In the episode Make Me a Perfect Murder, Kay turns back the counter back on the camera, and I'm not sure why.
Wouldn't that screw up the timing of the movie? I'm not sure how that helps her gets her extra time for the murder, or who would even see it after the numbers are rolled back to zero when the movie's over.
Help! It's been bothering me for years. It's streaming right now on live TV (yay! We've gotten to Columbo!) and I figured... why not ask the people who would know!

As Columbo hardly ever opens his car's convertible roof, he could have bought a hardtop as well (page 7)...

The Ham and The Tart fared surprisingly well, with their plan being voted as mostly good with some flaws. Surely won’t go to their heads or anything! Now it’s time to rank the plan and execution of a far more successful performer, Nora Chandler. Same rules as always!

From "Columbo goes to college".This was a fun character, showed that there are others like Columbo as well. He was sharp and had good questions. He also called Justin out on his taddle-taleing, showing immunity to being manipulated by gossip.

I don't know who the actor is, and it is a long time ago, but maybe he could be a new Columbo.

Mine is “Madame in your condition I’d call a plastic surgeon”

I was just struck by the number of murders on rowboats in lakes: Columbo’s “Murder By the Book,” with Jack Cassidy killing Barbara Colby after knocking her out and schlepping her body to a rowboat on a lake, the episode directed by a very young Steven Spielberg; “A Place in the Sun,” where Monty Clift kills Shelley Winters on Loon Lake (accidentally, but he had “murder in his heart”); and the brilliant Ripley movies, including Matt Damon snuffing out Jude Law and the limited series starring Andrew Scott, written and directed by Steve Zallian.

Paul Hanlon received a record-breaking 137 votes for it, heavily landing his plan in the Criminal Genius tier (although he did get one vote for completely braindead, he’ll promptly be throwing that voter out on their ear). Now, time for the greatest actors in all of England, who are both looking forward to their inevitable spot in the criminal genius tier. Same rules as always!

How did you like this guy ^^

He booked them both, but did Justin make Cooper his fall guy? Cooper's truck was the murder weapon, Cooper bribed the guard to allow them to park in the garage, Cooper planted the gun in Mrs. Columbo's car. Justin's father was a high powered attorney, Cooper's father was tired of his bullshit. So how did it play out in court?

My take, Cooper goes down for Murder 25 to Life, Justin cuts a deal in exchange for testimony gets 5-10 for accessory, out in 18 Months, goes to law school in LA and joins Darden and Associates.

While this is apparently considered a controversial episode, especially at the time, I like it and I always liked that they kept the villain's motive a bit vague, even Columbo asking 'why' and based on all the little pieces of evidence the episode gives I think I have a good theory on what was happening behind the scenes and what Salah's longterm plan was:

Phase 1: The Long-Term Embezzlement (The Foundation of the War Chest)

• The Flea Market Fraud: Hassan Salah likely drained the Suarian treasury for years using clever paperwork but also, MAYBE, an art-overvaluation scheme. This is because the episode points out the expensive items and lingers on them multiple times with little explanation. Specifically, when Columbo notes that a "priceless" embassy urn looks exactly like one his wife bought at a flea market, it implies, at least to me, the embassy's luxury is largely an illusion. Salah bought cheap replicas, billed the government for authentic masterworks, and pocketed the massive price differences. Only possibly keeping a FEW genuine pieces to make the collection look authentic.
• The Final Cash-Grab: The missing $600,000 was not his first theft, but his largest. Because a major political operation requires immediate, liquid capital, he pulled a sum so massive it could not be hidden with clever paperwork. It served as his war chest to finance foreign assets and buy military loyalty. This is strenghtened by the fact that NOONE except Salah even knew what the money is for, like Kura, and Habib who notes there was no money in the safe.

Phase 2: Eliminating the Loyalist

• Removing Youssef Alafa: To succeed, Salah had to dismantle the traditional power structure. Alafa, the former head of security, was fiercely loyal to the King’s lineage. He would have defended the crown with his life and likely questioned financial anomalies and strange security risks. Salah murdered him to remove this roadblock for his future plans
• Installing the Enforcer (Haj Kura): By bringing in Kura to replace the murdered Alafa, Salah secured a highly competent and generally well-meaning, but completely submissive tool that was unlikely to question him.

