Episodes where Columbo and his suspect seem to have a certain simpatico
The obvious one is "Any Old Port in a Storm." Any other examples?
shareI don't remember the name of the episode, but the " lady in black " sex therapist comes to mind.
share 'Try and Catch Me'. Ruth Gordon portrayed an elderly mystery writer, Abigail Mitchell who was just trying to avenge her niece's death. She knew that her ner-do-well nephew-in-law was responsible for his wife's death. He was never caught and spent all his time spending his late wife's money(inherited from Abigail).
The character had none of the usual motives Columbo sees in suspects. It wasn't about sex, adultery, money,etc. She just wanted to get justice for her niece.
Columbo liked her and he seemed sorry to have to arrest her.
I remember that episode and enjoyed it and have always liked Ruth Gordon, ever since Rosemary's Baby.
shareJohnny Cash. It was pretty hard to take him AS a killer, and when he gave up he said something like "I'm glad you caught me, I was gonna confess soon anyway." And you believed him.
Janet Leigh. The only killer Columbo spared from arrest...but only because she had six months left to live and her male friend confessed to give Columbo six months to play out the false lead.
But Donald Pleasance was THE one Columbo really liked. Falk said Columbo and the wine guy respected each other's intelligence and professionalism. Plus the brother-victim was a puke.
Yeah, Johnny Cash's character got desperate and I think he acted impulsively. If he had really thought it over, I don't think he would've gone through with it.
Pretty ironic that he sings a gospel song, "I Saw the Light", all throughout the episode. He did see the light, but TOO late!
Doesn't Columbo say something like, "No one who sings like that can be all bad."
One character I started to have some sympathy for even though Coumbo didn't, was Paul Galesko, the photographer who kills his nagging shrew of a wife in 'Negative Reaction.' It is one of my favorite episodes, but so hard to see affable "Rob Petrie" kill his wife.
The wife was a total miserable harpy, nasty to Paul , putting him down and insulting his masculinity. She obviously made his life a living heck! In the opening scene, I wanted to kill her myself. LOL I suppose he could've gotten a divorce, but since California is a community property state and his wife seemed like the perfect vindictive witch, he would've lost almost everything.
I lost sympathy for him though when he killed the ex-convict and framed him for the murder. He really seemed sincere and wanted to turn his life around after prison. He thought he was working for Paul Galesko,oly to be used by him in his scheme.
Any Port in a Storm- "the brother victim was a puke" LOL Yes, Columbo seemed to genuinely like and feel sympathy for Mr. Orsini. His winery was his life's work and it was about to be totaled by his goof off brother.
It is one of my favorite episodes, but so hard to see affable "Rob Petrie" kill his wife.
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A key "draw" of Columbo was to see "the TV good guys of the 60's" become bad guys in the 70s. Many had been spy show good guys(Robert Culp, Robert Vaughn, Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, Patrick McGoohan) and we got William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy turning bad, too, but...Dick Van Dyke? Why he was the nicest guy on TV. Though, come to think of it, Laura was a bit of a shrew, too. Is this Rob's Revenge?
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The wife was a total miserable harpy, nasty to Paul , putting him down and insulting his masculinity. She obviously made his life a living heck! In the opening scene, I wanted to kill her myself. LOL I suppose he could've gotten a divorce, but since California is a community property state and his wife seemed the perfect vindictive witch, he would've lost almost everything.
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Great writing. Great performance by the actress. We hate her and we can see why Van Dyke hates her. Even forcibly tied up, she STILL nags at him. Only in the last moments does the woman finally realize her doormat husband is really going to do it.
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I lost sympathy for him though when he killed the ex-convict and framed him for the murder. He really seemed sincere and wanted to turn his life around after prison. He thought he was working for Paul Galesko,oly to be used by him in his scheme.
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I think given how mean and nasty the wife was, it was imperative to offer up this second victim immediately -- an ex-con, yes, but a very nice and polite and grateful man. THIS murder makes Van Dyke worth chasing down.
Its sad, but true.
Yes, all the TV "good guys " got to play the villain. I'll bet it was fun for the actors.
I saw Ricardo Montalban do an interview on TV. After years of portraying the good guy Mr. Roarke on Fantasy island, he loved chewing up the scenery playing Khan, Kirk's nemesis in 'The Wrath of Khan'. I think he would've made a great Columbo villain.
I WAS thinking of Laura Petrie when Paul Galesko killed his wife! Laura was a bit of a nag and always upset at Rob for something. She was so jealous when he had to work with beautiful celebrities. The guy was in show business for goodness sake! He was faithful and always came home to her. The Columbo episode would've been funny if they had cast Mary Tyler Moore as the nagging wife. But I guess it would've been "stunt casting".
I saw Ricardo Montalban do an interview on TV. After years of portraying the good guy Mr. Roarke on Fantasy island, he loved chewing up the scenery playing Khan, Kirk's nemesis in 'The Wrath of Khan'. I think he would've made a great Columbo villain.
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I do believe that Montalban DID play a Columbo villain. A Mexican-American bullfighter.
A book on the 70s Columbo series noted that while the vast majority of villains were white males, attempts were made to "branch out." White females in the main(Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, Anne Baxter), but Montalban for a Hispanic villain and Hector Elizondo for a "Middle East diplomat" villain.
But that was about it for branching out. Producers Levinson and Link said they explored having an African-American villain -- James Earl Jones or Sammy Davis Jr. were possibilities -- who would kill an African-American victim and draw Columbo. But ultimately they decided against it.
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I WAS thinking of Laura Petrie when Paul Galesko killed his wife! Laura was a bit of a nag and always upset at Rob for something. She was so jealous when he had to work with beautiful celebrities. The guy was in show business for goodness sake! He was faithful and always came home to her. The Columbo episode would've been funny if they had cast Mary Tyler Moore as the nagging wife. But I guess it would've been "stunt casting".
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"Oooh, Raawbb!" Sexy in her Capri pants, Laura could be quite irritating at times; I expect visions of Laura rose up for many of us when Van Dyke told off his mean wife here.
But it would have been stunt casting, and difficult to do -- MTM was a big star in the 70's on TV, as we know. "America's Sweetheart."
Still...it would have been DELICIOUS stunt casting....
Holy smoke! I HAVE that episode! Thanks for letting me know.
I bought the first six seasons, one at a time. Some of the episodes, like the van Dyke one are favorites of mine. But there are a few that I don't remember at all. That's strange, because we never missed the show at our house. There are a few that I watched which I didn't recall seeing.
Obviously the episode with Ricardo Montalban is one of those episodes! I'll have to watch it.
van Dyke was great as a killer. My favorite is Jack Cassidy as The Great Santini.
shareHoly smoke! I HAVE that episode! Thanks for letting me know.
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Sure. I had to think hard to remember if I was right. Then I looked it up.
I think when Columbo went into TV syndication in the 80s, some episodes got more airplay -- like the Dick Van Dyke one -- and some episodes got LESS airplay. Like the Montalban one.
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I bought the first six seasons, one at a time. Some of the episodes, like the van Dyke one are favorites of mine. But there are a few that I don't remember at all. That's strange, because we never missed the show at our house. There are a few that I watched which I didn't recall seeing.
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Happens to me with movies. The mind can't remember everything!
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Obviously the episode with Ricardo Montalban is one of those episodes! I'll have to watch it.
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I don't own it, I think I saw it all the way through once. A problem is that Montalban is so courtly you have trouble with Columbo bringing him down. As I recall, he killed his victim because the man remembered a moment of Montalban's cowardice in the bullring. It wasn't a "fun" episode.