# I'm rewatching every episode of Columbo **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [October 27, 2021, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309 "2021-10-27T12:45:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/121 "2021-11-11T20:54:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Not sure I understand here. Who saw what witness? Meaning that Hamilton is essentially confessing to having seen the blind brother as he was fleeing the scene of the crime? Sorry, I didn’t mean he saw the _witness_, I meant the _witness_ said he saw the _murderer_. I edited, but you had already quoted me. So we both thought that that was a lame ‘gotcha’, since it hinged on tricking the murderer into saying the witness is blind, when according to Columbo, there was no reason he should have thought that. But you and I had both thought the witness obviously appeared blind, so it was a reasonable assumption on the part of the murderer, not an admission of guilt. But I put the question, did we as the audience also think he was blind because we have the same knowledge as the murderer, or did he actually appear to be blind, even though he was pretending to be able to see? So I ran it by my wife, who did not pick up on the possibility he might be blind at all. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/122 "2021-11-11T21:03:14Z")
Got you. I am surprised at your wife’s reaction, though. The first time I saw the episode, I thought Columbo really _was_ trying to trick him into saying something incriminating by presenting the blind guy without his dog (i.e., as if he were sighted). That’s how convinced I was that the brother wasn’t play acting. (Until the reveal, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/123 "2021-11-11T21:14:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I am surprised at your wife’s reaction, though. The first time I saw the episode, I thought Columbo really _was_ trying to trick him into saying something incriminating by presenting the blind guy without his dog (i.e., as if he were sighted). That’s how convinced I was that the brother wasn’t play acting. Well, sure; but, _like Hamilton_, you’d seen the blind guy before, and so you of course disregarded the fact that some dude (a) mundanely walked over when he got pointed at, and then (b) reacted like any sighted person in 1970s America would to a cop who silently relays a need for help lighting a cigar. Said wife, by contrast, hadn’t seen a blind guy. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/124 "2021-11-11T21:29:43Z")
True, I _did_ know about the blind guy. But I honestly believe I would have taken his sighted brother as blind whether I had or not. That’s how convincing I found him. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/125 "2021-11-12T14:06:17Z")
I watched my very last Columbo ep yesterday: _Columbo Likes the Nightlife_. Kind of sad that it’s over 😞 Pretty good ep to go out on. A very young Matthew Rhys, looking almost like a teeanger, was the central bad guy (part of a team with his girlfriend). He plays a nightclub owner, allowing Columbo to interact with rave culture a mere ten years after it first became a thing. At first I thought the central crime was only going to be an accidental death that the couple covers up, and I thought NO IT HAS TO BE 1ST DEGREE MURDER! MALICE AFORETHOUGHT! but it turns out to not only involve a love triangle among business partners that leads to the accidental death; also a blackmailer who Rhys murders and makes look like a suicide; and even a bonus, previous murder of a mob guy. An aging Columbo is in pretty good form, instantly determining the blackmailer suicide is fake: “his breath is minty fresh! His toenails are freshly clipped! Those are the actions of a man getting ready for a date, not suicide.” RIP, Peter Falk. There’ve been pale imitations of the formula (Monk), but there will never be another Columbo. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/126 "2021-11-12T14:45:04Z")
> [@solost](#): > > pale imitations of the formula (Monk) I’m sorry, Monk is NOT a pale imitation. He is his own character. If one insists he is an imitation, he’s a good one. Sharona/Natalie are much better companions than Dog. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/127 "2021-11-12T15:03:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I’m sorry, Monk is NOT a pale imitation. No, _ **I’m** _ sorry, you’re right, I was a bit too hard on Monk. I did, not too long ago, rewatch every episode of Monk and enjoyed it very much. I like Tony Shalhoub as an actor, and he did as fine a job inhabiting his character as Peter Falk did. I did have a little bit of frustration at times with the writing on Monk-- making the Monk character as naive and clueless as a child sometimes, then making him an expert on anything that the plot called for when he was in detective mode. And his ‘OCD’ symptoms were pretty inconsistent throughout. But that’s not on Shalhoub. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/128 "2021-11-12T15:39:22Z")
> [@solost](#): > > There’ve been pale imitations of the formula (Monk), but there will never be another Columbo. Monk would never fish around in a toilet bowl to recover toenail clippings with his bare hands. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/129 "2021-11-12T15:46:28Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Monk would never fish around in a toilet bowl to recover toenail clippings with his bare hands Thats why he had an assistant - but there was the incident with the gum. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/130 "2021-11-12T15:46:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Monk would never fish around in a toilet bowl to recover toenail clippings with his bare hands No, he’d leave that to Sharona / Natalie 🤣 ETA: Curse you, @simster, nice ninja’ing. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/131 "2021-11-12T15:52:02Z")
In the episode with the gum, he really _had_ reverted to childhood! Neither Natalie nor Sharona would stick their hands in a toilet bowl either. They’d all stand around waiting for Stottlemeyer to order Disher to retrieve the toenails. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/132 "2021-11-12T16:25:49Z")
> [@solost](#): > > making the Monk character as naive and clueless as a child sometimes, then making him an expert on anything that the plot called for when he was in detective mode. And his ‘OCD’ symptoms were pretty inconsistent throughout. Oh yeah! No argument there. By the end he coiuldn’t even use a phone or a TV remote (“make picture freezer!” seriously, writers?) ---
**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:** [November 12, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/133 "2021-11-12T16:34:31Z")
I drew the line at there being free access to a ballast tank on a USN nuclear submarine. My suspension of disbelief just does not stretch that far. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/134 "2021-11-12T16:45:28Z")
Yeah, that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/135 "2021-11-12T17:02:44Z")
Monk: “A tie on the door means that my roommate is organizing his closet” Also Monk: “You were having a sex affair with her on that couch. The cushions are backwards. And one of her earrings fell off. It’s, um it’s right here. She must have torn her blouse. I can see it sticking out of her briefcase. Your Honor.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/136 "2021-11-12T19:48:44Z")
you forgot - “here’s the thing…” ---
**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:** [November 12, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/137 "2021-11-12T19:51:26Z")
“This is how it happened.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/138 "2021-11-12T20:12:22Z")
“You’ll thank me later.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/139 "2021-11-12T20:16:35Z")
“wipe” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309/140 "2021-11-12T23:55:08Z")
I just ran across this > "Big night discovering that Columbo was so big in Japan that there’s a series of books and TV movies called “Columbo of Shinano” about a detective that dresses and acts like Columbo, watching it without subtitles is basically a hallucination, still not sure this is real " > **[Shinano no Columbo (TV Movie 1998) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156070/)** > > Shinano no Columbo: Directed by Yoshiko Hoshida. With Masaaki Sakai, Mieko Harada, Miki Sakai, Megumi Asaoka. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-rewatching-every-episode-of-columbo/953309.md?page=8)