girlfriend of mine at the time), but not a great actress. To be charitable, this was probably due to her lack of experience or how she was directed. But her flat delivery still reminds me of Peggy Lipton in Mod Squad or Edward James Olmos in Miami Vice. Oh, I almost forgot: I… ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/122 "2023-03-15T17:16:52Z")
I think you may be mixing up another episode, because if I remember correctly there is no CCTV in this episode, the one you might be thinking of is Playback from s4? In Suitable for Framing, the murderer gets an accomplice to wrap the body in a heated blanket to artificially alter the estimated time of death. In Playback the murderer grabs a shot of the murder on the CCTV system and plays it on delay if memory serves. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/123 "2023-03-15T17:28:11Z")
The electric blanket device was also used in **this episode** , which is also distinguished by Columbo letting the accomplice get away (and being very soft on the actual murderer). > **[Episode review: Columbo It’s All in the Game](https://columbophile.com/2022/06/12/episode-review-columbo-its-all-in-the-game/)** > > Hollywood goddess Faye Dunaway became the most famous Columbo guest star ever when she popped us as Lauren Staton in 1993’s ‘It’s All in the Game’. Is this Peter Falk-penned… ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/124 "2023-03-15T17:50:01Z")
> Anyway, the two go on their date, the now-obligatory questions about the case are raised and sidestepped, kisses are exchanged and before you can say “ **Mrs Columbo is crying at home** “, a guilty-looking Lieutenant is wiping lipstick marks off his face in the bathroom of Barney’s Beanery Bahahhaa ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/125 "2023-03-16T00:20:39Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > If it’s the episode I’m thinking of, the idea is that he’s arranged things so that it’ll look like his mother-in-law is getting murdered on the other side of town at, like, ten-thirty … Fair enough. (Though in fairness to myself, I was just making a general comment about the possibility of wowing 1970s folks with a Super Trendy digital watch, rather than commenting on the plot of a particular episode.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/126 "2023-03-16T00:45:36Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > I didn’t either til yesterday. She’s also in at least one of the fan-produced episodes on YouTube, alongside Nichelle Nichols. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/127 "2023-03-16T04:41:11Z")
At least good ol Kelso was there for everyone to spot. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/128 "2023-03-16T05:21:26Z")
Episode three. or…S1E1 i guess. Jack Cassidy. What a clown compared to the first two murderers. Just wear a sign saying you did it FFS. Lot of weird shots. People standing even closer to each other to be in frame then they normally do. A lot of long takes. And its funny, compare the wife of the murdered guy to the other spouses (the killers) in eps one and two. Its plain as day the wife of the murdered guy in this ep didn’t do it. Wonderful acting. Frantic, incoherent. And Falk looks so much like Rod Serling in this ep, it plays like a Night Gallery episode. Edit: Hey its Anitra Ford! ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/129 "2023-03-16T08:19:28Z")
Lots of weird shots you say? I wonder whatever happened to the director of that episode. Bet they didn’t amount to much… ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/130 "2023-03-16T13:45:54Z")
What it really needed was someone to whip off their glasses while the camera zoomed in. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/131 "2023-03-20T03:26:50Z")
S1E5…Eddie Albert is yet another in a long line of idiots who can’t just shut-up and leave well enough alone. Suzanne Pleshette’s mom is only 41 here. People aged differently then. She would next appear in The Andromeda Strain [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a0sLEsjANxM/U8yYJmtWkEI/AAAAAAAO4SE/mNj-hDLcJlo/s1600/Columbo-Dead\_Weight-1971-CSS1123.jpg](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a0sLEsjANxM/U8yYJmtWkEI/AAAAAAAO4SE/mNj-hDLcJlo/s1600/Columbo-Dead_Weight-1971-CSS1123.jpg)] ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/132 "2023-03-20T04:21:45Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > The very first one. Prescription: Murder. He also badgered Blythe Danner to admit John Cassavetes was lying in “Etude in Black.” A good attorney would argue Columbo harassed and intimidated her until she finked on her husband, and then ask for her testimony to be thrown out. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/133 "2023-03-20T04:29:51Z")
Well in the second pilot this will come out in court: Lee Grants Stepdaughter: “So I got a pistol with blanks and pretended to shoot her several times. Then she chased me and found the message I left on her mirror. A message spelled out with magazine letters like a kidnapping message. Then she banged her head on a beacon I hung from the ceiling. And finally she found me in a closet where I THINK she’s hidden the ransom money somewhere.” “And you got this idea from Columbo?” Columbo: “I just want to say, I only told her to ‘make her step-mom unneverved’. Not this insane bit of business she went through.” Not to mention EVERYONE is breaking and entering other peoples houses and cars to make dramatic appearances… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/134 "2023-03-20T04:37:28Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > “I just want to say, I only told her to ‘make her step-mom unneverved’. Not this insane bit of business she went through.” …“But I _did_ put the idea about the keys in her head, hoping she’d actually go and look for them, 'cause I was sure the accused still had them, and she did. Instead, the little twat had a duplicate set made! Yeesh, how stupid can you get?!?” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/135 "2023-03-20T04:38:52Z")
Someone asked me if Columbo’s on Netflix. I said “Don’t know where it’s streaming, but it’s on COZI TV. Channel 57-9.” They looked at me blankly; I’d forgotten that a lot of people pay for cable and streaming… and the concept of getting TV for free is a lost, ancient art to them. Try an antenna, it’s cheap! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/136 "2023-03-20T04:41:42Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Try an antenna, it’s cheap! What kind of TV do you have? I don’t think I could hook an antenna up to mine. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/137 "2023-03-20T04:55:35Z")
Thanks to your avatar, I’m picturing Papa Hemingway swearing at his new Smart TV as he tries to get it working. That coax connector (the threaded cylinder poking out the back) is an Antenna Input. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/138 "2023-03-20T04:57:09Z")
By the way…the guilty being unable to shut-up and not offer theories\* or insert themselves into the investigation is something that often happens IRL \*But its usually children that out themselves. “Maybe the dog knocked over the vase. Yeah, as I recall the dog ate a lot that day. He probably had a lot of energy and ran around and knocked over the vase!” Point of order: If you kill someone…don’t try and date the 35 year old younger woman (Who purports to have seen you murder someone) that you’ve never met. Also: I watch Columbo on Freevee on my firestick. Its also available on Tubi. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/139 "2023-03-20T05:02:02Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > What kind of TV do you have? I don’t think I could hook an antenna up to mine. Mine has an antenna input but when I hooked an interior antenna to it, reception was so marginal I got a lot of freezes and outright blue screens so I gave it up. If I erected a roof antenna it might be better but I haven’t bothered to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/140 "2023-03-20T05:08:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He also badgered Blythe Danner to admit John Cassavetes was lying in “Etude in Black.” A bit of trivia I’m strangely fond of; when filming that episode, Ms. Danner was a few months pregnant with her daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074.md?page=8)