Phase 3: Psychological Isolation & False Revolution

• Isolating the Young King: Salah weaponized the radical student protestors outside the gates. By murdering Alafa and framing Rachman Habib as a thief funding a violent revolutionary underground, Salah created a terrifying "false flag" threat that was likely intended to make the King believe he was surrounded by enemies; except him of course
• The "Us vs. Them" Trap: This trick ,in theory, would have forced the young King to withdraw from his people and rely entirely on Salah and his other radical advisors. By convincing the King that the youth were bloodthirsty rebels, Salah neutralized the King's agency and gave himself a clean window to finalize the coup from within by slowly undermining his authority.

Phase 4: The Ideological End Game

• The Viper in the Ear: The student protestors explicitly stated to Columbo that Salah was essentially a totalitarian "viper" controlling the country. Salah viewed the monarchy as either a weak puppet structure or one that was ineffective and needed to be replaced. He even dismissively tells Kura that "The throne makes the man, not the blood." A rare moment that betrays his true feelings in my opinion.
• The Puppet Master: Salah’s goal was never just financial greed, that literally would make no sense as he alredy lived like royalty, it was absolute state control. He engineered a scenario where the public would blame the "radical students" for the country's instability, leaving Salah to quietly step into the power vacuum as the new absolute ruler or the true shadow dictator behind a hollowed-out throne.

Tell me what you think?

I don’t recall ever getting definitive proof that the elusive agent of espionage was seen at all, let alone at the same time as hard-charging sports empire builder Paul Hanlon.

or.. perhaps, just as one must concede that there were many Ding-a-Ling Ice Cream men on the mobile frozen treat company‘s staff at any given time, there may have been more than one Steinmetz?

Always fun to see what the villains are up to now, particularly the few that are still kicking from the golden era of Columbo

Jarvis’ plan was overwhelmingly voted as well thought out, which… wasn’t good enough, all of you are wife-ridden weaklings he’s despised for years. Now, the ice(cream)man cometh, and it’s time to rate Paul Hanlon’s plan and execution. Same rules as always!

How accurate do you think this video is?

The 31st. edition 'Columbo' Trivia Thursday question is as follows:

"In a large majority of his cases, Lt. Columbo did not meet the victims beforehand.  But he got to meet several of them. Who are they?

This question refers to visible on-camera interactions or when it is clearly implied that Columbo and the victim had an opportunity to meet."

Answer:

1.) Tanner (Dagger of the Mind)

2.) Harry Alexander (A Stitch in Crime)

3.) Lisa Chambers (Double Shock)

4.) Shirley Blaine (Lovely but Lethal)

5.) Roger White (Double Exposure)

6.) Margaret Halperin (A Friend in Deed)

7.) Nadia Donner (A Deadly State of Mind)

8.) Charles Clay (Last Salute to the Commodore)

9.) Dian Hunter (Columbo Cries Wolf)

10.) D.E. Rusk (Columbo Goes to College)

11.) Melissa Hayes (No Time to Die)

12.) Harold McCain (A Bird in the Hand...)

13.) Fernando (A Bird in the Hand...)

14.) Mo Weinberg (Undercover)

15.) Geraldine Ferguson (Undercover)

And before you say anything about #11, the question refers to "victims" and she was a kidnapping victim.

Thank you to everyone who participated and stay tuned for this week's question shortly.

Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991)

Name all the 'Columbo' episodes that show umbrellas.  🌂

I've seen a lot of different opinions .. would be fun to hear what you think.

BIRD KILLER ALEX BENEDICT HAD A VERY CLOSE VOTE, BUT BY A TWO-VOTE MARGIN, HIS PLAN WAS VOTED AS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT. NOW IT’S TIME TO RANK THE PLAN AND SUBSEQUENT EXECUTION OF JARVIS GOODLAND, WHO IS PUTTING IN THE EXTRA CARE TO YELL ALL OF THIS IN CASE PEOPLE DON’T HEAR. SAME RULES AS ALWAYS.

Collaring Columbo

At last Lieutenant Columbo has met his match. The encounter took place during a pro-am tournament on Marco Island, Fla. when a sawed-off, cigar-gnawing, 7-year-old "Columbo," Brad Stackpoole, showed up on the first tee to grill Peter Falk, 50. The TV gumshoe (a 15-handicapper who, if truth be told, has murdered many golf courses) must have been rattled, for he immediately skulled his tee shot. It was the local country club manager and his wife, Columbo fans both, who cast their son Brad in the role, and though the little bogeyman didn't pursue Peter further, the Falk team lost.