Cussler’s done that more than once
I don’t think even Cussler’s death wil put an end to this. I suspect that h left an enormous stack of as-yet-unused plots that his many collaborators will continue to mine for years, occasionally putting “CC” into the stories as a character.
Right. Columbo actually staged a reenactment with a policewoman wearing an identical mask to demonstrate how they managed to fool the traffic camera.
And the secretary, of course, became an accessory after the fact. Blackmail was a really bad move on her part! 
I also doubt the detectives would tolerate anything other than the suspect’s undivided attention.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but you can either answer our questions here or down at the station. So would you please put your dustmop away and have a seat? It’ll just take a minute.”
She got off lucky then-- most of the murderer-blackmailers on Columbo also get murdalized.
Is that really what it was? Because the shadow should be perfect “for that time of day”, because that’s when she did it.
That always bugs me. If the perp would just SHUT UP, most of the episodes would result in acquittal at trial.
Maybe they can intimidate the unaware, but it doesn’t work that way. They don’t have to talk downtown anymore than they have to over the ironing board. (Though to be fair, that is such a L&O cliche, it’s practically a running joke.)
My willing suspension of disbelief has been sorely tested by reality shows.
I’ve enjoyed watching “Airplane Repo”, but have come to accept that staging of the program exceeds even what the producers acknowledge.
For example, in one episode the intrepid repo pilot and a cameraman trek over the frozen wastes of Alaska for miles, braving harsh weather and wolves, in order to liberate a small plane and fly it out of a primitive remote airfield. These guys are supposedly desperate to get the plane to fly, since they have no food and it’s two days travel to civilization. The last camera shot shows the plane successfully taking off and disappearing in the distance. So what happens to the poor cameraman - left to starve and be eaten by wolves?
I suppose he could be rescued by helicopter or another plane, but in that case why was it necessary for he and the pilot to hike a great distance through the snow to reach the hangar and airfield?
Asking such questions is hazardous to one’s enjoyment of the program.
That’s how I remember it, but my memory could be wrong. I’m actually re-watching all the Columbos on Tubi TV now, so when I get to that one I’ll let you know!
Every Columbo is basically the exact same episode, but it’s such delicious shadenfreude watching Columbo trip up the pompous, self-important murderers with their own overconfidence and hubris.
This is so common that John Mulaney has a routine about it:
Even more buggy is that nobody ever says “Not without a lawyer present. Bugger off, cop.” You’d think that would be common knowledge.
I guess I’ll have to watch it again. Still, Kara does come off as pretty naïve; I think the technical term would be “too stupid to live.”
Kevin Smith does this in one episode. According to IMDb, when the producers asked if he wanted to be a suspect or a defense attorney, he said he wanted to be “the guy who leads them to the guy who leads him to the guy who leads them to the suspect.” His role was “Tony’s Wife’s Nephew”.
I remember the shadows weren’t right. There was also no depth to the mask when they blew up the photo.
In other words, it didn’t stand up to scrutiny. It looked fake.
This reminded me of my favorite elevator continuity. The very first episode of Star Trek features Kirk getting on the turbolift, then emerging seconds later onto the bridge with a different style/colour of top (I think it went from the yellow one to the green “look at my chest hair, can you believe this is an official Starfleet uniform?” one.). I mean, this would derail the thread to turn it into a continuity gaffe list, but seeing that I had to wonder if they even had a continuity person on set for that.
“That’s for the jury to decide.”
I think that was “Charlie X” (though it may have happened in other episodes as well). It was just before the captain of the Antares radioed to warn Kirk about Mr Evans.
One of the first episodes, but not the first.
It was Charlie X, and I stand corrected. I could have sworn it was the first episode on BluRay when I marathoned the series earlier this year. Interestingly, a Star Trek Wiki page calls it Season 1 Episode 3, but actual Wiki lists it as the second episode aired. I’m at work so I can’t check my discs.
I must have watched that episode at least a half-dozen times before I spotted the discontinuity. Of course, once you know it’s there you can’t help but see it.
Kirk had chest hair? 
Sometime in the 60s Hollywood decided action men shouldn’t have chest hair. I could never come up with a viable reason why, but Jims (Kirk and West) starting getting shaved.
War of the Worlds, the TV series from the late 80’s/early 90’s. The premise was that the events in the 1953 movie all happened pretty much as portrayed, and the bulk of humankind…forgot it ever happened.
There are not enough eyeroll and WTF emoji in the known universe to cover this.
OMG. I quit in the pilot episode. That was horrible. Worse than the Kolchak remake, or the Andromeda Strain remake, and that’s hard to do.
That is a premise so bad I feel unable to escape the singularity of suck. Where can I find this gem?