# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2023, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/161 "2023-03-21T07:16:42Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > that nosy neighbor from Bewitched [Gladys Kravtiz, played by Alice Pearce and Sandra Gould](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bewitched_characters#Gladys_Kravitz). ---
**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 21, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/162 "2023-03-21T15:03:13Z")
Sandra, in this case. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/163 "2023-03-22T21:14:44Z")
Was that the one where he said something like ‘You surprised me with your strength today. However. I will hound you…’ ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/164 "2023-03-23T03:17:38Z")
Exactly. The first TV movie. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/165 "2023-03-24T05:34:56Z")
Last ep of Season One: Peter Falk finally gets his directing episode. Of note…Janis Paige who plays Goldie? Still \*\*\*\*ing alive at 100 years old. 50 years old in the episode and still with us. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/166 "2023-03-24T12:15:59Z")
That’s my favorite episode. Not only is Goldie an absolute delight but the schadenfreude when the killer gets caught is just divine. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/167 "2023-03-24T12:26:55Z")
It was great… And I think the first time the killer is caught so red-handed. No stammering, no explanations just “And it was a great plan.” Columbo: “It WAS a great plan!” ---
**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 24, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/168 "2023-03-24T15:01:21Z")
Watching that episode, I was genuinely stumped because Columbo looks completely lost when the body isn’t where (it would appear) he thinks it is. O ye of little faith, I should have known he’d already got it all figured out. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/169 "2023-03-24T19:47:26Z")
My fave villain so far too. I’m pretty sure if Forrest Tucker condescendingly gave me a half backslap, I’d kill him too. This is the second episode where Columbo got a bunch of people to wait with him in the dark, for God knows how long, waiting on the villain. There’s got to be a name for that trope or it has to have been parodied. ---
**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 24, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/170 "2023-03-24T22:58:57Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > Of note…Janis Paige who plays Goldie? Still \*\*\*\*ing alive at 100 years old. 50 years old in the episode and still with us. Very cool! Feisty people live longest! ---
**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 25, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/171 "2023-03-25T00:40:15Z")
I remember Janis best as Lou Grant’s old girlfriend on _ **MTM** _: > **["The Mary Tyler Moore Show" Menage-a-Lou (TV Episode 1976) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0642863/)** > > Menage-a-Lou: Directed by Jay Sandrich. With Mary Tyler Moore, Edward Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight. Lou is put-out when his old girlfriend, Charlene shows up at Mary's party with a date. He then quickly asks out Mary's neighbor Paula. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/172 "2023-04-03T05:20:58Z")
Finally got around to S2e1: 1. Arlene Martel sighting! For a hot second, I though it was going to be another “Appeared to pay some bills” guest spot. But she actually got in some more lines after her initial appearance and made a proper appearance. 2. If I could get a localized clip of the stunt fall Peter Falk does. I’d start a thread called “Stunt work in the 70’s, where the guy/gal ate a fat pile of shit.” Cause Falk goes down a steep hill with slick grass in work shoes and there’s no way he planned to eat a fat pile of shit at the bottom of the hill the way he did. Falling on your butt is one thing but the way he bounced…there’s no way he meant to do that. 70’s shows are full of lovely, mundane stunts that were done on the fly and were very close to breaking someones bones. 3. I’m gonna assume Columbo has a search warrant hidden somewhere, cause this is to date, his most egrigious breaking and entering and snooping around. 4. Also this is the most egregious case of the perp volunteering his help and sticking his nose in it to date. Might as well have worn a sign that said, “I did it.” ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/173 "2023-04-03T15:02:08Z")
Oh i found it [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SK6cd0c4Slo](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SK6cd0c4Slo) Sucks we don’t seem to be able to link YT clips directly to threads anymore ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/174 "2023-04-05T17:10:05Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > there’d be a couple of weeks in January in which prevailing winds would blow away the smog and it was possible to see that L.A. was surrounded by mountains. But the rest of the year, one had no idea. Sometimes a good rain would wash the smog out of the sky. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/175 "2023-04-08T23:02:05Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Sometimes a good rain would wash the smog out of the sky. Very true! Still, that wouldn’t help production companies much as they couldn’t really pre-plan for a clear day (most rain in SoCal comes in the winter, conflicting with holidays and such). ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/176 "2023-04-09T21:07:32Z")
Up to S2E2. The John Cassavetes episode. The gulf in talent between say Robert Conrad or John Cassavetes is ridiculous. Haven’t seen a lot of Blyth Danner nor Gwyneth Paltrow so I never noticed how much mother and daughter actually look and sound alike. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/177 "2023-04-09T21:58:59Z")
Watch how Cassavetes “conducts” the orchestra. It’s hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/178 "2023-04-09T22:19:27Z")
The woman who does the deep dives mentioned that. The only conducting Im familiar with is movie/ TV show/Bugs Bunny conducting so I didn’t notice it. This is probably the shakiest case to date…ironic since Cassavetes is the sloppiest killer to date. The entire episode rests on the fact the conductor says he put on a flower in the dressing room in front of witnesses. And his wife disputes this. All he had to do was say he put on the flower in his car on the way to the murder scene. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/179 "2023-04-09T23:49:17Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > Haven’t seen a lot of Blyth Danner nor Gwyneth Paltrow so I never noticed how much mother and daughter actually look and sound alike. Do you think so? When I saw _Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow_ I thought Paltrow really mis-played her character, but her mother would have been perfect for it. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2023, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/180 "2023-04-10T07:00:23Z")
An episode I saw as a kid but only realised when, during my recent run through of the series, he ‘borrows’ his own car from the garage and uses it to get to the murder scene. I thought was ingenious and it rang a little bell in my brain where I suddenly remembered the episode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074.md?page=10)